About a week and a half ago, I started hearing a thunking or clunking when I backed up the car. This seemed to be coming from the rear. It was intermittant and I still have not figured that out. It sounds like when the old brake drums would when you backed up and they would self-adjust and the drums were worn. Only it would make the sound more than once.

Lately there has been a rubbing sound from the front that changes as you change speed. It is fine under acceleration or braking, but when coasting at under 40 mph it is really noticeable. Washed the car today and the front passenger tire has dust (black like brake dust) all over it just a few hours later, and all the other wheels are clean. I don't see anything visibly wrong with the brake caliber or wheel installation, but there obviously is.

This all started about the time I had the car inspected. In Virginia they are required to remove at least one wheel for inspection. I wonder if they took that wheel off and did not re-install it correctly.

It is really bad right now, I will have the mechanic check it out tomorrow.

 

Some one recently discovered loose lugs causing a similar symptom.

 

check the rears maybe the shoes are shifting

 

i agree check all lugs.

 

Why would they remove a wheel when inspecting your car?

 

Pretty pointless, but it is the law so they can inspect the brakes, etc.

Can see right through my wheels to inspect the brakes, but because some lazy inspectors were not checking wheels they could not see through, they are required to go through the motions...

 

The front passenger lugs needed to be tightened between 1/4 and 1/2 turn each, all other lugs were tight...noises all gone!

 

It always amazes me that a shop can do this. Happened to me eight years ago. Such a basic item when mounting a wheel - tighten the damn lugs!! Other end is when they weld them on with an impact hammer and warp the rotors. CRAZY

 

That is weird. The noise was from the rear... Glad that you caught it.

 

Maybe I was hearing an echo from the garage door area...

 

pretty scary stuff. glad you caught it!

ive seen tires falling off on streets this spring after people were going back to their allseaons tires from snow tires. pretty crazy stuff.

rule of thumb... after torquing your lugs, drive 5-10miles, retorque again. i retorque up to 3x if using 80-85lbs.

 

I bought a junker once that only had a few lug nuts per wheel...I was going down the highway and I saw a tire rolling down the road, and thought it was odd...whose tire is that? (Before I made a sharp turn off the road as the brake caliper dug into the pavement). I put it back on, then went and got the appropriate 5 lug nuts per wheel....

I will tighten the lugs when I get home from work.

I also ordered new lug nuts to match my purple wheels....

Muteki Super Tuner Wheel Nuts (Close End, Anodized Purple, 12mm X 1.50RH, 41886L)|Muteki Japan Tuner Wheel Nuts|JDM Light Weight Wheel Lug Nuts

 

The lugs moved another 1/8 of the way on the loose wheel. All others still tight!

 

This comes to mind: Tighten Up

 

Tighten up... Where did I here that song? Oh yeah It somewhere between Khe Sahn and Elliot combat base off of Rt.9. Anyone ever make it to L.Z.Stud?

 

make sure that you torque the wheels to 80ftpd

 

Now you know why torque wrenches are standard tools on GOOD tire changers.
Hate to tell you but you need desperately to check your wheels bolt holes to see if they have 'wallowed' out. If they have you will likely have loose wheels again shortly. The only good repair is a new wheel.
good luck.

 

(Third time) only two of the lugs turned slightly, the other two were still tight. I will check the bolt holes when I switch out the lug nuts when my new ones arrive.

 

blackbeard - try 85lbs. the studs can take 90lbs+ without breaking, but the recommended torque is 80.

depending on the wheel (say steelies) they it took me like 6 re-torques before it stopped backing out at 80lbs.

 

Use anti-seize compound between the center bore of the wheel and the hub to prevent the rim from sticking.

Don't put any anti-seize compound or any lubricant on the lug nut or stud threads. They should be DRY!

Snug the nuts with a crossbar and lower the car just enough for the tires to touch ground. (just enough to prevent wheels from turning while tightening)

Use a torque wrench set at 80 ft/lbs and in a criss-cross pattern tighten all 4 lug nuts. Repeat the torquing pattern to ensure all lug nuts are to spec.

If there are any new parts (wheels, drums, rotors, studs or nuts) re-torque after a bit of driving.