A guy I know had his tire changed a week ago after some bearing work was done on his vehicle. The other day he was driving on the interstate in a construction zone, and the tire flew off crossed the median and hit a car. He's warning everybody now to recheck their wheels after having service work done.

You'd think you'd notice a loose wheel but I know two people that had front tires come off. One flew so far into the woods they never found it.

Anytime you have a wheel off and put back on heck them a couple blocks is enough to show up.

Lug nuts need to be re-torqued after 100km when the wheels come off for any reason.

Wow that's crazy. Is everyone ok?

I'm not 100% sure of the status, but I know it hit an oncoming car in the windshield. I think the lady survived, but got cut.

I've never done that. My beaver rigs have totaled over a million miles (four of them over 27 years - 87 yota truck, 94 yota truck, 95 Tacoma, and 2000 Tacoma) and I never did that, and never had a lug nut come off. Is this only for certain vehicles? My beaver rigs have all been yotas.

Always find a few loose lug nuts after wheels have been off.It is standard practice here.

And I never have. What vehicles do you have this happen on?

Ford Ranger,2 Ford half tons,ford 1 ton work truck,honda crv.
My daughter had a wheel come loose because she forgot to have the wheel nuts re torqued after a brake job on the ranger.
All the garages print it out now in bold letters on the invoice if you have any wheels taken off.

Good idea to re-check, but I've never heard of this lugnut issue happening with any sort of regularity like you mention. Over the years that I can think of at least three people I've heard of lose wheels though.

I have never found all of them loose,but usually two or three.
Next time you have the wheels off,check the lugnuts after 100km and see if a couple are not fully torqued anymore.

It is a bigger issue with aluminum rims. Aluminum and steel dont like each other, they can loosen up right after a tire change and then 6 months later be seized up so bad you need a torch to get the lugnuts off. Apply a little anti seize, torque to spec then re-check after a few miles. Most any reputable shop/mechanic around here will either suggest this or it will be printed on your bill after any work has been done where a tire was removed.

This is not an American problem. Notice he said 100km. I've never put a single km on my vehicle. I only drive miles.

I guarantee you'd feel a loose wheel. Lots of vibration and noise. More likely the goon that put the wheels back on just hammered the lugnuts on with an impact and stretched and cracked the studs. Then everything feels fine until you hit a big bump (like in a construction area, per the OP) and the studs break and the wheel falls off.

You picked a fine time to leave me, Loose Wheel!

Yep.

Most of the vehicles I've owned recommend torquing to 100 ft./lbs.

There's a reason for that...

Too loose and the nuts work loose. Too tight and you stretch the steel beyond its capacity and it fails.

A torque wrench is pretty cheap insurance.

Mike

Most likely to happen with aluminum wheels

The new bearing was probably the reason.
I've had new wheel bearings that the wheel studs were not seated propery and if not caught, will allow the wheel to loosen up.

I had a 93 Dakota when I was 18 I lost 2 lug nuts and 2 studs off 1, 6 stud tire. Couldnt believe I didn't loose the tire. I had just gotten home from a 150 mile ice fishing trip. Asked my dad to help me figure out what was wrong with the truck. I had stopped early in the trip cuz I could feel the wobble from what must have been 1 of the broken studs or lost nuts. They were covered by a wheel cap, and I never thought to check them on the side of the road.
Because of that I check lugs after about 50miles and before any big trips out of town.

That happened to someone I was driving by on the highway and the wheel hit me. Almost totaled my ranger. Scary stuff.

like what was said aluminum wheels seem to be the ones that it happens to most.i know all the shops and garages use air gun on the lug nuts and some time the air pressure isn't the same. always put my lug wrench on em when I get home. they should be doin it at the garage but to much in a hurry.

If your mechanic doesnt use a torque wrench to tighten your vehicles lug nuts to the factory spec then you need to find a new mechanic.

Twice with the '07 Tundra I've had vibrations enough to cause me to pull over before the tire fell off. I check monthly now.

Torque wrench, or at a bare minimum, torque sticks for impact guns. Hammering the lug nuts on with an impact gun is for grease monkeys, not professionals.

when I changed tires we would say 60-100 miles but yes exactly especially on aluminum alloy wheels , steel is less of an issue

Have a 2006 equinox that needs tightened twice sometimes after switching out winter for summer tires or vice versa. You can torque them ten over spec and then after a bit of driving get them another half turn till torqued, some more. After a while longer you can re torque and they will still tighten some. Every time...

You guessed it, aluminum rims.

Tighten with a torque stick and then follow with a torque wrench. You might be suprised at how often the lug nut turns before the wrench clicks.

I'm in my 60's and have been changing tires on all my vehicles... and when I farmed on tractors, wagons, trucks, just about anything that had lug nuts since my dad died when I was 15. Almost always take a tire off when I took it in... cheaper that way. I have never ever had one come loose. That said when I take a long trip I usually check each wheel for the lugs to be tight. Specially if I had one off or repacked the wheel bearings. I have seen where a wheel came off when a shop or tire store worked on it. My buddy broke a shackle on a trailer in Colo this year elk hunting. Took it in to a small repair shop to get fixed. On way home back to Illinois ..... yep, he lost the tire. One time I seen where an 8 bolt wheel got loose but the lugs were to tight to work off farther than just loose. The holes were not round but oblong and had just about cut thru to the other hole. That would have been a disaster. Better to be safe and check the lugs every now and then or before a long trip.

You would run out of gas trying to find a tire shop around here that uses a torque wrench. Been driving for 49 years and never saw one use one.

I had 4 tires mounted at Walmart last week on my car. Their policicy is this.....mechanic runs them on with air, mechanic checks each nut with a torque wrench. THEN, another mechanic had to come over and recheck to torque settings. THEN, it is driven around the parking lot, and retorqued again by the original mechanic. I witnessed all this from the waiting area, and when I asked if there was a problem, I had their policy explained to me. Seemed like overkill to me.

Walmart deals with a lot of the bottom feeder dishonest people. They have these policies to help cover their rear ends in case of lawsuits.