Ever had a wheel fall off?

[Stapler123]

My uncle was driving my vw.

Pacers vs "dont remember" My uncle was watching the game in a bar, and he was the only packers fan.

Half way home the wheel falls off in the middle of a four lane street and he calls me and my gramps (his dad) for a little help.


Now I suppose the wheel could have fallen off from regular circumstance, but I beleive sombody at the bar loosend it.

[Jessica]

After I had stripped my 66 of all usable parts, we were hauling it to the junkyard. When I bought my 67 bug, I got a tow bar with it. So we hooked the tow bar up to the 66 and my dad pulled it to the junkyard with his truck. I had to go to work, but wanted to at least follow him to the junkyard and see my Baby for the last time. We were almost there when I saw little shiny things falling off (the lugnuts) from the left side of the car. Next thing you know, the tire goes rolling. While stripping the car, we took the newer tires off and put the old ones back on. I had put my brother (who is going to school for auto mechanics) in charge of the wheels. Hmm..I think he forgot to tighten all the lugnuts...
_________________
VW-less right now...looking
-OGST-
RIP HBB
RIP RW

[Blaubus]

yes, i had the left front wheel fall off a bus that was in tow, using a rope, no less. i was steering that bus and i am still amazed no one got hurt. i saw the wheel go into the opposing lane, bounce off someones bumper- which launched the thing. i did not see it after that, but others on the scene said it flew hundreds of feet and then 50 ft. down a steep embankment into the swampy weeds...never saw it again!

thats 94 ft/lbs for the bus .

[QWKDTSN]

I watched a full drag race Camaro pull onto the strip for its inaugural pass. Lined up in the burnout box, started smoking the tires, rolled forward gently smoking them. Right when they caught traction, the entire ass end of the car jumped about five or six feet in the air and came slamming down before my eyes. the gigantic slick went bouncing off down the track. All five of the lugs sheared off, and the forward motion of the car sent it bouncing up and over the wheel. All the fiberglass flares, rear fenders, brand new paint, everything that was done to the car was destroyed before they could even see what it would run in the quarter.

I've forgotten to torque lugs before, but I noticed the rattling/shimmy of the slightly loose wheel before I got around the corner.

[DanLarson]

10 years ago, I had a 74 super that I was daily driving. Had the car for over 6 months and it ran great. I was driving over a bridge and the car began to shake. The was a shopping center just over the bridge, down the hill. I slow down to around 25-30mph and turn into the shopping center and hit the brakes to stop at the stop sign, when the left front wheel just falls off! The whole drum brake came off. Luckily it was winter and I picked up the front end enough to slide the wheel under the spindle and drove the car, sliding on the wheel, to a parking space.

Long story short, the spindle nut was stamped with an "R", doh! Replaced the spindle, spindle nut and bearings. 20 degrees in a parking lot with a nice cross breeze. Funny how I drove the car daily for so long.

[53 0val]

Passed a bug on the freeway yesterday that had lost the right rear wheel. AAA was already on site so I didn't stop.

[HamburgerBrad]

i was in the desert and had a front wheel and drum come off of my dune buggy. the whole thing fell into the sand. everything greasy from the bearings had sand stuck to it. needless to say, our trip ended a day early
_________________
OGST | CU05 | OGJHC
1970 baja|1953 oval

Wanted: two beat up, ugly, curb rashed 6" phone dial wheels

[Gregs55oval]

Hey all!

My first post to The Samba, so I'd like to say "hey" to everybody, and add the obvious...Samba's awesome!

I once had a wheel fall off of my '67 Type 1 and PASS ME as I was rolling/sliding on three wheels and a spark-spraying brake drum! Imagine my !!! It was back in 1987 when I lived in Cali and I had been doing some engine tuning/repairs to my Type 1...my bug had been sitting for quite awhile and I had just finished putting the engine in after months of waiting, working and spending all of my hard-earned cash on it...so you can imagine the excitement I felt to fire the thing up again and get it back on the road! Anyway--long story short--I STUPIDLY forgot a lug nut on my rear-passenger-side rim and didn't double check all my tires before I went "cruising" for a short test-run. Got the '67 up to about 40 mph, heard a "POP," felt the rear quarter fall about a foot-and-a-half, looked out the passenger-side window, and there goes one of my chromed, EMPI eight spokes....passing me on the outside! It went flying down the straight road, flew through an intersection (luckily it didn't hit another car) hit the curb on the other side of the street, and jumped an 8 foot chain-link, schoolyard fence. I ended up retrieving the rim, walking back to my house (about a mile) getting the car jack and hitching a ride back to my bug. Put the tire back on, secured ALL lug nuts this time, and drove back home. It ended up costing me a new brake plate (the drum ended up being okay), but I bought a lifetime worth of experience: Don't let your excitement, love and enthusiasm for VWs override your common sense! I laugh now, but it was pretty damn horrific at the time!
LOL --Greg
_________________
'55 Oval
'57 Oval
'67 Hard Top
-------------------
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
--Hunter S. Thompson

