Roughly two weeks ago I got 2 new rear tyres put on by a tyre company (name not shown for privacy sake). The day after i noticed my car was making a weird noise (unrelated problem, turns out to be centre bearing failing) I decided i could go a week before getting the driveshaft fixed (had no choice really, time and money problems) So i drove to and from work for one week, naturally the centrebearing problem became worse. Last friday I was on the way to dropping my car around to AMEC to sort out the driveshaft problem. On the Pacific HWY i noticed steering problems and my mate driving behind me said my rear left wheel was wobbling hardcore. We pulled over to find out that all the rear studs are cross threaded on the wobbling wheel, and 2 of the studs had snapped off, the other rear wheel wasnt wobbling but i also didnt check the studs (I assume theyre threaded too however). I organised a tow truck to get the car to AMEC. Anyway I'm certain the tyre guys have caused the damage since the wheels have not been touched since the new tyres where put on and only the rear studs are cross threaded. I rang the tyre guys and they said it cannot possibly be done from the machinery they use and the only thing he can think of that caused it was this: "While my car was unattended (parked) someone came up with a wheel brace thing and tightened the studs (rear only since front are fine) up too much and left" I just wanna ask you guys what you think. During the week my max speed was 60km's, noticed the steering problem (cause by wobbling wheel) on the HWY (100km's) Is it possibly that the higher speed was the 'straw that broke the camels back?' or in the case the 2 studs? Or is it possible that my max lower speed (60km) during the week wouldnt have caused me to notice the steering change? I base my arguemnt on a few points: -They only replaced the rear tyres, only the rears are affected -Because of the driveshaft problem I was only driving to and from work each day, no parking at shopping centre etc. Just work and home (less exposure to people who 'tighten up the nuts (rear only of course) and run off' Theyre arguements base points: -They've 'never' had a problem like this before, the guy who did the replacement was expeirenced -The tools they use cannot possibly cross thread the studs, only a wheel brace can if someone jumps on it Note: I mentioned the fact that only the rear studs are affected, they agree it is bizarre but refuse to take blame. Am i right in assuming that they're at fault? They're sending someone to check out the damage. Aside from that what else should/can I do?
pfft, when i got my tyres changed on my old car, they used a rattle gun to put the nuts onto the studs, and they were on TIGHT....cra-z-boy can back that up as neither of us could get the nuts off the studs without going to a shop to loosen them for us. dont be so sure that they COULDN'T have over tightened them....because a shop did it to my old car
You can be 99.9% sure the tyre fitter over-torqued your studs. Proving it may be impossible.... but .... If $'s spent on repairs warrant a $65 small claims order via the local courthouse, you may see matters settled out of court.
No, you are not the latest victim of the notorious "Phantom of the Wheel Brace", you are more likely a victim of a bullshitting Tyre Dealer with an out of control rattle gun. There is no such animal as "a tool that cannot cross thread a wheel nut", and I suggest that just such a "tool" has proven that on your car. Go get 'em mate(and keep a watch-out for that Robin Hood figure with the wheel brace).
recently i had a wheel fall off going 100k's along sturt highway luckily got away with only having to scrap the bottom of the bodykit and replace a few bolts and nuts. but yeh mine was a most likely cause of my front wheels have spacers on them and the dickheads who put them on didn't make sure the nuts were flush with the holes in the spacers and it was not the spacer that was making contact with the rim but the nuts so well yeh the constant pressure gradually threaded the bolts and nuts and massively weakened the bolts, three i think it was snapped. i was just very lucky i got off the road within 5 metres and that a good friend of mine lived in renmark 10ks from where it came off and her dad builds cars from scratch so got it towed there and he replaced them all and ground them all down for me
What equipment did they use That can not possibly crossthread a stud? Any tyre business that I've been to, use one of 2 things for the tensioning of wheel nuts. Option 1... A Wheel Brace... Very possible to cross thread a stud. Option 2... A Rattle Gun (Impact Tool) also possible. ( Most likely used) It comes down to the person who applied the nuts to the studs. It is more likely that if a rattle gun was use to tighten your wheel nuts, that the operator applying these would be none the wiser if a wheel nut cross threaded, as he has no direct contact with the nut other than the rattle gun. And if you've used one of these, you would know what I'm saying is correct. This would also explain the broken wheel studs caused by over tensioning. Option 3... And this has happened to me in the past. The wheel nuts were NOT tightened/tensioned near enough and after a bit of driving they have loosened sufficently enough for the wheel to start to wobble & cause the same effect by banging against the wheel nuts. I hope this sorts it's self out in your favour. Cheers Kerry
Option 3 I agree with Kerry. Also from personal experience, many years ago with a 240Z. I changed a front tyre in a hurry and forgot to tighten the wheel nuts after dropping the car off the jack. I got about 200 km down the road before I waved good-bye to the front wheel - it making a 100 kph escape into a golf course and me grinding ungraciously to a halt. Anyway, the result was a snapped stud and 4 totally destroyed threads on the remaining studs. If I had managed to pull up before the wheel parted company, I'm sure the nuts would have been well and truely stuck on the thread as the wheel encouraged them to come off without rotating. In your case, not overtightened or cross threaded - just sloppy work. Go get 'em. (I keep hearing Kenny Rogers singing "You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel....") Garry
