Should the driver side rear tire pass you when you drive down the road?
The answer ac-cured to me as I was driving yesterday about 15 miles an hour and saw my rear tire pass me. I felt a bump ....saw the tire....and turned onto a side street 10 feet away. After I got out and walked towards my tire that was still rolling away I played back how could this happen. the tire was one that I had just took off AND torqued myself, double checked. As I was walking I decided to look back at the car to see how ugly it might look....not bad....drum brake sitting on the ground, no apparent damage...my ego...OMG, I had 20 new lugs in the car waiting for the new tires this week, 35 feet back I found all 5 lugs in the middle of the road within 10 feet of one another.
I am telling this true story because I want others to know how the seemingly impossible can happen. I had just removed the rear tire to bend the inside fender away from the tire, I could hear it rub sometimes and knew the PO had used spacers to fix the problem. My new rims have less back spacing so this will not be a future problem. Well, just before I put the rim back on I decided to go into the garage and get one of those old 1/4 inch spacers and put it on until Wednesday (tire day). It was aluminum and showed signs of age and oxidization. I rub it on my pants and looked briefly for some 80 grit paper and decided it would probably be ok, I was only going around the block. So....on it went, I almost put the 3 ton jack into the trunk but did not want to scratch my new tank, ah...just going around the block , don't be so paranoid.
After the wife showed up with the racing jack, tire block and a new ego I drove it back home and analized what happened.
"The spacer had oxidization on it and even though I torqued the wheel on properly, it would never mater. The oxidization vibrated off while driving leaving the tight wheel loose. That weird feeling I had a half mile back before it fell off made a whole lot of sense now. I started driving slow in a neighborhood to try to figure out what the weird jostle was. This was the smarted decision of the day...listen when your car speaks. I don't mind telling this story because I did everything right...torque wrench still in the front seat. Spacers, never again".
I do not have pics because my wife handed me her cheap phone just before I headed out because I could not find the Iphone. 9 people stopped by to help. The couple walking on the side walk that I passed, I heard "holey Sh...." arrived just after I got the tire back to the car. The guy said "MAN, Nice Car..." His wife ribbed him and told him to help me , I said "thank you guys, my wife is on the way"
The answer ac-cured to me as I was driving yesterday about 15 miles an hour and saw my rear tire pass me. I felt a bump ....saw the tire....and turned onto a side street 10 feet away. After I got out and walked towards my tire that was still rolling away I played back how could this happen. the tire was one that I had just took off AND torqued myself, double checked. As I was walking I decided to look back at the car to see how ugly it might look....not bad....drum brake sitting on the ground, no apparent damage...my ego...OMG, I had 20 new lugs in the car waiting for the new tires this week, 35 feet back I found all 5 lugs in the middle of the road within 10 feet of one another.
I am telling this true story because I want others to know how the seemingly impossible can happen. I had just removed the rear tire to bend the inside fender away from the tire, I could hear it rub sometimes and knew the PO had used spacers to fix the problem. My new rims have less back spacing so this will not be a future problem. Well, just before I put the rim back on I decided to go into the garage and get one of those old 1/4 inch spacers and put it on until Wednesday (tire day). It was aluminum and showed signs of age and oxidization. I rub it on my pants and looked briefly for some 80 grit paper and decided it would probably be ok, I was only going around the block. So....on it went, I almost put the 3 ton jack into the trunk but did not want to scratch my new tank, ah...just going around the block , don't be so paranoid.
After the wife showed up with the racing jack, tire block and a new ego I drove it back home and analized what happened.
"The spacer had oxidization on it and even though I torqued the wheel on properly, it would never mater. The oxidization vibrated off while driving leaving the tight wheel loose. That weird feeling I had a half mile back before it fell off made a whole lot of sense now. I started driving slow in a neighborhood to try to figure out what the weird jostle was. This was the smarted decision of the day...listen when your car speaks. I don't mind telling this story because I did everything right...torque wrench still in the front seat. Spacers, never again".
I do not have pics because my wife handed me her cheap phone just before I headed out because I could not find the Iphone. 9 people stopped by to help. The couple walking on the side walk that I passed, I heard "holey Sh...." arrived just after I got the tire back to the car. The guy said "MAN, Nice Car..." His wife ribbed him and told him to help me , I said "thank you guys, my wife is on the way"
