I recently had my wheels aligned at a local garage and it was only 7 days later when I was cleaning the wheels that I noticed that rooughly 75% of the nuts were loose. Many of them were so loose that I could take them off by hand! Fortunately, in the 7 days I'd had the car since the alignment, I'd only been travelling around Perth! Very lucky I reckon!

This is a top video Ronny. I love that you turned this into something that everyone could learn from. Thank you for sharing the experience mate. It's always good to be able to learn from others, to prevent you from making the same mistakes, and this - and a lot of your content - gives us all exactly that opportunity. Cheers mate.

Great advice Ronny. Your experience has convinced me to beef-up my kit contents and to inspect and re-torque my wheel lug nuts anytime they've been removed. Good lesson. 👍

It doesn’t matter what type of wheel you have steel or alloy, if you don’t tighten your wheel nuts enough the will FALL OFF.

Great to see you cover everyday misadventures along with those epic adventures. Grounded and real. Everyone can learn from watching and listing to others problem solve. Cheers and glad there wasn't any injuries.

I've learnt my lesson over the years from shoddy work from tyre shops or mechanics. Whenever I have any work done to my car that involves removing the wheels I visually inspect their work at their shop before I leave and double check their work again for torque when I get home. I've had everything from loose wheel nuts, overtightened wheel nuts to missing wheel nuts and sometimes all of the above. It's a f***g scary world out here folks, always take a minute to check something as important as your wheels whenever you have any work done to them👍 A very important story to share with your subscribers Ronny👍

Always good idea to invest in a torque wrench and know what your wheel nuts torque settings are.Big breaker bar is good but could be stretching studs to much

Spent 30 years in the 4x4 industry and a lifetime four wheel driving Ronny you are spot on alloy wheels just create problems Steel wheels are way more reliable And no rattle guns Cheers

G'day Ronny great content mate. I drive a 78 and purchased steel wheels about 2 years ago. The trouble I had was the run out of the rims I purchased was massive, what I mean is that the rims weren't spinning true and created a vibration at about 80km an hour. Most of the steel wheels are pressed and welded overseas and a cheap item. Bob Jane helped us with the issue and sorted through about 20 rims that were not up to spec. I think you will find alloy run perfect as they are generally a machined finish. I still run steel rims but was looking forward to buying alloy rims next time because of this issue with steelies. My rims now have lots of weights because of the imperfections in the rim. If u purchase steel rims make sure you get them to spin them on the balancer for runout before you buy. I swapped out bushes and all sorts trying to find the issue. Months later we worked it out by running alloy rims and the issue was gone.

Tough luck mate another idea is especially on trailers we mount the spare on a stub axle with bearings and everything that way you have a whole spare hub assembly

This happened to me 9-10 years ago. Same as you, alloy wheels and the car had just been serviced and tyres rotated. Lucky for me I limped into a country service station where the local mechanic spotted my wheel had only 1 nut holding it on. Since then I make a point of checking my wheel nuts on a regular basis.

If your a driver in the Army, local council or even corporates in the field, a daily routine check over the vehicle is undertaken and documented. I call it a sanity check!

Another reason to love steelies, I was rally driving some very rough roads near Oberon, numerous bent rims (easily hammered back into shape, and cheaply replaced) --no suspension damage! Thanks Ronny :)

Scary stuff, mate! Glad you're okay. I've had a close call with wheel nuts coming off but never a complete wheel. It's a good lesson and reminder to always check wheel nuts after anyone else has worked on your vehicle.

I’m always a bit paranoid about wheel nuts so before every trip I would check them, and after a hard day on the tracks I’d double check too before setting off again. Because, if there is a heat issue somewhere, lug nuts can come loose due to expansion/contraction. I used the have this regularly in my track car where you could put a lot of heat into the wheel area. I do carry spare wheel nuts. But not wheels studs. Time to add some to the spares kit. Thanks for sharing and we can all learn from this one. 👍

Here in Germany we are required to have a warning triangle in the car all the time. Is there no such law in Australia? If you have an accident you're supposed to walk 100 meters away from your car and stand the reflective trinagle on the side of the road so, the arriving traffic would notice you way before it arrives you.

Glad all were safe!! Way to make lemonade out of lemons...and hopefully prevent someone from having this happen to them! I worked in the Commercial Tire industry for 25+ years and I would always tell my crew; "I don't care how many techs mount/balance the tires or bolt them to the vehicle...chose ONE PERSON to torque ALL the lug nuts for that vehicle and one to ask for confirmation of task completed.

