wheel nearly came off..

[Choppski]

whilst on a week holiday touring around the south coast a strange hum came arose...then my wife spotted the rear nearside wheel 'waving' at us. Needless to say i stopped cautiously but quickly to find all 5 bolts has come loose (last 3/4 turns of thread).

I checked my brakes over before the trip and am positive i tightened them up as hard as i could (didn't check with torque wrench, but have since and all the others are over the 180lbs/inch).

I guess either i didn;t do a good job or someone tried to pinch the tire wheel away for the day...

has anyone else had this happen? is it common?

[R0B]

What wheels.Alloys or steels? If alloys are you using the correct nuts and longer studs/bolts?

[Choppski]

What wheels.Alloys or steels? If alloys are you using the correct nuts and longer studs/bolts?

Yes they are alloys, and as far as i know they are the longer type ( approx 8cm long) does that sound right?

[R0B]

Standard rear studs are 35mm.(Thats from below the flat head to the end of the thread)And need to be longer for most alloys.Unless they were made for these vans.Like carat wheels.What wheels are they?.

[Choppski]

Standard rear studs are 35mm.(Thats from below the flat head to the end of the thread)And need to be longer for most alloys.Unless they were made for these vans.Like carat wheels.What wheels are they?.

not entirely sure, but they look like gold GTi 5 spokes.

spec wise they are 15" with 195/75 tyres.

there are spacers on the drums with are 25mm wide to cope with the wider tyre - but these were still on tight when the bolts came loose.

Is there an easy way to formally identify the alloys or is it just but 'knowing'?

[R0B]

Post up a picture of them.Someone will no doubt know what they are

[robber_roo]

Happened to me on the way home from Big Bang. I have alloys and the correct bolts ordered through Brickworks. Took my centre cap off and one bolt had sheared and the others loose.

Lucky for us we were 30mins from home so RAC came out (10mins !) and got us home. Could have driven but didn't fancy it.

Changed the bolt and ordered a torque wrench asap. Now all tight and i've got into checking them before any long journey.

[ghost123uk]

We have std steel wheels at the moment but I find that if you do them up to the correct torque (80) then 6 months later when you need to get them off for whatever reason, even with a VERY heavy duty socket and a breaker bar (that I keep in the van), they can be a swine to get off. I dread being stuck at the side of the road at night, in the winter (raining !) with a puncture. I had to go down to the local lorry garage only a month ago to get them to loosen them off (4 foot bar and 20 stone mechanic ). I know you are not supposed to put copperslip etc on them either.

[Choppski]

We have std steel wheels at the moment but I find that if you do them up to the correct torque (80) then 6 months later when you need to get them off for whatever reason, even with a VERY heavy duty socket and a breaker bar (that I keep in the van), they can be a swine to get off. I dread being stuck at the side of the road at night, in the winter (raining !) with a puncture. I had to go down to the local lorry garage only a month ago to get them to loosen them off (4 foot bar and 20 stone mechanic ). I know you are not supposed to put copperslip etc on them either.

hmmm, i remember some copperslip being on the nuts when i took them off, is this a reason they came off???

[California Dreamin]

This happened to us on the way back from hannover......standard Carat wheels and the O/S/F came loose after about 1500 miles of driving (I did have the wheels off pre-trip to check the brakes)
If I'm absolutely honest I think they weren't tightened enough....choppski NOTE 180 Newton Metres (not Ilbs/ft)

T25's have 14mm bolts/studs not the usual 12mm....they need the extra 60NM or so over and above the average wheel torque setting.

Martin

[poshbuggers]

does anyone know if they do such a thing as aluminium or light weight hub converters cos mine are steel & weigh alot.....also im always looking for any suggestions I can use to make the van lighter....ive changed the two massive calor gas cylinders it had for a diff stove & now carry a few aerosols instead as thats way lighter..

Aluminium - Machine 7 sell them (google it) and I have always found their gear perfect but you can also get german ones made by FK Automotive and H&R which are hubcentric (have a collar in the middle that fits inside the wheel. A much better, safer idea than the flat steel ones.

I had a set of steels on while I was working out offsets and had to tighten them up after a nerve wracking loose wheel experience. Never again!