Loose wheel nuts!

[Graeme Taylor]

When driving out of town, and getting up to speed, the day after paying over £1,100 for a service and the recommend remedial work my front wheels nearly fell off. Can anyone tell me what sort of compensation I should be accepting for having the lives of a friend, other road users and myself put at risk?

Thanks in advance for any advice proffered.

[Nagasis]

Have you suffered any damage to the car, for example the hub bolts, hub or wheels / alloys or anything else?

 

How were they loose? were all four/five nuts loose/off on each side or was it one/two? etc..

 

I think a complaint to the place that carried out the work would be a start. They may offer a discount on the next service, although your rear wheels might fall off too.

[dw190]

When driving out of town, and getting up to speed, the day after paying over £1,100 for a service and the recommend remedial work my front wheels nearly fell off. Can anyone tell me what sort of compensation I should be accepting for having the lives of a friend, other road users and myself put at risk?

Thanks in advance for any advice proffered.

 

Nearly fell off would suggest that the studs have been rocking against to holes in the wheel.

 

Both the studs and the wheel should be replaced. The slightest mark on the wheel of stud can cause the wheel not to be central.

[heliosuk]

The slightest mark on the wheel of stud can cause the wheel not to be central.

 

Simply not true.

And it won't be the studs rocking against the wheel either.

 

Post #2 is the way to go or though I'd ask for the discount to be refunded straight away.

 

No a lot more can happen without getting into what car, what type of wheels, how many times had the wheels been off before etc. etc. etc. etc. etc etc.

[Graeme Taylor]

After driving at speed for only a few miles we had to pull over because of the dreadful noise and vibration. When we checked the wheels pretty much all the nuts on the front wheels were able to be tightened or removed by two fingers.

My question is regarding the level of compensation, whether financial or in free service, I should reasonably expect the garage to be offering. If anyone has suffered or heard about this type of negligence, I would be glad to hear about the final settlement between the car owner and garage.

[dpick]

My brother had similar problem with his Vauxhall zafira he had rattling noise in passenger front wheel when local garage removed wheel cover they found one wheel nut lose in the cover. He spoke to dealer they could not give a **** they were then reported to Vauxhall uk with a report from local garage. Do not know any more that that.

 

dpick

[nohope]

Did you ring the garage and ask them to come out and check the car to see what was wrong or did you just do them up and drive home. I no they were loose but would have been worth playing dumb and getting the garage to come and find out for themselves then you would have more of a chance to claim something back from them after the amount you've just paid them.

[KVF]

I've had this happen twice. New tyres fitted all round to a van and the next day there was an odd noise, I looked in the mirrors, the wheel didn't look right as as I pulled into a layby the wheel dropped off and there was a row of nuts up the road behind me. Problem is the invoice, not that anyone reads it, does say that you should check your nuts after 20 miles. Whether they correctly did them up and torque set them I don't know and I think it would be difficult to prove.

 

Last time it happened I didn't even have an invoice as hadn't been charged - had a slow puncture, or so I thought so dropped into a garage. They had the wheel off, dropped it in a tank of water but no visable air leak hence nothing they could do, so they dropped it back on. Not much attention seemed to be paid to putting it back on but I'm a belt and braces person so when not much tightening force was applied I just thought well they're the pro's. Few days later wheel dropped off.

 

Both times no damage was caused, just lost a couple of nuts so had the inconvenience of sourcing new ones.

[Kiki1]

After driving at speed for only a few miles we had to pull over because of the dreadful noise and vibration. When we checked the wheels pretty much all the nuts on the front wheels were able to be tightened or removed by two fingers.

My question is regarding the level of compensation, whether financial or in free service, I should reasonably expect the garage to be offering. If anyone has suffered or heard about this type of negligence, I would be glad to hear about the final settlement between the car owner and garage.

 

 

Alloys or steels ?

 

Best advice, don't go back to the same garage.

[scaniaman]

Grahame, i know you don't want to hear this but in law it is the driver who is responsible for the safety of the vehicle. In practice, the vast majority of us put our faith in tyre fitters and servicing mechanics--sorry, technicians.

Im my area, all the wheel fitters zip up wheel studs / nuts with an air gun then put final tightness on with a torque wrench. More than that they really can't do.

The above posts offer excellent advice.

[Master Tyke]

There is set procedure for tightening wheel nuts (studs) and it sounds like it hasn't been followed.

 

Wheels nuts cannot be tighten enough while the wheel is suspended in the air.

 

After initial tightening, the car is dropped to the ground and torqued up (tighted) while the wheels are on the ground.

 

If a car is driven with loose wheel nuts. The studs and perhaps the wheel may be damaged. It is possible both may need replaced. You need to take the car to a garrage to get this checked. IF they are damaged, you can expect them to pay for the corrective work.

[Prolix]

Could you even show that they had the wheels off during the service? You will run into difficulties trying to prove it was their fault as you presumably tightened them up yourself after noticing (I would have) and also you have done a bit of driving since the service. And if the garage is being crafty they'll say that you could have had the wheels off yourself. It's going to be hard to prove a causal link. Best thing to do is see if they'll offer any form of redress and if so take it and move on (and go somewhere else next time)