I recently purchased a 1998 Jeep Wrangler, approximately 5 hours later the rear drivers side wheel fell off. It seems that the lugnuts weren’t tightened, on the other wheels they were just hand tight. The delaer is currently inspecting everything. I know at the least the brake needs to be replaced along with the rim and tire. My question is what other things should I be looking for…damage to the axle? Should I have all the tires and brakes replaced? Any help is appreciated.
The axle should be ok but the lugs might need to be replaced. Other than that, it will take a visual inspection, this can’t be second guessed over the internet. If you don’t trust the dealer, get a second opinion from an independent mechanic. You might even ask the dealer to pay for the second opinion. If they are confident that they are doing the right thing by you, they might go along with paying for it.
Thanks, that’s kinda what I was figuring. The tow truck operator said I should try to have them replace the tires and rims due to possible warping, does this sound legit?
May sound odd but you’ll want to change both sets of brakes on the axle. The reason is the worn brakes will be weaker likely causing an imbalance when you brake on slippery stuff like snow. Had the same thing happen luckily in the winter from a shop where I could easy demonstrate my car kicking out sideways everytime I hit brakes on snowy roads.