I want to advise everyone to make sure they check the wheel lug nuts if they ever do any work with the tire off. I just had a wheel come off while driving down the highway on a test run after fixing a starting problem. A few weeks ago I took the left front wheel off to put a new alternator on my son's Civic at his house. That didn't fix the starting problem, so I had the car towed to my house. Today I checked the fuel pump ran when ignition was turned on and got whirring in gas tank, replaced the ignition coil (it may have been OK), checked for spark on plug wires with screwdriver near grounded bolt, pulled the fuel pump fuse and cranked for 10 seconds to clear flooding and re-installed fuse, and wiped the gas covered plugs. The car started but the A/C belt smoked. I removed the belt and the car started and ran smoothly. I then went for a test drive without first checking the wheel lug nuts that I had off a few weeks ago. At first there was a rubbing sound like a bad wheel bearing. A short time after getting on the highway the car started to shake and the wheel came off. I was able to slow down and steer it onto the shoulder. Fortunately the wheel didn't hit any other cars as it rolled across the median and across the oncoming lanes of traffic. The left front fender was damaged and I'm not sure about the brake rotor and other parts. It was a costly and dangerous oversight.

I hope somebody learns from my mistake.

 

That is one of two reasons I use a torque wrench to install wheels. The other is to not warp the front brake rotors.

 

+1

if you don't have a torque wrench, just snug it up and carefully drive to the nearest tire shop and ask them to torque it to spec. After 100-150km/60-70mi its a good idea to get it re-torqued.

I've had to dodge a few wheels and also had to repair damage from wheels coming off. Neither is good.

 

Torque wrench?
Why can't he just use the lug wrench that comes with every spare tire. That's what I do..

 

I did the same thing, after adjusting my coilover height a couple weeks ago, I heard this aweful thumping noise. When I got home i realized I didnt tighten any of the nuts on any wheels. I was very lucky, they were wobbling all over.

 

i've just rotated my tires couple days ago, this reminds me i should check on the lugs. i did drive 70 miles though but i should still double check on it

 

Maximus, I really hope that
1) you replaced all the studs and lugnuts
2) That you didn't damage your wheels to badly

That's crazy. All 4 wheels? yikes

 

I always torque my lugs and re-torque them after a day or two.

Though one of the only times i've taken my car to the shop, they didn't torque my lugs and the wheel started coming off. Thought it was a wheel bearing until it got really bad and I got out of the car and saw that a lug nut was missing... looked closer and the wheel wasn't even on all the way.