Why I need a garage.

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Lugboot

Lugboot

Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Threads
70
Messages
1,271
Location
Pennsyltucky
I had my cruiser at the garage last week to get the PA state safety inspection. Since they have to pull wheels for brake readings, I asked them to rotate the tires. Drove it home and left it sit all week. This week I drove to Philly for work. On the way home, my rear driver-side wheel decided it no longer wanted to be part of my truck. It left my truck at 65 mph, hopped over the barrier and tried to become part of the front end of a tractor trailer. Less than 200 miles from the service. Thank goodness no one was hurt. The cruiser had to be hauled about 80 miles to get it close to home. Not sure what happened to the tractor trailer, but the driver was okay and the truck had to be towed as well. Lesson? Torque your own lugnuts. The garage is being very good about it and is taking care of fixing the cruiser. The basically said they will do everything necessary to make it right. I'm glad there are still some stand-up people in this world.

I knew something was wrong before it let go and was preparing to pull off to check it at the next wide spot on the interstate, but the wheel beat me to it.

Anyway--worried what might be wrong with the rear axle/suspension/driveline that can't be seen at the moment. The plan is to replace everything that looks damaged and then put it on an alignment rack to see where the back end stands. The axle hitting pavement at 65 mph can't be good.

And now the pics.
Rotor_web.webp
Rotor3_web.webp
Wheel_web.webp
 
More pics.

Some more of the underside and flare.
Fender Flare_web.webp
Shockmount_web.webp
Axle_web.webp
 
I'd say your rear axle is bent and you need to have them replace it with another used one (with a locker)


Glad your OK. Had something similar happen on my FJ40
 
A couple more closeups

Shock mount and tire bead. Tire bead is slightly bent.
ShockmountCloseUp_web.webp
TireBead_web.webp
 
Lugboot that totally sucks!! It is good the shop is taking responsiblity. It could have been worse, you could have undertorqued them and the wheel could have come off(don't ask me how I know about that!!) Anyway definetly have another shop take a look at it when they are done I would imagine a hit like that could have bent the housing or the shaft itself for that matter.:whoops:
 
Romer said:
I'd say your rear axle is bent and you need to have them replace it with another used one (with a locker)


Glad your OK. Had something similar happen on my FJ40
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm worried about. Guess we'll see how the repair progresses. The owner of the shop is pretty much bending over backwards to help make this right.

Thanks!
 
Wow.
What a nightmare.
Glad no one got hurt.
I agree with Romer on the complete rear axle.
 
tommy854runner said:
Lugboot that totally sucks!! It is good the shop is taking responsiblity. It could have been worse, you could have undertorqued them and the wheel could have come off(don't ask me how I know about that!!) Anyway definetly have another shop take a look at it when they are done I would imagine a hit like that could have bent the housing or the shaft itself for that matter.:whoops:
Click to expand...

Yes--as a matter of fact, the shop owner proffered the idea first that we could take it to another shop to doublecheck all the work when he's through. It may hit a Toyota dealership or some other shop with landcruiser experience if I can find one locally. Overall this is a good garage I've been going to for over 6 years with 4 different vehicles. I'm really not bitter about it. Just glad it wasn't worse than it was.
 
OMG, is that what an east coast undercariage looks like? Here in Seattle we don't get rust like that until our vehicles reach the 30-40 year mark.
 
Isn't it standard practice to retourqe lugs on wheels after 100 miles? I would be extremely happy that they are taking care of this for you.
 
Back in the day (2003) the exact same thing happened to dclee (on this board). We were driving up to Loon Lake together and I see in the rear view his tire come off the front, cross 4 lanes of traffic and go over an embankment. Thank goodness noone was hurt. That tire had enough energy to cross traffic, go down an embankment, cross a field about 200 feet wide and lodge against a barbed wire fence. Definitely lethal force in a tire at road speed.
 
That really sucks. Happy you weren't hurt and the garage was gracious. I had the same problem with a Peugeot 504 four years ago, 200 yards from the tire dealer, in the middle of a crossing. The mechanics just forgot to replace the lugs:censor:. They didn't even apologize and just put the wheel back in place. I guess here in CA garages get sued for less than that. But that misfortune happened in the Middle East...
Good luck.
 
The shop is pulling a C.Y.A. by saying they'll make everything right because they probably think you (and or the trucker) have a strong negligence case against them.

On that note I would make it clear that I want a rear axle... it may look fine, but axles have very very tight tolerances and small deviations could mean big trouble after time (when the shop is no longer responsible)

Make sure they do everything to your satisfaction. They are being honest which is a good thing.
 
Wow:eek:

I will say however that lug bolts can be torqued without a garage:D You still need a garage but not just fer that...
 
is there grease or antiseize on these lugs?
 
The truck should be on the lift today. I plan to go over to the garage and get a better look at the axle. I'm concerned about both the axle being bent and the condition of the shock mount, since it drug on the pavement. Should I also be concerned with the status of the wheel bearings since the rotor took the brunt of the impact? The way this is going, I think I will only be really confident in the repair if the axle is replaced.

My insurance aduster is also going to look at the vehicle today. I'm going to try to express to the shop owner that it may be a 12-year old vehicle, but it's a vehicle I've wanted for 10 years so I expect everything to be repaired correctly and over-the-top. I also expect to own it for another 10 years.

Good point about not needing a garage to torque lug nuts! :doh: I was thinking of the space to do the rotation myself.


e9999 said:
is there grease or antiseize on these lugs?
Click to expand...

Not that I am aware of. Never had either one of those put on lugs on my vehicles.

As far as the rusty undercarriage? This thing actually spent its first 10 years in Montana, then a stint in CA and then CO. It has been only recently introduced to the bad habits of East Coast road crews. Do they use salt in Montana?

Thanks, everyone, for the advice and words of encouragement. I'll try to get a couple more pics today, perhaps.
 
Glad your OK, I'm going out to check mine as i had tyres installed a few weeks ago. As far as the rust goes, I used por 15 on the axels and frame looking into durabak. Though, you have bigger concerns than a wee bit of rust. Keep us posted with pics and hopefully you will get some nice lockers.:)
 
I only see light surface rust, probably from salt and snow. No biggie IMO. Many are like that.
 
What's rust?

Sorry this happened...glad you seem to have it in hand though! :)
 
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