Wheel Studs sheared and lost wheel

Hello all, new member here. Purchased our Cyclone back in April and this was our first long trip with it.

While returning home this weekend with our 2015 3100, the wheel studs on the passenger rear hub sheared off and the tire flew toward the shoulder. The camper squatted down on top of the front tire and rubbed the fender well. After stopping (going 68mph on interstate), I found the wheel and the tire was perfect (all brand new with only 700 miles on them). The wheel has two lug holes that are egg shaped now. Call road side service for help. After paying for his first born's college, we were back on the road with the spare on the rear hub.

Question: what would be the main cause for this? Loose lugs, over-torqued lugs, blind luck, etc.

You mentioned new tires at 700 miles ago. Have you had an opportunity to re-torque your lugs since then? It always advisable to check them after a service event. they will loosen up. Torque on those should be about 140ft-lbs

The manual says:

Trailer wheels must carry much higher loads per wheelthan passenger car or truck wheels. Furthermore,
wheels on tandem axle trailers do not steer, and are
subjected to very high side load stress whenever the
trailer makes a tight turn. When you go around corners
– especially slow, tight ones – the wheels on your trailer
are subjected to these strong side loads. This tends
to flex the wheel and gradually loosen the wheel nuts.
Although the materials and manufacturing methods
are maximized for this kind of service, these extra load
stresses and flexing can cause loosening.
It is critical that the wheels be properly torqued at the
start of the trip and every 50 miles for the first 500
miles of road operation.

Click to expand...

Any time the wheel is taken off, you must torque to 120 lbs. (per Heartland), AND you must check a couple of times.

I don't stop every 50 miles for the first 500. But I do stop at 25-50 miles and re-torque. The lugnuts do move. I'll stop again at maybe 150 miles and re-torque. One or two lugnuts might move slightly. After that they stay tight for me.

If you don't check and re-torque, that's almost certainly why the wheel sheared the studs, wallowed out the rim, and fell off.

Under or over torque will allow the lugs to back off and the wheel to go by-by. A badly over torque can strip the threads, actually cause the lug bolt to crack off, or make it almost impossible to remove. Most tire shops air impact wrenches way over torque them and tell you that their air impact wrenches are calibrated. Most are not telling you the truth. Always back them off and manually torque them. You must torque and check torque at least twice to three times after a wheel has been remounted and then I check them three times a year. The torque setting is determined by the thread size. The setting puts the threads in the lug and nut into spring tension which keeps them from loosening. The torque setting is correct above for 9/16 thread lug size with aluminum wheels. The torque for steal wheels (spare tire), unless you purchased an aluminum one to replace the steal one, is 135 to 140 lbs.

I agree. This was probably an air gun thing.

Based on the fact you had two egg shaped mounting holes my opinion is you had either the others snap off or the other nuts back off. That leaves the two to hold the assembly on for an undetermined amount of time.

The reason you torque wheel nuts to a specified setting is to actually actually stretch the stud as that stretch is what holds the assembly together. Obviously if the lug nuts come loose it’s an issue, over tightening or excessive stretching can and will in many instances result in stud failure. Also, the studs could have been overstretched previously and the last torque could have led to its failure.

The above suggestions regarding re-checking the correct torque after driving is extremely important with aluminum wheels are there is little deflection with these wheels in comparison to steel wheels. Also, if by chance the wheel wasn’t seated corrected when it was first installed, once driven, the wheel can “seat” thereby creating loose lug nuts.

Hopefully you you can see there are a number of reasons you can lose a wheel. One of the issues I see in today’s tire environment (also business in general) is a severe lack of training and a whole lot assumptions that the worker knows and understands the proper procedures. It’s a sad state of affairs but it is reality.

danemayer said:

The manual says:


Any time the wheel is taken off, you must torque to 120 lbs. (per Heartland), AND you must check a couple of times.

I don't stop every 50 miles for the first 500. But I do stop at 25-50 miles and re-torque. The lugnuts do move. I'll stop again at maybe 150 miles and re-torque. One or two lugnuts might move slightly. After that they stay tight for me.

If you don't check and re-torque, that's almost certainly why the wheel sheared the studs, wallowed out the rim, and fell off.

Click to expand...

We had disc brakes installed during the rally this year. The installer advised to stop and retorque the lugs at 120ft-lbs during the return trip home. I did stop 3 different times and each time I found some lugs had backed off a little. When we arrived back here I checked the lugs one last time and they were all still tight.

Guys,

This was information that would have been great to know before we set out. Hind-sight is 20/20. Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories and insight. This won't be a problem for me in the future.

FWIW, the tire shop is going to be working with me once I determine final damage estimates. Don't know how much they will help and anything is better than nothing.

Thanks,
Don

I bought my torque wrench at O'Reilly's auto parts. For the wrench, extension and 3 sockets was under $100.00

I just had my bearings repacked (wheels taken off) on Tuesday. I read this thread on Wednesday. Thanks for the reminders about re-torquing before I start my 200 mile move across the Antelope Valley desert next Monday. I plan to re-torque 2 more times during the trip.