Kia's are tough cars!

[stevej37]

Lady driving the Kia walked away afterwards...

[Flatbutt1]

I witnessed a similar incident years ago. Someone lost a wheel and a small car hit it and caught big air but it didn't flip. I pulled off to assist. The driver was shaken but unhurt. Once he exited the car I said to him "sir I'd like to shake the hand of a very lucky man". I could feel him shaking like a leaf in the wind when I took his hand.

[matthewb0051]

I see these lifted trucks with wheels mounted out wide all the time. Its a wonder this doesn't occur more often bc I'm sure not all people that convert their trucks to look like this do so with the absolute best parts.

Last spring I was behind a tow truck with a vehicle on its flatbed and a truck on its rear tow bar. The truck in tow lost a rear wheel and the tow truck nearly lost control. Meanwhile the wheel is hauling butt down the freeway and after it hit the median barrier came back towards my cabrio roof. That was fun.

[matthewb0051]

I see these lifted trucks with wheels mounted out wide all the time. Its a wonder this doesn't occur more often bc I'm sure not all people that convert their trucks to look like this do so with the absolute best parts.

Last spring I was behind a tow truck with a vehicle on its flatbed and a truck on its rear tow bar. The truck in tow lost a rear wheel and the tow truck nearly lost control. Meanwhile the wheel is hauling butt down the freeway and after it hit the median barrier came back towards my cabrio roof. That was fun.

[Zeke]

Tough but way too easy to steal.

[stevej37]

It was almost like the wheel/tire had a vendetta.
It got her Kia from the front and the rear.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

It got her Kia from the front and the rear.

[stevej37]

^^^

A 'Frisky Tire'

[unclebilly]

What would Kenny Rogers say?

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Lady driving the Kia walked away afterwards...

...

Wow (& I'm really glad she walked away) but... Why did the wheel come off in the first place?

Some people shouldn't be let anywhere near a car with tools.

[stevej37]

^^^
The reporter said "no arrests were made".....I sure hope that the truck driver received some sort of ticket. But he prob didn't.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Wow (& I'm really glad she walked away) but... Why did the wheel come off in the first place?

Some people shouldn't be let anywhere near a car with tools.

One of the guys I used to work with said his tire came off and somehow magically all of the lug nuts fell off. He had to have heard a lot of racket and just ignored the noise.

On two occasions in my many years of working on my cars I failed to torque down the lug nuts. I drove out of the driveway and heard the noise and pulled right back in the garage to tighten the lugs. Loose lugs nuts make a lot of racket. And like all the idiot drivers that show up with the brake rotor worn to the ventilation ribs, "it never made any noise". Yea right.

[wdfifteen]

That was hard to watch.
I once watched a small black car hurtle through the air spinning side over side. It was right in front of me. I was busy trying to avoid the debris on the road and not hit the car, but noticed something blue and white shoot up out of the car like a rocket. The car stopped about ten feet in front of me on its side with the bottom facing me. I got out, shaking like a leaf, not knowing what I would find on the other side of the car. It was a young woman squatting on the side glass, bleeding a little from her mouth. She was in shock, didn’t know her name but kept asking about her sister. Someone came along and offered a cell phone and got her to talk. I heard someone say over there” and I joined a woman walking toward a blue and white bundle in the grass. It was her sister. She had been launched from the spinning car and landed a good 50 feet away. She obviously had landed on her head, as her scalp was mostly gone. She gasped a couple of times, the other person there was a nurse. I was trying to take her pulse at her wrist and the nurse was checking at her neck. I said, “I think she’s gone,” And the nurse nodded. Some guy came up and wanted to give her cpr but the nurse said, “No, she might have broken ribs.”

[oldE]

While we complain from time to time about government regulations which prohibit some vehicles being sold in the North American market, those same regulations were responsible for the Kia driver's survival. The combination of survival cell, seat belts and air bags worked.
Now someone needs to take that truck wheel and stuff it up the truck driver's rectum. Maybe then they might take a more responsible attitude towards the vehicle they were driving.

Best
Les

[unclebilly]

I’ve had wheels come loose on me a few times, one time was after a prospective buyer had a ppi done on a Toyota truck I was selling in the early 90s. I heard the rattle, stopped and tightened up the lug nuts.

Recently, it happened on one of our cayennes. Even lost 2 lug bolts. That one was pretty quiet. I was towing our boat at the time. I pulled a lug bolt from another rear wheel so I’d have 4 in each until we got home.

This is why Costco makes you come back after 100 kms to get your wheels retorqued. I had not retorqued the wheels yet after replacing them on that cayenne. It was an embarrassing close call. I know better.

[fastfredracing]

I always cringe when I have to work on a truck with big wide spacers and huge wheels , especially on a half ton with only 6 bolts .
I always overtighten them slightly just to make me sleep better at night . That whole setup looks like it was made from failure, yet everyone around here runs them like that .
That being said, I bet there is not a mechanic on the planet who has never had a wheel come loose .

[rfuerst911sc]

Good lug nuts but not great lug nuts 😋

[stevej37]

How did the driver of the truck make it across two lanes of traffic with his front wheel off??

[A930Rocket]

That happened a while back and we talked about it here. Did we ever discover if it’s an offset wheel, spacer bearing, or stub axle problem?

I bought a 80s Camaro to flip, but before we did that, we had to replace an axle. After the axle was replaced, I was pulling into a shopping center that sloped downhill. Just as I pulled in, the back tire falls off and rolls over 100 feet straight for the front doors. Fortunately, some guy saw it coming and stuck his leg out to stop it.

Turns out Chevy made two different axles that fit. One metric and one standard. I don’t know which one I had, but while the nuts torque down initially, they came loose without warning.

[stevej37]

^^^ What is that pic of??