Rear tire came off while being towed 45 mph tonight!!!!

Rear tire came off while being towed 45 mph tonight!!!! Almost Rolled it!!

My nerves are still shot. Four wheel studs snapped off and my tire did a hoola hoop on the brke drum then crushed my rear quarter panel and threw the back of the Ex 5 ft in the air. It began to slide all over into the other lane uncontrolably. I was working the steerig wheel like mad ......I thought it was rolling for sure!!!

The guy towing me was smart when he saw the rear of the Ex jump up in the air then the tire fly away he freaked. When I was sliding into the other lane and dropping on the rear drivers side drum he gave it a little gas to bring me back up on 3 wheels and I could madly work the wheel trying to bring the side to side skid under control.

When we stopped the 26 ft truck behind me had moved into the center of both lanes to slow traffic down. As I got out of the vehicle both guys in the truck were clapping and giving me thumbs up for the recovery. I guess at one point I was almost completely sideways. A few other cars passed all giving me the thumbs up.

I will get pics posted tomorrow as I go to asess the amount of damage. Tonight I am getting drunk.

 

[general x]

now didnt all those thumbs up make up for nearly shi**in yourself when you realized you should have got a flatbed tow. nice to see all the support toward the better drivers in this world

 

[wired_af]

Glad your okay . . . . atleast you have 2 more explorers left!

hmm there has been a lot of accients lately....

 

[Redrig]

Thats sucks, Im glad you are ok. Im sure you will get the damage straightened out but its unfortunate. Untill then

 

[twomedicine]

Sounds like a wild ride, like riding a bull at the end of a tow rope

Good thing you kept it together and came oaut OK cause it sure sounds like it could have gone the other way

 

[Howard]

Wow Kurt. Time for a change of pants. Well done for good car control. Glad your ok. Any idea of why this happened ?

 

[Fusion213]

I'm scared now, if it can happen to him... it could happen to any of us.

 

[AspenX]

Good recovery AJ. You deserve a 12pk after that. Which X was it? Oh ya, you thinking about Moab in May? Glad you came out unhurt.

 

[terdrocket]

Re: Rear tire came off while being towed 45 mph tonight!!!! Almost Rolled it!!

Originally posted by AlaskanJack
Tonight I am getting drunk.

You gotta like that therapy

 

[dogfriend]

That seems pretty amazing that you lost a rear wheel and didn't roll it. Got any pics?

 

[EBInterceptor]

You gotta like that therapy

Sounds like what I would do too. Nothing better than losing a wheel on the road for a nice adrenaline rush. Sounded like a wild ride.

 

[XplorerKid]

Kurt Glad Your okay!!!!!!!!!!

Which Explorer Was this?? Dont tell me the lifted one , well even if it was hat one i dotn think you would care about the body damage........

That sucks royally man......

Hope the Therapy helped out...

PEACE

 

[emon]

why do bad things always happen to you and around you? boy, i hate to be your neighbor.

 

[AlaskanJack]

It was this Ex. And the drivers side rear came off. The lower Rocker behind the wheel is folded up underneath and might be pinching the fuel filler hose and it looks like the rear corner of the bumper took some damage.

My co-worker that was towing me said after looking at the tire it appeared as though four of the lug nuts were loosened based on the rim damage in the stud holes. One was on tight another was not completely loosened but 3 definitely were really loose.

Now for the bad news. I crank my lug nuts really tight!! When we put the tire back on to trailer it I had to take a nut off the other side and I really had to apply pressure to loosen one. I had to stand on the lug wrench. I had wheel spacers mounted on the rear and so when I installed them I tightened the lugs a little extra. My co-worker thinks someone looseneed them overnight on my truck. We have had problems in our neighborhood in the past with some problem kids. But that is just speculation.

 

[mmsdrummer]

/goes out to torque lots of lug nuts.

 

[Blee1099]

Damn Kurt.. Thats what you get for using a wrecker to tow it.. Explorers love rollbacks.. Glad to see you are safe, atleast the damage isn't that severe..

 

[AlaskanJack]

Wrecker??? Better read back up under the pic I added some more to the story

 

[SVO]

Glad your ok Kurt, I'll have a beer for you too.

 

[SoBeLover]

Oh man Kurt, you lost your wheel too

That totally bites man. Glad you weren't injured.

I hope you find who loosened your lug nuts...that's malicious as far as I'm concerned.

Losing your wheel while you are driving your truck is something I NEVER want to experience again

 

[A Wise Guy]

Glad you held it together and you are ok. Just picture it if it went the other way... Explorer rolled...