Just thought I'd share just how much of an idiot I am. Hopefully this will not happen to you.

Bought some 17" EVO 5's for my wifes 95 SE from the tirerack.
Wrapped in nice BF Goodwrench KD's too. Very sharp. Makes the car in a classy not too flashy way. ANYWAY!
When I took the old wheels off there was a hubcentric ring from the previous wheels that has rusted to the rotor. It was dark I didn't see it in my haste to get the wheels on. So they were doubly spaced. -VERY BAD.
In addition the tirerack sent me 2 different sized lug nuts. I figured it was a safety precaution so no one with a crowbar could get the wheel off easily. So I just adjusted the socket wrench and threaded the smaller lugs onto the wheel not realizing they didn't even touch the wheel because they felt secure and I was standing on the bar to torque em up nice and snug.

So you have a double spaced wheel, with two lugs actually holding the front driver wheel on. Recipe for disaster.

So my wife drives it the next morning and the front drivers wheel comes off at about 50 mph and flies down the road, makes it across two lanes of oncoming traffic (fortunately not hitting anyone) and lands in someones hedges about 70 yards down the road.

She turns sharp (not realizing the wheel even came off) cuts the rotor into the pavement creating sparks and totally screwing up that front quarter panel.
The tire was fine but the Wheel -stripped -
The bolts-stripped -
That rotor- dented warped and about to be replaced with some big brakes. So one good mod deserves another.

An expensive lesson. Heed my ignorance and haste and you'll have a better day than I.

Car still looks excellent witht the EVO's. Can't say enough about this wheel.

damn dude... glad everything turned out ok... could have been MUCH worse!

is your wife talking to you?

Wow the Same exact thing happened to me a year and a half ago. Now i tighten the Shizel out of the wheels whenever i do anything to them. I had to get the rotor replaced, and some other stuff, It sucked.

You can warp a rotor that way. Maybe that's what happened to cause you to have to replace the rotor?

Pick up a torque wrench & hit each lug with 85 ft./lbs. & you'll never have a problem.

Exactly. You'll warp the rotor and possibly snap the wheel studs. I'm pretty certain a majority of the people that get warped rotors have their lugs overtightend. I know GM cars are very sensitive to this.


Dave

damn that sux, what did ya wife have to say bout that one???

sorry to hear that,but glad your wife ok not causing any accident,could have been worst,better be more careful next time.

She was most impressed let me tell you.
If she hadn't wrecked her other 95 then she would have never had to rely on my incompetance to mod her new car... so really this is her fault. Yeah...that's right, her fault.
Actually I will never live it down.
oh well.

at least shes alright. how much is that gonna run u to get it all taken care of??

bahaha... as long as you can rationalize it to yourself then it's all good =)

I will post the total damage estimate when I get it so everyone can see just how much$ of mistake this was.
As of now it was $300 to get a new wheel and tire remounted.
The front side panel is currently dented (with minor paint flaking and chipping) into the front driver door and it will not open. That is probably gonna run at least $500 to have put back in place and have the dents removed.
Right now it could be thousands more and I would consider it a deal since no one was hurt.

if you bought the wheels from tire rack with a credit card. your card member services could cover the damage and replace it for free.. worth the try no?

the money to repair will seem like nothing since your wife is okay.

glad to hear she or anyone else on the road that day wasn't hurt.