Loose Lug Nuts

Found a stranded motorist on the expressway yesterday looking for his left rear wheel. It passed him up and went around the corner out of sight. We walked the road edges looking and learned from another that he had seen it just past an intersection. Someone picked it up before he could get to it!
This guy lost the rear wheel bearing and when the wheel started to move away the axle shaft snapped off. Old Ford F-150 pickup. Interestingly, no trace of lube to be seen. :slight_smile:

Hmmm… I had a rear wheel bearing go bad in a 95 Chevy van one time and unbeknownst to me, all of the lubricant in the differential leaked out. :eek:

The bearing dried out and overheated and before I could get stopped the axle had welded itself to the housing and blew out the tire. :mad:

The B.O. wheel bearing took out the oil seal. Unless the van was a 3/4 ton or more the wheel bearing is a sealed bearing with its own lube.
This old Ford should have had 80-90 lube all over everything but there wasn’t a trace of lube to be seen.
Kenny Rodgers used to sing a song about a loose wheel didn’t he? :slight_smile:

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You are absolutely correct. Chevy vans didn’t change the rear end out when it went from 1/2 t to 3/4t, all they did was change out the springs. So basically a 3/4t Chevy van was just a 1/2t with 3/4t springs. Ford goes with a completely different rear end, the 1/2t is a 5 lug and the 3/4t is an 8 lug, IIRC.

All of the lube on my van leaked out behind the wheel, consequently I didn’t notice until it was too late. :smack:
Damn near caused me to lose the van. When the bearing welded and the tire blew out, the backing plate for the drum brakes was heated to the point of being cherry red and covered in 90 wt. :eek: Caught fire, almost didn’t get it put out.

Lesson learned? Always carry a fire extinguisher in your vehicle.

Personally, I think that it should be standard equipment on all new vehicles.

A few years ago I had new tires put on my Tahoe. On the way home, about 16 miles from the tire shop, the front driver’s side wheel came off. :eek: At first, I thought “blowout.” Then I looked up and saw the wheel bouncing off the guard rail in front of me. I left a long, deep gouge in the asphalt as I stopped the truck on the brake rotor.

Thank goodness I wasn’t hurt, although I was covered in Diet Dr. Pepper and had a case of cokes that somehow managed to flip on top of 5 dozen eggs and two loaves of bread.

When it came off, the studs ripped a hole in the sidewall of the tire and 4 of the studs broke off. I had it towed back to the tire shop. They replaced the tire, wheel, studs, brake rotor and ball joint. They also gave me $50 for the groceries. I’m guessing he was really scared of a lawsuit.

Since then, I always check the lugs or make sure I see the tire shop check them by hand before I leave.

You recall incorrectly. with Chevy, Dodge and Ford the 3/4T and 1T trucks all have 8 lug wheels
My half ton Chevy had 6 lugs while the passenger cars of the same year had 5.
I was thinking about this thread today and I was wondering were both the wheels and lug nuts stock, or had either been changed out for something in the aftermarket?
I have seen plenty of very scary wheel and lug combos put on by tire shops out there.

The 1995 Chevy G20 (3/4 ton) van had 5 lug wheels and was identical in every aspect to the 1/2 ton van, the only difference being heavier duty (ie: stiffer?) springs. :wink:
I know that the newer models are just as you’ve described, not sure about what year the change occured.
Back then Ford and Dodge were exactly as you say. :slight_smile: