Wheel fell off

[adwilkin]

Wheel fell off my wifes 2004 Limited. The dealer said there was a "significant" amount of rust and corrosion at the wheel hub. This caused the studs to snap off and consequently the wheel. They said they checked the other wheels and cleaned any corrosion from the wheels and hubs. Is this a common occurence? I would like to know if I should try to force these guys to replace the other hubs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Al
PS I "did" read her the riot act for driving another 10 miles with the car hopping alll over the place.

 

[Blee1099]

This is the first one I've heard of. I assume the dealer put new studs on and put the tire back on. If so, I'm gonna go ahead and move this to the 2002-current explorations forum since this technically isn't considered an emergency since you took it to ford, obviously they would replace the studs.

 

[spindlecone]

Pls explain how one can drive ten miles on three wheels?

 

[410Fortune]

oh my goodness Spindle, people exagerate man, plus dont you watch cops? hahaha

Sounds kinda like the truck was parked in deep water for some time I personally would CHECK the condition of the 3 remaining wheel studs.
It is possible they were way overtorqued on that side. The rust sounds like lack of anti seize on the wheel studs or ??

 

[RangerX]

The dealer said there was a "significant" amount of rust and corrosion at the wheel hub. This caused the studs to snap off and consequently the wheel.

This sounds like they're making up a story to avoid figuring out the real problem. A two year old vehicle? And just on one wheel?

I've owned plenty of 20 year old rust buckets when I lived in the northeast, and never had wheel studs snap from rusting.

I would take it somewhere else (non-dealer) for a second opinion. Ask WHY they broke off.

 

[jimbo74]

drove 10 miles on 3 wheels?! and they can only do it on cops because there is a rim there......


sounds liek someone goofed it up last time it was worked on and they dont want to take the blame... so they pawn it off

 

[410Fortune]

well regardless of what happened, if the same person worked on that wheel that worked on the other 3 you better believe I would be inspecting the wheel studs on the other 3 wheels.
A quick shot of PB blaster and a wire brush to remove rouge/rust/dirt is not gonna cut it.
Wheel studs will shear really easy if they are overtorqued, you can see the stretching in the threads and should look for cracks at the base.

something is fishy, either this wheel was parked in salt water, or somebody screwed up, or the diagnosis they gave you = sucks.

 

[jimbo74]

something is fishy, either this wheel was parked in salt water, or somebody screwed up, or the diagnosis they gave you = sucks.

if the wheel was parked in salt water, then all 4 would most likely be jacked... i owrked in the tire industry for over 5 years.. and never did i ever see a wheel jsut sheer off..... i am still stickign with some idiot technician messed it up last time it was worked on and ford wont cop to it

 

[spindlecone]

Might throw in the B.S towel on this post, lets see some pics

 

[Hartman]

Sorry but I have a hard time believing that a 2004 has enough rust on the studs to break them off. There is more to the story here.

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

when was the last time the wheel was off?


ha usually the rust holds the wheels on

either the wheelnuts weren't secure or they were overtightened putting to much stress on the lugs which caused them to break over time.

 

[timmac06]

If this is actually true I would call a lawyer. Someone screwed up some where.
How does a truck hop for ten miles anyway?

 

[Cdaddy78]

I gotta throw the flag on this as well. Penalty on the field. A 2004 with anything at all rusting through???? What did you do, park the one wheel in a salt puddle? I can't even imagine snapping studs even If I left my truck in the ocean for a year or 2.

 

[TheFox88]

This was his wife. Just kidding. But i would definitley need to agree withthe not adding up part. A 2004, with any rust on it? Kinda hard to believe.

 

[Hartman]

If this is actually true I would call a lawyer. Someone screwed up some where.
How does a truck hop for ten miles anyway?

The truck will start vibrating, and the vibrations will continue to get worse (obviously) as the wheel becomes more loose.

I have lost a wheel on the road before, but not because of snapped studs however.

 

[Adragontattoo]

worst thing I ever saw driving tow truck (since I dont count this as an accident) was a brand new rental Cadillac decided that three wheels belonged on the car and one belonged about a half mile up the exit ramp.

It was COMPLETELY obvious that the lugs were overtightened.

the car ended up being classified as totalled by the insurance company.

 

[jrford]

I have an '04 EB, in Michigan parked outside, No rust and I just rotated the tires myself, used a Torque 105lbs on each stud. Get pictures. I want to see this.

 

[jeff96]

I have seen rust on brand new cars, I remember when the new cougars came out, they had rust on the rotors at 3 different dealerships. I still think about it to this day everytime I see one

 

[410Fortune]

Brake rotors will "rouge" when they are left to sit for just a short time.

What I was getting at earliier is that if rust was actually to blame (doubt it) this may have been a flood car when you bought it new and nobody ever told you (sat in water for a while) If the frame, engien pullies, and suspension are also showing signs of rust, there is a good chance it was a flood car.

HOWEVER the most likely cause of wheel studs breaking is OVERTORQUED, like you know what a impropoerly set impace wrench can do, the kind they use at tire places?

 

[spindlecone]

Rotors being pure carbon steel will rust in a matter of hours as 410 said, loseing a wheel due to rusted studs on an 04 is not possible.
Hard to believe that all 5 would break at one time, look at the design, you can drive with two lug nuts in place, maybe one