Wheel fell off
 

Hey, I was wondering if anyone can give me a hand here. Long story short, the driver side wheel on my 03 TJ fell off. I changed the wheel studs and bought new nuts. Drove it again and wheel came loose again, tightened it again and still comes loose. Any ideas why? Any help would be much appreciated. Oh and I also need a new rim if anyone has one laying around!!
Thanks

Re: Wheel fell off
 

Sounds weird, tighten them up and have them torked..only thing I can see is that there not tight enough or is more than just the rim w/tire actually coming off? Where are you in Mtl, if close by we can take a look at it for you.

Re: Wheel fell off
 

what all is coming off with the wheel? is just the lug nuts coming off?
a little loctight might help keep it on there, dont go crazy with it, but just a dab 1/4 of the diameter, then you want to torque them down to 100-120ftlbs, depending on how much your rig weighs (the heavier and larger the tires, the tighter you want.)

Re: Wheel fell off
 

Make sure the lugs you buy are the 1/2"x 20 acorn bulge type. Those will give the most surface area contact between the rim and the lug.

Gorilla Automotive Products - Lug Nuts, Wheel Locks, Auto Security, Wheel Accessories

Could be you're just using the wrong style lug nuts.

Correct torque is important too. If you over torque, you'll deform the lug and it will loosen.

Re: Wheel fell off
 

new studs will do that and so would aluminum rims, keep tightening them daily for a week and see how it is. should be ok after that. i changed my hubs and have aluminum rims and they loosened on me. after about a week they were ok

Re: Wheel fell off
 

Hey thanks for all the replies. Ya the rim and tire rolled right off the hub, the lugs got loose that they fell off, snapped a stud, ripped a gaping hole in my tire. I changed lugs studs and put my spare rim and tire on. The same **** almost happened, lugs backed off and was holding on by 1/4", wheel wobbled thats how i noticed. Unfortunately my mother was drivin the first time it happened. Wasnt her best day lol. Could be the lugs are not right and the inside of them is hittin the end of the stud, making it impossible to tighten. Ill torque em with some loctite, if it happens again the ill change the lugs, 10$ a piece at chrysler!! Thas a steal:smilie_auslachen:

Re: Wheel fell off
 

You don't torque with loctite, you torque with a torque wrench.
Loctite makes lots of products, some of them are thread lockers, but you should not need loctite to keep your rims from falling off.
That whole concept is ludicrous imo :confused:
I've been driving for 35 years and have never had a wheel fall off for lack of loctite.
Get the correct studs and lug nuts, torque them to spec (100 ft. lb.) and you should be good to go.
And you can do a lot better than $10.00 a pop if you look around. Why give your hard earned money to a stealership??

Re: Wheel fell off
 

Ya i never buy anything from the dealer, i bought brand new lug nuts for a fraction of that price, but they still get loose. Loctite may be my last option if it keeps backin off after torquing it several times. Could be a vibration in front end somewhere thats causing it to happen. I aint a total idiot when it comes to mechanics, the whole situation just boggles my mind. Anyways thanks for everyones help, ill figure her out this weekend.

Peace

Re: Wheel fell off
 

From my FSM

WARNING: NEVER USE OIL OR GREASE ON STUDS OR NUTS. INSTALLING WHEELS WITHOUT GOOD METAL-TO-METAL CONTACT OR USING CHROME PLATED LUG NUTS WITH CHROME PLATED WHEELS COULD CAUSE LOOSENING OF WHEEL NUTS. THIS COULD AFFECT THE SAFETY AND HANDLING OF THE VEHICLE.

There's also a correct lug tightening pattern to follow:

Re: Wheel fell off
 

Is the rim sitting flat on the axle? If not this could be your problem.