If you've had the wheels off your car at a garage recently, you may have been told to come back and have the wheels checked after a few kilometres of driving. At a larger shop, it might even be printed on the receipt. Most people don't bother going back and think that it's just a trick to get them to come back and spend more money. As this video shows, it's not a trick.
This video, taken Saturday morning on the 407 expressway in Mississauga, shows a driver coming up on a Ford Explorer SUV. The SUV is in a right lane, has their hazard flashers on, and is driving below the speed of traffic. When the Mini Cooper with the camera gets alongside, the loose lug nuts finally come off. In the slow motion replay, you can see all of them, even the ones that hit the car.
When the lug nuts come off, the wheel follows and the Explorer drops to the pavement in a shower of sparks. The driver is able to get to the shoulder, but the wheel ends up in the oncoming lanes. Ontario Provincial Police spokesperson Sgt Kerry Schmidt stated that no one was injured, but it's only good fortune that the loose wheel didn't end up in another vehicle's windshield. The OPP reported that the Explorer had the snow tires installed just days before the incident.
So if your wheels have come off for any reason, get the torque checked after 50-100 km of driving. They can come loose, especially in that first window of driving. Most importantly, if you feel something wrong then get off the highway. As quickly as possible. Don't keep driving if you don't have to.
