Wheels falling off after dealer tire rotation

I drive a 2008 Tundra. I have had the lug nuts loosen 3 times after dealer wheel rotations. I recently lost of left rear tire at 45mph, 300 miles after the dealer rotated the tires. At this rotation I requested and watched the tech tighten the lug nuts to 10% over the 95 ft lb spec. Having watched my rear tire pass me, I am trying to find a way to stop the wheel lug nuts from coming loose. How tight can I tighten them to prevent loosening. Standard torque does not do that. My truck weights 8000 lbs loaded.

I know I never want to see my tire pass me again.

 

Ya might consider swapping out the lug nuts or studs, they may be damaged. Blue loc-tight

 

Steel wheels or alloy? OEM or aftermarket?

 

Is the truck using factory wheels and lug nuts or aftermarket? I agree that if the problem persists I would replace all of the studs and lug nuts and be done with it.

 

First of all, I think this post is pure BS. I highly doubt that all of a sudden lug nuts come off after 300 miles at that speed. They would have to be coming loose during that 300 mile span and you would have noticed it. If not, you probably shouldn't be driving. As far as a fix, replacing the studs and lug nuts would be the only option.

 

Have new studs installed and get new lugs. Those have been over torqued/stretched and now won't hold proper clamp load. Once new ones are on, ensure nobody slams the lugs with an impact.

 

Welcome to the forum..

 

As stated above, new studs and lug nuts. Then torque to spec, not +10% or more. Get yourself a torque wrench and deep socket (no extension) to check torque (SPEC, NOT MORE) after a 50-100 miles. If you continue to have issues, someone is loosening your lug nuts while your truck is parked.

 

Don't be so quick to dismiss. I've had all five lugs loosen up on me before because i forgot to torque them down after a rear drum job. I didn't even notice it until another car drove up next to me (going about 35-40 mph) and told me my rear drivers side tire was loose. It can happen

 

Wheels, studs or lugs could be damaged. I used to have a 95 dodge ram that was always having lugs loosen. Never fully lost a wheel but came close a few times. I got tuned into knowing what the lugs sounded like driving if they were loose....Id hear the noise, pull over and often find I had already lost a lugnut. Aftermarket wheels and I do not think they fit perfectly.

It does happen

 

My apologies, a little history. the truck was taken in for routine service eg oil change and tire rotation. Because of previous loosening lug nuts I insisted on witnessing the tightening process and requested 10% over spec setting. All was done. I drove the truck 300 miles and did not notice anything until the truck began to fishtail and I saw the tire spin off and go into the Mississippi River. Once stopped I found the brake rotor worn flat, the dust shield half torn off, three studs with no nuts and two studs broken. It was obvious, if I had been paying closer attention that the lug nuts "worked Loose" and the final two finally allowed the rim to fatigue the studs and the tire went flying, This is the second time I've lost nuts. The first time I recognized the noise and was able to tighten the remaining nuts until I was able to replace all the studs and install new nuts. This time I failed to recognize the "loose condition" until the failure occurred. Blame it on old age and poor hearing (I'm 76 and have lost high frequency heating due to shooting too many guns in my youth). In any event, I was able to jack the car up, take one nut from the remaining three tires, install the spare with the three unbroken studs, reattach the spare and drive it to the shop where I replaced the rotor, installed all new studs with new nuts and am currently running on the spare tire. I retrieved the "lost" tire floating proudly in the Mississippi, had it spin balanced and am about to reinstall it to replace the spare.

The question originally asked is what do I need to do to prevent the lug nuts from coming loose, other than stop rotating tires. This Tundra has over 150,000 miles and the only time (three times) I have had lug nuts loosen is after the dealer has rotated the tires. The last two times I've watched and they have installed the tires while the truck is off the floor (allowing the pilot bore to seat unloaded), snugged the with an impact gun, lowered the truck to the floor and hand torqued with a click head torque wrench, the last time to 104 ft lbs. But the lug nuts "DON'T" stay tight. One friend has indicated he always recommends 110 ft lbs. on the Tundra. It is hard to believe an additional 6 ft lbs will make a difference but I'm getting desparate. I'm really getting tired of the lug nuts coming loose after a wheel rotation. Tempted to stop rotating and replace tires when they wear thin.

 

I forgot to mention, these are original equipment also wheels. Torque spec is 94 ft lbs.

 

Alloy

 

If the lugs were ever over torqued, it can stretch the studs to reduce clamping force, less clamping force just like under torque. Fix would be to replace the studs. Also, Tundras are hub centric, so you said the wheels are stock- no issue there, but make sure you have the correct lugs, they could have been replaced over the years.

Check your wheels, if they have become loose several times they could be damaged and hogged out around where they sit on the studs. If the holes are enlarged the wheels are not safe to use and will not keep torque.

Dirt, corrosion, rust on the back of the wheel or where the wheel mates with the truck can cause improper torque = loosen over time.

Considering this is a reoccurring issue and the age of the truck, I would probably replace the studs and lugs.

 

^^ what he said. You do have this style of wheel nut, right?



The hub face of the wheel must be clean and free of corrosion, same with the rotor hat face and the axle flanges / front hubs. Clean things up as needed, and I’d replace all wheel studs at this point, and torque to spec (pretty sure it’s 97 ft-lbs for alloy wheels). Over-torquing doesn’t mean the wheel is more secure, it means the studs stretch more, and once they are stretched past their elastic limit, the clamping force that actually holds your wheel on starts to drop.

 

Story seems legit so I apologize for my insincerity!! Towards your dilemma and hope you get it worked out.

 

Only about 800lbs over GVWR.

Things that make you go hmmmmm!

 

Thank goodness you are fine and thank goodness no one else was injured!!!!

 

I actually asked the dealer if I was overloaded. The numbers he gave me was was 7200 empty and a 1400 load limit. 8000 lbs puts me 600 lbs under the load limit so granted I'm heavy but "not overloaded".

 

The nut style is of the one shown. One interesting comment made abve indicated the new studs should pull in at 85 lb ft. I did use new studs, a new lug nut and a stack of grade 8 washers to pull the studs into the hub. However 85 ft lbs came no where close to pulling them against the hub. It would have been closer to 150 ft lbs to seat them. Is there a chance I'm damaging the studs during the installation process? This is the second set of new studs on this wheel. And if that should be the case how does one install the studs with less force that that which seats them?

 

Your dealer was very wrong. Your truck’s GVWR (Gross vehicle weight rating) is 7200 lbs, which includes the weight of the truck, and anything else it it, including fuel, accessories, passengers, payload and trailer tongue weight.

Your payload rating may well be around 1400 lbs, depending on your truck’s configuration. The sticker on your door jamb should have the numbers on it. But if you’re actually scaling it at 8K, then yeah, you’re overloaded by 800 lbs.