Hello, I was driving down the highway in my 98 Ram 1500 4x4 and my rear driver side wheel came off and rolled past me. Luckily I was able to roll over to the shoulder and stop. So, how do I go about fixing this?
One wheel stud broke and then the others stripped and let the wheel go.


New hub and drum?

My abs light is on and I'm leaking fluid from underneath so I'm assuming I'll need a brake line too somewhere.


Any help is appreciated.

 

At least 5 new studs. Is there any damage on the axle shaft itself? Probably not. May have got lucky and the drum is ok, but only you can see if there is damage to it. The backing plate probably took the most damage. The leaking fluid is probably from the wheel cylinder. When you hit the brakes, it most likely blew it apart.

 

Yeah I had already counted on studs. The axle shaft itself seems perfectly fine to me, the drum is apart.

 

Did all the studs shear off?

 

Only one sheared.

 

If the drum was off when you stepped on the brake, you more than likely blew the wheel cylinder apart.... that would leak like a stuck pig.

Were the lugs loose? Did it make any noise before it abandoned the rest of the truck? That kind of thing really shouldn't happen........ Not even a really hard bump should rip the wheel off, at least, not without totally trashing the tire and wheel.....

How does everything else look there? Back plate usable? Brake shoes? Etc.?

Lugs are just "pressed" in to the axle. You can use a BFH to knock out what's left, use a spare nut, and thick washer to pull the new ones in. (air tools make this a LOT easier) Fix whatever issues the brakes came up with, put it back together, and you should be ready to roll.

 

I'm not sure if the lugs were loose or not, they shouldn't have been unless they were tampered with. But there was no noise or vibration at all until it hit the pavement.
I haven't looked at it closely yet just got it towed home. But about an inch of the backing plate was grinded down flat so that'll have to be replaced as well.

 

Yep. Lug nuts are probably long gone, aren't they.....

 

That should not have happened!! Might be a good idea to check the other wheels to ensure they are not loose. Sounds like the wheel was not tightened correctly by the last person to service it or someone could have tampered with it.

I once lost the spare tire from out of the back of my truck after purchasing it. A friend of mine was following me and he almost had to change his underwear when it happened. The steel plate that held the center of the wheel had rusted out and let the wheel eject out of the back of the truck. Luckily, I was able to find the wayward spare tire laying up against a guard rail near my highway exit.

 

I had a loose wheel on the back of my challenger, many, many, many years ago..... It sounded HORRID though. I KNEW there was something up. All it took was tightening up the lug nuts, and I was golden. Well, I would have been, had I not then locked my keys in the trunk.......