[HamburgerBrad]

first off, welcom, and great story Greg. nice lookin' oval in that picture...
_________________
OGST | CU05 | OGJHC
1970 baja|1953 oval

Wanted: two beat up, ugly, curb rashed 6" phone dial wheels

[Gregs55oval]

[Maineak1970]

This is a stupid me story..Its not a VW though..Back in 2001 Me and my brother were towing my '88 S-10 Blazer from Virginia to Texas..We had it on a tow dolly instead of a full trailer..There is a reason the dolly says 45mph..Well we were doing 95 the whole way..At the lower tip of Mississippi we stopped because we saw some smoke in the back..Well the wheel cyclinders had exploded and poured the brake fluid all over the hub and the cover to the axle had come loose..Thinking that the truck would just empty itself of fluid and roll better we cleaned up the mess and went about on our way..Well about 3 in the morning as we're traveling along that 40 mile strip of Louisiana..You know the one that goes through the swamp and is all bridge with no turns..He wakes me up and says somethings wrong with the truck..About then we hear a bang and see the a blur pass us on the freeway..The truck starts swerving..He manages to stop and we jump out to see whats wrong..Well the truck was sitting on the frame by the passenger rear tire where the cylinder had broken earlier..Smoke is pouring out everywhere..We run over and the rear axle is glowing WHITE hot..Suddenly it bursts into flames..He pours my Soda on the fire..It went out for a second then POOF..Back to a flame..We didn't have anything left to put on it..I remembered this part in Red Dawn where they filled the radiator after it was shot..So there I was..Kneeling down in the middle of the swamp bridge peeing on the rear axle trying to put out the flame..Needless to say it worked better than the soda..After a while we went to look for the wheel..It was about 500 feet up the road..The wheel still had the tire intact..Also there was about 8 inches of rear axle still bolted to the wheel..Had to get towed off the highway..We had the towtruck switch the car around on the dolly..Cost me $100..But because of the weight difference the truck wouldn't tow above 30mph without swerving really bad..We were frustrated and i ended up selling the truck to a junk yard a couple of miles up the road for $75..Totally I was out 200 for the dolly, 100 for the tow and all the gas money I spent..What a trip..And stupid me did not get the insurance for the dolly so I was out the price I paid for the truck also..Not my day..Hows that for a true story..
_________________
-----------------
'68 Cuda
'67 Dart
Empi Imp Buggy

[crukab]

Back in ' 76 I was driving my 1st car - a '69 Dodge Charger, one fine day my buds & I were going camping,blasting down these back roads @ 90mph, after a while, I hear a "bad"noise, I pull over, smoke is coming from one hub-cap, I jack up the Beast,and pull the wheel right off, without taking the lugs off !!!
We sat there 3 hours , waiting for a friend to come tow us home, drinking Burbon, playing cards, having a grand time, a cop rolls up- we tell him "were fine " !! and he rolls on, those were the DAZE !!
_________________
Tom

My Pops:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604100&highlight=
I know you will always be with me, rest in peace with no more pain. 8/13/14.....

In the yard right now:
'51 Dodge 5 window truck
'65 Bug
'66 Singlecab
'82 Rabbit Truck Diesel from CALI
'86 Doublecab W/T
'91 Vanagon carat/wolfsbrg.Tiico
'88 Dodge Ram pickup
'11 Jetta Wagon

[justmeandmycar(s)]

When I was first getting my '66 beetle on the road, I would drive it up and down our road to learn to drive... well, the first time I ever took her out for a learning drive, I killed the engine several times, then on the way back to the house we hear ku-KUNK! ... left front wheel, hanging on by one lug. Whats worse, my dad waas in the ca at the time. Whats even worse, All of my tools were still at the house. My dad had to walk about a quarter of a mile back home, get our mazda, get the jack, and bring it all back... and I had to drive my car back.... alone....

