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My wheel fell off!

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Old 02-27-2005, 08:21 AM
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Default My wheel fell off!

Yesterday at the track I sheared all five studs off the drivers side axle in the water box during my burnout! Has anyone had a problem with that?!?! It was on a Moser 12-bolt with the upgraded studs too. I am almost positive the lugs were perfectly torqued, even when I pulled off the other wheel it was torqued just like normal still. Can't explain what happened, I was only on my drag radials and only making motor passes, so it wasn't a power issue for sure! Sucks.
Old 02-27-2005, 08:35 AM
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That's crazy! Are you running spacers in the rear? I would say you overtightened them but you already checked that. I would however take the other side tire off and check the studs for any stress cracks. It will be interesting to see what caused this.
Old 02-27-2005, 08:39 AM
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yeah...if you run spacers...thats bad.

are they 1/2-20 studs? If not...look into putting them on
Old 02-27-2005, 08:50 AM
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Never heard of this happening with aftermarket studs. The only way they could fail is if they were overtightened. Might want to get your torque wrench sent out for re-calibration.
Old 02-27-2005, 09:28 AM
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i have done it with spacers on the rear - i swear i had it properly tightened as well the lugnuts. after that, i grinde more and put the spacers in the trash. never another issue. usually its from loose lugnuts. give it a little room and that spacer is a knife! i had the stock studs from moser on my 12 bolt.
Old 02-27-2005, 10:08 AM
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Originally Posted by gator's 99TA
i have done it with spacers on the rear - i swear i had it properly tightened as well the lugnuts. after that, i grinde more and put the spacers in the trash. never another issue. usually its from loose lugnuts. give it a little room and that spacer is a knife! i had the stock studs from moser on my 12 bolt.
Damn, I guess i'm lucky it never happened to me, I had the stock studs from moser in my 12-bolt too and ran spacers for the longest time until I just got my new 28" ET Drags when I started spraying, cuz I had an odd wheel that just didn't fit for some reason even though my other 3 that were same size and same backspace fit with no problems, so when I bought my new slicks, I bought a new rim and had it drilled and screwed to match the other one!
Old 02-27-2005, 10:23 AM
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Hey B1.... I was there and saw the whole thing. Tried to get someone's attention as you started your burnout but it happened pretty quick. Almost looked like they were loose to begin with. Lot's of side to side wobble before it came off. Can't imagine that little amount of time in the waterbox could do it. I'd say they'd been bent/stressed enough on previous launches that they were at the point of failure when you pulled up to the box the last time.

Good thing it happed when it did and not on launch or worse, at 1/2 track.... could've been real ugly.

Was gonna get w/you after they pulled it back out of the box, but figured I'd give you yer space.
Old 02-27-2005, 10:58 AM
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Boy you got lucky. Someone was watching over you.

That was the safest time and place for a wheel to take a walk...
Old 02-27-2005, 11:28 AM
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https://ls1tech.com/forums/drag-racing-results/225688-after-2-years.html

Not fun is it? I did mine on launch though. We are very lucky it happened when ours did!
Old 02-27-2005, 04:44 PM
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a buddy of mine had it happen on his 72 nova. all 5 on one side stripped completely, and they were tight. upgraded to 5/8 studs, and been good for the 3 years since...
Old 02-28-2005, 06:19 AM
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also...if you run weld wheels...note their are different lug lengths...you need the longer ones to ensure you don't overstress the studs!
Old 02-28-2005, 07:06 PM
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Originally Posted by LowETz
Hey B1.... I was there and saw the whole thing. Tried to get someone's attention as you started your burnout but it happened pretty quick. Almost looked like they were loose to begin with. Lot's of side to side wobble before it came off. Can't imagine that little amount of time in the waterbox could do it. I'd say they'd been bent/stressed enough on previous launches that they were at the point of failure when you pulled up to the box the last time.

Good thing it happed when it did and not on launch or worse, at 1/2 track.... could've been real ugly.

Was gonna get w/you after they pulled it back out of the box, but figured I'd give you yer space.

That's cool, it wasn't a huge deal since nothing got hurt really. I made three runs coming off the transbrake before that last burnout so they could have been getting slammed around every pass and just finally let go. Everything worked out, I ended up just pulling both axles, and took two from the good axle to put in the broken side to get it onto my trailer. I did have to cut them down shorter to get them out though, with the extended studs and the backing plates I didn't have enough room to get them out. Those studs suck to cut with a hack saw! I'm going to upgrade them to a screw in type used on prostock cars, they are about twice the size of the ones I had, I figure if I have to fix it anyway I might as well upgrade as far as I can.
Old 02-28-2005, 07:07 PM
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Originally Posted by DrkPhx
That's crazy! Are you running spacers in the rear? I would say you overtightened them but you already checked that. I would however take the other side tire off and check the studs for any stress cracks. It will be interesting to see what caused this.
Nope, no spacers. I was on my stock SS wheels, and when I run my Prostars I don't use spacers either.
Old 02-28-2005, 07:27 PM
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Originally Posted by B18B1LS1
That's cool, it wasn't a huge deal since nothing got hurt really. I made three runs coming off the transbrake before that last burnout so they could have been getting slammed around every pass and just finally let go. Everything worked out, I ended up just pulling both axles, and took two from the good axle to put in the broken side to get it onto my trailer. I did have to cut them down shorter to get them out though, with the extended studs and the backing plates I didn't have enough room to get them out. Those studs suck to cut with a hack saw! I'm going to upgrade them to a screw in type used on prostock cars, they are about twice the size of the ones I had, I figure if I have to fix it anyway I might as well upgrade as far as I can.
Get some 5/8" studs, I did
Old 02-28-2005, 08:54 PM
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Retourque after every pass. That was in the instructions with my Strange Axles.

I Check after every pass.

And spacers are bad news.

Sorry to hear your wheel came off. Did it damadge the car at all?

Brad
Old 02-28-2005, 09:10 PM
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Nope, got lucky, it just sat down on the LCA bracket.
Old 02-28-2005, 09:15 PM
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This **** is starting to freak me out. I never check my lugs after my pre-run inspection.

At what power levels, ET or 60' times should one start to do this routinely?
Old 02-28-2005, 09:33 PM
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My buddy broke some on his stang and we think they were too tight.
Old 03-01-2005, 07:24 AM
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I've never torqued down my lugs, usually just tighten 'em up with a 4-way tire iron, what exactly are the torque settings? Maybe I will start to torque them now after reading all this crap!
Old 03-01-2005, 07:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Loudmouth LS1
I've never torqued down my lugs, usually just tighten 'em up with a 4-way tire iron, what exactly are the torque settings? Maybe I will start to torque them now after reading all this crap!
Good question. And funny that OVERtightening them can cause the problem.
I think the compressor tightens them much more than the 4 way. Two months ago, me and a neighbor had a HELL of a time taking the wheels off after the tire shop mounted them.



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