Dodge Ram Rim Came Off

[bc.gold 3,403]

New neighbor from British Colombia had new tires installed on his Dodge Ram, the other day a rear tire came off and passed the truck, he had the truck towed to the local Chrysler dealer who installed one new brake caliper and new pads on the rear. $910.00

 

The worse part is they reinstalled the fly away rim with badly worn holes, instructing him to re-torque after so many miles, this afternoon we removed one lug nut to inspect the hole which we found to be badly oversize as one would expect.

 

Neighbor figured he could put washers before installing the nuts, told him that is not advisable and that me and my Milwaukee Impact would have no part of his plan.

 

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by bc.gold

[Crazyredhorse 295]

sounds to me like they didnt tighten that rim after tires changed and egged out cuz it was lose.id take it there and *****.

[Achto 27,510]

7 hours ago, bc.gold said:

Chrysler dealer who installed one new brake caliper and new pads on the rear. $910.00

 

The worse part is they reinstalled the fly away rim with badly worn holes,

 

When I drove wrecker, I went on a call to pick up 2 vehicles. One that lost a wheel and the vehicle the had the lost wheel imbedded in it's windshield. Yes, injuries were involved as well.

 

A - The tire shop should be liable for the loose wheel. Unless the lug nuts were not re-torqued  after the vehicle was driven 100 miles.

B - No respectable dealership or shop should be able to send a vehicle out the door with a faulty critical safety part such as a rim. Personally, I would not have even driven the truck home without a new rim installed.  

 

I'm glad that no one was hurt, but I'd be looking for some restitution from the mechanics involved.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Achto

[JoeM 7,871]

3 hours ago, Achto said:

No respectable dealership or shop should be able to send a vehicle out the door with a faulty critical safety part

I thought so too! 

A few years back my wife took her van into the dealership for a recall. While there, she mentioned a strange road sound to the service manager. They checked it out and told her the left rear wheel bearing was bad. Having just shy of 40K on the van it was out of the 36K warranty. The dealer said it would be $300 for the repair. She told them she would have to talk to me and let them know. 

As it turned up they let her drive it home. 

I jacked it up..... and oh boy yes, very bad pending failure. 

I called the dealership and told them I happen to know those bearings are designed to last the life of the car and if one fails in 39K miles there is a much bigger problem. I need the number of engineering in Detroit. 

Plus, I showed them a extreme amount of displeasure because they allowed my wife, and not even disclosed the danger involved, to drive the car in that condition.

They would not give me a number to call but put me through to someone they thought could help. I am not sure who the guy was, but after another short conversation, I was told they are sending a flatbed out and are going to take care of the problem. 

 

[squonk 41,038]

Aluminum wheels .MUST BE RE-TORQUED! I have seen these wheels PROPERLY installed and loosened up in a day , a week and even a month and a half during a trip home to N.Y. from Wash. DC.

[8ntruck 6,991]

Yup, absolutely, any wheel must be properly torqued to prevent bad things from happening - broken studs, egged out bolt holes, possible damage to hub and brake components, etc.

 

Re-torquing aluminum wheels is a must. Just to be safe, check the torque at 100, 200, and 300 miles.  If all is well, you might take up some torque at 100 miles, but probably none at 200 or 300 miles.

 

I spent my 40 year engineering career in the automotive and light truck wheel industry.  I've seen lots of torque related failures.