Got two new front tyres on Tuesday then the wheel falls off today whilst traveling down the A1.. coincidence or garage at fault?

Suppose you have a 25km commute, as some people do, so 50km a day. Does that mean you have to take the hub caps off and check the torque of sixteen wheel nuts every day? That’s what some of the replies are saying.

Similarly, the textbook advice is “carry a set of spare bulbs in your car so you can carry out a quick roadside repair” (I know this is compulsory in some countries). Who actually does this, apart from perhaps driving instructors? Do you know how tricky it can be to actually change a car bulb, especially at the front? In some cars, to change a headlight bulb, you have to turn the steering to one side (remember to avoid dry steering), get on your knees, and reach up inside the wheel arch. Imagine doing that in the dark, in heavy rain, at the side of a busy dual carriageway. Remember not to touch the glass of a halogen bulb, and I hope you remembered that obscure star screwdriver that some cars need.

Although basic repairs are supposed to be common knowledge, and indeed part of the driving test, in practice, it’s not as easy as all that to follow the idealistic advice of “check and maintain all these things weekly”, especially as on some modern cars, they are very difficult to get at. Most of us have the car serviced and MOTd once a year, other repairs done at the garage when needed, and the rest of time, we don’t even think about investing in a double torque wrench for checking torque on wheel nuts, just in case.

"The reason they advise you to check after 50 miles is because a properly torqued wheel CAN come loose."

Not what th link a pp provided says.

It says tyres not torqued to the correct spec can work their way loose or dirty threads can give false torque readings leading to the same problem.

I've never taken tyres back to be checked but do have my own torque wrench to double check at home.

In this case, most likely someone forgot to re torque the wheels or had the wrench set way too low.

Technically checking you're wheel nuts should be done frequently regardless if changing your tyres or not. It's the same as checking for a light bulb out. It comes under your due diligence before getting in your vehicle. Torqued wheels can and do come loose. Or you have the alternative somebody actually loosens or steals a wheel nut. I once stopped a zip car on the motorway because the front wheel was wobbly and I managed to get them of the road. I'd try the garage anyway nothing ventured nothing gained. Most of the time they come loose because of the guns they strip the thread over time. Hence the 50 miles get them checked. Most garages have CCTV for this exact reason they'll know if they were torqued or if it's a case of someone thought someone else was doing it.

I don’t think they advise you to take it back in just check it yourself. I’ve also seen it on signs on the wall in places I’ve had my tyres changed.

Thank God that you are still alive .I hope you can get your car towed and get this dealt with.

The reason they advise you to check after 50 miles is because a properly torqued wheel CAN come loose.

So why don’t we have to check every 50 miles? Or even every 5000? Because that’s bullshit and garages writing such crap on invoices are trying to cover themselves for being bad at their jobs. If your garage is doing this you need to swap to one which is capable.

Retorquing wheels | Continental tyres
YUP 30miles or 50km needs to be retorqued.

The reason they advise you to check after 50 miles is because a properly torqued wheel CAN come loose. It’s the reason truck wheels have to be regularly checked and why you see a lot with the little plastic arrows on the wheel nuts so they can see at a glance if any nuts have started moving.

Well, I never knew that about tyres. Interesting.
My exhaust recently fell off on the motorway a couple of months after a service and MOT. The garage we got recovered to said the mechanics who did the service and MOT might not necessarily have realised as exhausts can corrode on the inside or the outside, so it’s not always obvious.
I don’t want to derail the thread but if it helps anyone else in a breakdown situation, my advice is (1) invest in a power bank as my phone died after speaking to police, insurance and rescue service (2), download the whatthreewords app as the rescue company kept asking us for a postcode and motorways don’t appear to have postcodes, (3) don’t attempt to drive without an exhaust as apparently the fumes can come into the car and poison you and (4) it’s always worth being in a rescue service even if, like me, the majority of your journeys are local. Mine was an optional extra with the insurance and only cost a few pounds a month more.
Unfortunately while my car only needed a new exhaust, another car hit my exhaust and that vehicle has been written off due to an oil leak which wrecked the engine! So protecting your no claims discount is worth it too, even if you’re an experienced, careful driver.

By asking you to check after 50km they are saying one of two things:

1. We fit them correctly but they can come lose so check them,
2. We are not sure if we always fit them correctly so you need to check we have done our job.

I've been driving for 28 years, been a driving instructor for ten years, had quite a few wheels changed (all those learners ramming the car into the kerb), and changed a few wheels myself.

Not once have I been advised to have wheel nut tightness checked within a certain time frame. In order for a wheel to come off, that means that all four or five nuts would have to work loose; and given that they're usually machine tightened so that it's a Herculean effort to undo them with an ordinary spanner, I think it's extremely unlikely that wheels come off on a regular basis.

I just checked my tyre invoice from monday there and it states wheel nuts must be checked at 50km or 30min (surely the 30mins is a typo!!) Will add that to my to do list for tomorrow then 🤦‍♀️ local independent garage

OP I would be contacting them and asking what they can do though!

Never in 30 yrs have I been told by a garage to check the bolts after a tire change, or read it in an invoice, surely that is part of their job to do it correctly?! What next, if they change the brake fluid, are you supposed to check the level after a day to check they have done it correctly?

I’d be going back to the garage and asking what they are going to do about it.

I work for a garage and I’ve never advised anyone to come back in, neither has any garage I’ve used with my own car

Not sure about garages but at home i think you tighten mostly then lower the jack a bit then tighten up??

Can I ask, were all 5 bolts present in the wheel? Was your locking nut (if you had one) still present? In the mounting hold in the alloy, were there any grooves or have the holes widened?

Also, On your last MOT was there anything mentioned about the passenger front track rod end?

They haven't tightened the nuts. I had the same noise but thankfully booked it in to be checked over before they fell off.

You probably won't get much joy off the garage but I'd be giving them holy hell over it. They seem to be immune to complaints.

Another one who has been driving for several decades, multiple replacement tyres and never once been told to go back for a check within a day of having it done.
As far as I am concerned, this is completely on the garage for not doing their job properly.

There's usually a disclaimer on the invoice to check the tightness after x miles, they won't accept liability. TF was your husband looking at??

Good news re no one is hurt. Id return to the garage and have a discussion with them about what has happened. It's really hard without the paperwork to know if you had the traditional warning of 30-50 miles and check it. Id go for polite and firm with the garage. Good luck x

Yes, it would be sensible to check that the wheel nuts are properly tightened after a few days or a few short trips, if only to be sure that they aren't so tight that they can't be moved. BUT if the garage have fitted them so loosely that the bloody wheel falls off after a couple of days then that's negligent and they can't palm that back onto you!

I've been driving/a car owner for over 40 years. I've never had a garage tell me to take a car back after a tyre change. Nor have I ever read it on paperwork.
Thankfully I've never had a wheel fall off - although I did have one coming towards me on the M4 near Llanelli once many years ago - thankfully the road was quiet at the time.

I'm no expert but I can't think why a wheel would suddenly come loose after 50 miles unless there was shoddy workmanship involved in replacing the wheel nuts. Surely telling you to get them checked again is just covering their arses.

I know two people this happened to.

One personally and another I witnessed. Both had been to the same garage. Nothing on the paperwork about getting them checked. My friend ended up taking legal action, and I have heard that the lad who had the same problem also had to threaten court.

My friend was driving a campervan with massive wheels and his wheel narrowly missed a woman pushing a pram, it could have killed a kid.

It does depend on whether you were warned to get the nuts checked, my friends case hinged on the fact that it wasnt and wasnt aware that they needed to be.

We had this issue. Tyres weren't properly screwed on / tightened after fitting.