Right Rear lugnuts broken

[Tim Binford]

I have a 2008 Sport Trac with V8 I have towed atleast 15000 miles up to 6500 lbs, without a problem last Sunday I was towing 3500 lb trailer with my wife daughter and 18 month baby onboard, we just went through the mountains between Knoxville and London KY coming into London and I was passing a truckat 75 mph when the truck/trailer went whipping all over the road, I thought I had a blow out and looked into my right mirror and saw what I thought was a shredded tire flapping out of wheel well. I didn't hit brakes and slowed down until I could pull off the road safely. I got out went around truck and almost passed out my right tire was not flat it was fine my right rear lugs stud were all broken off and my rim was being held up with rotor on inside lip of rim. Tow truck guy said he never seen a tire stay on and that speed and there was no damage to fender or truck except studs and rim. (I checked torque on lugs nuts before every trip so some how if got losened up between time I left from London, Ky drove to Birmingham, AL and returned back to London.



I feel lucky I still have my family alive and well.

Tim

 

[Dingo]

That's VERY lucky.



It's also very odd. Each of those studs can hold at LEAST 1000 lbs. of sheer. That's 10,000 lbs just on the back wheels.

 

[Tim Binford]

Ford dealer told me that lug nuts do not losen themselves up on their own and they also said my studs didn't look like they were ever over tightened I always used a torque wrench on them and actually only removed them once since new and that was 20000 miles ago.

I did make a man mad at the hotel I stayed at in Birmingham because I parked in a space and he said it was his space. He flipped me off and cursed at me I blew it off and walked into hotel and got a room.



Tim

 

[EddieS'04]

Is there a possibilty when the tires were rotated last,the shop over torqued with an impact and damaged the studs? If so when you check them the torque wrench wont know it. Because they are already over torqued..

 

[Jeff C]

I did make a man mad at the hotel I stayed at in Birmingham

That may have been enough, though I don't know if anyone in B'ham would be that clever or calculating, they'd probably just key your truck.

 

[Tom Schindler]

My cousin stopped in for a night at a hotel in Virginia when he had his 1993 F-150. As he puled in, he sen a couple guys with the4 same year, and color F-150 in the lot too, but it had steel wheels.



He never gave it a second thought.



He was driving home the next day when his rear wheel came off. He was able to get it fixed and drove back to the hotel. There he found 4 lugnuts where his truck was sitting. Upon further inspection, he found the right rear was also missing some lugnuts, though not all.



The only thing he could figure is that somone wanted those aluminum wheels (possibly the guys they seen the night before in the F-150) and were trying to steal them but the wheel locks prevented them from getting the last lug nut off.





Tom

 

[Paul Maurer 2]

I think that guy in Birmingham almost killed you..... I have a similar story- We bought our last limo in Houston and had a disagreement over equipment it supposedly had and didn't, end result being seller accepting $2000 less or we walked. Last thing seller did was change out spare for a worn right front tire. Fifty miles out of Houston, right front wheel fell off car- luckily there was a downpour, it was rush hour and limo was going 30 mph. Wheel got stuck betwween frame and axle- only damage was studs and wheel. :angry:

 

[Patrick Bajtka]

I think Fast Eddie might be onto something. I've seen that happen before, fortunately not to me.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I sheared studs on a '73 Nova once with no weight in the back.



All you need is a poorly mounted wheel. Maybe the wheel wasn't completely centered and one of the lugs didn't seat completely into the hole and onto the stud. All you need to be off by a millimeter. Yes, I know, the shape of the lugs should force the wheel into position and a tight set for each lug, but all you need is one that is a little off, a little lose.



Then, the vibration of the wobble of the wheel against can cause a stud sheer, and once one goes...others go.



The old-school wisdom was whenever changing a tire, rotating tires, etc, to drive a few hundred miles or so, then lift the vehicle again and re-tighten.



TJR

 

[Bill Barber]

Fast eddie is right on.

The new s197 stangs are notorious for if they get hit with an impact wrench you can pull the studs right out of the axles, maybe the 07/08 tracs are the same design.

also if you have alloy rims check them after a couple hun miles.

 

[Tim Binford]

As my second post stated it has been over 20000 miles since tires have been rotated and no impact was used a torque wrench was used.



Tim

 

[Jorgie Hidalgo]

my studs completely broke off once....someone tried stealing the wheels. i guess they got mad that my wheels have 2 different head locks on each wheel...i guess they got mad n ripped them off lol i got lucky cause i drove for a while without even noticing, i just thought i needed a balance but it was that 3 of my 5 lugs were gone...