Certainly in no way condoning what this particular driver was doing...
3 sets of lost wheels is pretty unprecedented. Only really 2 options in my mind, Overtorqued, or only mounted and hand tightened. The first is impossible to find in a pre-trip, the second probably would have been, unless they completely hand tightened, therefore a hand check of lugs would have never found the problem.
One always thinks a "wheel off" incident is 100% possible to avoid. I would agree, if it was MYSELF doing all the work. Install with care not to off center, tighten appropriately, only tightening within 100lb/ft of final torque, and using a torque wrench in appropriate star pattern to bring all nuts to 450-550lb/ft total on an aluminum bud.
I would think of myself as a conscientious, and careful driver, but have had a wheel off incident myself north of wandering river on HWY 63 in Alberta. Had one set of tires replaced in Camrose, drove probably 250km, clicked off all the nuts with my own torque wrench the second time, and the wheels were GONE within 6 hours after that. Shop in Camrose had a novice tire tech install the tires and used a 1" high powered air gun to install. They hammered on all the nuts until they wouldnt turn anymore. So of course they "clicked off" with a torque wrench both the first and the second time. Problem was, they over torqued them to upwards of 1000lf/ft, and every single stud sheared off at the brake drum.
And yes, if I hadn't stopped in at a truck stop and done a quick walk around, I never would have had the slightest indication that the wheels were missing. It was dark, so trailer wheels were not necessarily visible in the mirror. The trailer, even loaded with dangerous goods did not lean in any meaningful manner.
Only thing I thank god for out of the whole ordeal, was that it dismounted on the passenger side and at worst gave a moose the scare of his life as wheels came bounding over the fence at him in the middle of the night. I would have been sick to death had they come off on the driver side!
MOST accidents are preventable, but not necessarily every single one is "driver preventable" as many would have you believe.
The fact that 3 sets were missing and the trailer had a noticeable lean? I'll just say, the driver would have likely served time if he was state-side...
3 sets of lost wheels is pretty unprecedented. Only really 2 options in my mind, Overtorqued, or only mounted and hand tightened. The first is impossible to find in a pre-trip, the second probably would have been, unless they completely hand tightened, therefore a hand check of lugs would have never found the problem.
One always thinks a "wheel off" incident is 100% possible to avoid. I would agree, if it was MYSELF doing all the work. Install with care not to off center, tighten appropriately, only tightening within 100lb/ft of final torque, and using a torque wrench in appropriate star pattern to bring all nuts to 450-550lb/ft total on an aluminum bud.
I would think of myself as a conscientious, and careful driver, but have had a wheel off incident myself north of wandering river on HWY 63 in Alberta. Had one set of tires replaced in Camrose, drove probably 250km, clicked off all the nuts with my own torque wrench the second time, and the wheels were GONE within 6 hours after that. Shop in Camrose had a novice tire tech install the tires and used a 1" high powered air gun to install. They hammered on all the nuts until they wouldnt turn anymore. So of course they "clicked off" with a torque wrench both the first and the second time. Problem was, they over torqued them to upwards of 1000lf/ft, and every single stud sheared off at the brake drum.
And yes, if I hadn't stopped in at a truck stop and done a quick walk around, I never would have had the slightest indication that the wheels were missing. It was dark, so trailer wheels were not necessarily visible in the mirror. The trailer, even loaded with dangerous goods did not lean in any meaningful manner.
Only thing I thank god for out of the whole ordeal, was that it dismounted on the passenger side and at worst gave a moose the scare of his life as wheels came bounding over the fence at him in the middle of the night. I would have been sick to death had they come off on the driver side!
MOST accidents are preventable, but not necessarily every single one is "driver preventable" as many would have you believe.
The fact that 3 sets were missing and the trailer had a noticeable lean? I'll just say, the driver would have likely served time if he was state-side...
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