Help! The nearside rear wheel almost fell off my micra after one nut worked loose and another sheared. This was 3 weeks after all four tyres were replaced by a garage. I do low milage but the garage claims it is 'impossible' that it had anything to do with them! They said it could not take so long. I know nothing about cars - could it take that long? Could one have come loose and fallen off early on without me noticing? Any good technical advice would be really appreciated.
~Bilboboots
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Wheel nuts can come off at any time if not correctly tightened. For a nut to shear it suggests the nut may have been crossed threaded or over tightened when it was put on.
The person changing the tyres should have (but not necessarily would have) noticed if a thread was (partially) sheared before they applied the wheel nut so it's possible the damage may have been the result of putting on the wheel. Proving these events and assigning blame is another matter of course.
For future reference and for safety reasons, always check wheel nut torque is correctly tightened and trims are pushed on tightly yourself whenever someone else has removed/replaced a wheel/trim.
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You should feel vibration/peculiar handling well before a wheel comes off.Having said that,recently had both a front and rear wheel come loose on one of my cars within a fortnight and the nuts had not been touched for 15,000+ml.Both on same side and both after having to use a bit of poorly-surfaced road on that side.You should always check the nuts about a week after anyone has worked on them-from what you are saying,you think they did not tighten them in the first place-most tyre places either get them correct or overtight.
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thanks for your prompt reply and to 'miketorgue' (?)
I did hear a noise for a little while before the incident but thought it might be my exhaust going. Felt no vibration or change in handling until too late.
Will always check them myself in future!
~Bilboboots
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Most likely reason is they were tightened up fingertight or more and the car then lowered. Mechanic would then tighten them on the ground, but forgot. Not as unusual for the DIY or professional as you would think. If the garage ALWAYS used a torque wrench, the problem would disappear as wheel tightening would involve two phases. Sometimes you can hear a click-click-click as the wheel turns and the weight goes on to a new part of the loose hole in the wheel.
Just had new tyres put on, and watched the mechanic torque them up. At home checking, they are still 40% too tight. I think its because they hear the click and 'give it just a bit more'.
Needless to say, lots of effort to slacken them off, and then a proper torgue up.
Always do it yourself, or at 3am on a wet motorway you find the car wrench can't shift them after a puncture.
Edited by MW on 05/08/2008 at 17:44
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not that this is a get out of jail card but check your invoice you may find something along the lines of "the wheel nuts should be checked after XXXXX miles" when i was an aa man it was drummed into us to write this on the paperwork (in case it bit your behind later) that said you have now learnt a valiable lesson, hear a noise, get it checked out (not turn the stereo up a bit) could have been a lot worse on a motorway or a busy high street , still think that you should pursue the garage that fitted them, small claims may even be mentioned !!!!!! TB
Edited by topbloke on 05/08/2008 at 21:15
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If one had sheared, without chewing-up the wheel; then it was likely overtightened by the garage and it's failure led to an unequal force in the wheel that loosened the others.
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You may well be right that the problem was over tightening rather than under. I am now writing to the Retail Motor Industry Federation in Rugby who have a conciliation service. It may seem just a minor point of interest for all you technical types but for a blonde who doesn't lift the bonnet between one service and the next its really important that garages take their duty of care seriously
~Bilboboots
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A garage has only one duty with wheelnuts; they must be inspected for condition, then carefully stage-tightened, using a calibrated torque-wrench, after referring to a current manufacturers' torque chart.
Anything else is reckless.
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i agree that they have a duty of care but you should also take some of the blame in that you heard a noise and chose to ignore it or diagnose it yourself, as i said before, you claim that the garage has a duty of care but how often do you check you wheels/tyres for the correct pressure not as often as you should i would wager, under or over pressure can cause just as much damage (blow out causeing loss of control) etc. I am not make lite of the fact that possibly the garage overtightened the bolts/nuts, have the garage inspected/checked to see if the rest of the bolts/nuts are to tight or loose, well done for bringing to the attention of the retail motor industry as the need to bring the industry into the 21st century is over due.TB
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If you had a financial loss due to this, take them to small claims court. This is cheap and fair- it really is about the only justice in this country to the 'common' person- so use it.
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ok ok this is weird i have had the same problem my front wheel one nut has sheered but the other three never came loose , the holes might not have been properly threaded as this happened after my 1st tyre change, i have a nissan micra 54 reg they might be the same batch?
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