Hi Everyone, I need some advice.
Our 2020 Kia Telluride went to first oil service and tire rotation today. I picked up the car and drove from the dealership and within 500feet on the road, the car shook, I slowed down and the rear tire flew off in front of my eyes. I heard a lot of metal sound but stopped the car within 15-20 feet without causing any accident. The dealership sent a tow truck, gave me a loaner, apologized And said we will get everything fixed. Question: Is it safe to drive again or axle&chassis integrity has been compromised. I leased it brand new in Feb and put only 4000 miles on it and love the ride. Please advice. Thanks everyone.
It is all easily fixable and the car will be on record with the repair.
There will be no lasting effects.
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The dealership is owning up to the mistake. They should check and fix any damage. If you want an extra layer of verification take it to an independent shop and explain what happened and ask them to verify the repairs were done correctly.
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500 ft? You could see dealership?
So, a tech puts wheel on and no lugnuts? 1 lugnut? All 5 but does not thread them at all? I’m not a tire tech. I wonder what sort of process is used to increase odds of lugnuts being snugged at least? They used air guns, you zip on lugnut so how can it not be tight? You can’t put on a lugnut using a gun with 2 threads engaged.
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I’m curious about the “technician” who installed the wheel. On my worst, most overworked day regardless of high or low temperatures, headaches, hangovers or all the stress that life sometimes threw at me I never allowed any such mistake to be made. And I’m just an average busted knuckle mechanic. Some people obviously require work that is closely supervised or requires no supervision/scrutiny.
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People make mistakes. I don’t care who you are or what you do, at some point in your career in the course of doing your work you will make a mistake.
Sounds like the dealership is repairing the damage, if any. There should be no lasting effects of losing the wheel.
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I found only one lug nut (on the road) on my way back to the dealership.
It has never happened in my life after owning cars and driving 3000 miles across USA. It is my wife’s car and glad that my kids and she were not in the car driving on a Freeway.
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Beats me. How tight or not tight were the Lug nuts.
Back in my hitch-hiking days, I was in an old station wagon on I-40 in Oklahoma when the right rear wheel rolled away. The axle, etc., hit the pavement at 60 mph, sending up a shower of sparks. Worried that the gas tank might explode, I opened the door, anticipating jumping out, saw the pavement rushing by, felt the other hitch-hiker on my back, held on.
I carry a torque wrench, check the lugnuts’ torque after somebody has worked on a wheel, same as I would check the oil after an oil change, etc. It’s not too much to do.
+1
Back in the '70s, I was in the process of rotating the tires on my father’s '66 Galaxie when I was interrupted by a really-important phone call that I had to take. A few minutes later, I rushed to the car in order to pick up my father from the train station, and at the first turn I heard a sound that could only have been from a loose wheel. Luckily, I was only a few blocks away from home, returned there, and found that I had failed to fully-tighten the lug nuts on one wheel.
Anyone can make a mistake, but what separates one person–or one shop–from another is the willingness to own-up to the mistake, and to do what is necessary to make things right.
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Not looking for putting blame. Only asking about the Integrity of axle and chassis. Thanks
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Make sure the repair order stars exactly what happened so that there is no question about the car when you return it at the end if the lease, and keep the paper work. I’m sure you know this, but it is still worth mentioning.
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Air guns are only used to tighten them approximately, then they are tightened the rest of the way after setting the car down. It is most probable that multiple guys were working the same job and there was a communication error somewhere, causing a wheel to not get fully tightened.
In this particular case, I’m guessing they started the lugnuts by hand on all four, and as they went around to finish tightening (probably using a torque stick adapter) they were talking and/or got distracted and missed the last tire, and probably regularly neglect to check the torque on the ground. Just my guess cuz 500 feet is very quick to lose the tire. I would think even partially tightening would get you further than that. Could’ve even over tightened with an impact gun and stripped the threads (idiotic), so that they gave way once road forces kicked in.
The only thing that should need replaced is the wheel studs, as they’ll surely be damaged. But they will take care of that easy enough before putting a new wheel on.
Seriously ? The vehicle hit the ground at 40 MPH so there will be more damage than just the wheel studs .
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Agree. When I touched the bolts their threads were falling apart. Luckily the tire just crossed the road and didn’t hit anyone. 
On second thought, if the rear brakes are drum style, then yeah it should be probably alright cuz those are heavy duty, but if it is a disc brake system then it’d be good to replace the rotor. Believe it or not, that’s about all I’d expect. And for what it’s worth, I am certified in Michigan for Suspension and Brakes. It’s a Volvo so there’s not a lot of weight back there and it’s front wheel drive as far as I’m aware.
Nate stop guessing . The person who started this does not have a Volvo , they have a Kia.
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Kia Telluride 2020. AWD