just how close was wheel to falling off..........??

F_Bear

ive a 04 plate focus diesil sport with low profile 17inch alloys (standard ford ones).

the other day im cleaning at and when i was doing the wheels i noticed the rear near side wheel had a nut missing and the one next to it was finger loose!

im unsure why it was off and the other loose? the wheel hasnt been off for ages and the alloy has a locking nut so dont think it was a theft attempt?

what is the 'redunacy' level of the wheel nuts? are they secure with 2 bolts?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

wheel nuts work themselfs loose, this is why you should check them.
to have just 2 would stress them get to a scrappy who would probably sell you the bolts for a few quid.

forgotmyname

Seems to happen more with alloys.

When did the wheels last come off for a service or tyres/brakes?

Partly why i dislike wheel trims on steel wheels. Cannot see the nuts.

vikingaero

On some cars you have one design of bolts for steel wheels and one design for alloy wheels.

If the previous owner has upgraded the wheels from steelies to alloys they may not have put the correct nuts/bolts on.

colino

Car wheel nuts rarely come loose if tightened properly in the first place and being down to two, it wasn't mechanical friction keeping you on the road, it was good luck!
I remember jumping into a 214 that had nice alloys on it (only way to sell it) and immediately heard a wierd, indistinct clatter from the back. On stopping it was pretty obvoius all four lock nuts had been broken off and the back wheel was held on by two loose wheel nuts. Clearly a tea leaf had been disturbed during the night and had almost got away with them.

Rolandtheroadie

Lost three once on a Talbot Samba.

vaio

Some cars only have three to start with,

Generally I'd have thought that the bulk of the load is transferred by the centre hole in the wheel to the mating bit on the hub and as long as you have enough bolts/nuts etc and tight enough to hold the wheel onto the hub then you'll be ok.

red_eye

one bolt/nut missing is plenty safe when you consider that the locking wheel nut if fitted should be torqued up to something like 30NM and not 100NM

Rolandtheroadie

vaio wrote: »

Some cars only have three to start with,

Yep, Talbot Samba being one of them.

Lum

Obviously get this sorted ASAP but you weren't in imminent danger.

If you must drive in the meantime, e.g. to the scrappy for new nuts, then borrow one from another wheel so you have two wheels with 3 rather than one with 2.

photome

I was doing 70 in an old mk3 cortina back in the day when I had steering wheel wobble (well I could hardly hold it) one of my front wheels only had 2 very loose bolts left in (I think they were bolts rather than nuts), the rest had sheared

I had forgotten to tighten after dripping car, so they were only hand tight, I had driven about 80 miles before they ended up like they did

I think I may have been lucky that day

my excuse...I was a teenager who did all my own work on my car