dayglo

man...
i went out today to go pick my girlfriend up...get into my car, make a U turn and feel the car shift sideways eeeever so slightly.. maybe not but somehting made me get out and check my front right wheel. sure as ****, theres a bolt missing. i was pretty surprised, it was the special wheel nut that you need the key for :\
so i drive on it and as im waiting for my girlfriend near her house, i get out and just for good measure, tighten the 4 remaining bolts. they wher about 1/2 or 1/4 turn loose all around. what surprised me more was that i went ahead and tried all the bolts on each wheel. they wer ALL equally as loose, and they all took about 1/2 to 1/4 turns to be tight. i was in AW.
my girlfriend walks up and says "are you going crazy over your car again?" because im always trying to do something.
i still cant believe it...i dont understand how it could happen like that...
all 5 nuts on every wheel where loose. could this happen with the natural strain of driving?????? i dont bag on my car and as far as i know i always put the wheels back on snug.
i tthought that this was sabotage like someone trying to wreck my car or someone trying to steal my stock rims! lol..
the only other thing i can think of would be that i had one nut on each wheel that was more loose than the rest, letting the other 4 loosten up as well...i dont know what could have gone wrong.
anyone else ever have something like this?
GEEEZ

1996blackmax

iTrader: (2)

Have you had your rims off for any reason lately. I know that you are supposed to retorque them after 25 miles. Sounds kind of strange that they were all like that though.

Flava_24/7

iTrader: (46)

Are they lugnuts new?
usually if the lugs are new, or if you recenlty had the wheels off the car you need to retighten them like 1996blackmax stated

kormax97

if you taken the wheels off yourself and put them on, you gotta drive around then tighten them again..

same goes with spare tire after a flat

ThisMaxIsTight

iTrader: (23)

when was the last time the wheel was off the car?....did you or someone else take the wheel off?...whoever put it back on didnt tighten it enough...OR someone tried to steal your wheel and couldnt get all the lugs off...OR someone loosened them on purpose

Doc

Do you have any enemies or anyone you may have really pi$$ed off lately? Seems too coincidental to me.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

You didn't recently get new rotors with powdercoated hubs, did you?

I've had a problem with powdercoated wheels and brake rotors causing the lugs to come loose as well. the powder will melt due to the brake heat and allow the lugs to work loose.

scary the first time that happened to me on the track.. swapped on my track wheels and torqued them to 95ft lb. went out for a 30 min session and when I came back, they were only hand tight. eek!
when I torqued them back down, I could see the melted powder coating oozing out around the mating surface of the wheel and the rotor..

so when I got home, I sanded all that crap off back there. never had a problem again.

maximabebe

iTrader: (24)

Could be a thief prepping up to get your rims or could be from new wheel lugs. But as 1996Blackmax said, you ARE supposed to re-torque them after a few miles.

dayglo

wow i realy didnt know to re-torque them after a few miles
ive taken the front wheels off rescently and the rear wheels not so rescently...
man i must have been driving with atleast loose rear wheels for a while now...
and loose fronts.
ive been watching my car from my window waiting for some crackhead to come up with a car jack..i was ready to run outside with my bat and bust some legs! i live right next to a pretty bad street
that could have been brutal!
everybody, go check your nuts

MDeezy

iTrader: (27)

Indeed. Everyone of them, and equally Lose?? watch out. . . Good thing you were very observant and caught that, cause this could be a whole different thread if you didnt catch that.

Terran

iTrader: (6)

Is that the zinc plating that automax sells or is that not powder coating?

Flava_24/7

iTrader: (46)

zinc plating is completely different then powder coating
Powder coating is similiar to paint in the end result, but the process is completely different usung an electrical charge and an actual powder.
Powder coating holds up much better then paint.

dayglo

yeah they wer all equally as loose...which realy made me wonder. too wierd
it was either somebody other than i had something to do with it...or all of the nuts just needed a second torquing. phenomenon..

makes you think..if someone wants to for any reason, they can pretty much loosten your lugs and youre hooped pretty quick. most people dont check before they drive, nor check their car every few minutes at 3am.

PAREDLINE

What probably happened is that the last shop you went to did not tighten them fully with the impact wrench or used the wrong torque stick.