Hey guys I'm new here. I just bought a 98 ram 1500 sport with the 5.9 in it, truck had 94,000 when I bought it 6 weeks ago. I was driving it this morning going to school on the highway, the rear left tire flew off as I was doing 70mph. The state police had it towed, I called the dealership that I bought it from, they picked it up. Their telling me that theres 2g worth of damage but their not going to cover it because they cant see anything they did wrong. All 5 of the studs snapped off, brake drum flew off, tire is gone. Only thing I can think of to cause all 5 studs to snap like that was they over torqued the tire on when they did the pre sale inspection and since today was the first time I had a load in the truck on the highway (my atv--yamaha banshee so it isnt too heavy) it put too much stress on the studs and snapped them. I havnt nor has anyone else taken the tires off since I bought it, I was thinking of taking a broken stud and a good stud to school and putting them in the hardness tester to prove they over torqued the studs and caused them to weaken? I need some ideas on how to get them to cover the damages they caused.

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You must of **** your self when you lost that wheel lol... That is defiantly Lazy ***. Some one was to lazy to properly torque the wheels down so they just went to town with an impact. Thats the only way I can think of that something like that can happen. I would do that hardness test just to see. Dont go to the deal to get that **** fixed. Go to a trusted independ shop. I bet you can swing a new axle under there for a couple hundred bucks. Be sure to get all your studs replaced So It wont happen again.

 

wow! that is crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! stealerships are a joke! they "fix it" and charge an arm and a leg! give you nothing for your trade and bend you over to give you a big *%@#

 

Damn.....that sucks.

Couple thoughts from a guy that's been in the heat treating biz for over 25 years.....

First, over torqueing the studs will not change the "hardness" though obviously can destroy it. The only thing that will change (lower) the hardness would be heat. It's been a while, but IIRC, we used to carburize, quench then temper wheel studs at the 650 to 750 degree F. range. So, it would take heat exceeding that range to significantly soften (lower hardness) and weaken this part.

It seems kind of odd. if not impossible, that all the studs snapped at once under the conditions you outlined. They are engineered to be relatively bulletproof. I have never seen one, let alone all break, even under the most extreem torture on a vehicle. I have seen them snap off all too frequlently when trying to remove the (heavily rusted) lug nuts. And knowing the intended properties of a correctly heat treated stud, you are more likely going to strip the threads or just snap it right off from over torqueing. They are hard, but not very ductile, ie, won't stretch and weaken like a lower grade 3 or grade 5 bolt.

If I were you (and if it's not to late due to dealer CYA tampering now) I would have an independant party document the torque readings from the other three wheels. Just to confirm your suspicions, or rule it out.

My best guess, without seing the drum and what's left of the studs, would be opposite of what you think. I'd bet that your lug nuts were not torqued tight enough! When you lost your wheel the brake drum slammed into to pavement, this force could have easily sheared off all the studs. This is feasible and IMHO, a more likely senario.

Either way, if you haven't removed the wheel previously, seems like a dealer f^ck up.

And I wish you luck getting them to admit any fault, gonna be an uphill battle with them by the sounds of it.

May need to start looking into the particular laws in your state. I bought a used Ford EXP when I was 18 years old from a local dealer. Drove it for 28 days and threw the timing belt...bent valves...damaged pistons...etc. They tried to stick me with a $900.00 + bill (alot of money back then LOL). In Michigan, by law, they were required to cover any repairs for 30 days from the day I took possesion. Cost me $50.00 to have a lawyer call and "remind" them of this law, and was money well spent.

Got any good pictures of the brake drum? Or of the axel with what's left of the studs? Would like to see them if you do.

 

i had a 2000 4x4 the front left wheel went flying past me at 50mph let me tell ya i had stains in my seat lol if there over torqued they will start snapping one by one until there gone i noticed i had 2 nuts and studs gone needed to get home will i didn't make it that for as for new axle summit racing sells superior axles for are truck part #sag-pa5884 $115.95 each side 31 spline 9.25 i would get a lawyer and take it to an independent body shop

 

From the pictures it dosn't look like $2000 worth of damage. 5 studs, a new drum, brake shoes, and drum spring kit. Will your insurance cover the damage?
IMHO your not going to get anything from the dealer. You bought it used and its been 6 weeks. The best warrenty I've recieved from a used dealer is a 30 day.

 

i'm with you xskylinedx it doesn't look like $2000 in damage

 

Thats what they quoted me at. Needs a axel, rim, tire, all brakes plus any other little part that got destroyed. I was arguing with the service manager for half a hour today. Yesturday they tell me over the phone it looked like one lug nut came off and caused the rest to break-I called b.s on that one and he made up something else. I got there as soon as they opened told him they didnt torque them correctly and thats why it failed. He told me they dont believe my tire fell off because there was no body damage. I told him to call the statie that was stopped and ask him. Then he told me I must have hit a pot hole--I explained to him the highway I was on was just resurfaced then he told me their shop never overtorques bolts, 5 minutes later he said any car thats ever come back overtorqued wasnt that bad. I asked him how they would break if they were toruqed correctly he couldnt come up with anything, asked if that would happen if they wernt torqued right if that would happen they said yes. I put in a claim with the better business burea, got the insurance company name and number they are going to appraise it. If that falls through its going through small claims court, my attourney told me I have a decent case.

 

You are going to want to make sure the axle tube/housing itself did not get cracked or bent also.

 

+1 and dont forget the lube