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Basil

Basil

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Considering my wife and I and our son and daughter-in-law could have been killed!

Friday I took the Hyundai Santa Fe in for an oil change. While I was there I decided to have them rotate the tires. No biggie, right? (Those of you who are really quick, know where this is going) Ok, so I drive home after the oil change and park the car until yesterday morning when the wife and I head to the son's place in town to pick up him and his wife.

On the way there I was hearing a bit if a slight "thud, thud thud." After a while it went away so I just figured it was a tire slightly out of balance, so I didn't pay any attention to it. We picked up the kids and drove to Antonita, Colorado, which is about a 4 hour drive, for the daughter-in-law's father's retirement party. On the way up I really didn't hear anything, but then we were all talking and had the radio going. However, on the way back I started hearing that thud thud thud again, and the more I drove the more pronounced it became. I stopped along the road but could not readily find a problem. I was thinking that maybe one of the rear CV joints was going bad, or perhaps one of the tires had a belt come loose (which I've had happen before with similar noise). Anyway, we made it home, but by that time the sound had grown much louder and more pronounced! And me with a 10 hour drive Monday to Yuma, Arizona on business!

This morning I jacked up the car to try and figure out what the problem was and that's when I found that the left-rear wheel was completely loose! All of the lug nuts were on the verge of falling off!

Needless to say I am going to "have words" with the service manager at the Hyundai dealer as soon as possible! It is obvious to me that the mechanic who rotated the tires did not properly torque all of the lug nuts. Ok, people make mistakes, but this is one that could have gotten four people (or more) killed! If that tire had come off while driving, I hate to think what would have happened, since this was Labor Day weekend and the traffic was very heavy!

<span style="color: #3333FF">Note to self: From now on, when having any work done on the wheels or tires, double check the lug nuts myself! </span>
 
Glad you were OK. I always check my lug nuts after service, but for a slightly different reason.


Whenever I have wheels rotated or removed by a dealer or tire shop, I loosen and re-torque them when I get home. This is because I want to be able to change a tire on the road (if I <span style="text-decoration: underline">do</span> get a flat).

I've found that some dealers will crank the lug nuts up to about 150 ft. lbs.......you could never get those off with normal tire-change tools.
 
glad to hear you're Ok boss. Too often it's the little things...
 
SHEESH!
 
:shocked:
 
I will definitely let the service manager know. I am about to leave in the Santa Fe for a 10-11 hour drive to Yuma Proving Grounds, Yuma AZ. Gonna take the torque wrench with me and check every time I stop for gas (now I'm paranoid!)!
 
1 month, 2 vehicle with lug nut problem. Sheesh ,pandemic.

Glad you caught it boss.
 
Well, I made it to Yuma with no issues. Check the lugs a couple times on the way here.
 
There's NO excuse for that! Not like the forgot to check the
vanity mirror in the sunshade,& it came loose.
Not to hijack this posts - I was racing a Ford Fiesta,had a
local tire dealer shave the tires.We went to the runoffs @
Sears point.Three of the four threads were stripped on the wheel
studs.Another competitor gave me new lug studs to compete.Qualified
4th,finished 7th.I was very happy with the results,but it could have
ended up much worse.
Why doesn't anyone reinstalling wheels not torque the down with
a torque wrench?Or do they know what it is?

- Doug
 
A friend of mine at work adjusted the steering wheel on his car last night, and was quite shocked when then entire steering wheel and mechanism disconnected from the
dash board! Fortunately, he was STOPPED in the parking lot.
 
I also check my lugs after work being done by a dealer or tire service center. We shouldn't have to do this, but the proof is there just how lax some people are, especially when their actions, or lack of, could cause serious injury to others.
Not closely related to driving on the road but, in relation to dealer service, I bought a new tractor from a, <span style="text-decoration: underline">so called</span>, reputable dealer and paid over $40,000.00 for it. (Won't mention brand.) They delivered it to the farm and claimed it was fully serviced and ready to go. The next day when I ran it, I noticed a noise in the front. Found out that one wheel was so loose, it was moving around on the hub! I called the dealer, raised a fuss and they came out and fixed the problem. They were very apologetic and gave me a %20 discount coupon for my next purchase. PJ
 
AngliaGT said:
Three of the four threads were stripped on the wheel
studs.
Click to expand...

That's good point. I think I'm going to inform the service manager that if there are any studs that are damaged, they are going to put a new hub on my car!
 
My son also had a similar problem with his ford ranger.On the way home from the shop he felt something wrong with the steering while driving on the highway.Before he could even think the front wheel came off and bounced across the meedian.Fortunately he was able to keep the car straight and pulled to a safe stop.Also there was no one coming on the other side of the highway.He called the shop where he had the tires done and the manager came out.they towed his car in and took him to a rental and told him to pick what ever he wanted to drive.The person who did his truck was fired.The shop paid over $2000.00 in repairs.Again fortunately this worked out that he was not hurt or killed and no one else was injured.The shop now has a policy that a second person has to check out the job and sign that it was correct.Now more shops have adopted this policy for customer safety.
 
Basil:

For as long as that hub and wheel were loose, I'd bet there is damage.
My guess would be wheel and hub.
Don't hesitate, get it looked at today. I would "NOT" trust it anymore!

Dave :savewave:
 
GregW said:
70herald said:
and was quite shocked when then entire steering wheel and mechanism disconnected from the
dash board!
Click to expand...
Does he work for Hyundai? :devilgrin:
Click to expand...

He doesn't work for Hyundai, and the car was not a Hyundai, it was a certain Japanese co which has been involved in a rather large # of recalls this year :devilgrin:

In any case what we should learn from this is don't try adjusting steering wheels, seat positions etc while driving.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]
In any case what we should learn from this is don't try adjusting steering wheels, seat positions etc while driving. [/QUOTE]

OK... Nobody saw me do it and thankfully nobody got hurt.... but this is embarrassing. About 2 months ago I had just left work and came up to the first red light. I was slowing down and thought "The seat needs to go forward one notch".... couldn't have been going more than 20 mph. I reached down and hit the lever.... slid me all the way forward and my foot was on the brake so it also slammed the brakes...

duh.

I thought that after passing age 40 still alive I would be done with learning stupid life lessons like this LOL.

:devilgrin:
 
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