well....it started off as a nice little drive around the block to test my new brakes out...and everything was fine and dandy...

well.....i get onto the main road and start going the speed of traffic (about 45 mph) well i get going and then i hear a metallic sound as though maybe a brake pad is rubbing. i keep going thinking nothing of it, next i hear a loud Pop and metal skipping down the road...so im like WOW...and right as that happens my car just started swerving back and forth HARD almost to the point where i couldnt control it as it kept turning itself into the oncoming traffic...so i pull off in a hurry and look at my wheel....well.......

its being held on by ONE stud!!! and that one stud..has only about 3 threads screwed in from falling off..and its bent at about a 45* so i sat down next to the car and just cussed out loud.....and then took a walk up and down the road looking for the studs but never did.....

i dont have a jack in my car....nor did my car even have a lug wrench in it when i bought it..so...i ran to a friends house and got him to help me out by bringing some tools and a jack down to me..

well just to get home i took one stud off of my other wheels and tryed to put those 3 studs on to get home...well...problem...

i think the plate on the axle that the studs thread into, got messed up because the studs seem to wanna go in at a angle,,but they tighten all the way...

did somthing get messed up??? other then, that im riding on 3 lugs per wheel right now and need to get new ones???

 

wow that was damn close...once you put wheels on your supposed to re torque them after 80km

 

they didnt fall off........................

1 fell off
2 had the heads of the stud snap off while leaving the threaded part still there...
and then the last one as i stated...barley left in there but close to coming off....


if there was a on coming car at the time when it started swerving like it did...i would have hit them head on....but luckly there just happened to not be a car there and i was able to stop.....

 

If it's a front wheel, then you're lucky. You can just replace your disc/hub assembly and it'll solve the whole problem. So get a brake disc, inner and outer bearings, rear grease seal and you'll be set.

If it's your rear wheel... not so lucky. The only way to find out if they really got messed up is to get four good studs, bolt that wheel on tight and take it for a drive! If it's your rear half-axel, that's going to be a lot more of a pain in the ***. It's pressed in, so it's something you'll have to get a mechanic to do (or at least something *I'd* have a meachanic do)

For the studs, Victoria British has them. They aren't cheap, but they're the only place I've found so far. Mazdatrix might have them, come to think of it. Short of those two, the dealer will probably be glad to screw you out of your money and firstborn for a few bolts.

I've *almost* had the same problem. I caught it just as I got to work. I get out, tap one of my lug nuts and it fell out in my hand. The other three weren't far behind.

Let this be a lesson to everybody... if your car starts acting funny, ALWAYS pull over right away. Between those lug bolts coming loose (my fault for not tightening enough) and the engine bay fire (my mechanic's assistant's fault for leaving my air pump hose lying on the exhaust manifold instead of hooking it up) I *always* pull over sooner rather than later. Better to be thought paranoid by your friends than to lose your car or your life to something like that.

Jon

 

amen!! you dont know how fast my heart was beating and how fast my adrinalin was pumping once i stoped......i just hope everything is ok since im so short of money and couldnt drive the car for 2 weeks because of the brakes and time between me being able to buy them....and now this....

 

Lucky.

Picture this: running "competitive" times at Motorsport Ranch; fat, dumb, and happy. You've got a competitor coming up behind you that has a tendency to fly off the track, and only a lap or two left. You want to keep him behind you, because you've got a top-5 if you do. You're coming up on a right hander, doing about 80. All of a sudden on turn in, you hear a loud noise, the car flys up in the air, and you land sideways in the dirt and skid about 20 feet. Dust everywhere, can't see a thing. You curse, say, "Man, what an @sshole!" and try to get going again. Car runs fine, but won't move. You don't dare get out of the car, becuase you're running with Legends cars, and every one of them is a no-talent hack, but you signal the corner you're OK. When the race ends, you get out of the car and go, "HOLY ****!!!!". Your left rear wheel is missing, as is half the brake rotor.

That, my friend, is unlucky.

Looking at the video from the guy behind me (the one I wanted to keep behind me) the left rear wheel exited stage left at turn in, and because of this, vaulted the car 3-4 feet in the air as it went under the gas tank. After it did so, the tire/wheel combination went after the photographer that was sitting off the end of the lefthander 50 feet away. Apparently, it started shucking the stock lug bolts, and when it disposed of however many were left, the wheel wanted to keep going straight when I turned right.

 

Not good. Glade you where not hurt!

 

I found studs at the local import car part store, 5.50 apiece vs. 3.75 at Murray's, but it would have taken Murray's 4 weeks to get the studs vs. overnight for the import place. Check around, you'd be surprised at how many places can get their hands on studs for FB's

 

Firstly, glad there was no serious damages or injuries. Now thta the niceties are finished, did you **** your pants? Stains like that are hard to get out of upholstery, not to mention the smell.



kenn

 

Dont feel bad, did the same thing to an RX3 about 10 years ago, I still feel like an idiot over that one....

 

I walked in to work holding the lugbolt in my hand with a glazed look on my face. When my co-workers asked why I was a pasty pale white I just opened my palm and showed them. Didn't have to say anything, everyone was like "holy ****"!

Jon