nevrnf

Had a scary situation over the weekend. My daughter was on the highway and had the left rear tire come off at 70mph.
She did a great job of controlling it and getting off the side of the road upright and with zero body damage.
once i got to where the vehicle was about 20 miles from the Badlands Off Road Park and looked at the pieces it looks like the studs snapped right where the threads start. They were flush with the axle flange. The wheel disintegrated and the tire was destroyed as it was wrapped around the axle. Tires were last rotated 4800 miles ago and i use a torque wrench to tighten. The lug nut holes show zero signs of distortion like a loose nut would. She said she felt a vibration then moments after a loud explosion and the vehicle started skidding. There are no marks in the tire like a sudden failure. Tires are Goodyear Duratrack on Ultra Aluminum wheels. I am going now to do a full inspection of the axle to determine replacement parts needed as from my quick calculations i am below the $750 deductible and would prefer to keep this out of the insurance.
Has anyone had stud failure? I am sending the wheel and tire to TireRack as my rep said they would like to see it to try and to help determine if it was a tire or wheel failure vs just the studs failing.
Pictures and update to follow.

Vladimer

I've had it, sucks a bit as the first time I saw my wheel at a 45 degree angle I thought I broke the axle. Repair cost was about 40 bucks in new studs and lugs

arjeeper

Been there too on a YJ I had. Felt a wobble and looked back to see the drivers rear tire tilted 15 degrees out. Relatively easy fix. No long term damage done.

crawldad

here is a technical discussion:
Wheel and Hub Failures

one thing not mentioned is that bolts of any type (and studs) have a finite life.

in other words, some types you can only torque 1 time then that's end of life if you remove it lol
wheel studs , many times i'm assuming, but i cannot find any guidance as to how many times they can be tightened. i have seen several mentions that if a wheel stud is over torqued even 1 time it's unsafe and should be replaced.

i dont think all of your studs would all poof at once. maybe one. or two. but i cant count the times i've seen a car or truck with 2 broken studs and the wheel didnt fail.

i would lean toward wheel failure caused this and the subsequent stresses sheared off the wheel studs, especially since you say you have maintained proper torques.

nevrnf

I don't disagree that the wheel possibly failed, BUT i can't rule out a fatigue of the studs due to a manufacturing issue. I was not there and i can only go by the details of a scared 21yr old girl. I am not looking to blame i would just like to know so i can look at the vehicle and see if there is another failure looming. Here are picture the last two show the distance traveled while skidding on the tire.

Mr.T

Any chance that the factory metal retaining clips were still on the wheel studs? Stock wheels have a counterbore on the back side for clearance, most aftermarket wheels don't (and will loosen, etc. if installed with those thin steel clips in place). Suggest removing the other wheels and looking things over.

jkjay11

scary shit glad she is ok

crusaderJK

Looking at the circular abrasions in pic #3 you might be right.

nevrnf

No washers on the rear as i removed the other side and they were not there. Not sure why the marks are on the rear of the wheel. They have been rotated 3 times since installation and every wheel has been around the whole vehicle at one point. I talked to the person following and they said the wheel came shooting away from the vehicle before it dropped down and trapped the tire under it. I have looked inside of the tire all the way around and i see no sign of a failure other than where the tire is ground from dragging on the ground.
I mounted the rotor to the axle and spun it and there is no visible movement. I did not set up my dial indicator to see if it has more than the eye can see.

Mr.T

Does your daughter remember if the TPMS warning chime/light happened prior to the bad stuff? Wondering what came first, wheel studs breaking or tire loosing air.

Maybe the tire lost air first, then the shock loads broke the wheel studs as the wheel and tire bead separate and the wheel hits the ground? Clues might be in the tire?

Good emergency driving

edit: Thinking about this some more, it seems unlikely for the studs to break first, followed by the tire bead breaking and separating from the rim. It takes a lot of force to de-bead a tire, and it almost certainly would have to be damaged and deflated first.