Loose Wheel ?

[disabledhunter]

Hey guys just a month ago I had a wheel noise on my right front tire. I called coach-net and they sent out a guy o look at it. He said the lug nuts were loose, so he tightened them up, and I followed him to a shop here Plover Wi. They took both front wheels off, and did some polishing with a wire brush, (I believe) Then they replaced a few studs,and lug nuts, and sent me on my way. Well now a month later I am hearing this wheel noise again, when im driving slow off the highway. When I push on the brake it stops briefly, but resumes shortly afterwards. What do you guys think, could the wheel have loosened up again, or might it be a separate problem, with a brake chamber hanging up me. Any suggestions, im afraid to drive it now for fear of the wheel or another part falling off, when im going down the highway. Confused!

[Jon]

I doubt if anybody can answer the question better than you. Can you get a jack under the axle and raise the wheel to see if it is loose or if the hub bearings are loose of if something else is going on?

[luvrbus]

Good advice from Jon but do check the duals on the rear the inside dual will break and you never know it BTDT

[Lin]

Do you have wheel covers?

[sparkplug188]

It is probably worth pulling the plastic dust caps off both front wheels to check for metal shavings or very dirty lubricant.  Do what Jon said-- feel for looseness and spin the wheels.  One of my brake shoe return springs broke loose and made an awful racket as a piece of the spring bounced around inside the drum.

[DriverGT5]

I tell people at my shop all the time. "If you hear the same noise from the same spot, there's a good chance it's the same problem."

The trick is finding out why it's happening. You may have damaged the wheel when they got loose the first time. Wheels are usually held on by either a hub ring in the center of the wheel mating to the ring in the hub or the lug nuts are dished and center the wheel as they are tightened down. If the way these wheels are centered is damaged they will work back loose over time.

A wheel that doesn't stay tight with proper torque values usually has oval holes or a damaged hub centric ring. I'd pull the wheel off and see if there is any damage to the bolt holes or center ring. Anyone know if these wheels are hub centric or lug centric?

[Jim Eh.]

Were the lug nuts re-torqued a couple of hundred miles after the initial installation?

[DriverGT5]

Were the lug nuts re-torqued a couple of hundred miles after the initial installation?

+1

Most people forget that part.

[disabledhunter]

Thanks for the help guys, I;m handicapped so not in a position to check myself. I called Coach-net to hopefully get a guy over here today to check if they are loose. The wheel could be damaged from coming loose the first time, and I probabley drove 600 miles since they were torqued. I have an appointment Monday with the same shop, so hopefully they can figure it out. I hope the rim isn't damaged, cause I wouldn't know the first place to look for a replacement. All said just a part of being a full timer. We have our good days and our not so good days.

[Ralph7]

         Truck shops have wheels, just the check the stamped size on your rim and check prices, new wheels or recon most are power coated.

[luvrbus]

Steel wheels wear out new ones cost less than a 100 bucks but you spend another 50 bucks having the tire mounted

[Nineforever]

If its the same sound noise its most likely the wheel has come loose again , only real way to fix problem is to replace rim and wheel studs and nuts with new ones thats all studs and nuts not just the ones that came loose . After the wheel came loose it destroyed the rim and all the studs .
When the shop puts your hub back on again .... make sure you do a full brake application to make sure the hub is well seated .... then leave those small flat headed screws off .... you do not need them there more of a problem then anything if there not flush when installed they can cause all kinds of problems     been there done that   same scenario    o my experience with stainless wheel simulators o yea look okay but it hides the things you need to keep an eye on daily .
thats my opinion only   

[luvrbus]

Lot of the shops don't know the nuts come in different degrees of bevel they just use anything that will screw on the stud then there goes the wheel

[David Anderson]

Lot of the shops don't know the nuts come in different degrees of bevel they just use anything that will screw on the stud then there goes the wheel

Didn't know that.  How do you determine the proper bevel on the lug nut that my wheel requires?