Drove around with 3/5 lug nuts for years

[Kurtatron]

Shocking. I know. Utterly reprehensible. But to be honest, the Nissan dealer didn’t say anything after a 5 point inspection 2 weeks ago. And neither did the shady tire shop mechanic either that I went to last week.

I only noticed because I just had a tire patch installed by a local mechanic, and checked the tire afterwards to make sure the lug nuts were torqued properly, and would you look at that, two missing lug nuts on TWO wheels. I was missing 5 lug nuts total on my Nissan rogue. The studs were heavily corroded, so it must have been like that for a while.

I know lug nut torque is important for the wheel bearings, so went bought some and torqued them down immediately.

Just thought I’d let people know, driving with 3/5 lug nuts does not put you in immediate danger of wheels falling off. Stupid yes, but dangerous, probably not.

 

[The Critic]

Thanks for also confirming that you do not rotate your tires (or inspect your brakes regularly)....

 

[Owen Lucas]

I wonder if the wheel flange deforms ever so slightly after driving around missing 2 lug nuts.

 

[Pablo]

Shocking. I know. Utterly reprehensible. But to be honest, the Nissan dealer didn’t say anything after a 5 point inspection 2 weeks ago. And neither did the shady tire shop mechanic either that I went to last week.

I only noticed because I just had a tire patch installed by a local mechanic, and checked the tire afterwards to make sure the lug nuts were torqued properly, and would you look at that, two missing lug nuts on TWO wheels. I was missing 5 lug nuts total on my Nissan rogue. The studs were heavily corroded, so it must have been like that for a while.

I know lug nut torque is important for the wheel bearings, so went bought some and torqued them down immediately.

Just thought I’d let people know, driving with 3/5 lug nuts does not put you in immediate danger of wheels falling off. Stupid yes, but dangerous, probably not.

Buddy did this when were in our teens. Worse, 2 of 4. Even then were agog for tales of wheels breaking away.....

His response? I had two, the second one was just a back-up

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Wow that's living dangerously!

I've driven on 4/5 but never 3!

 

[paulo57509]

A classmate in high school had a '76 Chevy LUV step side. He was running slotted aluminum wheels. Even after applying proper torque, he was always losing lug nuts.

 

[Astro14]

No, it is still dangerous. Just because you experience no ill effect does not make it safe.. You can walk a steel I-beam 900 feet in the air, and not fall off, but that doesn’t make it safe.

 

[PF52]

I wonder what all they looked at during the "5 point inspection"?

 

[troymcclure]

I wonder what all they looked at during the "5 point inspection"?

Left windshield wiper, right windshield wiper, cabin air filter, engine air filter, washer fluid tank. Total estimate: $400

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Five lug lug nuts just falling off makes no sense. Either they were never put on for some reason, or someone else wanted them more than you did.

And yes, just because one of your wheels didn't fall off does not mean that driving it in that condition really isn't dangerous. It is and it's dumb to think otherwise.

 

[troymcclure]

Shocking. I know. Utterly reprehensible. But to be honest, the Nissan dealer didn’t say anything after a 5 point inspection 2 weeks ago. And neither did the shady tire shop mechanic either that I went to last week.

I only noticed because I just had a tire patch installed by a local mechanic, and checked the tire afterwards to make sure the lug nuts were torqued properly, and would you look at that, two missing lug nuts on TWO wheels. I was missing 5 lug nuts total on my Nissan rogue. The studs were heavily corroded, so it must have been like that for a while.

I know lug nut torque is important for the wheel bearings, so went bought some and torqued them down immediately.

Just thought I’d let people know, driving with 3/5 lug nuts does not put you in immediate danger of wheels falling off. Stupid yes, but dangerous, probably not.

Crazy reminder that no matter how well you maintain the safety of your own car, these are the cars we share the road with.

Glad you fixed it. Sad to see it fell through the cracks. All shops are incentivized to generate revenue. The good ones will do a very thorough inspection. The bad ones will focus just on replacing consumables with high margins.

 

[Kurtatron]

Thing is, this rogues wheels have a very deep profile for the nuts. You can’t see them unless you are looking right at the wheel straight on. If it was steel wheels, it would have been too obvious

 

[Rand]

I see low tires at 75ft.. Guarantee I would notice the missing lugnuts within a day.

 

[troymcclure]

I see low tires at 75ft.. Guarantee I would notice the missing lugnuts within a day.

So will Kurtatron now after getting burned

 

[GMBoy]

Just had a civic on the shop last week for "a noise in the right rear and wobble vibration". Pulled off hubcap and there was just one lug nut and the wheel lock holding on- for whatever reason they had wheel locks on steel rims.

A few months ago went to a pick n pull and came out to some shady characters parked oddly next to the truck. Had a few words with them and it got a little heated...didn't know until we got home that they were trying to steal our wheels as every wheel had 4 loose finger tight lugs nuts and only 1 tight. We drove 30 miles on the freeway like that.

 

[brages]

I was hit by an escaped wheel that jumped the median on the freeway, so I'm a little touchy about this.

 

[troymcclure]

I was hit by an escaped wheel that jumped the median on the freeway, so I'm a little touchy about this.

Oh it’s no joke. This example comes to mind.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I wonder what all they looked at during the "5 point inspection"?

Only 3 of 5 apparently.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Well from a technical standpoint their likely hub centric so the lugs simply hold the tire inboard - the hubs hold the weight.

Hopefully the three were evenly spaced.

 

[artbuc]

Worried about proper torque but did not notice missing lug nuts? Do you ever wash your car and wheels? Do you think someone stole your lug nuts? Hope you cleaned rusty studs before torquing.