Someone tried to steal my lugnuts/wheel.

[doughboyr6]

My car was parked on my driveway last night in a safe neighbourhood as always. I live on a fairly large residential street. Not a crime ridden community although in the past several years, teenage kids have become more of vandals, but nothing terrible.

I went to work this morning and noticed increased road noise, but i paid it no mind. Then i got out of the neighbourhood and onto Dundas Street and was driving about 100kms/hr and noticed a lot of noise and heavy vibrations/oscilations. It didn't feel right, so i pulled over to take a look. At first, i thought it might have been a flat tire, but nope....and upon closer inspection i noticed one of my lug nuts is missing.

I can't believe one missing lug nut could cause so much rukus....it felt like my car was shaking itself apart. And when braking, weird clunking noises. It felt like it was coming from the back although the missing lug nut was at the front.

I went straight back home and drove my parents car instead. I noticed that some of the other lug nuts, the anodized colouring had come off. And i'm very careful when i put them on. So i'm assuming someone had tried to take them off and gave up after 1 but stripped the colouring off the others...

So pissed off....and I dont' think i can get 1 replacement lug nut (Rays) so i have to shell out for a whole set now. What's worse is, what if the wheel had come off while driving? Geez....

[sauga_kid]

Sorry to hear about the mishap, glad nothing serious happened, damn kids! Hope everything works out, maybe someone will have a spare lug nut lying around or someone who is in the same boat and has an incomplete set and would be willing to part with it.

[p-o-g-i]

I'm sorry to hear that. I don't understand some people's thgouth process. It's true what you said.... it could have been alot worse as you were driving. This is making me think twice about buying colored lugs....

Do you mind me asking what neighborhood you reside in?

[mit-gee-mui]

Unfortunately, I don't think any amount of education will prevent stuff like that from happening. People will always want what other people have, no matter how good or bad it may seem.

This is the one thing I am afraid of whenever I park anywhere, even on my own driveway. Call me paranoid, but when I am home, 99% of the time, I park in my garage, and when I park elsewhere, I always check to make sure all of my nuts are there (that sounds funny reading it!:chuckle)


Freddie: You don't have a spare? Nevermind, just looked. SSG's only come with 20. I was going to say, if it came with 25, and you have a lock nut on each, you should have spares.

[Gizzmo_jr]

Something similar happened years ago with my Jeep. The nut was still on but cause I drove around that day, I bent the stud. SO when I tried to take off the nut it would just spin with the stud as it stripped from the hub. Guess what that means, rim won't come off.
Had to torch the sucker off, ruining my custom painted rim at the time. That made me mad but, I'm just happy to hear you found out the problem early enough that nothing came of it and you got home safe and sound.

[Cardinal Fang]

WTF?

People as asshat's. You can show someone you appreciate what they've done to the car in other ways that don't include stealing from them. I'm starting to believe that when I see these cars driving around with miss-matched car mods it's because they've been stolen.

[Wild Weasel]

Did you check the rest of them to ensure they're tight?

[3GFX]

Wow, bstds!!!!

Good thing nothing serious happened, or you didn't come out and have cinder blox as wheels.

[x_o_k_x]

I have 3 spare lugnuts in my glovebox all the time..Don't know why..I would give you but im not in toronto

[FONZ]

That's totally unacceptable, that pissed me right off!!! F'kin kids.

[doughboyr6]

the car is sitting at home on the driveway right now. I can only park outside because we haev 4 cars and a 2 car garage. My parents' cars are always inside because we leave first in the morning and their cars are nicer.

i checked by hand to see if the other's are tight, but rest assured, i will re torque to make sure before i drive.

Now i have to go buy another set on my lunch...

[x_o_k_x]

Atleast they didnt steal rims.. At car rental I used to work at, somebody stole 2 rims on both cars on one side that is not visible by looking. And placed bricks.. pretty messed up (both fully loaded new Ford Fusions)

[Junior]

Wow, that's ghetto.

[Wild Weasel]

i checked by hand to see if the other's are tight, but rest assured, i will re torque to make sure before i drive.

Now i have to go buy another set on my lunch...

Take the wheel off, check your lugs, and then put it back on and torque it properly.

