Not something you want to see

Have the slide in camper on the F350 and taking a fishing trip in the Rocky Mts when I heard something rattling in the right front lug nut cover, took it off and found 3 lug studs broken off (2 held in place by clips on lug cover so they didn't rattle) and 1 visibly loose. Got out the tire tool to tighten the loose nut and check the others, all took about a half turn to tighten and 1 more broke off. I bought a full set of off road tires ($1800 for a dully) about 3000 mile ago. Guess who is going to catch an ear full when I get back home!!!!!

I was on some narrow gravel roads, no guard rails and drop offs of several hundred feet, and no cell service so no calls for help; if that wheel had come off I could have been in some deep shinola and no telling when someone would have find my dead body.

Wow! You know, you are supposed to re-torque those lugnuts after a few miles when you replace tires. I never trust a minimum-wage tire "technician".

I am glad you are alright.

Yikes. Do you know what caused them all to fail like that?

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Originally Posted by OPFOR

Yikes. Do you know what caused them all to fail like that?

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Not sure of the exact year but sometime back in the mid to late nineties I was on a ride along with a LEO friend of mine. We pulled into all night service station to get a lug bolt replaced that had broken off. The big surprise to me was when my friend took a bag of lug bolts out of the trunk and handed it to the service attendant. I asked him if he always carried spare parts with him and he told me that those models of patrol cars were having problems with the bolts failing.

Michael

:blink:

Not cool man, not cool.

Were the holes in the wheel oval or show signs of wear? If not the studs can snap clean from being too tight or over torqued.

Wonder if the tech used a torque limiter?

Glad you're safe!

Holy skidmarks truckman,I would be ripping some tire shops ass when
I got back

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Originally Posted by dukalmighty

Holy skidmarks truckman,I would be ripping some tire shops ass when
I got back

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Would not help if the bolts were defective. Such as they were in the case I mentioned above.

Michael

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Originally Posted by mlr1m

Would not help if the bolts were defective. Such as they were in the case I mentioned above.

Michael

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2003 F350 with 115,000 miles on it so no problem with defective studs

Sig35seven

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Were the holes in the wheel oval or show signs of wear? If not the studs can snap clean from being too tight or over torqued.

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As a 1 ton they are pretty hefty studs, probably 50% larger than a car so someone would really have to put the torque to them.

According to the tech at the Ford Dealership the rim conforms to the wheel and the lugs just hold it on, some wear marks on the wheel but not ovaled so safe to keep using it, which is good 'cause it looks like they are custom wheels (bought used as a factory buy back so I have no history) and finding a match is slim and none.

Thankfully you didnt have the "tunes" way up, and heard the lug rattling...I invested in a 3/4 torque wrench/extension...to always get the required lbs on my dual rear wheels...it would not have been long and you'd have dropped that side in the dirt...the loose duallys act like a pair of shears, and thinks go wrong very quickly...I found that even going "all in" with a X wheel wrench it was just under spec...(I'm 250/6'2")..be careful if you paint your rims, they need daily attention to keep them tight as the coating cures...maybe a month...happy trails

Glad you were alright dude. Someone needs to torque the tire tech if it was his mistake.

Man oh man, that would have to leave you with a very sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Glad you lived to tell about it.

Glad you are ok, I would recommend replacing all of the lug bolts, the others have probably been overstressed also.