Justification for rear fiberglass

[NOTAJP]

Or, never trust anyone with a torque wrench. After mounting my new 315/70R17 (35x12.50R17) BFG AT/KO's on 17x10 Atlas rims I drove for about 100 miles. I took the truck to Les Schwab tire center to get the front end aligned and asked them to torque the wheels again before my trip to Oregon. Luckily after 800 miles the trip was great. Driving down town I started getting a vibration. Slowing down to figure out what it was, and the left rear wheel passed me going down the street. Luckily we were only going 10mph and nobody was hurt. To say the least, One wheel was wasted, broken studs and left rear quarter panel damage. I had a fifth wheel at home to make a matching spare so I had the local Les Schwab install new studs and mount up a 35x12.50 on 15x10 chrome wheel to get me home. I cannot 100% blame Les Schwab because it was 800 miles. They confirmed it would most likely be loose lugnuts but would not pay because I did not purchase the wheels from them. They told me 17x10 5on4.5 didn't exhist. Insurance company is going to pay me and go after them.
Anyway, now the justification for rear fiberglass! It's on order! Here's some pics of the damage.

 

[NOTAJP]

And another:

 

[NOTAJP]

One more good pic:

 

[cdsl227]

That s@cks! I'm a fiend with lug nuts...after I mess with the wheels I usually have to recheck them the next day.

Well now you can get matching flared quarter panels and that'd look sweet!

 

[Hartman]

That damage is like a carbon-copy of the damage I sustained after my left rear wheel fell off. Mine fell off going around a corner at about 15MPH.

 

[NOTAJP]

Originally posted by cdsl227

Well now you can get matching flared quarter panels and that'd look sweet!

My thoughts exactly! I was dreading the $550-600 rear glass but now I can justify it.

I have worked tires for many years. The indistry standard is to re-torque after 50-100 miles, and then after 1000 miles. Didn't quite get that far.

Hartman: Sorry to hear it happened to you too. Kind of a funny feeling...

 

[DaHeinah]

OUCH! That's too bad that had to happen! That's pretty cr@ppy that Les Schwab didn't pay for that, I don't care what anyone says, a wheel should not fall off after 800 miles! That really sucks, at least your X will look great with the fiberglass.
Please post pics when you're done, I've been wondering if I should do the same. Thanks!
Greg

 

[NOTAJP]

Will post pics as soon as it's all done. Since the roof, front doors, hood, and rear hatch will be left green, I'm kicking around painting the whole rig. My favorite color has always been Kawasaki Green. I have been talking to a body shop about the best ways to mount fiberglass. We came up with a plan that would use just Zeus fasteners. I didn't think that would look good, besides I don't need to remove the panels like racers do. He has used this special Marine adhesive for fiberglass to metal. I think it will turn out awesome and have a molded-in effect. I'll do a complete write-up as soon as the fiberglass gets here.

 

[cdsl227]

Glue! That sounds cool!