At least we didn't lose it on the highway!

[Click_here]

Last week, we were packed and heading out to Tyler State park east of the Dallas area, driving down I-635, known locally as LBJ freeway. I mentioned to the wife that the road certainly seemed a little rough, so I changed lanes to the right. Still not so smooth so got in the far right lane and slowed to about 50.

That is when I noticed the loud, bumpy thump-thump of what sounded like I had two left rear flats! Slowed down and it got worse, pulling as quickly as I could to the limited shoulder, blocking part of a major exit (Town East Mall).

Carefully exited with all the traffic racing by and walking to the back of the RV, I had one of those slow motion heart attacks. Not literally, but the outside left rear wasn't attached. It was held on at an angle by only two threaded studs, no lug nuts and all the 6 others were just gone. Looked behind the rig and noticed 3 of the lug nuts and two of the sheared off studs as well as the valve extender from the inside rear.

To make a short story even longer, after nearly 3 hours, we were on the way again, sitting precariously on a flatbed tow truck graciously sent by Ford roadside, transported over to an authorized Ford truck repair center in Dallas about 25 miles away. Both wheels are ruined, outside chrome and inside Ford one.

A few thoughts on this one:
-Ford will not cover it since they were an 'after market' chrome wheel, not a Ford wheel.
-Jayco advises they won't since we have had the RV for 15 months and it was a 'maintenance' issue
-Vogt RV in Ft. Worth said pretty much the same thing.
-Good Sam, though we are members, joining the road side assistance portion has a 48 hour waiting period.
-CoachNet, provided by Vogt is only for 1 year, though we got no notice to renew or extend. They did offer to send someone for $450 plus a month to month fee for 'rejoining'
-Local police called their own tow company, who wanted to tow from behind with an 18 wheeler setup. I refused since Ford was sending a flatbed. Was forced to pay them $200 'for showing up'.

While I do check my air each time we go out, never crossed my mind to get out my torque wrench and check that the lug nuts are tightened to spec. I know it is in the manual (now) but seriously...

As it turns out, I had the rubber valve stems replaced with steel a few months ago at a local Discount Tire to stop air loss (it did), which makes me think they did not replace the left rear properly. Likely a little late to go after them now.

Bottom line is, State Farm is covering it, with my $500 deductible, but it hasn't been an easy task to get this sorted. The repair place 'has no vendor agreement' with either Jayco or Vogt so they say they don't know how to pay for an ordered replacement wheel (to match). I had to call Jayco directly and speak to the parts manager at the dealer to supply all that info to the repair shop.

Suffice to say, I will be checking lug nuts as well as air from now on.

[Crabman]

Sorry to see that. Just wondering, were the lugs tight on the other side and front? Could be someone forgot to torque that wheel.

[Click_here]

Originally Posted by Crabman

Sorry to see that. Just wondering, were the lugs tight on the other side and front? Could be someone forgot to torque that wheel.

Good question. My assumption is, Discount Tire did not fully tighten at least the outside left rear when they swapped out the valve stems. Haven't checked the others, however the repair shop assured me they will check all of them.

[Vasquez Kid]

Wow I'm glad to hear that this didn't get worse for you as you were driving and you guys were safe. Also glad to hear that insurance is going to pay.

I can't believe that the tow truck driver would carry your rig like that - especially for 25 miles!

[2edgesword]

Wow! Glad no one was injured and sorry to hear about the hurting put on your wallet. I check pressure and torque before each trip but your experience is a reminder not to get lax in doing it.

[Click_here]

Oh, and they had to use a forklift to hold it up from the rear in order to get the RV off the truck. At one point, the entire front of the tow truck was briefly lifted off the ground!

[RAurand]

Glad you stayed safe.

NOW to open a discussion about if the tow truck driver exceeded the Rear Axel Capacity Rating of the tow truck to go with all the Am I exceeding my truck ratings on this forum!

[xmtraveler]

That's a hell of a problem to occur on highway. Thankfully you and family are ok. I had dealer check lugs on my redhawk. I have never seen what the inside tire looks likes. Is there another set of lugs on the inside wheel or does the same stud run from the inside wheel to the outside? In other words is there just one set of lug nuts on the outside? If so I guess I should be around when they are tighten just to make sure the repair person does forget to check the inside? I just have never looked to see how the dually wheels are set up.

[Click_here]

Originally Posted by xmtraveler

That's a hell of a problem to occur on highway. Thankfully you and family are ok. I had dealer check lugs on my redhawk. I have never seen what the inside tire looks likes. Is there another set of lugs on the inside wheel or does the same stud run from the inside wheel to the outside? In other words is there just one set of lug nuts on the outside? If so I guess I should be around when they are tighten just to make sure the repair person does forget to check the inside? I just have never looked to see how the dually wheels are set up.

The picture above shows the inside Ford wheel, with only the last two remaining studs holding. Yes, both wheels use the same threaded studs.

Have to say, the aftermath with the repair facility, insurance, Jayco and the parts manager at my dealer has been nearly as grueling as the event itself.

