Imma Complete Dumbass, UGH Options

[buhs914]

Well i finished doing my front brakes and fixing some other little stuff and decided to take the car out for a drive. Well i had to jump start it since the battery is dead. It took a bit to get it to run smooth but once i got it, it ran great. I took it out for a lap around the nearby block and about halfway around the loop i started hearing some sounds from the left tires and then a big thump and the left rear side dropped down. I jumped out of the car to see wtf just happened and i found that out of my rush to drive my car i had forgot to check the rear lug nuts and the rear left tire came off (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) it dented up the rear fender.. and not only that but the front left tire went completely flat (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) ugh

after getting the wheel back on and changing the tire i jumped and restarted the disaster and drove it back to my house. It seemed to drive just fine and the brakes worked great but now my fender is bent up... i guess i have more to do tomorrow (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

ugh i am a dumbass

[Spoke]

These things happen.

My 74 914 suffered the same fate for the PO. Left rear side of the car was pancaked by a lost wheel incident.

I almost lost a front wheel in the same way on my 71. Luckily I was going real slow and stopped before the wheel completely came off. One lugnut was loose, one was 1/2 way off, and 2 were completely off and rattling in the hubcap.

Note to self: check lugnuts periodically.

[EdwardBlume]

Geez... that sucks... but we've all been there.

I tried to drive a set of wheels home by tying down the front hood with twine. It only took a couple blocks to give out, smash the windshield and cowl, and warp the hood.. and not cheap with a custom paint color...

[Joe Bob]

You'll never forget that experience....move along. NOW go charge the battery. You'll kill the alternator with a flat battery.

Alts maintain batteries and are not designed to bring it up from a low charge. 2 amps on a battery charger with the ground disconnected.

[TravisG]

Did the same thing with a 73 vw about a year ago, except it was the passenger side front tire and it happened 50 foot from my garage door as I was returning from a test drive. The bad part was, that it ripped the front fender off! It was a lesson that you never forget! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

[zymurgist]

Back in the day, I had a '73 Celica with slotted mag wheels. Definitely not factory. Unfortunately the lug nuts were factory... designed for use with stamped steel wheels. Not enough bite in the threads, and the wrong shape (tapered, no shoulder to bite on the wheel surface). The PO changed the wheels but not the lug nuts. So I'm driving down the street and my right rear wheel comes off and goes rolling down the street. No harm, no foul, nobody was around. I jacked up the car and put the wheel back on.

Here comes the dumbass part. A week or so later, I'm driving down the street again. Yep, the same wheel comes off again. This time, it rolls out into the street and into the side of an old lady's car. No damage, but she stopped and bitched me out. So did the cop who saw the whole thing happen. I have no idea how I didn't get a ticket out of that little fiasco.

The next thing I did was to park the car until I got the correct lug nuts for the wheels.

[ClayPerrine]

(steps up on soap box) (no short jokes, please....)

Always use a torque wrench on your lug bolts, even if you are running steel wheels.

96 ft/lbs for alloys, and 105 for steel wheels.

If you make it a ritual to always check all 4 wheels after ANY service work on your car, you won't have this problem again. My motto is, if the wheels leave the ground, check the lug nuts/bolts.


(gets off soap box)

[Katmanken]

Well now I know how the PO bent the left rear fender area up on my junker 914.

That being said, I use my ears a lot when test driving. I heard the funny grinding noise once and stopped to investigate. Tightened my lug nuts and went home.

Sorry that it happend, and hope that you fix it.

[messix]

Dino ....... is that you?

he had the same thing happen... but more carnage.

[1968Cayman]

Don't feel bad. About 15 years ago I took an MR2 (belonging to the new girlfriend of a friend of mine) out on a beer run around midnight in the middle of Tennessee (nowhere). Thinking the car was rather sluggish, I reached under the dash to make sure the e-brake was off and just happened to grab the hood release by mistake- not realizing that the safety catch had been removed at some point in the car's life. Good thing the brakes worked well because we were traveling above 70 as the hood flipped into the windshield.

Take the lumps and move on.

[buhs914]

haha now i don't feel so bad. I actually managed to straighten that area out for the most part. There's still some bumps and dents but nothing major any more.