[sampoerna415]

Thought I got a good deal on some rotors, the studs in them were too short for the wheels i'm using so I went through the trouble of changing them out, the longer studs I used were .005 bigger than the ones I pulled out. But the studs that came with it knocked out easy and the bigger ones installed easy too, I should have seen the warning signs but I never usually work on new stuff so my thinking was that's why everything is going together smooth. Nope, the lugs came off at about 5 miles a hour then the wheel came off, it hit a guys truck but he was cool about it. Thankfully everyone was ok and the only damage done was to a fender and rotor but lesson learned. The rotors were power stop brand and the studs were dorman (studs are fine btw and not the cause).

 

[DUTCH MAX HEADWORK]

Sorry that happened Rame. Luckily you don't drive like me or you would really have been screwed.

 

[sampoerna415]

Sorry that happened Rame. Luckily you don't drive like me or you would really have been screwed.

Thanks Dutch, the irony is I probably do often drive like you, but I took the car for grocery getting duty one damn time and the wheel came off wtf? The whole reason I put the longer studs is so the wheel wound't come off :frown2:

 

[jackie schmidt]

? Why did the wheel come off. Did you forget to tighten the lug nuts?

 

[sampoerna415]

? Why did the wheel come off. Did you forget to tighten the lug nuts?

Lugs were torqued, took it on a shake down and i thought everything was good, after the indecent I checked the other wheel and the lugs are spinning in the rotor, I'm guessing the metal in the rotor is too soft and the studs worked loose in the rotors.

 

[sampoerna415]

*studs were spinning in the rotor.

 

[70montee]

That sucks. your fender looks exactly like the fender on my Camaro when i got it. Once i got that car on the lift, i noticed the lower spring bucket had massive scrapes on it, and the bottom loop of the shock was ground down. I came to the conclusion, at one time the wheel flew off. Looking at your pics, i would say i am correct.
I had a wheel come off my jeep pick up when i was a young dumb kid....i put the wheel on, knew i didnt tighten the lugs, but went around to the other side to do something else, and i never went back and tightened them. That big as wheel and tire went shooting off into someones driveway, but i managed to run after it and knock it out of its path, which was heading for a car parked in the driveway. That was just stupidity on my part. i dont do that anymore. if i put a wheel on, i tighten it up right then. Lesson learned.

 

[Derek69SS]

I feel your pain... lower balljoint in my case.

 

[paul bell]

...the lugs came off....

Do you mean the lugNUTS came off?

 

[MikeN]

I guess I'm confused. The lug nuts are missing in the photos. Are you saying the nuts didn't tighten when torqued because the studs were turning in the rotors? And you couldn't detect that when torquing them? Or you're saying the nuts loosened after torquing because the studs didn't remain seated?

Sorry about your car either way, that sucks.

 

[SSJohn]

Dang, I’m checking all my lug nut right now!!
Glad no one got hurt, sorry about your elco.

 

[sampoerna415]

I guess I'm confused. The lug nuts are missing in the photos. Are you saying the nuts didn't tighten when torqued because the studs were turning in the rotors? And you couldn't detect that when torquing them? Or you're saying the nuts loosened after torquing because the studs didn't remain seated?

Sorry about your car either way, that sucks.

Yeah kind of hard to explain, every thing seemed good when putting it together, lugs torqued fine, after driving the studs became loose in the rotor (the pic with the missing stud is because i pushed it through with my finger).

 

[sampoerna415]

Went down the road with a few friends and found 3 of the lug nuts, all are fine. I thought some of the studs were bent because of the damage, but it was the bore in the rotor, most are egg shaped now. So basically the cause was the metal was too soft in the rotor and the studs wobbled around and the lug nuts worked themselves off. I always do a 5 mile and 20 mile check and make sure everything is still tight but the car was driven less than a mile and this happened. These rotors were about 100 bucks a piece. :frown2:

 

[b&b's69]

i would be contacting the manufacturer of the rotors about the poor quality of materials used

 

[Andy's Auto Repair]

Here's a thought. 7/16 lug nuts won't fit a 12.5x1.5 stud, but a 12.5x1.5 nut will fit loosely yet snug on a 7/16 stud.

 

[paul bell]

This doesn't bode very well for Power Stop.

FWIW, I use the two year warrantied rotors from AutoZone. Plain blanks. Never had an issue. I've found no difference between them and top shelf Wilwood rotors. Although I have heard that cryo treated rotors last longer. As I understand it, rotors these days come from China or Germany.

 

[Chris27]

I've lost a wheel before too. I was driving my 1970 GMC Jimmy on a 4 lane highway when I felt a vibration. Just as I was thinking "I should pull over" my left front leaves the truck and darts across the ditch towards oncoming traffic. Truck drops down, sparks flying as I slow the truck down and pull onto the shoulder. My wheel somehow turns back towards me and back across the ditch. I get out of the truck and step on my tire. It stopped right beside my door. Checked all the lug nuts on the other 3, all loose except for the locks. Wheel that came off had one broken stud, the one with the lock on it. Apparently some A-hole tried to steel my wheels. Made for an exciting morning. Fortunately the only damage was one broken wheel stud and a ground down lower ball joint.

 

[novadude]

I'm still confused. If the studs were tightened to 85 lb-ft (and double checked), I'm not sure how they could possibly come loose, unless the rotor cast iron material under the stud head yielded in compression (not likely, as cast iron is pretty good in compression - you'd probably know it if the rotor was soft, and you'd feel under-head yeilding when torqueing the nuts), I don't think the rotor is at fault. Are the lug nuts correct for the wheel type?

My best guess is that something funky was happening the the lug nut / wheel end of the stud, and the studs now being loose in the rotor are more of a result than a cause of everything coming apart.

Just my $.02.

 

[sampoerna415]

I'm still confused. If the studs were tightened to 85 lb-ft (and double checked), I'm not sure how they could possibly come loose, unless the rotor cast iron material under the stud head yielded in compression (not likely, as cast iron is pretty good in compression - you'd probably know it if the rotor was soft, and you'd feel under-head yeilding when torqueing the nuts), I don't think the rotor is at fault. Are the lug nuts correct for the wheel type?

My best guess is that something funky was happening the the lug nut / wheel end of the stud, and the studs now being loose in the rotor are more of a result than a cause of everything coming apart.

Just my $.02.

Yeah, something seemed off when I snugged the nuts with the impact, but they all torqued with the torque wrench, I guess it had enough material to hold the torque but not the weight of the car, almost looks like metal fatigue or like when you hold a drill at an angle when drilling a hole, most of the holes are out of round now and on the other wheel the nuts won't come off because the studs are spinning. I used calipers when measuring for the new studs and even got some with a slightly bigger knurl and had to use a press to get them in.

 

[TerryAT]

I guess Ill keep the drums on my car. This aftermarket crap is just that. If you put all your time and money in a car and this happened, I dont know what Id be capable of doing at that moment.