Near tragic event!!

[Likes to tow]

I'm not new at this. I have pulled boat trailers since I was 17 and Rv's for the past 16 years. I've owned 3 fifth wheels. My maintenance procedures are second to none in my opinion......up until last Sunday! I'm thorough on wheel bearing maintenance, tire pressure and brake adjustment. Never had a problem! Last Sunday after arriving at my campsite 90 miles from home I got all set up and plugged in. When I started up the steps to enter the camper my eyes were drawn to the most unbelievable site I have ever seen. I stood there looking at it for probably a full minute and could not believe what I saw.
My complete wheel was missing on the front axle!!!!!!!!!! Most of my 90 mile journey was Interstate and I did not notice anything different in towing nor did I hear any noise or vibration. All of the lug bolts were sheared off even with the surface on the drum, the dust cap was missing and obviously the axle was sagging down on that side.

Last August 2019 I performed my yearly maintenance in preparation for a trip West. All wheels removed one at a time, new grease seals, clean bearings and repack, clean and inspect brake shoes & adjust and check tire pressure. We drove 4500 miles through Colorado and New Mexico. In October we had a trip into southern Ky and late October we went to the Smoky Mts. Then this year 2020 in May we went to North Carolina/Virginia and lastly in July we went to the mountains of West Virginia. I'm thinking all these trips were near 5000 miles + of trailer towing. Flawless enjoyable towing and travel. Since we canceled our long range travel this year due to the out of control violence in our nation I had not done any maintenance in 2020 and the season is coming to an end for us until the we feel more secure traveling.

My advice to anyone pulling a trailer is this. Follow instructions on the torque specs on the lug nuts. I've never used a torque wrench on wheels and simply relied on tightening them really good. The only thing I can think of is this particular wheel was not tight and the many miles of travel just allowed them to loosen up, vibrating and shaking, then shearing off the studs. I also thought of the possibility of someone loosening the lug nuts. I hate to think of anyone doing this but in today's world it's hard to comprehend what we see going on everywhere. Had I failed to tighten the lug nuts in August 2019 how did I travel 5000+ miles with no problem?? I suppose it would take that long to begin to loosen up the nuts?? If this had been on a passenger vehicle you would feel the vibration or noise and stop to check it out. On a trailer you hear or feel nothing !!! I checked the other three wheels on my return yesterday using a torque wrench and all were between 90-110 pounds. I took one day to remove the brake drum and take it to a local tire shop where new studs were pressed into the wheel and put the spare on for my trip home. I did not come back on three wheels!!

One last observation. Last year I put 4 new Goodyear Endurance tires on and removed the China Bomb Westlakes. I truly believe that the single Endurance carrying the entire load for how ever many miles after this happened enabled me to arrive safely. The Westlake or any China bomb would have blown under the increased load it was temporarily carrying. The wheel could have come off in the first part of my 90 mile trip or toward the end, I have no idea.

CHECK LUG NUT TORQUE AS PART OF YOUR MAINTENANCE !! Even if you do not do any maintenance on your axles you can at least put a lug wrench on your wheels and check for tightness. Do it often. My procedure now will be after removing a wheel I will tighten to proper specs with a torque wrench......then check again after driving a few miles.

[FT4NOW]

Glad it worked out, I hope the tire that came off didnt cause any injury to someone else on the road.

Dont forget to include periodically checking the lug nut torque on the tow vehicle as well, and its recommended to check the lug nuts after driving 50 miles following re-installation of a wheel.

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[Ynot4me2]

Holy crap. We just got back from a 2000km trip. Can you guess what I'm going to be doing this morning? Off I go with my torque wrench. I had an SUV with mag wheels that the lugs would always always loosen up after reinstalling. But these would do it after 200km. I think the metal composition along with heat difference plays a big role in this. Probably a good thing that this happened to you on the curb side on the interstate.

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[fz6fw5]

The other thing I do is take a white paint pen and put a dot of paint on the lug nut where it points to a "partner" mark on the hub itself. This allows a quick visual that everything is remaining torqued to specifications. I glance at them every 100 miles on the road.

[Likes to tow]

I like this idea with a mark. Will do!!

[Likes to tow]

Holy crap. We just got back from a 2000km trip. Can you guess what I'm going to be doing this morning? Off I go with my torque wrench. I had an SUV with mag wheels that the lugs would always always loosen up after reinstalling. But these would do it after 200km. I think the metal composition along with heat difference plays a big role in this. Probably a good thing that this happened to you on the curb side on the interstate.

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Now this helps to possibly explain why it happened. The heat difference and cooling.....especially with aluminum rims on cast iron drums....plus the mountains I have driven in the past year will generate a lot of heat!!! Good comment, now I don't feel quite so stupid and careless!!

[Likes to tow]

If I go outside this morning and listen real carefully I can hear folks everywhere with wrenches checking their lug nuts!!!!!!!! LOL

[GVBartlett]

Most of the problem with wheels is the center hole on the rim (wheel) is larger than the hub. This happens on alot of aftermarket wheels. Factory wheels on tow vehicles are so called fitted to the hub. When the wheel matches the hub the weight is transferred thru the hub to the wheel NOT thru the studs. Usually, when studs break iit is caused by over/under tightening or the wheel riding on the studs.

[WhittleBurner]

It is amazing how little we feel when something goes wrong with a tire. Glad it did not cause any more harm. Also suprised no one pulled beside you pointing back there to let you know the tire was gone.
When our rear hanger fell off we never felt anything and like you we noticed it when parked. And this happened to the drivers side where I'd of though it would be noticed in the side mirror. We added checking for cracks in the welds on the hangers when doing a pre trip and rest stop check.

[D2Reid]

My complete wheel was missing on the front axle!!!!!!!!!! ... All of the lug bolts were sheared off even with the surface on the drum, the dust cap was missing and obviously the axle was sagging down on that side.

That would certainly have gotten a pretty good shocked look. It's kind of cool to see a tire come off, we were following and empty utility trailer yesterday, the guy passed us doing about 80. Trailer wheel came off and started down the road next to him. I slowed way down anticipating more trouble. But the wheel kind of bounced alongside till it got to the edge then veered off road to bounce high off of a rock over a fence and then blasted through the fencing on the bottom of a bill board, I had visions of it blasting through the bill board the way it was bouncing high, but it had started rolling again along the ground. The bill board stopped it. There was a lot of power in that tire, it could have done a lot of damage, fortunately we were in a rural area.

I wonder why the studs got sheered, was it a function of the wheel coming off or did you hit something in the road? Probably never know. Like you I have never been a fan of torguing unless it was a critical point, like head bolts on an engine. But I worry about these aluminum wheels. I don't think they are as robust as steel wheels, so I torque, 125 pounds. 9/16" bolts. 110psi tires.