Wheel came off on the road
Seasoned Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 459
Likes: 10
From: Near Memphis, TN
Year: 2001
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Studs were intact and lugs were on the road intact. Weren't stripped at all. Before I stopped to get gas and wiggled the tire on the ground and heard popping. I didn't check whilenjt was in the air but checked again on the ground. No popping or any strange sound. I gave the bearings and pads a quick glance. Everything seems intact. Still confused. Might as well add, it does have about a 4 inch skyjacker lift and aftermarket wheels and tires. Stock axles and brakes that I'm aware of.
The fact that the Jeep is lifted shouldn't make much of a difference when it comes down to the lugs staying tight once properly tightened. A lug nut or two working themselves loose can happen, but all of the nuts on the same wheel coming loose at the same time sounds suspicious.
Serenity was lifted just before our clubs annual fall run. The passenger rear wheel was not torqued when it was installed and I drove 200 miles on it, then wheeled very light trails before someone helped me figure out that the popping noise coming from the back of the Jeep was that wheel moving around.
Tightened the lugs and everything was fine.
Keep an eye on them for a while, and also try to keep an eye on the Jeep because seriously, if that wheel hadn't been messed with by you in a while (such as tire rotation, brake work, etc.) it does sound like it may have been messed with by someone else.
