Wheel fell off while driving... how bad is it?

[yapzilla]

Hey guys, new poster here

As the title says, i had my rear left wheel fall off while driving about a month ago. In the span of 5 minutes a faint sound turned into a louder sound that turned into a wobble that turned into a shake that turned into what felt like a lowrider in a rap music video, ending in me pulling into a parking lot with my back left wheel detached but tucked into the fender.

Here are photos i took of the inside when the tow truck lifted the car up (i didn't take pictures of the exterior at the time because i was too shocked and upset at what happened)





Here are some more recent ones





Here's the whole album in full res

https://imgur.com/a/gJxec

How bad is this? Someone i showed thinks that its possible that the bolts used were too short, if this is something plausible then i can provide more photos.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[Mike W.]

Wheels come off, it's not unheard of. There's a reason of course, might have not been tight, or too short of lug bolts. You should have a minimum of 6 full threads holding the wheel on. Some wheels are thicker and require longer lugs but people don't always put them on. Or it might have just been loose.

How bad? Probably not very, mechanically that is. Looks like you'll have to bend the backing plate to get it to clear again, the rotor might have been damaged but it doesn't really look like it. You're just going to have to dig into it and see. But it's not the end of the world.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Not a scenario that's desirable but given the potential, I'd say you faired incredibly well. At a minimum I'd remove the rotor and bench check it/have it skimmed to ensure its not bent, check the wheel bearing for play or noise and remove the strut and put a straight edge on that too. If it's all ok, straighten the dust shield, replace the wheel and have an alignment done. That'll tell you if the trailing arm is damaged if there nothing visibly wrong it it. Oh, and before doing any of that - check the length and torque of all the other wheel bolts.. But that goes without saying, right?

[Shawn D.]

I'll re-emphasize ensuring your bolts are the correct length and that they're torqued properly -- with an actual torque wrench set at 75-80 ft-lbs (not the colloquial "I torqued it" meaning "I tightened it").

The rotor and backing plate are no big deal, IMO. I would inspect the caliper closely, and especially the threads in the hub. As the wheel worked itself loose, the bolts would have been bent back-and-forth in the hub's bolt holes and they could easily be damaged.

Not a scenario that's desirable but given the potential, I'd say you faired incredibly well.

Agreed -- this is probably the best "wheel fell off" situation one can hope for.

Next time, stop when a mystery sound gets louder and louder.