One for the tyre fitters/mechanics?

[deeksofdoom]

I know this is the off road section but I fear that this post wouldn't be answered if I put it in the 'Off Topic ' section.

 

I had two tires put on my wife's car last Saturday, the two good tyres were switched from the front to the back and the two new tyres were put on the front, so all four wheels were removed. The wife drove the car over 300miles to work over the week and on thursday evening she was pulling out of a tesco car park when some fellah knocked on the boot with one of the wheel nuts in his hand, there was one wheel nut missing and the nuts on 3 of the wheels were loose .

 

I went back to the tyre fitter today and told him that had happened, he reckoned that there was a chance that someone tried to take the wheel nuts off the car and was disturbed while in the process of robbing the wheels. He said if the nuts were loose leaving his place that the wheels would have come off in less than 15 miles.

 

My question is; how plausible is the tyre fitters reason for the nuts being loose? Would it be possible for the nuts to come loose after 300miles.

[silpig5]

I know this is the off road section but I fear that this post wouldn't be answered if I put it in the 'Off Topic ' section.

 

I had two tires put on my wife's car last Saturday, the two good tyres were switched from the front to the back and the two new tyres were put on the front, so all four wheels were removed. The wife drove the car over 300miles to work over the week and on thursday evening she was pulling out of a tesco car park when some fellah knocked on the boot with one of the wheel nuts in his hand, there was one wheel nut missing and the nuts on 3 of the wheels were loose .

 

I went back to the tyre fitter today and told him that had happened, he reckoned that there was a chance that someone tried to take the wheel nuts off the car and was disturbed while in the process of robbing the wheels. He said if the nuts were loose leaving his place that the wheels would have come off in less than 15 miles.

 

My question is; how plausible is the tyre fitters reason for the nuts being loose? Would it be possible for the nuts to come loose after 300miles.

 

 

on the invoice they gave you , it would ( or should) say " drivers responsability to check wheel nuts after 50/100/150 miles .

 

sometimes if done up by a gun instead of a bat they wont nip as tight as they should .

 

sorry to say that most faults like that are down to the driver not doing daily/weekly checks of thier motor .

 

thats what vosa and trading standards will say , bin there tried it !

 

adi

[ProteuS]

The garage where I get my tyres done, always torque up my wheels rather than using a windy gun. They also always say to check after 50 or so miles, particularly with alloys. If the vehicle has alloys rather than steel wheels I'd say there could be a pretty good possibility that they'd worked loose, then quietly undone themselves completely.

 

I have only once experienced not tightening wheel nuts properly which was my own fault on my range rover. I had got interupted on the final wheel, and hadn't torqued them, just used a normal wheelbrace and left a bit to finally dial it in. I managed to get about 25 miles before I felt the car was driving just a little bit oddly, felt a rattle from the back. pulled in and had a look and felt most of the wheelnuts were very loose! Needless to say I got a bit of a scare, tightened them up and was fine after that. Now I always double cheque that every wheel is upto torque.

[AdamHall]

i work in a garage and we always gun them up then chech them with a torque ratchet never had one come lose yet and been doing this job for 10 years but as said else where its the responsability of the driver to chech the car is road worth before driveing as far as the law is conserned

[neil smith]

i work in a garage and we always gun them up then check them with a torque ratchet never had one come lose yet and been doing this job for 10 years but as said else where its the responsibility of the driver to check the car is road worth before driving as far as the law is concerned

 

 

I was in the mechanic trade for 15 years & now work for an International tyre manufacturer & during that time I always did as above, air guns can be faulty & at a busy tyre centre may be suffering from low air supply pressure due to lots of tyre fitting wheel gun use & so not tighten as they should.

 

A reputable garage should always check the nuts with a torque ratchet before you leave.

 

In my time in the trade it was rare to find wheels as loose as your describing but not unheard of.

 

N

[Conygree]

Been driving for many yrs and had two come wheels come loose, one was on a transit. I fitted the spare to move the wheels around and the nut holes were rusty, I assume this caused the wheel to come loose as the rust was preventing a metal to metal seal. The other I assume it was a mistake on my part on procedure - I now am more careful and try to do more frequent checks. One possible problem is rust on the nuts/studs taking up most of the torque applied

and not compressing the wheel.

 

Both times I had a wheel come loose it was nearside front and it went from a knocking noise to very loose within 1/2 mile, trying to find somewhere safe to stop, so you wife was lucky the wheel stayed on.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Conygree