Check, double check, triple check….🙈 Great lesson learned video Ronny👍

Thanks for the handy information for what to do during and after. Glad you're all okay 👍

You, me, and Eva ZuBeck all had our left rear come loose in like the same week. Mine sheered 4 studs also. I was going 80mph when it happened. I got to the side of the road fine. My tire didn’t hit anyone so all is well.

Lucky, thanks for the lesson. I recently had to replace a wheel stud on my wife's Subaru. An easy job made much easier by finding a big nut left over from the front end of my Jeep that just happened to fit the Subaru studs enabling me to seat the studs. Carrying spare studs is a great idea. Including a nut that fits the studs and allows the stud to pass through would be a good idea.

Thank you for sharing this. It was very informative!

I'm sure all service manuals say wheel nuts should be re checked x amount of kms after a wheel has been fitted. I know the time I didn't recheck them one started to come loose. Lucky for me I heard a clunking noise and checked.

Hi Ronny I had the same experience on Fraser Island years ago when I had a GQ patrol. The offender was me. I failed to tighten the wheel nuts and and properly seat the rim on the housing before putting it back on the ground. I was lucky like you I had spares. Got extras at Rainbow Beach. Learnt a very valuable lesson. I have never used mag wheels on a trip, always steel rims. Had experience with buckled rims etc and roadworthiness. Steel rims cant go wrong. I have 200 series GX and have kept the standard steel rims. Thanks for sharing your experience. Bravo from Victoria Australia

The answer to the lost wheel problem is : when you change wheels particularly steel to alloy BRUSH THE DIRT/DUST OFF THE STUD AREA HUB FACES. Steel wheels generally have a concentric rib around the stud radius and this can fill with dirt and the wheel will tolerate it. Alloy wheels have a flat machined face that cannot tolerate any dirt or surface irregularities . You can tighten the stud on an alloy up to spec and it will hold perfectly on a clean face , but if there is any sand grit or mud on that face it will work it's way out from the stud face and the wheel will then work loose . I have seen it happen about 3 times and had a wheel come loose on my own 4x which is where I discovered the cause. Hope this helps.

That was a lucky escape. I know the stretch of road reasonably well, and it is fast (especially since it was upgraded to a dual carriageway.). You were lucky being close to Colac as well, otherwise there would have been a long drive holding up traffic either on to Warrnambool or back to Geelong for parts.

Mate, add a set of parrallel pin punches to your tool kit. relatively cheap, light and useful when changing wheel studs, wheel bearings and a heap of other track side repairs. Love your content, been watching for years,

After a close call breaking three of the six lugs on one tire, I started carrying a full set of font and rear lugs with spare nuts as well. fast forward a few years and i almost loose another one after forgetting to double check the lug nuts after changing a over my wheels. Lucky I had the spares as I was able to get back on the road again instead of going home on a flat bed. Literary a carbon copy of Ronny's experience other than dropping the wheel. Three things it taught me was carry spares, always, always check the lug nuts with a torque wrench and don't trust anyone always check it your self

Hi Ronny , after my 30 years experience l never drive from mechanic without checking the nuts wheels by myself. A lot of mechanics use gung. But after checking it’s to strong or too weak , newer perfect. CHEERS !

About 20 years ago I was towing a box trailer from WA to NSW when I saw a wheel pass me thinking someone has lost one and it was me the hub had separated from the axle fortunately the trailer stayed upright till I stopped.

When it comes to mechanics tightening up wheel nuts with impact wrenches, I never trust where they’ve torqued them to. Once home I always lift the car up & loosen then re-torque any wheel nuts they’ve touched, back up to 110-113nm on my Toyota 4wd. Only ever had alloy rims on my 4wds for years & travelled all over. I’ve also greased my studs for around a decade too (again with no problems whatsoever). Just got to make sure the wheel nuts are tightened to spec or very close to, and triple make sure they’re all done up to the same spec per wheel. Takes an extra minute per wheel for piece of mind.

Last time my wheels flew off was visiting a shop that worked on my wheels, over tightening using impact guns. Even at a good shop technicians come and go. They chip the paint off my Brembo brake calipers, drastically mismatched tire pressures, wrong toque on lugs etc. Till this day I bring my wheels to any shops off, torque the lugs and check the tire pressure myself

Toque setting on a prado 120 is so important, I have had new tyres replaced a couple of times and then had warped brake rotors soon after. Because the wheels nuts had been over torqued causing the rotors to warp. Now always back off the nuts and set then to 95 ftlbs. When i go 4x4ing or long trips always take torque wrench and check the settings. Saves me the cost of new front rotors.

