One missing wheel nut can put everyone’s safety at risk

Take a walk through any busy parking lot and look down at vehicles’ wheels and you’ll be surprised at the number of autos with one or more wheel nuts missing.

Whether it was caused by a failure to get them re-torqued after a service that entailed wheel removal or a DIY tire swap gone wrong or just plain wear, tear and corrosion, missing just one of these little fasteners puts everyone at risk.

Think about it: With one of five wheel nuts missing, a wheel has lost 20 per cent of its clamping force, meaning all it takes is a hard turn or pothole slam to loosen the rest of the nuts and lead to disaster.

Commercial truck drivers have lived with strict regulations on wheel nuts for years, requiring them (among other things) to complete a walkaround inspection before every trip to visually inspect wheels and other components. Those laws came into effect because of the lethal consequences for other drivers and passengers when large tire-wheel assemblies come off on the highway. But passenger-vehicle and light-truck wheels are no less capable of causing such mayhem.

Doing a walkaround check is a sound idea, considering how little time it takes and now much it can save in aggravation and inconvenience by pinpointing problems early. We should also be checking lights and other exterior items, along with wheels and their nuts.

Wheel nuts need to be re-torqued (with a properly calibrated wrench) after 100 kilometres or so of driving after a wheel has been removed and reinstalled. There are no exceptions to this rule. If the wheel was taken off at a service facility, they should not charge you for this service. If they do, you need to look for another provider.

Capped wheel nuts should be inspected at every oil change, especially on older vehicles. These are the ultracheap factory fasteners that use a pressed-on thin metal cap to give the wheel nut the look of a chromed unit. I and others have railed against them before because of their tendency to develop cracks and swelling, rendering a standard wheel wrench ineffective when trying to get them off. If you’re got them on your ride, replace them with a quality solid-metal nut. Your knuckles will thank you.

If you’re a low-distance driver and can go more than a year without a wheel removal, get them removed annually anyway.

Good techs will clean hub surfaces of any corrosion before bolting the wheels back on, and then give you a friendly and written reminder to return after 100 km for a re-torque.

Driving.ca