Dangerous Situation
FYI..Had the snow tires mounted on my brother-in-law's 06 LBZ a couple of weeks ago. Took it into the local tire shop where he had bought the tires and they do it for free. Both sets of wheels were after market but the snow tires didn't have the center hubs with them as I didn't see the point of ruining them with all the crap they spray on the roads in the winter to help keep them clear of ice.
Anyway when I picked up the truck, (brother-in-law winters in Arizona) I noted they put the center caps on the wheels from the set that came off. I didn't think too much about it and didn't say anything to them. I drove the truck into our remote cabin to check it out and make sure everything is OK. It's about 40 miles one way and the last 20 are pretty rough. Wasn't too much snow and was a bit sloppy due to melting. On the way out about 15 miles from home I noted a bit of a clunking sound coming from the left front. It sounded like a tire coming apart. It was dark and when I got out to check I couldn't see or feel a thing. I didn't have a flash light with me either. I limped it home at about 15 mph and drive it into the shop. Couldn't see a thing...But I didn't check the lug nuts. My fault. I jacked up each side of the front end and shook the tire and wheel, both were solid. I left it for the night and went to bed.
Next morning I was going to take it to the dealer to see what the hell was going on and when I checked the left front wheel I could see one lug was broken, two others were missing and the rest had back off about half way. Why I couldn't see that the night before is beyond me, but the reason I couldn't move the wheel was due to the ice and snow that had built up behind the wheel and it melted over night.
Took it to the tire shop and they couldn't believe they hadn't torqued that tire as it is the first one they always do and their best tire man had done the job. It ruined the wheel so they put on a stocker till they could find one or are going to replace all the wheels. As I got ready to leave I remembered they hadn't gave me back the center piece so I went back in to get it. The manager brought it out and the edge that seats against the wheel was cracked and chipped in three places. I told the manager that seems odd and that they were not the correct centers for the wheels in the first place.
The old light goes off in his head. Seems not all wheels seat the center caps in the same way, some are beveled and take a flared end on the cap and some are flat like a routed edge. The caps were beveled and the new wheels were flat so the beveled edge would not let the wheel snug up tight to the rotor assembly and there for was able to work loose. It appears at least on this set of wheels it was only the front tires. We pulled the other caps and sure enough the right front cap was also chipped and broken.
So sorry for this long post but if you change wheels and try to use another set of center caps other than the ones that came with the wheels make damn sure the seating edges match.
FYI..Had the snow tires mounted on my brother-in-law's 06 LBZ a couple of weeks ago. Took it into the local tire shop where he had bought the tires and they do it for free. Both sets of wheels were after market but the snow tires didn't have the center hubs with them as I didn't see the point of ruining them with all the crap they spray on the roads in the winter to help keep them clear of ice.
Anyway when I picked up the truck, (brother-in-law winters in Arizona) I noted they put the center caps on the wheels from the set that came off. I didn't think too much about it and didn't say anything to them. I drove the truck into our remote cabin to check it out and make sure everything is OK. It's about 40 miles one way and the last 20 are pretty rough. Wasn't too much snow and was a bit sloppy due to melting. On the way out about 15 miles from home I noted a bit of a clunking sound coming from the left front. It sounded like a tire coming apart. It was dark and when I got out to check I couldn't see or feel a thing. I didn't have a flash light with me either. I limped it home at about 15 mph and drive it into the shop. Couldn't see a thing...But I didn't check the lug nuts. My fault. I jacked up each side of the front end and shook the tire and wheel, both were solid. I left it for the night and went to bed.
Next morning I was going to take it to the dealer to see what the hell was going on and when I checked the left front wheel I could see one lug was broken, two others were missing and the rest had back off about half way. Why I couldn't see that the night before is beyond me, but the reason I couldn't move the wheel was due to the ice and snow that had built up behind the wheel and it melted over night.
Took it to the tire shop and they couldn't believe they hadn't torqued that tire as it is the first one they always do and their best tire man had done the job. It ruined the wheel so they put on a stocker till they could find one or are going to replace all the wheels. As I got ready to leave I remembered they hadn't gave me back the center piece so I went back in to get it. The manager brought it out and the edge that seats against the wheel was cracked and chipped in three places. I told the manager that seems odd and that they were not the correct centers for the wheels in the first place.
The old light goes off in his head. Seems not all wheels seat the center caps in the same way, some are beveled and take a flared end on the cap and some are flat like a routed edge. The caps were beveled and the new wheels were flat so the beveled edge would not let the wheel snug up tight to the rotor assembly and there for was able to work loose. It appears at least on this set of wheels it was only the front tires. We pulled the other caps and sure enough the right front cap was also chipped and broken.
So sorry for this long post but if you change wheels and try to use another set of center caps other than the ones that came with the wheels make damn sure the seating edges match.