😅lucky nobody got hurt! Dangerous spot where you were at. An aftermarket alloy wheel came of my Landcruiser about 11 years ago, in a “controlled Army environment “”( Gallipoli barracks Brisbane) on a parking lot while driving of. I always check my nuts on a regular basis to make sure they still in the right place. Especially when someone else has been changing wheels /Tyres on my vehicles. After 30-50 km , I always double check and Torque the wheel nuts if Required. Only use Steel rims on my fourbies for over 12 years now. To repair alloys is too expensive and near impossible in the outback. Fancy alloys look “cool” but is better to be sensible and “coolish”instead imo 🥸

I’m glad you are ok!

Who else stepped out to check their wheel nuts :) - thanks for another great video Ronny!

Wow, lucky you were carrying spare studs! That’s one thing I’ve never even thought of. I know what I’m buying today!

I had a case on a battlefield when the tire was hit by a shrapnel and was flat. However, I could not stop there since it was a dangerous area. My good old 2003 Mitsubishi l200 made 7km driving just 3 wheels, basically driving on the rim. The tire came off and rim decreased it’s diameter twice. After that I stopped in safe area, just changed spare wheel and came to the base.

Listing the tools you used for the fix is a great addition to the video.

Hello Ronny I know the situation. I had the same problem with a Nissan Patrol Y61 a few years ago. The biggest problem with Nissan / Toyota are the soft wheel bolts. My solution: I bought 30 mm wheel spacers with wheel bolts in 10G. strength. The WRC drivers use this on their rally cars. they are OK for up to 180 Nm. And open wheel nuts, so I can see if the nuts are properly seated on the wheel bolts.. I Change the wheels 20 times, on the spacers, NO problems with the studs..... Greetings from Germany Andy....

Great episode Ronny:D Ive been running Pro Comp steel wheels for 10 years, dont think you can get them in Aus anymore and they are brilliant. Lucky break fella

You said it Ronny steel is the way to go for true off roading.Have had steels since the early 1980's.Every out back 'Cocky' ran them so that was good enough for me.

All wheel studs no matter the make or model of vehicle are torque to yield specific and as an old school 4x4er with a Landcruiser to match I’ve never used anything except steel rims . Well recovered Ronny 😎👍🍻

Toyota (page 210 service manual) recommends 209Nm torque setting for steel wheels and 131Nm for alloy... I just checked then after watching your vid coz to be honest, didn't realise for steel it was a whopping 209Nm... glad you got yourself sorted out, a very precarious situation!

Yeah it happens with alloy rims. Happened to me in a dmax but Isuzu roadside assist was excellent. Never had a lose wheel nut since with steel sunraysia rims.

Always use a Torque wrench on alloy wheels not a bad idea for steel wheels either. Glad all of you are ok. Including the 79 series

Very lucky indeed it could have been much worse! Thanks for sharing so others may learn.

Bit similar thing happened to me. But act before I die in the outback. Changed my Prado 120 front lower control arms from very well know suspension chain store before my Birdsville and out back trip a 2x months ago. One week later went to my regular mechanic for last minute checkup (always do this before a big trip) Ended up finding suspension man did not tightened lower bolts on both front front shockies (only hand tightened) Key points. - check every part before leave - tight all nuts and bolts - make sure to mark nut/ bolt with permanent ink marker ( easy for visual inspection on the road) - check your marks every morning at least - take spares Rooma

We had the front right come off on the 90 when the LBJ collapsed. This is apparently a 'thing' with the 90 series. At least roadside assist sorted us out and everything was sorted bcoz a mechanic was responsible for not fixing the LBJ so they had to pay what insurance didn't cover. It took THREE MONTHS to get fixed though.

Crikey what a drama. Lucky it wasn't the front end. Definitively getting some spare studs. Thanks for sharing.

Was driving with my old man when one wheel came of. It was a twin axel. Crowded hill in Dublin so lucky nobody was injured. You have to remove any stones between the dual wheel's straight away.

Thanks for the lesson , no matter what wheel rims ones have if they not fastened properly it will fall off . Living in south africa we find that bad roads with potholes and corrugated surface loosen wheel studs , greetings mate from south africa 🇿🇦 👍

Invest in a torque wrench Ronny, 131Nm for alloys and 209Nm for steelies, Also due to the conditions+Km youve done look at replacing your studs every 120Thou Km.

I had the same happen to my landcruiser Ute about 2 years ago. Same rear left wheel. But I hadn’t had my car serviced recently or the wheels off in the preceding 4-5 months. Was a bit of excitement !

