Rear wheel fell off while towing motorcycle trailer

[Moparfanatic21]

Yeah. We’ve since clarified that. Darn blurry pic haha.

Yeah sorry didn't read the whole thread lol browser didn't show there was more then one page until I commented

 

[22hemi13]

Yeah sorry didn't read the whole thread lol browser didn't show there was more then one page until I commented

Woulda been easy to place blame if woulda been a spacer

 

[Moparfanatic21]

Woulda been easy to place blame if woulda been a spacer

This happened to me once in my 2nd gen. I never will use spacers my OCD would go nuts lol

 

[joecal]

If you tow a boat(trailer) always carry an extra hub and 2 spares----ask me how I know---LOL
Jay

Thanks Jay, that's some good advice. I carry 1 spare and a lug wrench but that's about it. I don't carry a jack because I can use the trucks if needed. I won't ask you how you know, lol.

 

[Pull Ya]

^^^I got an old 6T pop bottle jack I don't use anymore if you want to throw one in your truck.
Jay

 

[slacadjuster]

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.

Wow,glad no one was hurt, I'm guessing your shorts had seen better days though.

Not common, but definitely not unheard of....I've read/heard of that happening to any vehicle, regardless of manufacturer.
I've read where it's very possible lug nuts too loose, or too tight.

View attachment 174455

View attachment 174457

 

[Jbp19classic]

Really sucks that this happened, but glad nobody was hurt! Someone else basically said this, but I really don’t think there’s any conspiracy here or people stealing lug nuts or anything like that, lol. It’s rare, but this does happen if lug nuts aren’t torqued properly. Either under or over torqued can cause it. Since you put a few thousand miles on it since buying, it was probably overtorqued and just took that long to work loose. But, once loose enough to start wobbling it only takes a few miles for all hell to break loose, and all the damage to the wheel, rotor, and broken lugs all makes perfect sense and probably happened in a matter of minutes.
I think checking lug nuts every 1000/2000/3000 miles etc...is unnecessary and frankly unrealistic. The most important time is within 50 miles or so after the wheel has been off. If you’re doing the work yourself torque to spec, drive a couple days, then re-torque. If a shop was working on it, check it with a torque wrench when you get home then recheck in a couple days. After that you should be good to go. Regarding wheel spacers, which I don’t think were even used here, they’re fine as long as they’re good quality and torqued properly. I’ve run spacers for years on many different vehicles. I always torque the spacers to factory wheel specs and also use a dab of blue lock tite.

 

[buddy guy]

lot of people won't use loctite on spacers. they think if i don't use it on my tire lugs, why would i use on spacers?

they probably don't read instructions either.

 

[Jbp19classic]

lot of people won't use loctite on spacers. they think if i don't use it on my tire lugs, why would i use on spacers?

they probably don't read instructions either.

Yep! For me, if it’s going to be hidden behind my wheel where I can’t easily check the torque, then it’s getting loctite!

 

[buddy guy]

and its not like a guy is taking them on and off like tires for rotations etc

 

[rwhjr]

lot of people won't use loctite on spacers. they think if i don't use it on my tire lugs, why would i use on spacers?

they probably don't read instructions either.

BORA makes some of the best spacers

They told me not to put loctite on. Whatcha think about that?

 

[Jbp19classic]

BORA makes some of the best spacers

They told me not to put loctite on. Whatcha think about that?

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen any brand of spacers come with a recommendation for loctite, but I personally still feel better using a dab of the blue when installing spacers. I’m sure Bora has a good reason for advising against it though, and as long as the spacers are torqued properly I agree it’s not a necessity.

 

[buddy guy]

BORA makes some of the best spacers

They told me not to put loctite on. Whatcha think about that?

i wonder why? i can't see why it would hurt.

 

[buddy guy]

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen any brand of spacers come with a recommendation for loctite, but I personally still feel better using a dab of the blue when installing spacers. I’m sure Bora has a good reason for advising against it though, and as long as the spacers are torqued properly I agree it’s not a necessity.

i haven't bought any for years but i remember buying them from a 4x4 place shop in the states for my tacoma. i remember specifically they came with a tube of generic loctite blue.

 

[Shane Kaiminaauao]

That looks like a spacer from the pic of the back of the wheel! The spacers are not hub centric it will have play if the Lugnuts aren’t secured well.

 

[Jbp19classic]

That looks like a spacer from the pic of the back of the wheel! The spacers are not hub centric it will have play if the Lugnuts aren’t secured well.

You might not have read through the whole thread before replying, but there is a better close up picture of the back of the wheel on page 2. What looks like extra lug holes in the first pic is just the typical casting voids in the back of the oem wheel. No spacers.

 

[madtrucker2016]

What’s up with the wheel though? So many holes looks like a spacer. Or maybe I’m crazy. Shouldn’t there only be 5 holes

View attachment 174491

looks like a spacer to me also Maybe it was not tightened down to specs correctly

 

[huntergreen]

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

first I have heard of something like this. Good to hear no mgs was caused.

 

[erictomlin]

So what did you do after that happened, did you call a tow truck? I'm just curious since I tow a boat. I'd hate to have the truck towed and leave the boat on the side of the road. I'm glad you're okay and that the tire didn't cause an accident, so you're fortunate in that respect.

Joecal...State Police called tow trucks to get us off the highway. We had to disconnect the trailer from the truck, which was not easy because the back of the truck was now so close to the ground that the trailer jack would not fold down. So we had to use floor jacks to get the trailer off the ball. Then the tow guys eff'd up the trailer jack by cranking it up too much, so we couldn't get it to go back down. We lucked out in a way because one of the tow truck drivers was on his way to work in his personal pickup (with a hitch) and he stopped at the scene. We ended up using his truck to tow the trailer off the highway because none of the tow trucks that showed up could do that. The kid's truck was lifted though, so that is why the trailer jack got extended up beyond its capacity. So because it wouldn't go down, we ended up getting the tow ball under the trailer, then we used a sledge to kick the trailer jack out from under the trailer and the trailer receiver fell onto the tow ball. It was a comedy of sorts to be sure (although it wasn't funny at the time). It was also the hottest day of the year in New England (97 degrees).

So the kid towed the trailer with his pickup, and the truck got dragged up onto the flatbed. Because it was a weekend, and on a state highway (Rt 495 in MA), the tow truck drivers could not take me home (60 miles away). They had to bring me to a parking lot of a local mall and drop the truck and the trailer there. That alone cost me $133 for the tow...plus I threw the kid $40 for using his own truck to tow the trailer. From there, I called AAA to tow the truck home, and I called Uber to bring me to a U-Haul shop so I could rent a truck to tow the trailer home (AAA won't tow a trailer). First, though, I had to go to Home Depot and buy a new trailer jack and install it on the trailer so that I could maneuver the trailer up and down. Good thing I remembered to bring tools with me on vacation. After all that, of course, I had to bring the rental truck back the next day (60 miles away).

As much as a PITA as the whole thing was, I was very fortunate. 1) no one got injured 2) No accident from my wheel rolling across the highway 3) I have AAA Plus so the tow home was free 4) insurance covered the damage to the truck as a comprehensive claim.

 

[Shiva]

Makes for a good 'what I did on my summer vacation' story.
Priceless but pricey