Sheared lugs

[dailydriver]

While driving to work this morning I felt a vibration through the steering. At first I thought it was the road I was on. Wrong, the vibration was still there after the road changed. Then I thought I may have an wheel out of balance. Wrong, the vibration was getting worse. Luckly I was alnost to work. I pull in the parking garage and take a look. Three of my lugs are loose and two are missing! Completely sheared off!

Does anyone know if the studs are pressed in or screwed in? Also, would this be agood time to do a brake upgrade as I more than likely will have to take the assembly apart or should I just have the dealer fix it under warranty?

[Fourth Horseman]

While driving to work this morning I felt a vibration through the steering. At first I thought it was the road I was on. Wrong, the vibration was still there after the road changed. Then I thought I may have an wheel out of balance. Wrong, the vibration was getting worse. Luckly I was alnost to work. I pull in the parking garage and take a look. Three of my lugs are loose and two are missing! Completely sheared off!

Does anyone know if the studs are pressed in or screwed in? Also, would this be agood time to do a brake upgrade as I more than likely will have to take the assembly apart or should I just have the dealer fix it under warranty?

Holy schnikies! Glad you got to a stop safely. That could have been ugly. I've never heard of the studs just coming out like that. Yikes. :eek:

[Heavy351]

That never happens.....except for when the lug nuts are not torqued correctly.


The loads cycling back and forth on one or two studs are enough to bust them off no problem thus the reason all of them need to be preloaded equally.

Go back and find out when that wheel was last removed. They should pay to fix it.

Glad you are OK that could have been truly horrific. :eek:

[woaface]

At least it wasn't your stupidity! Once my brother got some rims for a jetta...they didn't fit...he made them fit. At 35mph, the front right tire just came off and bobbled down the road. Glad you're safe! Coulda been much worse.

[Haggis]

Holy schnikies! Glad you got to a stop safely. That could have been ugly. I've never heard of the studs just coming out like that. Yikes. :eek:


I agree :eek: You're luck that you did not have much farther to go. Better check the rest of your wheels, just to make sure they're not loose.

[SergntMac]

Kind of reminds me of an old auto theive's short cut, back the lug nut out a turn or two and snap it off by kicking the four-way. Real time saver, works great in shopping malls because you can hit it one tire at a time and leave it alone until you're ready to pick up all four. Couple of pumps on a floor jack, and you're gone. Yeah, better check the other tires...

[BillyGman]

Sometimes this is due to who ever installed the wheel last NOT torqing the lug nuts themselves down properly. And in that case what happens is one or two of the nults becomes loose, which in turn puts more of the vibrations and stresses on the remaining nuts, which then causes them to loosen. What happens next is the wheel works lose and starts "walking" across the lugs as it wobbles more and more. And ofcourse if left alone then braks off one or two of the lugs themselves. That's why it's important to torque the lug nuts, or at the very least make sure that they're all very tight.

[CRUZTAKER]

:eek: Thank God you're ok.

Who had the wheels off last?
Actually it doesn't matter, go to the dealer anyway, especialy cause those lugs are like $5 a piece.

[RCSignals]

It's under warranty. have the dealer fix it.

Could be because of any of the items mentioned. Lug nuts over tightened by them using an impact wrench. Lug nits not torqued to spec, lug nuts too loose.

Which ever, glad you are OK.

[dailydriver]

Strange thing is the wheels haven't been off the car in over 10,000 miles. I have checked the rest and the are all tight.

Guess it is time to call the local dealer...

[RCSignals]

Another good reason to have the dealer do it, is it will go into Ford's data base of problems. If there is some kind of problem with the parts they are using, this will show it

[jgc61sr2002]

If you didn't have the wheels off recently the Sarge is probably right someone tried to take your wheels. Also check the rim, when the lugs are loose the hole for the stud becomes elongated. :(

[Krytin]

If you didn't have the wheels off recently the Sarge is probably right someone tried to take your wheels. Also check the rim, when the lugs are loose the hole for the stud becomes elongated. :(

Ditto
The studs are pressed in - have the dealer do them. I would look carefully at the places you have been parking your car. I had the same problem with my '68 Cougar XR-7 when someone tried to boost my A/R "Sprints" - only snapped one lug off.

[Smokie]

Strange thing is the wheels haven't been off the car in over 10,000 miles. I have checked the rest and the are all tight.

Guess it is time to call the local dealer...

Have you thought about the possibility that someone was trying to steal your wheels and got spooked and left lug nuts loose ?

[RoyLPita]

If it was a possible theft of your wheels, then invest in some McGard locking lug nuts. Also, if more than 2 lug nut studs broke off, see if they would change out the axle shaft for safety sake.

Just my .02

[Ross]

Kind of reminds me of an old auto theive's short cut, back the lug nut out a turn or two and snap it off by kicking the four-way. Real time saver, works great in shopping malls because you can hit it one tire at a time and leave it alone until you're ready to pick up all four. Couple of pumps on a floor jack, and you're gone. Yeah, better check the other tires...

Sarge, how did you know that was how I paid my way through law school? :eek:

[dailydriver]

Took my car to a dealer to get the studs replaced. To my suprise they had no issues working in the MM. I dropped the car of first thing in the morning and got a call before lunch that it was done, all under warranty. They ended up replacing the 2 studs that broke off and the wheel hub(mainly as a precaution). Everything else checked our okay. The even had time to wash the car.

[dflynn5]

Given how expensive these wheels are, my guess is that someone was trying to steal them. I thought about locking lugs but wanted good quality.