Wheel stud fracture/loose tire

[Dentoman]

So I switched out my winters for summers on an 04 Explorer 10 days ago ... did it myself. Haven't always used a torque wrench but presently do.

Driving to work today had a bad vibration. Check lug nuts and find a missing lug nut with broken stud and loose lug nuts on left rear tire. I'm talking LOOSE lug nuts, like I could turn them with my hand.

Question is ..... could a broken stud (metal fatigue, wasn't broken when I changed them) from changing tires lead to that much lug loosening or was someone trying to steal a tire and didn't have enough time and left loose lug nuts which resulted in the stud breaking? Or is someone trying to kill me?

[burn_this_city]

You likely didn't tighten them enough, or the wheel wasn't flush against the hub. Outside chance there's a hit out on you.

[Fuzz]

Do you change the tires, take it for a short drive, then torque them? Are they alloy rims? Torqued to 80 ft lbs, and is your torque wrench accurate?

Once you get a tiny bit of movement, it is very possible for all of them to be loose like that. I've seen it before. It's possible you did everything right and the lug broke form fatigue, then the others loosened, but if the others were torqued properly I don't see that as entirely likely.

[Fuzz]

Sorry, was thinking my car, yours is probably 100ft lbs.

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

You likely didn't tighten them enough, or the wheel wasn't flush against the hub. Outside chance there's a hit out on you.

Torqued to 100 ft/lbs. I did check it was seated properly. If it wasn't flush intially, wouldn't the vibration show up right aways?

[burn_this_city]

They always say to recheck after 100km. Not sure why yours would loosen. Maybe they were loosened by someone. Any crazy ex's?

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Do you change the tires, take it for a short drive, then torque them? Are they alloy rims? Torqued to 80 ft lbs, and is your torque wrench accurate?

Once you get a tiny bit of movement, it is very possible for all of them to be loose like that. I've seen it before. It's possible you did everything right and the lug broke form fatigue, then the others loosened, but if the others were torqued properly I don't see that as entirely likely.

No short drive, alloy rims, torqued to 100. Just trusted the torque wrench.

Sounds like I'll never know.

Can I drive safely around town for a couple of days with 4 tight lug nuts. Going in on Wednesday afternoon to get all the studs on the wheel changed because they all likely took some extra stress with the loose wheel.

[Fuzz]

With alloy rims particularly you always want to take it for a short drive before using the torque wrench. Honestly, considering the damage that could be caused and the safety issue, I wouldn't be driving around town like that.

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

They always say to recheck after 100km. Not sure why yours would loosen. Maybe they were loosened by someone. Any crazy ex's?

Only been about 200 km, didn't recheck at 100 kms. Will be from now on.
Just found it strange for them all to be loose. A broken stud I could see happening because of the age of the vehicle and may have been damaged while changing the tire.

[bossy22]

Do your rims have hub centric rings? Did one get stuck on your hub and you didn't notice when you put the summers on?

[Fuzz]

Once you have a tiny bit of play, the vibrations will loosen all the nuts. I'm often amazed by how much looser my nuts are after a short drive. Take your torque wrench to your other wheels and see.

And I know...phrasing.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Best thing to do after changing tires is go to your nearest parking lot and do some high power donuts followed by drifting around a light standard. Back home and re-tighten. Doing the 100km is for sissies.

[Bill Bumface]

Often corrosion will keep the wheel or the lug nut from seating properly, as soon as the corrosion wears off, things get loose fast.

I've found some wheels/cars works than others, we had one that would do this every year if you didn't remember to re-torque after a couple days.

[Erick Estrada]

Check manufacturer torque specs as not all are the same and always re-torque after 100 kms or so after installing wheels. Most car's I've owned have had specs between 80-90 ft-lbs it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer but I've seen plenty of people on car forums break studs by overtightening.

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by bossy22

Do your rims have hub centric rings? Did one get stuck on your hub and you didn't notice when you put the summers on?

They don't.

I did not sense any type of vibration prior to this morning. If the rim was not seated properly, I would have thought a vibration would have shown up sooner.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

[Fuzz]

I'm a big fan of these for DIY'ers.



They will stop you from over torquing. You don't need a full set, just the size and torque for the vehicles you own. I used to use these at our shop, too. My method is to use this in the star pattern, take it for a quick drive(even 5km or so is enough) then use the torque wrench. Thousands of tires changed, never had one issue with that method.

[jwslam]

Originally Posted by Dentoman

Can I drive safely around town for a couple of days with 4 tight lug nuts. Going in on Wednesday afternoon to get all the studs on the wheel changed because they all likely took some extra stress with the loose wheel.

My dad's mechanic says 3/5 is safe

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Check manufacturer torque specs as not all are the same and always re-torque after 100 kms or so after installing wheels. Most car's I've owned have had specs between 80-90 ft-lbs it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer but I've seen plenty of people on car forums break studs by overtightening.

I'm not surpised by the stud breaking due to age of the vehicle and that I haven't always used a torque wrench and have likely overtightened the wheels due to that.
I was just surprised how loose the wheel was after losing the stud .... wouldn't have thought that the other lug nuts would have loosened that much in that short period of time ... not more than 200 km.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Dentoman

I'm not surpised by the stud breaking due to age of the vehicle and that I haven't always used a torque wrench and have likely overtightened the wheels due to that.
I was just surprised how loose the wheel was after losing the stud .... wouldn't have thought that the other lug nuts would have loosened that much in that short period of time ... not more than 200 km.

Probably a combination of the broken stud and bolts backing off somewhat after being initially installed. We would need an automotive CSI investigation to determine the exact reason. Bottom line is that at least your wheel didn't fall off while commuting and nobody got hurt.

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Probably a combination of the broken stud and bolts backing off somewhat after being initially installed. We would need an automotive CSI investigation to determine the exact reason. Bottom line is that at least your wheel didn't fall off while commuting and nobody got hurt.

I agree .... that was pretty close to happening.

I knew there would not be a definitive answer. Just wanted to see what some of the possible causes were and how to prevent them in the future.

Thanks again to everyone who gave me some info.