Apparently this is what happens when the lug nuts are over torqued!?
 

Well headed to the lake today for an afternoon trip with a few buddies. As I was about 1/8 mile from the exit(luckily) I felt a hard vibration. I happened to glance in my side view mirror to see my trailer wheel fly off the trailer and roll up the hill next to me, faster than I was going!

I exited and my buddies who were on their way pulled off and found the wheel. Luckily, no damage to anyone or anything. Fender has a big rash from the wheel. Center cap is a gonner as is the bearing buddy.

Goodyear tire shop was only 3 miles away, which is where I'm sitting, awaiting parts. ALL 5 STUDS SHEARED OFF THE DRUM!!! The guy that has worked here for over 10 years has never seen all 5 shear off!

I had him check and retorque all the other lugs. Back wheel was 100- 120 lb/ft. One wheel was 150-200lb/ft! In his "expert opinion" the lugs were waaaay too tight to do this kind of damage.

I check before I go out every other time. Admittedly not with a torque wrench or impact. I have a short 1/2" ratchet (8" handle or so) to just make sure they aren't loose. I'm 5'6 and weigh 150. There is no way I could ever tighten them this much. This is the third time I've taken it out and the lugs have never been loose or tightened by me. I've only checked that they aren't loose.

Could have been so much worse. I'm thankful that this is all that has happened...but I'm pissed that it did happen!

Happens all the time. Lazy mechanics just hit them with the impact and call it good. When I was running a shop our policy was to loosen all lug nuts and torque to proper settings. The torque sticks also work pretty well if you are doing alot that are the same.

Thats why i do all my tire rotations myself and refuse to let someone with an impact wrench tighten em or scratch my wheels. Had my car at the dealer once and they always do some 150+ checkup blah blah and always take off the wheels even if theyre not working on the wheels. Well needless to say I checked my lugs and they were 125 instead of 100ftlbs. Icarry a torque wrench in my car at all times.

FML...no one has the studs. I'm 40 miles from home! How bad is it to drive with 1 tire on 1 side and 2 on the other? If I drive through town only?!

I have done it. Not really big deal just take it slower than normal.

I have had to do that before. You really have to take it easy if your going to do it. Be careful and watch out for bumps and potholes. Actually I have done this a few times. Is it possible to remove a stud from each wheel? Some do, depending on hub. Even pressing a few out is better than driving on one wheel. Good luck.

Stop along the way and make sure that one wheel is not getting hot. Makes a bad day worse.

I had to have a trailer shop tow my boat and trailer with only one wheel on one side and two on the other. The guy took a tie-down and pulled the axle with the missing wheel way up to the wheel well. That gave it a lot of room to travel without hitting the ground. Seemed to work really well.

Pics of carnage...
 

Well I'm finally home. A 40 mile drive through the city took almost 1 1/2 hours! I wasn't comfortable driving that distance on one wheel, especially given the crappy roads along the way. Goodyear searched high and low, as did I, calling all trailer and RV dealers around, as well as their NAPA and CarQuest guys. They found a "close" bolt...but not the exact. It was shorter, splines slightly different but close enough to press them in and send me on my way.

I took the whole day to get this crap done. $205 later and the parts are not correct but got me home with what was available. I still want to get correct parts installed. The lugs bolts are wrong, lug nuts are wrong, bearing buddies are wrong, missing center cap and fender is scuffed.

Man I am SOOOOOOOOO PISSED RIGHT NOW!:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::bangh ead::banghead:

Looks to me like the wheel is not correctly seating against the hub center. The hub center is supposed to support the weight, the lugs just hold it on. Get the correct hub/wheel fit and you should not have the issue again.

I bought the boat with these wheels on it, brand new, from the dealer. I am pretty sure these are from the factory.:confused:

Same thing happend to me probably 8-10 years ago. Problem was it happened at 10 at night on a single axel trailer. Now that sucks!!!!

The same exact thing happened to me with my new boat. And I'll bet you a hundred bucks it wasn't because they were over tightened but loose. All 5 of mine sheared off flush just like yours.

Mine were "torqued" from the dealer so I didn't even check them on my brand new boat. I later found out that there were others loose too. Those aluminum wheels are notorious for having loose lug nuts. Even right on the trailer tongue, you'll see written that you're supposed to check them very frequently (like every 100 miles or so) for the first few months.

Hind sight is 20/20. I am super anal about checking mine now. Don't want that to happen again!

Agreed...I have had aluminum wheels before and I know they suck. That is why I check to make sure nothing is loose every other trip. Third time out=second time checking. They were tight when I left the house, about 40 miles ago.

Think I'll have any luck on getting the dealer or manufacturer to reimburse me?

Worth a try if the boat is that new.

Based on photos appears to be a UFP 10" drum uses Dorman part# 610-185 wheel studs retail is around 2.30-2.50 each. The Napa parts guy was an idiot almost all auto parts stores have an entire box on the shelf in back. Very common GM part. As an ASE Certified parts guy I can tell you most counter people can only look up parts by vehicle in the computer. Most don't even know that Dorman has a catalogue with pictures and dimensions i.e. knurl diameter, shoulder length, thread diameter and pitch. My guess is that they were not overtightened because all the breaks are clean and they sheared @ face of drum. Over torquing would have caused them to shear further out and not right @ the shoulder on all the studs. Remove the rest, inspect, and retorque all the remaining lugs. Remember use some anti-seize on the threads I prefer the hi temp copper as it seems to be more water resistant.

Drum brakes?

Its simply amazing how many more problems trailers give us over the boats that sit on them!