Wheel stud suprise!!!

[mud4feet]

Had a nice little surprise today. I've been noticing a little vibration the last week or so and was meaning to check it out (procrastination rules!!). So, I'm coming back from the Post Office near work, put 'er in neutral, turned the radio down, and listened out the window. Sounded a lot like a really badly cupped tire, but I knew my tires were good. I look down to the left rear and, lo and behold!!!!.....my wheel's wobblin' like a drunk in a cruise ship casino (don't ask how I know what that's like :lol: :lol: :lol: ). Anyway, I nurse it back to the office only to discover that 2 studs were sheared off, 2 lug nuts were ready to go, and 1 was actually somewhat snug and holding everything together. WARNING.....periodically check your lugnuts for tightness!!!!!!
So I came home and changed out the studs and figured, while I was at it, I'd rotate the tires (they were due). All was going well 'til I got to the right front....I'd recently re-did the brakes and had to replace this rotor (procrastination again...........it'll cost ya'). I had to use a 6 ft. cheater bar to get 4 of the 5 lug nuts off!!!!! Not just broken loose.......OFF!!!! Pain in the rear, to say the least. After about an hour (?????), tire off, one stud sheared, I discover that another one is stripped. Nobody's touched these wheels but me, and I DON'T cross thread the nuts! I've got a little 4-way lug wrench I use, and if they don't spin freely, I re-start 'em till they do. So, tomorrow I'll be learning "front stud replacement" (2) and buying another set of lugnuts. If the weather wasn't so beautiful and it wasn't a Jeep, I'd be really pi$$ed!

It's really kindof a typical "mud repair/maintenance zenario".........I've grown uzed to it. Anybody elze go through zhite like thiz?

(the "z's" are for corrupt):lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Gig]

I didn't go through something exactly like it, but had my tires on my old car changed at a garage., they tightened the studs SOO tight, that when I hit a bump, my tire went flying in front of me... I couldn't figure out what it was until it was too late, and I ended up in a 4th of july show.

Gig

Ps(The garage repaired everything, and guarenteed it again...)

 

[Sparky-Watts]

I used to be like that....fix it when it breaks. Anymore, I'm becoming more and more like my dad, actually looking for little things to service and keep in good working order.

Sure am glad you noticed it there rather than at 70 mph on a winding mountain road!!

 

[cougarlasch]

i bought a 99 tj and drove it all the way up to canada. and back no prob. then 2600 miles later i was driving to work and the left side of the jeep went down and steering wheel faced the other way. i was able to come to a stop on the one rotor that was on the ground. and it was right by an exit. i was stopped with my jeep on the ground and cars would pull up behind me and beep wondrin why i wasnt going. it was kinda obvious that my jeep was missing a wheel. when it came off it raced me down the highway, went down the grass median and across an intersection and came to a rest in the middle of the road where a cop picked it up and took it back to the station. it was scary and that was a dealer who put that wheel on. also bout maybe 6 months later i went to recheck the tourque and some where loose again and i check with a tourque wrench. who knows.

 

[jakbob]

yeah i had the same problem...but it was on both rear wheels...when i was on the highway taking my girl to work it started swaying back and forth like i was loosing traction on an icy road (it was 75* out) and loe and behold missing a total of 5 lugs and one broken stud...scary crap man

 

[jay79cj7]

Same deal last summer on my CJ. Stopped at a busy 4 way stop, my turn to go, crash, metal grinding... There rolls my driver side rear wheel across the intersection. So I am stuck there in the middle of the intersection with the cj sitting on the drum, missing 5 lug nuts and without a jack. I borrowed one from some guy in the neighborhood and went at it where it was... Couldn't exactly move it. Hundreds of people drove past me, all wondering what was going on, and those who got there when I had the jack were ticked and honking at me because they thought I was some jerk changing his tire in the middle of an intersection... Doh!

 

[Sparky-Watts]

I lost a wheel and tire (and hub and brake assembly) off a Ford PU back in the late 80's, flipped it end over end and broke my neck in 2 places. Of course that had nothing to do with the lug nuts, but more to do with the age of the truck and the abuse we were putting it through at the time.

 

[Saurian]

Happened to my cousin, after a day of wheeling, he pulled in for some gas, pulls out of the gas station, and as he turned, the wheel went merrily bouncing ahead of him...

I'm STILL paranoid about any odd noises, which is a pain, because, after all, these are Jeep; they're nothing BUT odd noises...

 

[TerryMason]

I had my Jeep on the highway, and everytime I let off the gas there was a bad vibration. I pulled over and found that I had sheared off 3 studs, and lost one lug - My tire was only held on by one lug.

On a different note, I had a wheel fall off an RX-7 once at about 35 mph. I was screaming with sparks in the rear view from my drum, while the wheel zipped by me. The wheel hit a curb and shot up to land in a tree.