Rear wheel fell off while towing motorcycle trailer

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erictomlin

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Yep...you read that right.

Truck is a 2016 1500 with ~46000 miles. I bought it at the end of January with 41,000 miles with the original wheels and tires, and I have had no work performed on the truck at all since then, and none of the wheels have been removed for any reason. The trailer is a 7 x 14 single axle enclosed motorcycle trailer, and was loaded with my HD Road King and a few hundred pounds of camping gear.

Wondering if anyone has heard of such things happening, and/or if anyone has any ideas as to why such a thing might happen.

The only warning I had before this happened was that the truck felt like it was dealing with some very light trailer sway, but then even that seemed to go away after a minute or so, so I assumed maybe it was the road surface. I was going about 65 mph on the highway. The temperature happened to be about 97 degrees. It was the hottest day of the year for us up in New England.

All of a sudden, I heard a noise and felt a thump that was similar to getting a flat tire. So I started to move toward the breakdown lane. As I was checking my mirrors, I watched the drivers side rear wheel come off the truck and roll across the highway toward the left shoulder. The inside of the wheel appears to have been ground down by something, to the point that there was a hole on the inside of the wheel. I don't know if the damage to the inside of the wheel was prior to, or after, the wheel came disconnected from the truck. (I'm guessing before). Also, the studs appear to all be sheared off or bent/broken at various lengths.

Any/all thoughts and opinions are welcome. I've been scratching my head for days.

Thankfully, there was no accident involved, and no one was hurt by the rouge wheel crossing the highway.

20190720_171040.jpg

Screenshot_20190724-101017_Gallery.jpg
 

22hemi13

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Damn. Looks like the hub and everything is not broken leading to tire coming off. Had to be loose lugs nuts. Any marks on the rim where it bolts up? You got enemies that would loosen your nuts? Is there a spacer on that rim?
 

PR Fred-G

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There was a recall on the 2016 rear axle. Check into that. My 2016 had the axle replaced 2 days after I bought it.
 
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erictomlin

erictomlin

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Damn. Looks like the hub and everything is not broken leading to tire coming off. Had to be loose lugs nuts. Any marks on the rim where it bolts up? You got enemies that would loosen your nuts? Is there a spacer on that rim?

My mechanic said that while it is not common, it is also not unheard of that lug nuts could loosen over time. He also said that it is more common on chrome wheels than steel wheels as the lug nuts grip better to steel than chrome. But if the lug nuts were loose, would the wheel simply slip off the studs, or would that cause the studs to shear off?

What has me scratching my head the most, though, is the fact that the inside of the wheel is so badly scored that there is a hole in the wheel in one spot. What could have caused that? And did the wheel coming off cause the scoring, or did something else cause the scoring and then that somehow caused the wheel to come off? (I wish I had a better picture of the wheel scoring and hole. I'll try to get one from my mechanic)
 
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erictomlin

erictomlin

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There was a recall on the 2016 rear axle. Check into that. My 2016 had the axle replaced 2 days after I bought it.

Thanks for this info. I'll look into it, but I'm not sure this fits my situation. The description of the recall says:

CONSEQUENCE:
If the rear axle shaft was not properly heated treated, it may fracture and a wheel separation could occur, increasing the risk of a crash.

In my case, it appears that the axle itself is in tact. I'm assuming that if the axle fractures that the rotor and everything else bolted to the wheel would come off with the wheel. (but I could be wrong...)

Also, when I bought the truck I called FCA and checked on recalls and was not alerted to any such recall.
 
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erictomlin

erictomlin

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Damn. Looks like the hub and everything is not broken leading to tire coming off. Had to be loose lugs nuts. Any marks on the rim where it bolts up? You got enemies that would loosen your nuts? Is there a spacer on that rim?




Here's a pic with the rotor out of the way...

IMG_0048.jpg
 

Shiva

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Wow
Thankfully the tire didn't get a chance to bounce into oncoming traffic! That's been happening a lot in the past few years.
The damage to the wheel is likely from all the fish flopping it would have been going through before it took a side trip.
I will go through old pics to see about the extra hole issues. Assuming that's not an adapter to match up different wheel bolt patterns I'd say root cause of this is loose lug nuts. Could even go back to whoever did the last tire rotation and not rechecking the torque shortly thereafter.
It's fortunate this didn't have a much worse outcome. Buy a lottery ticket...
 

MarineBSP

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Thanks for sharing this - I'll be checking my lug nuts more often. That's not saying that loose lug nuts were necessarily the issue. I know from experience that one bad lug will strain the rest and it all goes downhill.
 

Wild one

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Yep...you read that right.

Truck is a 2016 1500 with ~46000 miles. I bought it at the end of January with 41,000 miles with the original wheels and tires, and I have had no work performed on the truck at all since then, and none of the wheels have been removed for any reason. The trailer is a 7 x 14 single axle enclosed motorcycle trailer, and was loaded with my HD Road King and a few hundred pounds of camping gear.

Wondering if anyone has heard of such things happening, and/or if anyone has any ideas as to why such a thing might happen.

The only warning I had before this happened was that the truck felt like it was dealing with some very light trailer sway, but then even that seemed to go away after a minute or so, so I assumed maybe it was the road surface. I was going about 65 mph on the highway. The temperature happened to be about 97 degrees. It was the hottest day of the year for us up in New England.

