my wheel fell off

[gold_bug]

I went to Merchant's Tire to get my wheels balanced. When I drove away afterwards, something made a horrible clunk then a grinding noise. I was still in the parking lot so I wasn't going very fast, I immediately stopped. The rear wheel had come off. It was just unreal, I couldn't believe it.

So the lesson I learned today is: after getting tire/wheel work done always inspect the wheels, don't just drive off assuming the people in the shop did everything they were supposed to do.

[ewagner]

1. It happened to me

with the oil drain plug.

the rocket scientists in the quick lube place put it back in with an air gun! Stripped it out.......lost all oil pressure after 100 miles on the road........

gotta watch those folks.....

[gold_bug]

4. I forgot to mention

the reason it came off is they forgot to put the lug nuts back on. Duh.

My axle didn't hit the pavement, I was lucky the drum brake housing caught on the inside of the rim and balanced there until I got them to bring a floor jack out of the shop and put the wheel back on.

[daisygirl]

5. D'oh! Definitely get it inspected elsewhere, and

hold the place that did it responsible for any damage. Even as little distance as you went could have damaged the bolt holes, so you might need a new wheel. They should also responsible for paying for the inspection.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

2. bush can sympathize; his wheels are comin off too!

[yellowcanine]

3. I hope you took it somewhere else to have it inspected to see if there was

any damage to the wheel, drum, etc. Could even be damage to the axle if the wheel came all the way off and the car fell down.