Loose wheel !!

Most tyre places have it in the small print on the back of the invoice that the wheel nuts should be checked after x amount of miles. On my works form it's 40 miles. I always point this out to the customer and then put a ring around it with some asterix's to highlight it along with jotting down the vehicles mileage to help cover my ass. I also do the same when I fit space savers or undertake roadside puncture repairs to show a max speed of 50mph.

Yes, but the purpose of that small print is to exclude liability when they have done the work properly in the first place, which I think they can't have done, in which case they can't exclude liability.

This brings me to a question in my mind that I was wondering if anybody has a view on....... So, 2 studs were sheared right off and 2 bolts were finger tight only, the remaining one I could shift with fingers presumably because the weight of whole car on one was preventing it. Would vibrations shear off two because 2 others were loose ?

Latest from the garage is they have made no comment, will not supply the video they say they have, refuse to deal with the matter in writing and insist I visit them for a face to dace discussion !! They / their parent company are signed up to the Motor Code and the Trading Standards Institute so this approach surprises me. I've been on to the Citizens Advice who have registered the matter and advised that I write setting out the claim and send it by recorded delivery, so that's what I'm going to do. Watch this space .......

Here's a picture

If you can get a good high resolution picture of the fracture surface it can tell you if it was caused by a catastrophic overstress event or a repeated cyclic failure which may help you to understand what happened?

Hmm. They've just snapped clean off. Usually, when I shear off bolts with a spanner, you can see a twisty mark on the fracture surface where they've given way. Also, quite often when you over-tighten bolts and stretch them there's a 'neck' that develops around where they snap. I cant see either of these features so I'm not sure what's happened.

Brown said:

Hmm. They've just snapped clean off. Usually, when I shear off bolts with a spanner, you can see a twisty mark on the fracture surface where they've given way. Also, quite often when you over-tighten bolts and stretch them there's a 'neck' that develops around where they snap. I cant see either of these features so I'm not sure what's happened.

Click to expand...

mblinko said:

Here's a picture

Click to expand...

I agree.. bolts that have been over torqued stretch before they fail, as said above.
I suggest the two nuts on these studs were done up enough to hold the wheel, the others were loose. Resultant strain on the two studs snapped them off

You were bloody mate ! scary **** !!

We don't put it in small print, we put it in large print and we tell the client verbally too. That's not changing tyres, that's on every instance where wheels have been off

We've had clients come in who's cars had significant damage from loose wheels coming off. It happens way too often. The last D2 he'd changed to his spare, torqued it up then it came off within 100 miles wiping out his hub and his CV joint on the A1. He was lucky it wasn't worse. It's not crap that they can come loose. That car had 2 studs left, 2 completely sheered off, one was half snapped

It's imperative you check your wheel nuts and I would also check it's been torqued correctly in the first instance, I've stopped a young tyre fitter doing torque while my car was on a jack before

Blimey lucky it wasn't worse!

Could the fitter have zipped the nuts on with an impact gun to save himself some time?

Torque with wheels on the floor

flat said:

Blimey lucky it wasn't worse!

Could the fitter have zipped the nuts on with an impact gun to save himself some time?

Torque with wheels on the floor

Click to expand...

Yes, we were counting our blessings that day.

Could have done bit I would think he only nipped them up and forgot to torque them all.