Thanks for reminding me why my Troopy has steel wheels and wheel nut indicators

Over torquing lugs crystalizes the stud metal making it brittle. Had the same thing happen going from moab to the north rim on a jeep. Mechanic @ home said there was a service bulletin about it. Torque wrench every time i change a wheel. I also carry 5 spare studs now. Loose lugs tend to just spin off.

I'm stranded, too. Fucking road looked dry but it was a crust with bread dough underneath. Had to camp overnight, waiting for help.

Very, very lucky! A friend of mine had the same thing happen to him on his 79 series, towing a camper trailer. Back wheel came off, The whole car and trailer rolled 3 times from 80kph before stopping. Everything totalled, miraculously, none of the 4 people in the cruiser got seriously hurt. Insurance paid up but the trip to the cape never happened.

had the problem over the years on my bush taxis an troopys .it's the heat transfer between the steel hub an alloy rim easier to explain over the phone but that's wat the main problem is an with the older 6stud combine the steel hub with the alloy rims an stretched wheel studs its worce than the 5stud due to 5stud thicker studs less susceptible to stretching .unless over tightened to the point of snapping like a carot .love the content .

Glad you’re alright mate

Had similar happen in company Hilux 150km north of Kalgoorlie on Yarri rd. At 100km/hr was one hell of a ride till I got it stopped. Caught a glimpse of the rear wheel going past as we were going sideways down the gravel rd. At least with the gravel/dirt surface the physical damage was not too great. The biggest issue was trying to unfold the backing plate where the impact with the road folded it in.Couldn't get the brake drum on at first. Used to be a boilermaker many years ago so had some tricks up my sleeve. Found the brake drum and 3 studs, swapped nuts and one stud from other wheels and stuck one of the spare tyres on. Hunted for a hour or so, never did find that bloody wheel, still out there somewhere. Limped into Kalgoorlie 6 hours after leaving Edjudina. Took some time and effort to find a set of studs for that particular model of Hilux. Shoved them in, replaced old studs, and headed back to Perth. Bloody alloy wheels, didn't feel a thing until it about 3 seconds before it took of. Had nuts come loose of my landcruiser steel rims. Could feel and hear a clunk as I swayed it from side to side. More than enough warning if aware of the signs. Stopped, tightened the loose wheel nuts and carried on

Had similar problem recently, my mechanic didn't torque the CV bolts on rear axle. After some time started loosing bolts and snapped the remaining two in the middle of a busy street - suddenly had a front wheel drive car. 😀 Took almost an hour to put that back together with the few tools I got in the car. Lessons come unexpectedly some time.

You need NutWare wheel nut indicators, I lost a wheel on my camper trailer last year because I didn't tighten the wheel nuts up after regreasing the bearings and have been using NutWare indicators ever since.

I run nothing but steel sunraysia rims with high tensile wheelnuts but include fluro yellow plastic clip on indicators that assist in recognizing nut movement. Lifesaver. 👍👍🇭🇲

Time to go full 79 west Oz mine spec and throw on some yellow wheel nut indicators! 🤣

Remember too wheel studs like any stud/bolt only has a certain life span. Only can torque/stretch them so many times before they give up aswell. Good video yet again Rhonny

17" socket? Gawd damn bro! Glad your ok 👍

Oh, wow. So glad you are ok Ronny and that you were able to fix it! That lack of roadside ‘assist’ sucks! I wonder if it is worthwhile having roadside assist with a separate company to your insurance company? Something we are looking into at the moment.

My old patrol had steel rims, sunrasia tupe, it came with them. However my Dmax came standard with alloys. I have heard of the same problem you had so i installed witness indicators to the wheel nuts, easy to see if there is any movement.

In the UK, with commercial vehicles; if they have had work done on the wheels such as a wheel change then they should be checked for tightness after 100km. We have tags left in the trucks on the dashboard with the notes and they are bright colours. The depot has a maintenance section where we can either go and grab the torque tool ourselves or one of the maintenance guys will show us how to do it, or do it themselves. But it sounds like the recovery company didn't like you either. Ive had problems with my 4x4 in the past and have opted to call a local recovery company directly.

Hi Ronny. Glad you are ok. That happened to our brand new Subaru second service. They rotate wheels and did not tighten all the wheels. Wife pulled in with noise I checked all nuts loose and five missing driving home. Not good. Regards John

sometimes insurance feel like a scam

A great outcome with no-one hurt. It might be time to name the insurance company.

