So today, after working on the coupe for some weeks I put some gas and called my local tire shop to see if my order had come in. As I start the 4 mile drive, 4 blocks from home driving at around 25 mph I start hearing this knock on the front tire and when I least expect it a couple of seconds later... I see my front driver side tire rolling away from the car! front fender damage, drum brake damage, lower arm damage and the wheel went to hit a car a block 1/2 away from when I actually stopped! The city is doing street repair and I went over a manhole and thats when it happened.

When I go and check the other wheels... the passenger side had only 2 loose lug nuts!!! WTF??? I smell hatership!!!!!!

 

sounds like someone didn't tighten the lug nuts...

but regardless, that sucks real hard, one of my worst fears haha. Just be glad it did it city driving and not on the highway...

 

It happened to my wife almost 20 years ago, tire came off before she got out of the parking lot and the other 3 tires had all the lug nuts just started. She only got a few feet and didn't have time to notice anything wrong.
A family friend it happen a few years ago and totaled his jeep on the way home on the freeway after getting tires. Front tire came off and flipped the jeep.
Both were nation-wide tire chains. Both were paid in full for damages plus. I won't drive away without checking the lugs.

 

Man, That blows! This is why I try to check lug nuts about once a month. As least it wasn't worse and no one got hurt.

How bad is the body damage?

How long has it been since that wheel was off the car? Do you think you could have forgotten to tighten them all the way?

I really doubt that someone did it on purpose, but thats not to say they didn't.

This reminds me of back senior year of high school when my friend and his Dad had a 68 coupe. One afternoon after school, we were going to work on it. Well we decided to take it to the auto parts store. It had recently been on jack stands with all 4 wheels off. It had been taken off the stands, but the lugs were only hand tight. We only made it about a mile from the house and I heard what sounded like metallic gravel flying up from the tires, and then saw a some shiny stuff fly by the window. That was the lug nuts. Well moments later the rear wheel shot past us and flew down in the ditch and out into a wooded area. As that happened the rear of the car came down and the drum slid down the road and left a good sized rut. Luckily there was no real damage except the drum was roughed up a bit.

 

Years ago I saw this happen to my brother in an old Chevy. Left front wheel came off, got wedged between the ground and fender, front of car shot about eight feet in the air, throwing him into the back seat, came slamming down and bent the chassis, totalling the car. You got off easy.

When I put a wheel on, it is torqued immediately, I don't walk around the car, I don't look up, I don't scratch my nose. The wheel is either torqued or not on the car.

 

I live by the same code.

 

I took off the wheels 2 weekends ago to do some work on the car. I am 100% positive I tighten the lugs as I am very **** about this. I am not the kind of person that likes to blame others. But my car is parked on the street, and it gets a lot of attention. I get often notes on the windshield of people wanting to buy it. I catch people checking the car and peering inside. There is city street repair going on... and that is the reason I was going 25 - 30 mph as I did not trust the current tires and wanted to replace them. Most of the damage is on the fender, it got all tweaked and on the back side near the windshield it is raised a good 1/2 inch, for what I can see I think the when the wheel came off it went back, hit the inside of the fender and then off it went forward leaving us grinding for a good 70 - 80 ft.

 

Happened to me about 20yrs ago in my 80 Z-28.. was driving down the road at 45mph and the rear end started making noise.. I was like wtf is that?? started to slow down when the back end started to shimmy and shake, I start to turn into a parking lot and bam tire folds under the drum like a stand lol..

 

Off topic I know, but glad to hear I am not the only one. Right now mine is stripped down to primer and rust,getting ready to sandblast it... really stripped. I work on it in the driveway on a busy street and I get notes all the time, but one person came knocking on the door at 7am on Sunday. It had a car cover over it and you could not see it at all. He asked if it was a mustang and if we were selling it. My wife told him it wasn't for sale and that is when he got angry. I heard yelling and screaming from the front porch that he hadn't even got to tell her his offer, started yelling that it was because of his race (same as ours...hmmm). Told her he was going to sue her for discrimination and he would get our car in court if we didn't sell it. That's when I hit the front door in only my underwear screaming like a madman. I told him he might get it in court after he got out of the hospital for a cracked skull if he didn't get the ____ off my property. I now have a sign on it "Not for Sale!"
We have had a few people get "unfriendly" when we tell them it isn't for sale for any amount, but this is the first that flew off the handle. keep in mind, it's a rusted, little 170 I6 in need of a lot of work.
I aways worry about those people, especially him, doing something to my car... even though I am always friendly about it and do point out other ones locally that are for sale. You never know, some people are just nuts!

 

Yes!!! I have had a couple of incidents like that... they get upset when you say you are not selling your car! WTF??? I had one guy ask me a couple of times until I had to be a bit less polite and reassured him the vehicle was not for sale.