Wheel came off while on Highway!

[bmw34e]

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to share what happened to me while driving on the HWY.. Was doing about 80-85mph and felt this rumble in the rear tire. Each time i sped it went away and when i let off the gas it felt like the wheel was about to come off. Just as i was about to start slowing down, i heard a thunk and all and behold i lost control heading towards the guard rail!! I quickly thought of NOT slamming on the brakes and try and control it as much as possible. As i was trying to control it, i was already going fast enough that the back end wanted to just whip out... lol so i decided to turn the wheel towards the right as much as i can and basically did a nice 360 on the highway and straight into the ditch. Realising that i was heading into the ditch i slammed on my brakes trying to stop the momentum and luckily i entered the ditch at a right angle and not digging into the grass and flipping. Basically i was really lucky that there was no car around me and didnt flip. One guy was behind me and basically saw everything lol. He had one heck of a show though. So i got out seeing my tire basically inside the wheel well... and all bolts are broken.. Then it structs me, that wither i didnt tighten the bolts to spec or they just failed as i have been driving it for 2 weeks straight without any problem....

Here are some pics for you guys. Thank god no damage was done or anyone got hurt.
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[samy01]

probly too much horsepowers

how much torque did you give your wheel bolts, i guess you are talking about them right ?

which bolts are broken ? the wheel bolts ? or something from the back axle ?

[bmw34e]

Yeah the wheel bolts.. yeah i didnt torque them at all really.. didnt have a torque wrench and never even had a problem with something like that. But i must have done something wrong for sure..

[samy01]

congratulations


i guess

[bmw34e]

Thank you!

[ColtonBH]

I had a bolt come loose torquing it correctly once, I now always torque my bolts (95 ft lbs iirc) and after about 15 miles of driving, retorque them. Never had a problem

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[bmw34e]

I ordered 20 new bolts just to be on the safe side cause i just recently bought that car and that happened... I appreciate your thought. I will definitely do that!

[Eric93se]

Damn 95 ft.lbs!

I was always used to torquing by hand and when I got this bmw I torqued by hand and was apparently way overshooting (standard 12" wrench) what the hub could handle because I could feel the thread giving. I immediately backed off and used a torque wrench and thankfully the threads were still holding. I know they say to torque like 80-88 or something, but I usually go to 65-70 because when you get stuck on the side of the road it can be a real pita to get the bolts out with the stock tools.

There was a thread a few weeks back where a guy had loose wheel bolts. I went out and check all of mine and found just one that wall not at final torque, so it's something to do periodically as a safety check.

[ColtonBH]

Oh yeas, also make sure there is anti seize on the bolts as well

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[scooper]

Do NOT use anti seize on the bolts! 81 ft/lbs is the correct torque. Get a torque wrench. HF has them for cheap.

[Micko66]

Don't use anti seize on wheels nuts.

Are the wheel nut seats' properly matched to the wheel? I.E., Do those wheels have a square seat or a tapered seat? Are the wheels nuts/bolts the same?

Micko

[shogun]

That is the question, looks like the wheels are aftermarket ones.

[Destructive166]

this is why lug studs are near the top of the mod list for my car when I actually get some cash to throw at parts that dont directly relate to me getting to work in the mornings. though seeing this I might move them to that list.

glad your alright dude. is the car savable without too much?

[ultimatetester]

Are you running spacers?

[M3blitkrieg]

I think the problem really might have been somewhere in the " I heard a big rumble from the back, and then i sped up".... Wtf.

[ColtonBH]

Do NOT use anti seize on the bolts! 81 ft/lbs is the correct torque. Get a torque wrench. HF has them for cheap.

I disagree with this. You can get improper torque reading from not using anti-sieze, as well as freeze bolts. However, 81 sounds more correct than 95, so do that.

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[bmw34e]

Not at all, just regular wheel setup. I do have coilovers though and it happened 2 weeks after i installed them. must say that the rear is stiff as hell!!! so i dunno if that might be the cause...

[bmw34e]

i agree with that. i always put anti seize on the top of the bolt. so i got new bolts and put them in.. after driving a bit i hear this thunk, kind of feels like your going over a medium sized rock at every wheel turn going straight. But not doing it at where the wheel came off, its doing it on the opposite side. Switched the wheels cause thought it may have a bubble or split tire but still... has the same freaking noise. nothing looks bent and nothing is loose..

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hahah i did not speed up i slowed down and the rumble increased, but when i pressed the gas pedal a bit, it would go away. lol

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they are different from oems but they are these special bolts that are locking bolts. Use a special locking socket for it.

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Thanks dude. Thank god nothing happened to me nor the car got damaged. just the paint on the rear bumper got chipped a but and wheel fender got bent. Now have a weird thunk noise in back tire that im still trying to figure it out.

[ColtonBH]

Nothing looks bent =/= nothing is bent

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[JDStrickland]

I'm seeing mickey wheels, and maybe spacers, that make the bolts too short. Before you go out and buy 20 new bolts, maybe you should figure out if what you have is long enough, then get longer ones if they are not right. You have aftermarket wheels that can be thicker than the factory wheels, and if you have to low of an offset then you cure this with spacers. Thick castings and spacers means that the stock lug bolts will be too short.

The correct torque on the lug bolts is 85 ft. lb.