Right tire came off....HELP!!

[lionelkirk2004]

I was driving yesterday and when I turned out of a drive way and the right tire came off of the car. It had to be towed and stuff and we are getting it fixed, but now our ABS light is on, why is that? And what would have caused the tire to come off? Anything that I can do to prevent this from happening again?

[GTP Dad]

If the tire came off and the brake rotor hit the ground then there is probably damage to both the rotor and the ABS sensor. Both will need to be replaced. The shock of the car hitting the ground is what damaged the sensor. Usually there are only a couple of things that will cause a tire to come off a car. Extremely bad wheel bearings that come apart but with new style bearings a very unlikely scenario. Lug nuts not tight and falling off but you should have noticed a vibration when the wheel was turned. Broken lug studs to where there are too few studs to hold the weight of the vehicle. The last thing is a blow out or very low tire pressure that seperates the tire from the rim and causes the tire to fall off. If you find that this was a lug nut issue then make sure they are properly torqued when they are reinstalled.

[lionelkirk2004]

No, the rotor didnt hit the ground or anything, the rotor is still in the wheel. Before the car could even hit the ground the wheel stopped the car and now its just sitting on the wheel, but the rotor and stuff in in the wheel. We are taking it to the shop to get fixed.

[Degtr]

It could just be that the way the tire came off has "confused" the sensor. I had the same thing happen to my '99 when the tire deflated rapidly and came off the rim. The ABS light came on when it happened, but once the new tire was mounted, the light went out.