Vid - 4 wheels fall off

Chase Race · Post by **Chase Race** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:26 pm

http://www.teamjamoto.com/dixeregionpage.htm#v8301600

Not quite sure why this happened. Chatter on our local autocross list ranges from "A fine example of what happens when you forget to tighten your lug nuts" to "The narrative I saw about this incident indicated that the guy had just bought the wheels and that they had come with the wrong size lug nuts."

Either way, it's half sad, half funny.

crzyone · Post by **crzyone** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:59 pm

I would be pissed.

Man that looks brutal. Amazing all 4 tires came off at once.

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 6:01 pm

:thumbleft:

Chase Race · Post by **Chase Race** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:26 pm

This just in from NASIOC

Hello all,
I was at the event and know the guy who owns the car. (No it wasn't me)
I was in the paddock area next to him changing wheels at the same time as him. I watched him torque all of them. I even borrowed his torque wrench to tighten mine (I always forget something after I get on the road).

He went to a wheel/tire business and asked for spline drive lug nuts for his particular make/model/year car for the Enkeis, and that's what they gave him. He did not purchase the tires or wheels from them, just the lug nuts.

The lug nuts where sheared off the studs. Several members lifted a corner of the car to slide a jack underneath it. With a few more jacks, blocks of wood, etc, they were able to mount the stock wheels and stock lugs nuts (at least 3 per wheel) back on, torque them and drive the car off course. The design of the car, possilbly for aerodynamics, tucks all mechanicals on the underside a little higher than the body line, or lowest part of the brake rotors. Not even the exhaust was really scratched.

I'm not a mechanic, but the mechanics theories there was that the lug nuts where the incorrect size, but they were just small enough to grip the outer edge of the threads (as I mentioned, they torqued to 75-80 ft/lbs without complaint).

Hopefully, the only damage is to the body and brakes.

Jinxmutt · Post by **Jinxmutt** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:34 am

Passenger: "Hmm, whats this button do?"

Kohburn · Post by **Kohburn** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:09 am

in the vid it looked like atleast ont he left rear all the studs snapped off - but the stripped thread theory sounds better

EMX5636 · Post by **EMX5636** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:39 am

I've seen that happen once first hand. A kid in a jeep put on some nice chrome wheels the day before, got lugnuts with the wheels. Saw him in the middle of the road with one wheel off, one severly loose. Turned out he used 1/2-20 "tuner" style lugnuts on 12x1.5 lugs... OOPS.

teamhavok2 · Post by **teamhavok2** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:24 am

ha ha my girlfriends ex used to work at big-o tires and forgot to put the lug nuts on the back wheels of a mercadies. I wasn't there for it but i can imagine it was alot alike... He's not alowed on any big o tires property

whipped · Post by **whipped** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:23 pm

If the lug nuts have the wrong angle "cone", they will torque incorrectly... Either way too much or not enough.