All of a sudden, I heard a noise and felt a thump that was similar to getting a flat tire. So I started to move toward the breakdown lane. As I was checking my mirrors, I watched the drivers side rear wheel come off the truck and roll across the highway toward the left shoulder. The inside of the wheel appears to have been ground down by something, to the point that there was a hole on the inside of the wheel. I don't know if the damage to the inside of the wheel was prior to, or after, the wheel came disconnected from the truck. (I'm guessing before). Also, the studs appear to all be sheared off or bent/broken at various lengths.

Any/all thoughts and opinions are welcome. I've been scratching my head for days.

Thankfully, there was no accident involved, and no one was hurt by the rouge wheel crossing the highway.

View attachment 174455

View attachment 174457

Let me get this straight,you bought a used truck 2 months ago,and haven't checked the wheel nuts in that time period,give you're head a shake man.The first thing you do when buying used,doesn't matter if you bought it off a dealer or private,IS CHECK THE WHEELNUTS",and after that you should be checking them on a monthly basis whether you've had them off or not.The hole on the inside of the rim is from where the rotor was rubbing on the rim as the rim started to loosen up and then proceeded to walk itself off after it had loosened enough to start breaking the wheel studs. That's an expensive lesson,hope you learned from it,and will now check your wheelnuts more often,you're lucky you didn't kill someone or yourself,now go check the rest and make sure they're torqued to a mininium of 120 lb-ft.Aluminium wheels should be checked monthly,and your wheels are aluminium.
 

turkeybird56

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^ FYI, lug nut torque is 130 ft lbs on the 1500's. I have a torque wrench I carry when traveling and always check my Lug Nuts after tires rotated at dealership. Got a good 6 Point 22 mm socket for lugs. I also made sure, with my SA at dealership that when tires rotated, they are not Hammered on by Air Gun, but run up tight then each lug torqued to 130 ft lbs. But I am **** on stuff like this.

ADDED: The above wheel issue is either a bad lug/not torqued/over hammered on and weakened lug/loose lugs, all IMHO.....

PS: My first thought when seen was loose lug/or someone tampered with them, just saying.......
 

OC455

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I would say the lug nuts worked themselves loose because of where they broke towards the middle of the studs. The lug holes in the wheel look like they got wallowed out.

Glad no one got hurt when this happened. Hoping it won't cost too much to get it back up and running. Your wheel took a good hit too. That hole in the outer part of the wheel looks like it happened when the rotor hit it.
 

RockyAEV

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I’m not as knowledgeable as some have said in regards to the axle recall, however I do know that aluminum wheels tend to occasionally loosen the lug nuts, this is amplified by any towing. I found this out the hard way as well....since that problem many years ago I make it a point to check daily if hauling heavy, weekly if hauling light, monthly regardless and anytime that I feel like something is off....I’ve pulled up to Home Depot with that feeling and pulled out my lug wrench to check! Lol glad everyone is ok, hope you find a definitive answer good luck.


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22hemi13

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Let me get this straight,you bought a used truck 2 months ago,and haven't checked the wheel nuts in that time period,give you're head a shake man.The first thing you do when buying used,doesn't matter if you bought it off a dealer or private,IS CHECK THE WHEELNUTS",and after that you should be checking them on a monthly basis whether you've had them off or not.The hole on the inside of the rim is from where the rotor was rubbing on the rim as the rim started to loosen up and then proceeded to walk itself off after it had loosened enough to start breaking the wheel studs. That's an expensive lesson,hope you learned from it,and will now check your wheelnuts more often,you're lucky you didn't kill someone or yourself,now go check the rest and make sure they're torqued to a mininium of 120 lb-ft.Aluminium wheels should be checked monthly,and your wheels are aluminium.
Lmao you his dad? Nice scolding. I aspire to be perfect like you one day
 

PolarisCobra

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Sorry - I have to say that I know pretty much no one who checks wheel stud tightness on a regular basis. Maybe one time after new tires or a rotation, but probably never after that, until it's tome to take them off again.

When I buy a car, new or used, I will be watching fluid levels, and probably tire pressures closely for a bit to make sure something isn't leaking more than a typical amount, but not much more than that.

Most people put in gas, and go, and expect everything to be fine.

Could very well be that they weren't tightened up properly when put on, and took a while to loosen up enough to let the wheel start to wobble. Once that happens, you will get the result that you got. My guess is the hole in the rim is from the rotor dropping onto it when the wheel came off.


My first car was a VW beetle. On those, in the back, there were wheel studs that held the wheel onto the brake drum. The drum had a big castle nut in the middle that held it onto the axle. I needed to replace the axle seal, so had to take off the drum. Didn't understand much about torque speces (I was 17), and didn't get that nut up to the required 100 ft lbs. Couple days later, I was driving on the highway, castle nut worked loose, fell off into the hubcap. Tire came off at 60 mph, got stuck up in the fender well. I managed to limp to the side of the highway, and get the tire back on, and limped to a garage. One new brake drum, and proper tightening, and I was back on the road, minus the running board that got ripped off in the process.
 
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