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Lug bolts snapped

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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 11:41 AM
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Default Lug bolts snapped
What would make 4 out of 5 lug bolts snap at the same time. Happened to my 77 last week.
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 11:46 AM
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your wheel lugnuts got loose....who put the wheel on last ?
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 12:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Pancho07
What would make 4 out of 5 lug bolts snap at the same time. Happened to my 77 last week.

Did you have new tires installed recently? If so the guy who mounted them may have overtightened the lug nuts.
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 12:24 PM
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Do you have wheel spacers?
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 12:36 PM
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The tires have been on it for over a year, no spacers. All 4 broke at the same time. Thought it might be my driving that caused it.
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Pancho07
The tires have been on it for over a year, no spacers. All 4 broke at the same time. Thought it might be my driving that caused it.
Were you doing the Dukes of Hazard style of driving? It takes a lot to break multiple lugs at once.
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 01:06 PM
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9 times out of 10 the studs will break either they loosened up or they were overtightened. However if your doing "General Lee" jumps with the car or slamming the wheels up against the curb, or doing a mess of burnouts, I doubt your driving had anything to do with it. Are you running steel wheels or aluminum ?
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Pancho07
The tires have been on it for over a year, no spacers. All 4 broke at the same time.
The lug nuts were loose.

Thought it might be my driving that caused it.
Is your driving that bad?
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 01:08 PM
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stock or aftermarket wheels?

non hubcentric wheels with the wrong nuts will make them break off also
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 01:20 PM
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^ been there done that =[
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 02:41 PM
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Everything was original. Same as it came out with. I could understand if 1 or even 2 broke but 4 at the same time. The 1 remaining lug must have been a good one as I drove it several times after they broke before I checked them.
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Old Jun 17, 2015 | 05:13 PM
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I going to say loose nuts then.
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Old Jun 18, 2015 | 12:51 AM
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My guess is that they were overtightened. That would cause the studs to stretch and become weaker. Under load they would then snap. Anyone with good knowledge of metal failure modes could look at the ends of the remaining stud portions to determine the actual cause.

If you can take a photo of the stud ends and post it, I'd give you my assessment.
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