[Alec W]

The Jeep suddenly started shaking violently and the next minute I was riding on 3 wheels and a brake disk at 60MPH down the highway!!! The wheel apparently bounced 10’ in the air, over the 5' concrete median and in to the traffic on the other side of the highway. Unfortunately it hit a small car and looks like totaled it but no one was injured. Given how busy the highway was (6PM on 6th Avenue in Denver) and how destructive a 37” tire/wheel could be when out of control at that speed, it’s really amazing no one was hurt.

I have no clue how it suddenly sheared off but two lug bolts snapped off clean.

I got shook up a bit and got a ticker for driving a defective vehicle but such is life.

On the plus side I got my new bumper installed today and it’s a rather interesting way to cap off my 44th birthday

OK time for a large glass of Scotch now

 

[mentallcd]

:shaking:alright, first question, who put the tires on last? if it was a shop, i would venture to guess that you have a legal answer that can be resolved. if it was yourself, then your screwed:shaking:

second how much damage did it do to your rotor?

 

[venom]

damn Alec that sucks!
Glad no one got hurt.

BTW Happy Birthday man!:bounce:

 

[WTF_LOL]

Wow, that is crazy stuff. Glad everybody is ok.

Interestingly enough I had that happen to me in Seattle only I was the "other car", tire flew off of a car on the otherside and came across the median. It flew under my drivers side and instantly blew out both the front and rear drivers side tires. I was going 75mph on 4 wheels in rush hour and suddenly was on two wheels! this was in a 1990 XJ that wasn't exactly a well handeling vehicle on all four, let lone two! No wreks though so their insurance bought me all new tires so it worked out


Since there is remaining bolts on there I would think the two sheared off as the tire came off. Wonder if your lugnets just came loose? Any thoughts as to why it happened after looking at it?

 

[Alec W]

:shaking:alright, first question, who put the tires on last? if it was a shop, i would venture to guess that you have a legal answer that can be resolved. if it was yourself, then your screwed:shaking:

second how much damage did it do to your rotor?

Last time the wheel was off was over 1000 miles ago when I had my gears installed. I’m perplexed how/why it happened. The only thing I did today was add 150lbs of bumper to the back end. I do have 1 1/4" spacers and it's those bolts that snapped off.

I don’t think I’m screwed since I’m insured and a defective vehicle ticket is 1 point and a small fine. My premium will go up but this will be my first claim in years.

The rotor is screwed (note how flat it is at the bottom ) and other than shaving off about ½ inch off the bottom of the control arm/shock mount the Jeep seems ok. I was actually impressed how the Jeep handled it, I just coasted it onto the shoulder in a perfectly straight line.

 

[Alec W]

Since there is remaining bolts on there I would think the two sheared off as the tire came off. Wonder if your lugnets just came loose? Any thoughts as to why it happened after looking at it?

The cops found one of the lug nuts with a sheared bolt in it and it was tight. They were confused too.

 

[Alec W]

Something interesting is that the inside rim of the wheel was a mess. The rim was bent/buckled in so far it touched the mounting surface and the aluminum was snapped in a couple of places. The outside rim was perfect. It’s at a local shop and I’ll try to get a picture tomorrow.

 

[Duke]

Something interesting is that the inside rim of the wheel was a mess. The rim was bent/buckled in so far it touched the mounting surface and the aluminum was snapped in a couple of places. The outside rim was perfect. It’s at a local shop and I’ll try to get a picture tomorrow.

Do you think it was the fault of the spacer, the wheel, or operator error? What brand spacer? The wheel is AEV correct? How about a picture of the wheel when you get it back.

 

[CO Hummer]

Dang Alec. I'm glad everyone is safe. Un-friggin-believeable!!!!!!!!

Adam called me and told me the story. I about crapped my pants when I heard that. Obviously, it's not your fault. There is no way spacer bolts should snap. Ever.

On top of all of that, we had your Jeep in PERFECT shape - new bumper, shackle mounts, skids. When you drove off from my house that rig was awesome. I'm sure it will be fixed short order.

Now you have to make a decision on those AEV wheels. I'm not sure I'd want to go back to putting spacers on - especially when it's going to be impossible to tell what actually happened. You might want to package up the four AEV wheels and get some new ones with proper backspacing. It still pisses me off that AEV is such a CRAP company that lies about their backspacing on their website.

If it were me - I'm put the four AEVs on eBay (or five if insurance replaces that one). They just don't work with the Poly control arms. Get something with proper backspacing and avoid spacers. I know I'll never put them on after learning of this debacle. Wow.

Again, the goods side is that everyone is safe - especially my welder!

 

[gcg]

Given that there are three studs that didn't snap and the wheel parted company, it would seem like the lug nuts on those three must have come loose and worked their way off of the studs. Then, with only two studs left and being next to one another, it allowed the unsupported part of the wheel to flex away from the hub as it rotated (probably the vibration you felt) and eventually the last two just snapped. Just a thought.

 

[Ipe]

Damn Alec, thats some scary chit! I am so glad that no one was hurt in your vehicle or in the other car. A free, rolling wheel/tire that size could have permanently ruined someones day. Wow...

I agree with Alan about the AEV wheels and spacers. Put the remaining four on ebay and then get some poison spiders (or other beadlocks), or a set of regular wheels and some Stauns. The AEV/spacers are not worth the risk.

On the bright side though... Happy Birthday! :beer:

 

[RotorHead]

Damn, sorry about the bad luck Alec. Glad everbody is OK. Did you have to clean your seat?

 

[skibum]

Wow Alec...............glad to hear you're OK and that no one was hurt in the other vehicle. Sounds like you'll need several scotches and a change of underwear. :shocked:

 

[Brad Kilby]

I agree with gcg. My bet is those three remaining studs had the nuts work loose and you only had two nuts holding the wheel on. You can't blame the spacers for that. I've been running spacers on my JK since 09/06 and have never had an issue. I torque mine down with a torque wrench, not an impact gun and double check them a couple of days later.

 

[Alec W]

I agree with gcg. My bet is those three remaining studs had the nuts work loose and you only had two nuts holding the wheel on. You can't blame the spacers for that. I've been running spacers on my JK since 09/06 and have never had an issue. I torque mine down with a torque wrench, not an impact gun and double check them a couple of days later.

You guys are probably right.

Normally when I put the wheels on myself I toque them to 95lbs by hand. I probably should have checked them myself after I had my gears done and you can bet I’ll be super paranoid in the future.

 

[John L]

Holy crap, glad nobody got hurt.

 

[Steve-UK]

Glad to hear you are okay Alec, shame about the damage to the JK. Were the spacers fitted at the same time you had the gears done?

 

[Da Kine]

Alec, glad that you did not get hurt. I'm about to throw 37's on mine and concerned now that the studs may not be strong enough to carry the load.
BTW, happy birthday. :beer: I too just hit 44 on Sat.

 

[Alec W]

I too just hit 44 on Sat.

Really? 4/12/64 is your b/day too?

 

[Alec W]

It still pisses me off that AEV is such a CRAP company that lies about their backspacing on their website.

Yeah, I am pissed with AEV too but this was not an AE thing in this case (I think). When I do dump them I’ll not sell them to some other sucker and just put them in a landfill. Just wait until you see a pic of the one that fell off, it fell appart.

As you know, AEV wheels are crap but I may need to live with them for a bit.