If they were loosened and the wheel was wobbling around, they could be firmly wedged in place such that they'll feel tight, but you could have messed up the threads on the lugs, nuts, or both.

I just don't think one missing lug nut would give the results you described.

[doughboyr6]

I'm sorry to hear that. I don't understand some people's thgouth process. It's true what you said.... it could have been alot worse as you were driving. This is making me think twice about buying colored lugs....

Do you mind me asking what neighborhood you reside in?

my lugs are black, not flashy at all.

i'm in oakville


I have 3 spare lugnuts in my glovebox all the time..Don't know why..I would give you but im not in toronto

are they rays by any chance?


Take the wheel off, check your lugs, and then put it back on and torque it properly.

If they were loosened and the wheel was wobbling around, they could be firmly wedged in place such that they'll feel tight, but you could have messed up the threads on the lugs, nuts, or both.

I just don't think one missing lug nut would give the results you described.

i know....i came into work and told someone about it and they said, they've driven on 4/5 lugs before and its nothing...

I'm wondering if there's more dmg than meets the eye.

[MikeyGT]

yea, actually this happen to me too. I lost a regular nut and a wheel lock.

thank god the dealer was able to replace it for me free of charge.

[doughboyr6]

what size are our lug nuts again? 1.5 or 1.25?

[mit-gee-mui]

what size are our lug nuts again? 1.5 or 1.25?

Everywhere I'm looking, I see 1.5.

http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=213217&postcount=12

http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=272196&postcount=3

:)

[doughboyr6]

thanx, i got 1.5 ....

could any damage have been done to the car if it was driven for about 10kms without a lug nut? The car was shaking horribly and even worse when i braked.

7kms of it no more than 70kms/hr and 3 kms of it @ 100kms/hr?

[Wild Weasel]

Potential (and I'd say likely) damage to the studs, but they're easy to replace. Potential damage to the calipers as the wobbling wheel may have forced the disk to wobble as well and put undue stress on the caliper pins. It's definitely worth inspecting.

[Dante]

Just go to the dealer and have them inspect. Tell them what happened. I would not drive around with just my own opinion like that.. Who knows

[x_o_k_x]

are they rays by any chance?


What do you mean? they are normal Mazda genuine lug nuts...

[doughboyr6]

^^^ I have aftermarket wheels and must use aftermarket lug nuts as they won't fit the aftrmrkt wheels. That's why I asked if they were Rays lug nuts.

Thanks anyway.

I've torqued everything up again. One wheel was completely fine. The other 3 wheels all had multiple lug nuts that were really loose. This could only mean someone had really come in the middle of the night and tried to take the wheels off but couldn't get the key lock. One wheel had 3/5 lug nuts loose, really loose....

Thank God nothing happened to me or the car....everything is fine now, but i will when i have time to take them off to ensure nothign else was damaged.

What a PITA

[b]

Dash. Sorry to hear Freddie. Bums! Glad they didn't get a rim.

[doughboyr6]

^^^ that's for sure, but what really bums me out is the fact that people don't think of the consequences....

it only makes sense now why my car was shaking/wobbling so bad...because several wheels were barely attached to the car.

If one or more of the wheels did detach from the car....not only would my life have been in danger but many others around me on Dundas during rush hour....

[Fobio]

If had to park my car outside of my house, I'd definitely setup some sort of wireless cam aimed at my car... set it to record daily between like 9pm - 7am.

[Notorious MS3]

If had to park my car outside of my house, I'd definitely setup some sort of wireless cam aimed at my car... set it to record daily between like 9pm - 7am.

Thats a good idea, their a pretty inexpensive way for home security. Also maybe look into an alarm with a shock sensor.

[SonicBoy]

4 bad ass dogs with sharp teeth fenced around the car. (note: must not like peanut butter or any raw meat).

[mazdaagain]

One loose lug will not make your wheel wobble. Our 3's have a 5 lug pattern. I once cross threaded a lug and it snapped off at the hub - only way to get it off. I drove on 4 lugs with no problems for a few hundred km on the street and highway until I had a chance to get it replaced.

The only reason you would get wheel wobble etc is if more than 3 lugs were off or loosened.

[doughboyr6]

see post 23