Will my car have long term effects because of this?
Asked by baxtera Dec 08, 2013 at 11:45 PM about the 2007 Toyota Matrix XR
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Today I was driving and 4 out of the 5 lug nuts came out of my wheel. I continued to drive
home for roughly 1-2 miles and replaced them at home. The car was making a loud noise,
steering was shaking badly, and the car was going up and down rapidly.
2 Answers
I agree completely. Make sure the lug studs were not damaged or stripped. Next the wheel should be checked carefully for elongated holes so it tightens up correctly. If the brake is not making any noise you're probably ready to go.
I'm surprised you made it that far without wheel falling off. The car should have a jack in back of vehicle under the hatch floor. If that ever happens again don't drive car any further just pull over, jack it up, put lugs back on and tighten with the provided lug wrench and be on your way. If wheel falls off that will be quite an expenssive repair bill, especially if it goes under car or rips fender and wheel well liner off. Who had the wheels off last? If it was a repair shop that didn't torque them correctly you need to take it there and make them pay for inspection at a DIFFERENT shop to be sure you have an honest inspection done and won't have to worry about them hiding anything expenssive that may have bent. Wheel studs are like $2 each and very easy to replace so if you were the one to accidentally forget to tighten lugs down its ok, I would replace wheel studs regardless just to be safe or tires could wear uneven down the line and I personally HATE buying tires because they are astronomical in price.
