Which of these needs to be replaced? (Wheel fell off on highway)

[pbcrazy]

So as some of you already know, my wheel fell off when I was driving (going about 40-45). I was able to stop pretty quickly but still skidded some. The wheel is trashed, but none of these other parts really look that bad. Which (if any/or all) of these should I go ahead and replace? Hell even the brake rotor looks untouched
How it was on the side of the road:



Ball joint?


Lower control arm control (I believe):


Sway bar doesn't look hardly touched


Brake Caliper:


Hub, all 5 lug bolts went in without much effort at all and held, the center ring took a hit but doesn't even look bad (mind you I will be running hubcentric rings later):

[mpsmith]

If your lugs hold fine how in the world does your wheel fall off?

[pbcrazy]

If your lugs hold fine how in the world does your wheel fall off?

You got me, I found all 5 lug bolts and all 5 had the last 3-4 threads shredded off cleanly. OEM bolts too.

[ENV²]

How did this happen??

[pbcrazy]

How did this happen??

Not a clue, I had the wheel off about 4 days ago so I must have over or under tightened the bolts. But I used the same impact I use on all my cars and on another wheel the same day and that wheel is still tight. Not a freakin clue.

I was extremely lucky that I was one of the only people on the road at the time, and that I was already slowing down to stop (vibrations started 10-15 seconds before and got worse). Or if someone else was driving that could have freaked out and did something bad. It could have been a lot worse. I'm also extremely lucky I'm not lowered yet, or I could have said goodbye to my entire undercarriage

[rodgertherabit]

OEM bolts too.

Those are Coneseat bolts.... Most likely Not OEM, if you are using those bolts pictured in an OEM wheel thats probably the problem.

Still strange Did you use a Torque wrench?

[mpsmith]

Never tighten with an impact gun, torque wrench.

[pbcrazy]

Those are Coneseat bolts.... Most likely Not OEM, if you are using those bolts pictured in an OEM wheel thats probably the problem.

Still strange Did you use a Torque wrench?

Those are just the bolts I had at my house for my new wheels. The ones that were on when this happened were stripped so I threw them out. These are just conical seats from ecs.
I didn't use a torque wrench to check them (will be from now on), but we have been using the same settings for 15 years and the other wheel I did the same day is still fine and tight. Idk.

Does anything actually look like it needs to be replaced? I keep looking over it and don't see anything bad somehow. I even mounted the wheel back up just so it doesn't look so shitty in my driveway. Obviously I don't want to replace anything that doesn't need it, but at the same time I don't want this to happen again...

[S4NIK8]

The front lower control arm looks like the nut is completely ground off; I would replace that for sure.

[pbcrazy]

The front lower control arm looks like the nut is completely ground off; I would replace that for sure.

Front lower front?
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/aud...ont-4d0407151p

[walky_talky20]

Yes. Front Lower Front.

Also, are these wheels the 16" 'Swings'? Funny, I had one of these loosen up on me the other day too. Also left front. Also Laser Red. And I also run ECS conical lugs for my "other wheels". Weird.

Luckily in my case, I noticed some serious looseness was afoot and stopped before any damage happened. I *always* use a torque wrench set to 100ft/lbs or so. I think my issue was some corrosion in between the wheel and the hub, and then the *HUGE* frost heave I hit the day before. Hit hard enough, it probably put a slight stretch on the lugs even. I was somewhat surprised the tire didn't come off the bead after I hit it.

Anyway, about 100 miles after I re-tightened the wheel, the bearing started roaring. So it was definitely a pretty hard hit!

[R490]

Jeez, that's crazy. Glad you're ok.

Have you been able to take a look underneath?

[pbcrazy]

Jeez, that's crazy. Glad you're ok.

Have you been able to take a look underneath?

The only damage is pictured, I got extremely lucky that it didn't touch the oil pan or anything else for that matter.

[pbcrazy]

Yes. Front Lower Front.

Also, are these wheels the 16" 'Swings'? Funny, I had one of these loosen up on me the other day too. Also left front. Also Laser Red. And I also run ECS conical lugs for my "other wheels". Weird.

Luckily in my case, I noticed some serious looseness was afoot and stopped before any damage happened. I *always* use a torque wrench set to 100ft/lbs or so. I think my issue was some corrosion in between the wheel and the hub, and then the *HUGE* frost heave I hit the day before. Hit hard enough, it probably put a slight stretch on the lugs even. I was somewhat surprised the tire didn't come off the bead after I hit it.

Anyway, about 100 miles after I re-tightened the wheel, the bearing started roaring. So it was definitely a pretty hard hit!

Cool thanks, is the front lower rear arm gunna be hurting with that little bit ground off?
And yep, it was a swing. I wish I had checked, I had actually just stopped to put air in my tires 15 minutes beforehand but didn't even think about it. I bet I will next time though (and probably before everytime I drive for the next month until I'm not so paranoid anymore). I'm actually kinda amazed the wheel doesn't look a whole lot worse than it does, it most have bumped around for a second hitting everything down there (hence the deep gouges). Not to mention the tires where pretty much dead anyway.

I actually had these wheels up for sale before this happened. Had a guy interested at $225. Somehow I don't think he will want them now lol

[adam044]

The oil pan had to of scraped, had to of. How close is it to the ground with a wheel off? It can't be more than an inch off the ground.

[pbcrazy]

The oil pan had to of scraped, had to of. How close is it to the ground with a wheel off? It can't be more than an inch off the ground.

Nope, did not scrape. Trust me, I took an extremely good look. With the wheel off, the oil pan is about 1/8-3/16" off the ground. Because the front right tire was still up it held the undercarriage just enough to not screw me. Thank god I wasn't lowered yet

[Gumby]

The oil pan had to of scraped, had to of. How close is it to the ground with a wheel off? It can't be more than an inch off the ground.

the oil pan isn't the lowest part on these cars.

OP, were you running any spacers with the oem lug bolts? The only thing is if you didn't have enough threads, over tightened the lug bolts, and stripped the threads off.

[pbcrazy]

No spacers, just the OEM wheel and the OEM lug bolts.

[adam044]

the oil pan isn't the lowest part on these cars.

OP, were you running any spacers with the oem lug bolts? The only thing is if you didn't have enough threads, over tightened the lug bolts, and stripped the threads off.

Ah okay? Still doesn't mean it can't scrape, especially since it's more towards the drivers side which is which side the wheel fell off.

What is the lowest part then? Hmmmm.

[Murph_129]

Damn, well glad your okay man. I had the same thing happen to me, thankfully I was only going about 15 around a corner. The wheel bounced off down the road, nearly missing a car head on (that would have been nasty) while I skidded around the corner. I cant imagine doing that again but at 40mph. My issue was the wheel wasn't centered on the lugs. It FELT tight, but after some driving and jarring it became off center and started loosening and finally pulled the lugs right off.

[vtraudt]

Wheel not centered when you tightened the bolts. Even properly torqued, bolts come loose when wheels settles in. Normally strong wobble felt. Had it once happen on wheels with hub centering rings. But caught right away. Rusty hub can also cause mismount (feels tight but isn't).