NOTE: we own the half-mile stretch of dirt road that we live at the end of. I was not doing anything illegal by driving there without a learners permit... I wouldn't suggest trying this in a public and paved residential area... you can get chased by much more than just a hummer (another story entirely... if you wanna hear it, I'll tell you).
_________________
Beware of Drive-By Bayonetteings!!

'66 Bug
'74 Bug
'71 Westy Poptop

[timp]

yes, in fact, i've had my wheel fall off twice... rear drivers side both times... once was just because it snapped the cotter pin and loosened itself, but the second time it shredded one of the bearings... did a nice job ripping up my fender... i was doing about 50 the second time it happened...
_________________
Some people are like slinkies; absolutely good for nothing, but it still brings a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs...

[ScrapJunkie]

the other day as i got out of my bug at the skatepark, i noticed my rear drivers wheel was sticking out of the fender a bit and was cocked in at the top. at first i was like..that looks awesome, but then i realized the axle nut was sitting on the ground. I then realized i had forgotten to put the cotter pin back in after bleeding and adjusting the brakes..scary stuff though!
_________________
(O\U|U/O) Top Vw (o\UU/o)

[Chick Iverson]

About 20 years ago I was driving down the 405 in my '65 Rambler station wagon that I had bought back from my room mate...He had replaced the brakes.....going about 65-75 when all of a sudden my left rear wheel came off and I completely lost control of the car...it went all over the freeway, luckily no one was close by and I pulled over to the shoulder, walked along the freeway, found the wheel, took one lugnut off of each of the other wheels and was back in business. It is the only time I thought I was going to die!!!!
_________________
'59 Euro convertible--'56 type 2 double door panel w/Chick Iverson logo-....2 wrongs don't make a right, but 3 lefts do!

[Bajavwracer]

its happened to me in my 70' twice jaja was fun to me

[drpete]

[Cusser]

Driving on I-10 west in California Memorial Day 1981 to go on cruise with girlfriend (no, not the one in the avatar), middle of summer, middle of desert miles from nowhere. A guy ran out in front of my '70 VW, almost hit him. He was barefoot, summer, HOT, his old VW had lost its rear wheel, and he wanted to borrow my jack. "Bummer, man" And, lucky for him, I had my 36mm socket and bar with me, and a big cotter pin. Apparently he (or someone) had put the axle nut on without a cotter pin, and it came loose. We got it fixed, and off he went, he probably never realized what a fluke it was that it was me with that socket and a cotter pin who he's stopped....
_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[Vanhag]

Whenever I or my friend go after a VW we take at least 2 spare tires and a mess of different sized lugbolts. You never know what you'll run into when you get there. He gets a tip that someone is getting rid of 2 old ratty bug's about 150 miles away. Saturday morning my friend loads up his tools, family, towbar, and a couple spare tires (but forgot the extra lugbolts) and heads down the road. He gets there and finds a couple of sorry baja's. He salvages everything good off of the worst one and proceeds to get the second one in towing shape. But all he has is 4 good tires (plus the two spares) and 15 lugbolts. He puts 4 lugs in 3 of the rims and 3 lugs into the last rim and gets on the freeway.

He is very careful and makes it to the next big town 50 miles away without incident. But he doesn't want to tow it the rest of the way home without getting more lug bolts into the wheels. The problem is that is was late, late at night and nothing is open but an old hardware shop. They have a 1 long bolt that will fit the threads so he buys it and several washers. He puts the bolt in the wheel with only 3 lugbolts, tightens it down, and heads down the road. Everything is going great when about 20 miles from home he feels the bug starting to pull, he figures it's the crosswind and doesn't see anything in the mirrors. 1 mile later the bug is lurching and he sees a smoke cloud behind him, by the time he got pulled over and out of traffic the tire has burst and has left the rim scattering itself down the road and shoulder. The drum had locked up and he can't figure out why.

He calls me up and tells me to bring more tools and some spare parts. By the time I get there he is laughing and shows me the reason why the drum had seized. The bolt he had used was too long and every time it come around it would bump the adjuster screw. You could see the adjuster screw in a mess through the backing plate. After several thousand rotations it had tightened up the brakes to a point where they locked up the drum and since the baja was just a very light rolling shell it just drug the tire down the road. We loosened up the axle nut and worked the adjuster screws until we got the drum off. Sure enough the bolt is sticking way out there in lala land and is chewed up, I guess he didn't buy enough washers. I had several lugbolts and we were on our way without any more incidents.
_________________
CU05 w/HBB
HOODRIDANCE