alia176
SILVER Star
This happened to a TJ yesterday as we were heading home from Ouray, CO. The father was on the lead and his front dropped and saw his wheel go past him then into the canyon below. The wheel came to rest against a dead tree, approx 500' below the hwy.
Anyway, we dissassembled the Warn locking hubs, removed the hub with the rotor that's now missing a chunk of it. They found spare studs but the holes got wallowed out so badly that the studs weren't engaging the holes. Dad found a roll of mechanic wire that we used to give the studs some traction so that the lugnuts can be re-installed w/o pushing the studs back through.
This was a Dana 60 hybrid with Ford parts. All in all, it took us about 1.5 hours to get them rolling off of the hwy into a safe zone. My daughter took all the pics and actually enjoyed the process of helping out someone in need, as did I.
My guess is that the lugnuts lost their torque and wallowed out the holes over time. The two were from TX and were very appreciative of the help and traffic management. The son was wrenching and he was shaking from the Adrenalin from almost watching his dad go over the edge. My GF was trying to get him to drink water and the horse flies were something awful. The Sheriff was driving by and stopped to take up the traffic directing while we concentrated on the repair job. I always keep a reflective vest in the vehicle for when I walk the dogs in the dark during winter so she was sporting it!
All in all, this was a great lesson for the son and dad and nobody died or got hurt. The OEM Toyota jack came in handy in raising the axle high enough to mount the tire as the hi-lift was the short version and not able to raise the body high enough or safe enough to get the job done.
Anyway, we dissassembled the Warn locking hubs, removed the hub with the rotor that's now missing a chunk of it. They found spare studs but the holes got wallowed out so badly that the studs weren't engaging the holes. Dad found a roll of mechanic wire that we used to give the studs some traction so that the lugnuts can be re-installed w/o pushing the studs back through.
This was a Dana 60 hybrid with Ford parts. All in all, it took us about 1.5 hours to get them rolling off of the hwy into a safe zone. My daughter took all the pics and actually enjoyed the process of helping out someone in need, as did I.
My guess is that the lugnuts lost their torque and wallowed out the holes over time. The two were from TX and were very appreciative of the help and traffic management. The son was wrenching and he was shaking from the Adrenalin from almost watching his dad go over the edge. My GF was trying to get him to drink water and the horse flies were something awful. The Sheriff was driving by and stopped to take up the traffic directing while we concentrated on the repair job. I always keep a reflective vest in the vehicle for when I walk the dogs in the dark during winter so she was sporting it!
All in all, this was a great lesson for the son and dad and nobody died or got hurt. The OEM Toyota jack came in handy in raising the axle high enough to mount the tire as the hi-lift was the short version and not able to raise the body high enough or safe enough to get the job done.
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