I always torque my nuts up to 130nm never had an issue, I only started doing that after I snapped a stud by over tightening which was a nightmare to replace. I will get myself some spare studs after seeing this. Glad no-one was hurt and it wasn’t too bad a fix

Great educational video Ronnie, & as old school 😆 this is why I belong to RAA/RAC top membership and have steelies.

whhaaaaat!! glad you are safe Ronny.

Hy Ronny ,you’re the best. As you, in Italy with my little Suzuki Jimny 🤣.

Excellent video Ronny, I'm curious, Factory Allow vs Aftermarket Steel wheels. What would you suggest?

Toyota specification for factory steel wheels is 209nm and the alloys is 132nm. Generally tighten non-gen alloys to 132nm and don't have any problems but periodically check them just to be sure

Happened to me in my 79 cruiser towing 22ft caravan ,cruiser was starting to wander put it down to shit roads slowed down from 100kms ph turned left turned right into small town left hand rear wheel came off , alloy wheels , my fault for not checking wheel nuts after new tyres fitted , had to use caravan jack aswell ,also one of my alloy rims had a crack in it slow leak , gunna stick to the alloys lot lighter and looks great Love your show Cheers

I keep an Estwing shingle hatchet in my jeep. Good as a hammer and can use for chopping. I did this as one of your recommendation of multi use tools and less weight by carrying two tools

We did a half lap recently and I checked all wheel nuts at the end of each driving day for exactly this reason. It didn’t matter if it was a 100km or 1000km drive. I do t have the skills to do the repairs Ronnie did so prevention is the key for us.

Happened to me in the patrol, had mag wheels now steel rims but I checked wheel nuts before I left and only drove for about 20 minutes

Hey Ronny, I got a photo with ya at perth 4wd show, cheers for that dude. Meant to ask, when are you bringing back the All Aussie Adventures hand shake Easter eggs?!

Stuff like this is why I do as much mechanical repairs myself at home as I live on farm land and have experience in mechanical repairs and I always double check stuff and regularly check basic things weekly like wheel nuts, oil level, coolant, power steering fluid, brake fluid and brake pad life, slide pins, caliper pistons, rubber piston seals ect...

About 6 years ago the same thing happen to me about 7 years ago in Kansas. I am happy you guys were good and got off the road safely eventually.

You should always torque the nuts a second time after a small drive after taking wheels off.

Hay Ronny I use a paint pen on the wheel nuts after you torque them up. All he lines on the nuts are painted in the same direction. That way you can see instantly if one is loose.

You were damn lucky there Ronny. I would be buying a lotto ticket. A great video and a lesson on spares & right equipment to carry & how to fix the problems you had. Thanks for the share.

Very interesting and helpful advice. Everytime I got new tyres fitted they tell me to check wheel nuts after 50km. Some trucks have those arrows fitted to see if they move. Not sure if that's practical for 4wd's.

Interesting episode, a front wheel comming off could have sent you into oncoming traffic with very different results Had this happen on my boat trailer, lucky I had steel rims and detected the wobble Wheel nut indicators are my next port of call

I did the same after left rear came off twice, never run aluminum again. Steel rims have built in spring washer, that's the rise you see under the nut. The wider the rim the worse it gets with aluminum, they flex off.

Sorry to hear. Glad that nobody was harmed. But, I have a torque wrench, I always check my wheelnuts after a wheel rotation or before/after a big trip. They are not overly expensive, guess 150 AUD. So, save yourself and your car from more expensive afermaths.

Arghh tire shops!! Had a new set of tires fitted many years ago and on the way home was just about to hit the on ramp to a freeway when I hear a clank and something flew off past my window. So I pull over to find one nut left on the rim on front drivers side and another almost off the stud. Tightened up what was left and limped back to the tire shop to rip shreds off the boss and his lackeys. They visibly went white when they realised they screwed up big time. 😅

Instick with steel so you can beat out the dents. Never thought about the tire wobble. Glad you're OK Cheers!

Some time whatever you do a wheel will fall off, I had a stub axle break off on a trailer, also a steel rim split in two so the center was left on the hub but the rest went off on its own.

Hey mate after what's you have done with wheel studs I would change them to get press in because to get the studs flush with base might of stretched them a bit to far bud... keep it safe!!!!

I too learnt it the hard way, now during every service just before delivery I manually torque the wheels by hand and not with power tools. And I do it at the delivery area by myself.

Just wondering if the alloy wheels sit correctly on the hub to take the weight of the vehicle, instead of the studs?

You can get alloy wheels to wobble with loose nuts. You can get wheels with a bigger hub diameter and have them only lug-centric