[Shelby65_mustang]

While at the Woodward Dream Cruise yesterday, a fellow in the Snake Pit area by us pointed out that a right front lug nut and stud was missing, sure enough. We began heading for home from Michigan this morning and got about 2 hours west of Detroit and the car starts shaking and vibrating, and low and behold, another one is gone! I checked these all yesterday and everything looked good. I go to check them now again and one comes off stud and all in my hand. We are presently staying overnight in Niles while our car is towed into Ford to await fixing in the morning. Is there anyone else that has encountered similiar problems, or have any idea what could have caused this???
Respectfully,
Art

[old guy]

I had this happen on a motorhome. It is usually caused by the lugs being overtorqued, usually a number of times. The studs stretch and eventually break. When one goes it puts extra stress on the others and eventually they all go.

Get the studs replaced and make sure the lugs are not overtightened. Of course, if they are the original studs, 43 years of stress might have contributed to them breaking. If you have drum brakes all around, 43 years of heat transfer when you apply the brakes might have heated them enough to get brittle. It may not be a bad idea to have the studs replaced all the way around.

I'm assuming by your handle that it is a '65. If not, then they may have been overtorqued or defective from the factory.

This post has been edited by old guy: 17 August 2008 - 12:57 PM

[Shelby65_mustang]

old guy, on Aug 17 2008, 03:55 PM, said:

I had this happen on a motorhome. It is usually caused by the lugs being overtorqued, usually a number of times. The studs stretch and eventually break. When one goes it puts extra stress on the others and eventually they all go.

Get the studs replaced and make sure the lugs are not overtightened. Of course, if they are the original studs, 43 years of stress might have contributed to them breaking. If you have drum brakes all around, 43 years of heat transfer when you apply the brakes might have heated them enough to get brittle. It may not be a bad idea to have the studs replaced all the way around.

I'm assuming by your handle that it is a '65. If not, then they may have been overtorqued or defective from the factory.

I would completely have understood if this was the '65, but no, this happened with our 2007 Shelby GT500-40th Anniversary.
The stress on the other items mentioned makes sense to me. Hopefully all will be fixed in the morning.
Thanks for the reply, and as far as the handle goes, '65 Shelby is my dream car, I do have a fastback though.

[stump_breaker]

I had this happen on an old Cutlass once. The wheel was warped and although I could not feel it there was enough vibration to loose the lug nuts and then cause breakage.

This post has been edited by stump_breaker: 17 August 2008 - 02:35 PM

[Shelby65_mustang]

We got the stud issue all taken care of today thanks to Campbell Ford in Niles Michigan. The studs are special order only but they were able to accomodate us and we got home tonight in good order. They had two thoughts about the issue, first they thought someone tried to steel the front wheel, and the result was our mishap. They also thought it may have been over-torqued at some time and that was what caused the issue. All in all, we would recommend their services to anyone, they were great with us.
Thanks for your responses,
Art

[500forme]

FYI, this is a common problem in the trailer industry. It is highly recomended that you use a torque stick when tightening lug nuts with a impact. The torque stick will prevent over tightening and assure proper torque for the application. Also since the cars are delivered from the factory on a transport carrier, it is recomended that the lug nuts be checked every 50 miles for the first 200 miles. It takes the first 200 miles to let all the new componets to settle and seat properly. Hope this helps.

[txcobra]

Shelby65_mustang, on Aug 18 2008, 10:07 PM, said:

We got the stud issue all taken care of today thanks to Campbell Ford in Niles Michigan. The studs are special order only but they were able to accomodate us and we got home tonight in good order. They had two thoughts about the issue, first they thought someone tried to steel the front wheel, and the result was our mishap. They also thought it may have been over-torqued at some time and that was what caused the issue. All in all, we would recommend their services to anyone, they were great with us.
Thanks for your responses,
Art

Thanks for the heads up Art. Please let us know if you should happen to learn any more about this issue.

[ilmor]

Wow, I hope this doesn't become a huge issue for Ford - they sure don't need to be recalling a zillion Mustangs right now...

[mrfarmdog]

Bummer problem but glad you got it taken care of. This is the first I have heard of this happening.

[Shelby65_mustang]

mrfarmdog, on Aug 22 2008, 05:13 AM, said:

Bummer problem but glad you got it taken care of. This is the first I have heard of this happening.

Yeah, It could have been one scary ride if not warned ahead of time!!
All in all, i got an extra day off of work and another night with my favorite girl!!

[Michael Morris]

Glad everything worked out and You found a Ford dealer that treated you like they should.


michael morris