Oh Snap. Literally. Two Wheel Nuts Have Snapped.

[Sauce]

Well... Shit. Just what I needed. Noticed a wierd noise coming from the rear left of my car as I was leaving work. The frequency of the noise is relative to how fast or slow the car is going, so I figure it's something to do with the wheel. When I get home I find this:

Missing nuts? What the hell? Upon closer inspection...

Two of the bolts have snapped clean off, leaving the thread down in the hub bit. I have no idea how this could have happened. It's got me absolutely buggered. I don't throw the car around very hard because I know my suspension, being still stock and 160,000km old isn't exactly A1 (which is why I'm saving for new suspension parts. I'm not exactly the most loaded guy out). Does anyone have any idea how something like this could happen? And more importantly, what I'm going to have to do to fix this? I'm assuming that I should keep the car off the road until this is sorted, because I don't exactly feel safe knowing my wheel nuts could seemingly just snap off for no apparent reason. What the hell should I do aside from obviously buy a new set of nuts (for the wheels )? I really didn't need another problem.

[Amaru]

Poor wheel balance/alignment can cause it, but it has to be pretty bad. Otherwise spacers or someone using the wrong wheel nuts and threading the stud, and forcing the nut on/off can cause them to crack and after a while driving they will oh snap.

Edited October 27, 2006 by Amaru

[SupaFly Skyline]

you can get new wheel studs for a little over 5 bucks ea at nissan, then, bash the snapped ones out with a hammer, and put the new ones in, not very hard to do, shouldnt take too long either

[Scooby]

curious. i would recommend pressing the studs out, your wheels bearings will not thank you otherwise.

any sign of damage to the other wheel nuts? may be that last time you got new tyres some monkey with a rattle gun cross threaded them and then torqued them to within an inch of their life and cracked and just fell out, but it's still really strange.

i'm surprised that it made a noise though, wheels will hold on with only two nuts sometimes as it's the hub that takes the weight, the nuts just hold the wheel to it. noise usually means the wheel is loose.

as nik says poor fitting spacers will also kill them.

i'd check the other nuts out, seems almost as though someone is playing a nasty trick.

Edited October 27, 2006 by Scooby

[Sauce]

Hmm.. Ok, thanks for that guys. I guess my biggest concern is: can it actually be driven? I work in phillip but live in belco. If it can be driven I can probably get it looked at pretty much straight away and get what's needed since I work for a nissan dealership, I'm just scared as hell that the remaining wheel nuts could snap off too, seeing as it's happened twice.

I honestly don't think my wheel alignment is to blame, because it certainly wasn't/isn't that bad. I think there may be spacers on there, but I'm not 100% as I've never actually had any cause to take the wheels off myself. Guess what I'll be doing tommorow

Edited October 27, 2006 by Sauce

[n15m0]

just taking a stab in the dark but do u have aftermarket wheels on ur car? If yes, check that the hub diameter of the wheel matches ur hub, it its bigger, then u need hub rings. Take it to a wheel shop n they should be able to tell u if u need them or not. If ur wheel hub diameter is bigger than ur hub, its actually putting stress on ur studs.

[TeeJay1600]

Get it towed bro. SAFER

i reccomend specialised towng & absolute towing PLUG

[TurboX]

just taking a stab in the dark but do u have aftermarket wheels on ur car? If yes, check that the hub diameter of the wheel matches ur hub, it its bigger, then u need hub rings. Take it to a wheel shop n they should be able to tell u if u need them or not. If ur wheel hub diameter is bigger than ur hub, its actually putting stress on ur studs.

What n15m0 said is, I would be willing to bet, is the problem!

There seems to be many Skyline owners with non standard wheels running on the studs instead of the central hub rings.

It makes a lot of difference to the handling and safety of your car if ithe wheels are not a snug fit on the hubs.

CHECK your wheels now guys!

[Mr Italy!]

Dont drive it man, if it can break two it can break 5 - dont wanna see a 3 wheeled R33 sparking down the parkway tomorrow!

[race_snooze]

they have been over tightened at one point in there life, most probably from a rattle gun...

[Duncan]

they have been over tightened at one point in there life, most probably from a rattle gun...

totally agree....over torqued in the past weakened them, maybe together with an incorrect size hub ring on aftermarket wheels.

Anway....assuming the nuts are still tight it will be safe to drive (carfeully) to a local tyre shop they can check out the other studs and replace those ones for you.

And when they are finished if you see them tighten them with a rattle gun ask what the wheel nuts were torque to....nissan says 110nm.

I have seen a whole wheel fall off a race car from overtightened wheel nuts....it made the car real hard to drive.

[SkyGTRline]

Had similar problem...

Can be caused by the wheel nuts comin loose..

Mine did that... had funny noise coming from front left wheel couldnt work it out. then noticed nuts were loose, touched one and it snapped..

just an idea.

[Psymon]

I had a similar problem not long ago. Heard a weird noise from the rear end and pulled over to have a look, two nuts were missing, one stud was snapped and the other three nuts were loose. Seems weird this would happen to only one wheel when i tightened them all exactly the same way.

[race_snooze]

its what may have happened before could be 6 months or 6 years when the first stress were put on them.