Loose nuts cause problem

[ddax]

My son drove his '94 GC with loose lug nuts. We now have damages to deal with.

I'm curious, how long (much driving) does it take to do this:





One stud broke off, but I intend to replace all five along with a new wheel - don't feel like I should trust any of the studs. As you can see in the pics, all the holes were worn into a wide oval shape by the studs.

Do you think the wheel hub would have been damaged (weakened) by this abuse such that it too should be replaced?

There must have been considerable vibration with this. Any other possible damage I should look for?

I don't know how long/far the car was driven with loose lug nuts (he's not sure).

[I hope this was a accident that these nuts came loose and not done intentionally by some nefarious entity!]

[reekor]

I have seen this kind of a thing a coupe of times. Once was when someone had their brakes serviced at a local high school and the lugs were left loose and, the other time was when soneone bought a car with loose lugs and went to drive it home. In both cases the all studs were broken off and the wheel came off within 5 minutes of city driving. As long as the threads on the studs did not get damaged they are fine and do not need to be replaced. However after looking at the pics the rim is toast.

As for the dumbness of this problem you can only blame the person that left the lugs loose. If you know nothing about cars you cant tell if they are loose by doing a walk around, and if you know a thing or two about 4WD's you might think that you have a bad CV joint and try to get the car home ways.

[ddax]

reekor,
Thanks for the reply.]

I bought this car in early Dec for my son to drive. So, he'd been driving it about a month when this happened. I'm thankful the wheel did not come off as that could have been a serious accident. I think he was on the interstate on the way home when it started shaking.

In over three decades of driving I've never had lug nuts come loose like that.
I can't think they were loose when we bought it or surely a problem would have surfaced sooner. The wheels have not been removed since we got it. That leaves me concerned that perhaps someone intentionally loosened them and worried it could happen again. I'm pressed to picture another answer.

[reekor]

I have been running alloy wheels for the last 20 years and never seen a wheel come loose like that. What happened to your son was not just a single lug that was loose. One loose lug wouldn't do anything. This very well could of been someones idea of a joke. My advice is to get a lug wrench and check the
lugs before the jeep is driven. Option number 2 as extreme as it may sound get 4 packs of locking lug nuts and that will take care of anyone trying to get then loose. For lugs to come that loose in a month is not normal.

Originally Posted by ddax

reekor,
Thanks for the reply.]

I bought this car in early Dec for my son to drive. So, he'd been driving it about a month when this happened. I'm thankful the wheel did not come off as that could have been a serious accident. I think he was on the interstate on the way home when it started shaking.

In over three decades of driving I've never had lug nuts come loose like that.
I can't think they were loose when we bought it or surely a problem would have surfaced sooner. The wheels have not been removed since we got it. That leaves me concerned that perhaps someone intentionally loosened them and worried it could happen again. I'm pressed to picture another answer.

[ddax]

Originally Posted by reekor

get 4 packs of locking lug nuts and that will take care of anyone trying to get then loose.

Yeap...just what I was planning.
Nobody bothers to steal wheels anymore jsut cars, but it would solve that worry.