I've had to contact Jayco and Vogt for part numbers, at times having to explain that yes, the Greyhawk did offer chrome rims as an option, which meant they *had* to be able to located who they ordered them from!

In the end, I will likely have to order and pay for the new wheel, lug nuts, hub cover, etc. directly from Vogt RV since the repair place doesn't have a vendor agreement with either Vogt or Jayco. Hopefully Ford doesn't come back and tell me I owe them $500 for a (non)warranty tow.

The good news is, the repair shop can get the work done in < a day, compared to my dealer who told me they could do the work, but in 5-7 weeks!

[katiedog]

OH BOY !!!!
Same thing happened to us November ,,
The local roadside service replace 4 studs .
All 8 sheared off
just to get off the road and to Ford dealer.
The dealer would not work on RVs so
road side came back and finished the job.
We replace both wheels since there were damaged
mainly the outer Aluminum wheel.
I had removed and retorqued the wheels on purchase
and checked several times
The studs appeared to been cracked for a while ,
they were ether defective or way over torqued at Manufacture.
Ford was contacted and after much investigation they made good
on all charges and parts. Yea!!
I would everyone with Aluminum Wheel option check torque and
put anti sieze on Threads. Possibly dissimilar wheel materials and an issue

[NC Roamer]

Wow, just wow. That’s a serious blunder on someone’s part. Glad no one got hurt.

Our Greyhawk is in the truck shop now getting metal valve stems and new tires. I will question them most directly about did they correct torque the lug nuts. We do not have the aluminum wheels, just the regular steel ones. Maybe that will provide a little more of a safety factor.

Good luck with your repairs.

[katiedog]

I always re torque wheels 500 miles after new tires or Brake job.
A good tire shop will do it for you.
The steel wheels have a better grip due to OEM Swivel lug nuts.

[RAurand]

Took my Expedition to the dealer for an oil change and tire rotation. At the dealer, I took a picture of the drivers side front tire which I marked prior to going inside. After the service rep did my paperwork to have that done, I waited an hour. Service rep comes out telling me I am all done and had me pay. I took the paperwork out and looked at the drivers side front tire. Chalk mark was still there. Went back inside and asked the service rep if the technician rotated the tires. Rep says tech put on the paper he did. Took the rep out and not only showed him the chalk mark but also the photo I took before walking in (date and time stamped)
Service rep called the technician out and after I asked him 4 different times if he did in fact rotate the tires, he adamantly said YES all 4 times.
You should have seen his face flush when I showed him the chalk mark and photo.
Then the tech started saying he must have forgot. I went and talked to the owner. Told the owner if I cant trust them to do a simple tire rotation without lying, how can I trust them with major work?
Tech was fired on the spot.

Like Ronald Reagan was known to say...….. TRUST BUT VERIFY!

[BuckleUp]

Originally Posted by RAurand

Took my Expedition to the dealer for an oil change and tire rotation. At the dealer, I took a picture of the drivers side front tire which I marked prior to going inside. After the service rep did my paperwork to have that done, I waited an hour. Service rep comes out telling me I am all done and had me pay........

Like Ronald Reagan was known to say...….. TRUST BUT VERIFY!

I bet this goes on everywhere. I’m going to start marking my tires .

[Steve1152]

big rigs use steel and aluminum together all the time without much trouble. got to check lug tightness especially after any kind of wheel mantaince, very important!!

[oldtrojan66]

Boy, it's amazing to watch the "blame ball" bounce around like a pinball machine till it gets to your wallet! Blame (cost) stops there!
Glad no one was hurt. I also lost six of eight lug nuts on a fifth wheel. Not a clue till I went to back in to a site at the park and the rear street tire was wobbling like an old drunk!

[Route 66 Traveler]

Originally Posted by Click_here

My assumption is, Discount Tire did not fully tighten at least the outside left rear when they swapped out the valve stems. Haven't checked the others, however the repair shop assured me they will check all of them.

I always check the lug torque with a calibrated wrench after every tire service. My last trip to Discount Tire to have my tires rotated on my PU resulted in two cross threaded lug nuts on my left front tire, as well as two loose nuts on the same wheel. Two of the three remaining tires had the lug nuts WAY over torqued. Not a Happy Camper.


Thanks for sharing your story...good luck down the road....

[ruralIN]

With dually wheels you need to torque, drive a bit and then re-torque. My Discount Tire taught me that. After initial torque they had me drive around an adjacent parking lot making sure to turn both directions and come back for a re-torque.

[MONKYBIZ]

+1 on torque, drive and re-torque.


This happened to me on a 1 ton with a trailer load of landscape equipment after I'd done the rear bakes a few days earlier. This was my first dually, and a hard lesson was learned from it. Had to pull the drums on the roadside and change the studs right there after hitching a ride back home for another vehicle. Livin' & Learnin' 101!

[Jopopsy]

I never knew about the dually 2x torque bit. And I had both rears pulled to get rid of the valve extensions (one of which was leaking). I've driven 6 hours on the rig since then - guess who is bringing a torque wrench with him to the camper this weekend?