Thieves or my stupidity? You decide.
12-10-09, 10:41 AM
#1
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Thieves or my stupidity? You decide.
So, I was washing my car yesterday and noticed on the rear driver's side wheel that a lug nut was missing. Kind of weird, but I thought, eh whatever, no big deal, I'll just replace it. After washing my car when I was driving down the road, I start hearing this thumping noise coming from my rear driver's side wheel (the same one with the lug missing) and was like WTF. So I pull off to the side of the road and I look at my wheel a little bit closer. My lug nuts are ALL loose on that wheel INCLUDING the wheel lock key. And when I say loose, I mean LOOSE. Like FINGER LOOSE! I was like WTF! So I looked at the rest of the wheels and they appeared to be nice and tight, the way they should be. But my rear driver's side wheel was ready to fall the hell off. I don't know if someone was trying to steal my wheels the other night or something, but this was really weird. The last time I had the rear wheels off on my car was when I replaced my rear rotors, about a month or so ago, and I DEFINITELY remember torquing my wheels back on the way they are supposed to be, at 85 lbs of torque (I have aftermarket wheels obviously lol). Apparently either someone doesn't like me too much and wanted me to crash down the road by having my wheel fall off or someone was trying to steal my wheels and gave up once they realized they couldn't get it off without a jack or something, or maybe the wheel lock was giving them a hard time getting the wheel off. This just seems really fishy to me. I don't see how 85 lbs of torque can just "untorque itself". Not very logical to me. So, I made sure all my wheels were torqued at 85 lbs and drove home. They still seem okay, but I just can't figure out why this could of happened.
12-10-09, 10:47 AM
#2
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I hear lug nuts loosing themselves is common with aftermarket wheels. I'm going to say someone tried stealing your wheels, but it is very well possible that the wheel was not making full contact with the hub which can in turn lead to vibrations which will loosen the lug nuts.
12-10-09, 10:52 AM
#3
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but if they had the intention of stealing ur wheel...they would had a jack!!!!
i mean if ur not prepared to do something like that...ur a dumb *** plain and simple....or u got some neighborhood druggies!!!
or someone hates you!!!
i mean if ur not prepared to do something like that...ur a dumb *** plain and simple....or u got some neighborhood druggies!!!
or someone hates you!!!
12-10-09, 11:06 AM
#4
yea wheels dont untorque themselves like that....they do loosen after a while but not that dramatically. looks like someone tampered with ur car.
also some advice is to check your torque specs on ur wheels about once every month just to be safe, aftermarket or stock.
also some advice is to check your torque specs on ur wheels about once every month just to be safe, aftermarket or stock.
12-10-09, 11:50 AM
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Someone was definitely messing with you. LiCelsior is right, it would be that dramatic and why just that one wheel? Good thing they didn't get away with it. I would rather read a failed attempt to steal rims than a success story.
12-10-09, 01:17 PM
#7
Do you have hub rings for your wheels?
The same exact thing happened to me while I was at school. When I was parking I noticed a guy in his car staring at my car but not parking up. While I was in class I had a weird feeling so I pressed the arm button on my alarm to check if it was still there which it was. When I got out I started driving and I noticed on my side mirror that my driver side rear wheel was wobbling like crazy. So I pull over and look at it. A wheel stud was broken and all the other lug nuts were loose. I didn't have a lug wrench in my car so I hand tightened them and drove to the nearest car shop to borrrow one. I think the guy tried stealing my wheels but got scared when I pressed the button. And when I drove with loose lug nuts, it caused one to snap. I always check my lug nuts too especially my driver side. They didn't have any camera setup yet because it's a new school.
I carry a lug wrench at all times now.
The same exact thing happened to me while I was at school. When I was parking I noticed a guy in his car staring at my car but not parking up. While I was in class I had a weird feeling so I pressed the arm button on my alarm to check if it was still there which it was. When I got out I started driving and I noticed on my side mirror that my driver side rear wheel was wobbling like crazy. So I pull over and look at it. A wheel stud was broken and all the other lug nuts were loose. I didn't have a lug wrench in my car so I hand tightened them and drove to the nearest car shop to borrrow one. I think the guy tried stealing my wheels but got scared when I pressed the button. And when I drove with loose lug nuts, it caused one to snap. I always check my lug nuts too especially my driver side. They didn't have any camera setup yet because it's a new school.
I carry a lug wrench at all times now.
Last edited by SH_JZZ30; 12-10-09 at 01:20 PM.
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12-10-09, 01:50 PM
#9
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I've never experience a lug nut backing out on me naturally. It's usually because of myself forgetting to tighting them after working on the car so far. I've been lucky enough for nobody to tempter with my car and I hope nobody ever does..!! *knock on wood*..
12-10-09, 05:33 PM
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Man... these stories suck. You all must have some hating going on in the neighborhood or something. I just didnt think poeple stole radios or rims any more. At least not in my area. I live and work in a very good area.. Sorry it happened to each of you. I would keep an eye on things for awhile.
12-10-09, 11:15 PM
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Yeah, see the weird thing about this is, one of my lug stems is snapped off on the wheel that was loosened (the rear drivers side). The lug nut was missing because the lug stem snapped off! And I ALSO think that it is weird how ONLY my rear drivers side wheel was loose, especially since THAT wheel faces the darkness in the night time. The way I park in my neighborhood, that specific wheel faces trees/darkness while the other side of the car faces a light pole. So if I didn't torque both back wheels on right when I replaced my rotors like I said about a month or so ago, why would ONLY the wheel in the darkness be loose and not the other one as well? Like I said, it just seems really fishy to me. Not to mention, I don't know how the hell they got my wheel lock loose, sounds like someone has some tools I don't like the sound of...
12-11-09, 04:13 AM
#15
When using aftermarket wheels you need hubcentric rings to fill in the space between the wheel hub and the hub of the vehicle. This takes the force off the wheel studs and puts it more on the hub which reduces noise and vibration. Aftermarket wheels are lug centric with a larger hub bore size so it can be used on many different vehicles. Oem wheels are hub centric and so are some custom wheels.
The hub centric rings can be plastic or metal. They are pretty cheap. They sell on eBay and I think a vendor on here sells them too.
Our hub is 60mm. So find out the size of your wheel bore and you should be good.
The hub centric rings can be plastic or metal. They are pretty cheap. They sell on eBay and I think a vendor on here sells them too.
Our hub is 60mm. So find out the size of your wheel bore and you should be good.