Chevy & GMC Vans

Went rough trucking on Wednesday night. While towing, my exhaust usually rattles on my hitch...I heard a lot of noise but nothing out of the ordinary until BOOM!!!!! I'm pretty sure I didn't retighten my lug nuts after swapping my rearends. Although the passenger side was still tight..... And there were no issues towing to the fairgrounds.... oh well, hard lesson to learn......

Ouch. That is lots of damages. Thanks for the reminder.

oh that sucks i got pretty close to losing my wheel on my way to NECO last year. I'm always going to re-torque my lugs after a shop works on it from now on

Ouch!

I can relate though. I had a rear wheel come off my old Ramcharger and not only crunched the rear panel but also had one of my snowmobiles come off the trailer I was towing and land upside down in the middle of the road.

First and foremost, you are O.K.
Secondly how much brake/rear end damage?

not good,,just glad you weren't running 70 down the highway.
Happened to my wife with her Grand Cheorkee. Went in for new tires,,,came out and half way home the back left mag rolled off and actually was ahead of her. Didn't hurt anyone but did do a little damage. DA had put the wheel back on and no lug nuts.

Oh man, that sucks! I feel for ya bud. Your luck is about as good as mine. Almost happened to my blue van on the way to Canada once. Caugt it before it went flying though.

almost happened to my wife's grand caravan on trip to VA. had a hot spot on rotor, so shook a little on hard braking..... seem to be getting alot worse around parkersburg WV. pulled over on the side of the road.... had broke three studs off, only had two lugs holding the wheel on, barely, a couple more minutes on the road and I'm sure they would have come off as well....tightened down last two and inched it into town, it was after 10 pm, both the parts stores were closed, so we stayed overnight at a motel, I change 3 studs and replace lugs while my wife and kids ate breakfast.... then we continued on the trip.... now I give them a tighten before any long road trips or when anyone else has had them off..... The Tireman, over tightens them to the point where I can't get them off without a three foot cheat bar on fourway...

astroturf wrote:First and foremost, you are O.K.
Secondly how much brake/rear end damage?

Everyone was okay, it was just my Wife and I wearing our seatbelts. I think the trailer actually slowed us down a bit. That or the backing plate digging into the pavement. lol
I had to purchase a new drum, hardware, wheel cylinder and 5 studs. Cost me about $100 to get it drivable again. I had the spare wheels and tires from one of my other vans I junked.
I took it to a local body shop for an estimate on Saturday. We carry full coverage on it cause of the tool and parts. Going to cost about $2300 to fix. Not sure whether we're going to screw with the insurance or just leave it be. I have no desire to argue about a 16 year old astro with 330,000 miles and a V8.

I forgot to do that once. I got lucky though, I was driving down the road at night and I actually heard the first lugnut and stud hit the road when it broke off. I wasn't sure at the time what it was, but it was enough for me to pull over and check things out.. I noticed one of the studs had broken off, and I quickly got the rest of them tightened..

Now when I change my tires, I leave the wheel chocks under the tires until I double checked the lugnuts.

I Torque. Cause it says torque. Jim

I ALWAYS torque them for a couple reasons. 1. keeps the rotors and drums from warping and 2. makes absolutely sure the wheel is tight. Steel wheels I generally don't recheck but aluminum wheels get a re-check after a short trip of 20 - 50 miles.

When ever I go to a shop that has had the tires off. I always loosen all the lug nuts and then re tighten them with the wrench from the car. That way I know if I put them on with that wrench I can get them off with it in the event of a flat tire. I nearly lost a tire in High school because I let a friend put the tire on and didn't check his work. If we go on a road trip I check all the lugs before we leave and then usually once on the way. Normaly when we stop for the night or on the second fill up of the day while everyone is running for the washroom at the gas station.