I'm Lucky to Be Alive and in One Piece!

[atirial]

I'm glad you're OK! It's lucky you caught it before anything happened.

[Outdoor Girl]

The guys at the garage can't believe I drove almost 1000 km without the wheel coming off, from when I first noticed the vibration.  No idea what held it on.  Someone up there was looking out for me.

I was wondering what was going on when the first question I was asked was, 'Have you had service done anywhere else?'  And it was the owner of the shop who called me.  Although they didn't charge me for the service, they don't think that it was them who neglected to tighten the lug nuts since I've driven about 3000 km since I had my winter tires put on.  The only way it could have been them, in my mind, is if something went wrong with their gun while doing that particular wheel and the lug nuts were tightened but just not as tight as they should have been and it has taken this long for them to work their way off.

I'm debating calling the local cops and the provincial police to report the possibility of tampering but I have no idea when it could have been done.  And usually with tampering, it is more than one wheel or they are so loose the wheel falls off right away.

[Jocelyn]

Outdoor Girl,
I'm really skeptical about the tampering. It would require someone having the proper tools with them. It also involves some pretty evil intent, and it's just hard for me to imagine someone wanting to kill total strangers without being able to watch the accident happen.
As compared to an absent-minded or distracted mechanic who just didn't tighten the lugnuts properly. And an owner of the shop who must have been concerned about the reputation of his shop, not to mention the possibility of a lawsuit.

[JennJenn68]

I'm so glad that you're all right.  I shudder to think what could have happened to you!

[Outdoor Girl]

Outdoor Girl,
I'm really skeptical about the tampering. It would require someone having the proper tools with them. It also involves some pretty evil intent, and it's just hard for me to imagine someone wanting to kill total strangers without being able to watch the accident happen.
As compared to an absent-minded or distracted mechanic who just didn't tighten the lugnuts properly. And an owner of the shop who must have been concerned about the reputation of his shop, not to mention the possibility of a lawsuit.

But I drove almost 2000 km before there was a problem, including driving at the higher speeds where the problem finally became evident.  And there have been tampering reports in the area before.  For no other reason than mischief, apparently.

The owner was definitely concerned that it was his shop's fault but just couldn't believe I'd driven that long before having an issue.

[rashea]

I was taught that you should double check and tighten the lug nuts after about 100 miles of driving when you change a tire. If nothing else, it's nice insurance.

OP, I'm sorry you had to go through that. And I think tampering is a possibility. It's really not that hard to loosen them unless you have the special locking ones (which have their own issues). It might be worth reporting, but they'll never catch who did it.

And, a final note. Living in the land of ice and snow right now means my car shakes at 65 mph. In my case, it's snow in the tires. So, if your car starts doing the shimmy, first check the lug nuts, then take it to a car wash and spray down the tires to get the ice out, if that doesn't fix it, see a mechanic.

[Outdoor Girl]

As I've been telling my story around the office, a number of my coworkers have said that, too, about checking the lug nuts after 100 to 200 km.  I'll be doing that from now on.

I knew it wasn't ice build up because I park my car in my garage and any ice melts off overnight.

I'm rethinking the tampering possibility, just because I don't think there was any opportunity for it to happen in the time frame that would make sense.

I'm starting to wonder if they missed tightening just one lug nut and it took this long for the minor vibration from that to work the others loose, too.

[RebeccainGA]

All it takes is 1 loose nut, according to my dad (a mechanic). I had it happen to my car - going around a curve in a busy road, in morning rush hour traffic. Tire flew off, across the street, and landed about 3 feet from two kids walking to school. I stopped, and except for the new bolts for the tire, had no other damage (they even found the undamaged brake pad in the road and took it with the car when it was towed). What's funniest was that DP drove past that spot every morning, about 30 minutes after I did, and she picked me up there - but I'd been unable to get her on the phone and thought I'd have to call a cab.

The 1 lug nut that remained was wedged into the opening on the wheel. They pried it out, and I still carry it in my purse (you can see the sheared off portion of the bolt, still screwed in to the nut). It's a good reminder of how many things can go right when everything's going wrong.

[LibraryLady]

When my b-i-l live in Virginia, he officiated at local high school football games.   One night, while doing so, he must have really ticked off
the fans of one team that lost due to a call he made.  He was returning home (about a 30-40 mile commute) along the WAshington DC
beltway area, as he exited, one of his wheels went off.

Yes, someone had loosed the lugnuts on his car in retaliation for the bad call in the game.  So yes, it could be criminal mischief, Outdoor Girl.

[mmswm]

Glad you're safe!

I wouldn't totally discount the tampering possibility. I once had to change a tire by the light of my cell phone on a *very* dark chunk of the Florida Turnpike, for what I thought had just been a run of the mill flat tire.  When I got to Wildwood, the first town after the northern terminus of the turnpike, I took it to a shop, since I had several hundred more miles to go and my spare was a doughnut.  Turns out somebody had taken something like a hacksaw blade and cut small slits into the rims, which slowly damaged my tire.

[Outdoor Girl]

I went skiing tonight with a buddy and asked if I could drive to test out my car and get the heeby jeebies out of my system.  It was mostly fine except it was really windy with some snow blowing across the road in a couple of spots.  And it was a great night of skiing!