Left front wheel keeps coming loose
Senior Member
Joined: 12-30-2006
Posts: 1,141
From: Lake Conroe, Texas
Just a note: Applying too much torque to lug nuts can stretch the studs. In all probability, "tightening the hell out of them" is way, way past 100 lb./ft., depending upon how strong you are. And if a technician used an air impact wrench somewhere along the line, you should replace the studs just as a precaution.
Senior Member
Joined: 02-20-2009
Posts: 596
From: Charleston, S.C.
Having had this issue on a trailer once I can tell you the results of not fixing it can be frightening.
Check the threads to make sure they are clean and dry. Wash them off with some brake cleaner to make sure there is no lubricant on them for some reason.
Check the nuts to make sure they are the correct ones with the correct seat angle to the wheel. Lay the wheel down and just put the nut in the seat and make sure the angle is correct.
Last if all of this checks out I would replace both the studs and the nuts on that hub because something has obviously damaged them.
Check the threads to make sure they are clean and dry. Wash them off with some brake cleaner to make sure there is no lubricant on them for some reason.
Check the nuts to make sure they are the correct ones with the correct seat angle to the wheel. Lay the wheel down and just put the nut in the seat and make sure the angle is correct.
Last if all of this checks out I would replace both the studs and the nuts on that hub because something has obviously damaged them.
Senior Member
Joined: 10-15-2007
Posts: 199
From: Yukon
Last month GM replaced all of my smoked chrome wheels under warranty. I previously mentioned that the wheel was never tightened by the mechanic that installed them - left front. It apprears he did tighten it, but it loosens up on its own.
Now, every time I drive about 400 miles the left wheel gets loose all by itself. I have to retork the lugs constantly and it is really becoming a safety issue.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? This all happened after the new wheels were installed, and only to the left front one. Could I have a defective wheel? Why would it loosen itself?
Now, every time I drive about 400 miles the left wheel gets loose all by itself. I have to retork the lugs constantly and it is really becoming a safety issue.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? This all happened after the new wheels were installed, and only to the left front one. Could I have a defective wheel? Why would it loosen itself?
Try this. Torque the nuts to about half the specified values. Unscrew one nut, carefully counting the turns to get it off the stud. Repeat that in reverse until you get a consistent result - like 12-1/4 turns.
Mark that stud and nut. Take the wheel off. Screw that same nut back on the same stud and count the turns to "bottom out" the nut.
If the result is the same, you have the answer. It should take more turns to "bottom out" the nut.
Senior Member
Joined: 02-20-2009
Posts: 596
From: Charleston, S.C.
I'm not sure how that could be happening. Are the new wheels thinner?? Most wheel studs are threaded all the way to the splines that hold them in the hub anyway so it would be hard to bottom the nut on the end of the thread.
Senior Member
Joined: 10-15-2007
Posts: 199
From: Yukon
Yes "09 Panel", I see your point. If the wheel were thinner and/or the chamfers of the wheel holes (where the nut snugs into) were deeper I could be right. Otherwise I made a long shot.