Lost a wheel today. related to powder coat?

[pb_foots]

This afternoon, my wife lost a rim on highway 17 with my son in the back seat. She got it over to the side, but it was squirrely and both of them were pretty shook up. The lug bolts backed out. When I got there, I checked the other 3 and the two fronts were tight, but the other back was also loose.

Right before I drove the car up from So Cal to Nor Cal, I had the rims stripped and powder coated. New tires, then installed them myself and torqued them to 80 ft lbs. Not sure what the spec is but that should have been tight, since I've been doing it for decades.

I am not sure if the powder is a factor? Also, the fronts are disk, back are drum. Brakes were not dragging, and the car had no other issues. I mounted the spare and drove it home.

Any thoughts? I thought I remember a debate here about reaming the powder away from the bolt seats?
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[Tobias Bylund]

That was what i was about to suggest, i would for sure remove any powdercoating on the ball seat for the lugs/nuts on the rims, if that stuff breaks loose from the metal on the rim, you would have a loose nut

[andk5591]

Did a quick search on the net and this topic comes up quite a bit, so I am guessing there is some concern.
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[H2OSB]

Oooo , highway 17. I'd be shook up too!

I've been thinking about having my wheels powder coated. Maybe I'll insist they don't paint the lug holes.

H2OSB

[wcfvw69]

Very common for this to happen if you don't remove the powder coat from where the lugs sit on the rims. I had some lugs loosen on freshly painted rims as well. When I checked the lug torque, they had loosened. I unscrewed one of the looser lugs and found a thick layer of paint on the lug face.

I removed all 4 rims and removed the paint from the seat on the rims where the lugs tighten up. They never loosened again.
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[pb_foots]

OK, thanks guys. Guess I know what I'm doing this weekend!

This didn't happen for the first 50 years of the car's life, then within a thousand miles of powder coating. That's definitive enough for me I think.
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[campingbox]

Yes. For sure caused by the powdercoat. Sounds like you guys got lucky. Powdercoating is very thick and chips away easily with torque applied, leaving a gap. I nearly lost a wheel on my '57 after 200 miles of desert driving with powdercoated wheels. I got lucky. My buddy rolled his 23 window after a few thousand miles as well. Not so lucky. I'm sure a google search would yield all kinds of horror stories.

Cdennisg shared this genius idea

modified lug bolt for paint/powder coat removal

I used a cold chisel to plow a few grooves in a lug bolt. a quick spin with a drill and socket and the freshly coated lug bolt holes are shiny and free of paint, awaiting fresh contact with a lug bolt seating surface.

[easy e]

Lug bolt ^^ is a genius reactive method.

A good proactive method is to have the powdercoater wipe the lug holes prior to baking.

The powder wipes off like dust on a waxed coffee table.
It's how they do powdered Harley cylinders (with exposed fin edges).

Polish... powder... wipe... bake...

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[Busstom]

I'd never had a problem with powder coated wheels before, so I was a bit skeptical in the past.

Then more recently, when I had my Bay wheels powdered in a 2-part coat (clear coat over chrome silver), I torqued them on, but didn't drive. Then I broke torque and removed the rims to do some other stuff...low-and-behold, the powder coating on the lug seats was falling off in little ring-shaped layers, having yielded and delaminated under the pressure of the lugs being torqued on it.

Now I'm convinced that it ALL needs to come off the seats (or never be applied like the pre-wiping suggestion above).

[W1K1]

I do all my own powder coating and I've never had anything come loose after years of driving
.
Most of mine are mutiple coats.

the white wheel is, white base, clear with ice pearl, and then clear on top

the phone dials are almost chrome with a clear topcoat

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[Big Bull Shooter]

Well, I joined the club today. I just brought my 1969 Beetle out of hibernation last week after doing a lot of work on it. During the winter, I had all 5 of my stock wheels sandblasted, straightened, and powder coated, new rubber on each wheel. I torqued each lug nut to 95 ft/lbs. I was just enjoying driving it around, and tweaking the timing and carb tuning. A few days ago, I took it up a winding mountain road near my place and had a lot of fun coming down(maybe speeding a little) testing out the little bug in the corners. The next morning I was taking the dog for a swim, and there was an awful grinding noise coming from the rear. I managed to get the bug to the garage that I rent about 2 blocks away. I was bummed - thinking I had a brake job or worse to look forward to, and getting parts here takes at least a week.
Today, I decided that I better find out what the problem is, so I can get parts ordered. As soon as I jacked up the car, the problem was obvious - all four lug nuts on that wheel were loose, but it looked like I caught it soon enough to avoid any damage. I checked all of the other wheels, and they were fine. Looks like I will be reaming all of the lug holes this weekend. Campingbox's chisled lug nut reamer looks like a great idea, but I don't have a spare lug. I'll hit the hardware store in the morning and see what I can come up with.

[john7]

ive never had a problem with 4 lug wheels powder coated coming loose.
BUT powder coated 5 lug wheels come loose. i lost a couple before. always the left rear wheel. ive even changed the drum and lugs and gone as far as having the drum modified with press in studs. i always torque my wheels with a torque wrench.
i would scrape the powder off of the lug holes, torque the wheels, drive 20 miles, torque again, and then retorque again after another 20 miles. you will find that they retorque the 2nd time and a few of them will still retorque again the 3rd time.
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[Big Bull Shooter]

john7, it was the left rear wheel that worked itself loose.

[tripicana]

better get some left hand threaded studs installed, lol
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