Loose lug nuts

[wittom]

I think I already know the answer but I'll ask the question any how.

Yesterday I took the truck on some errands. At one point I started hearing a strange noise. I got out and looked under the truck to see if I could tell where the noise was coming from. The truck is old with 216,XXX miles so I wouldn't be suprized if something broke. I couldn't see anything and decided I should head home. I stopped one more time on the way home to see if I could tell where the noise was coming from. The noise made me think it was the drive shaft, or something related. The noise was getting progressively worse. I made it home, but as I pulled onto my street, the guy behind me, who had been behind me for a while, stops to tell me that my rear tire was about to fall off. He was right, there was one lug nut left, and it was on by a couple threads. I was a bit surprized. Mostly because my girl and I were going to take the truck on a hundred mile trip the day befor but at the last minuet opted to take her car.

Ok, I'm done with my novel. Now the question. Can anyone think of any reason, other than human intervention, why six of six lug nuts would become loose? Is my first assumption correct, is someone trying to kill me? What do you think, should I be looking for a problem with the truck, or a problem with the neighborhood hoodlums.

I feel lucky that this didn't happen doing seventy miles an hour down the highway, and lucky that I was able to get the truk home withough hurting my self, or anyone else.

Thanks.

[azdave35]

some kids loosened them for a laugh....it happened to me once

[TRDTURD]

I agree, sounds like someone loosened them for you. Did you have someone take the wheels of for repair work or something? They could have forgot to torque the nuts.

[80toy]

just someone being an ass

[REN69]

I can see one getting lose and falling off.. but all six??? that's someone's dumb idea of a joke for sure.

My cousin drove his 86 Toyota minivan to Texas from Toronto a few years ago, and his wheel fell off on the way there.. but that's because he didn't tighten them properly after changing his wheels.

[Tercel GTS]

Was it an alloy wheel? This has happened to my boss' truck a few times and a few others I can think of. My boss carries a torque wrench with him now in the tool box and checks them every oil change. Several times they tightened a bit doing the checks.