04-05-2004, 11:33 PM
So I went to Richmond on Sunday to see a show and hang out with some friends in the bands, it was going to be awesome. So I was about 10 miles outside of Richmond going about 75 on I-64 when the car starts to feel a little jittery. Then suddenly thereÔÇÖs a huge thunk sound and back end starts to move left. It felt alto like a tire got blown out, but a lot more violent than when thatÔÇÖs happened to me before. I got the car to straighten out and got it to the side of the road before I really seemed to realize what was going on. As I was getting there the sound from the wheel became a metal on metal sound and then it started bouncing like it was hitting a ton of pot holes. I was thinking that some how the entire rim had just been torn apart and the spokes of the wheel were bouncing along the pavement like in a WRC video. But I thought the wheel is probably F'd, but hopefully I can just put on the spare and be on the road in 5 minutes.
So I get out of the car and look back at the wheel expecting to see a horrible disaster, and the wheel is sitting out of wheel well at about a 45 degree angle, actually probably an even steeper angle than that. And I thought to myself "You sir... are proper fucked." I figured the car was done, and I was never getting back to Harrisonburg, I would just move in to a friends place in Richmond and start making a living by begging for change and selling my sperm to sperm banks. After deciding that would be really shitty, i went to my trunk and grabbed my jack to get the wheel off the ground and look at the damage. I saw one of my lug nuts on the ground, so I picked it up and told it that it was an asshole for not holding on to the wheel, then I jacked up the car. After pulling the wheel out I noticed there was virtually no damage, except for the brake dust shield being bent. That shield seemed to of protected the rotor from any damage. So I grabbed a dead blow hammer from my trunk and banged back the shield so that it would not be in the way.
I pulled out the spare tire and began looking for the extra lug nuts that I had in my trunk a while before. I managed to find a couple of the old ones which had rolled to the side of the road, so i only needed to find three. After finding one new lug nut I finally realized that the old ones were a lot shorter... because they were broken in F'n half! So I go look at the hub, and sure enough there are teh other half of all five lug nuts. The all sheared off in the hub and I had no way to get them out. fuck! shit! bitch!... cock! balls! That was when I realized I wouldnÔÇÖt be driving anywhere, especially back to Harrisonburg.
Luckily I have AAA and I could get a tow to a shop and have them tap out the 5 bolts or replace the hub and go from there. A state trooper showed up after about 10 minutes, just as I was about to call the tow truck, and called it in for me. After he called it in he just left, and it was the windy as hell. And I didnÔÇÖt want to sit in the car and put more weight on the factory "widow maker" jack, so I just sat outside and let the wind blow my face off. I walked up and down the road and managed to find all 5 lug nuts, all of which the same midget ass length.
After about an hour my tow truck got there and we had the problem of getting the car with no rear wheel on the flat tow, quite the little brain buster. We ended up holding the underside of the axle up with a roller floor jack and then he slowly pulled the car up the ramp as I held the jack straight so it wouldnÔÇÖt slide sideways and let the car fall. Once it got to the start of the bed, we put a big block in front of it and let it slide off the jack and onto the block (this was a very nervous moment for me, you could tell by the stains I acquired in my pants as this was happening. We took it off just the same and left it in front of import autohaus in Richmond.
I then went across the street to an O'charlies or whatever its called, and went to the bar and began to drink my face off, I sure wasnÔÇÖt driving anytime soon. I was waiting there from my friend Bridget to come pick me up, she was at the show I was supposed to be at. (By the way she is the greatest person ever for picking me up during the show, and giving me a couch to sleep on). They finished the car this afternoon, and I was taken over there and got it at around 4:30, and went home... and now IÔÇÖm so far behind I'm screwed.
Anyway, I figure I'm really really lucky. The well came off my car at 75 mph on a busy highway and all that needed to be done was to have the screws tapped out. When the wheel came off the car seemed to fall directly on top of the wheel, and then knocked it over. The inside of the rim became wedged on the inside of the brake rotor and held there by the top of the wheel well. So it held that rest of the car off the ground. If the wheel actually got all the way separated from the car, my whole axle would have hit the pavement and I'm sure I would have been sent in to a ridiculous spin, probably taking some other cars with me, almost totaling my car.
So I'm glad I'm not dead or hurt and now know that the 1993 BMW tricycles, arenÔÇÖt very good. I'm glad the rear wheels on my car tuck inside the wheel well or else I'd be screwed... Bilstein coilovers saved my ass.
So I get out of the car and look back at the wheel expecting to see a horrible disaster, and the wheel is sitting out of wheel well at about a 45 degree angle, actually probably an even steeper angle than that. And I thought to myself "You sir... are proper fucked." I figured the car was done, and I was never getting back to Harrisonburg, I would just move in to a friends place in Richmond and start making a living by begging for change and selling my sperm to sperm banks. After deciding that would be really shitty, i went to my trunk and grabbed my jack to get the wheel off the ground and look at the damage. I saw one of my lug nuts on the ground, so I picked it up and told it that it was an asshole for not holding on to the wheel, then I jacked up the car. After pulling the wheel out I noticed there was virtually no damage, except for the brake dust shield being bent. That shield seemed to of protected the rotor from any damage. So I grabbed a dead blow hammer from my trunk and banged back the shield so that it would not be in the way.
I pulled out the spare tire and began looking for the extra lug nuts that I had in my trunk a while before. I managed to find a couple of the old ones which had rolled to the side of the road, so i only needed to find three. After finding one new lug nut I finally realized that the old ones were a lot shorter... because they were broken in F'n half! So I go look at the hub, and sure enough there are teh other half of all five lug nuts. The all sheared off in the hub and I had no way to get them out. fuck! shit! bitch!... cock! balls! That was when I realized I wouldnÔÇÖt be driving anywhere, especially back to Harrisonburg.
Luckily I have AAA and I could get a tow to a shop and have them tap out the 5 bolts or replace the hub and go from there. A state trooper showed up after about 10 minutes, just as I was about to call the tow truck, and called it in for me. After he called it in he just left, and it was the windy as hell. And I didnÔÇÖt want to sit in the car and put more weight on the factory "widow maker" jack, so I just sat outside and let the wind blow my face off. I walked up and down the road and managed to find all 5 lug nuts, all of which the same midget ass length.
After about an hour my tow truck got there and we had the problem of getting the car with no rear wheel on the flat tow, quite the little brain buster. We ended up holding the underside of the axle up with a roller floor jack and then he slowly pulled the car up the ramp as I held the jack straight so it wouldnÔÇÖt slide sideways and let the car fall. Once it got to the start of the bed, we put a big block in front of it and let it slide off the jack and onto the block (this was a very nervous moment for me, you could tell by the stains I acquired in my pants as this was happening. We took it off just the same and left it in front of import autohaus in Richmond.
I then went across the street to an O'charlies or whatever its called, and went to the bar and began to drink my face off, I sure wasnÔÇÖt driving anytime soon. I was waiting there from my friend Bridget to come pick me up, she was at the show I was supposed to be at. (By the way she is the greatest person ever for picking me up during the show, and giving me a couch to sleep on). They finished the car this afternoon, and I was taken over there and got it at around 4:30, and went home... and now IÔÇÖm so far behind I'm screwed.
Anyway, I figure I'm really really lucky. The well came off my car at 75 mph on a busy highway and all that needed to be done was to have the screws tapped out. When the wheel came off the car seemed to fall directly on top of the wheel, and then knocked it over. The inside of the rim became wedged on the inside of the brake rotor and held there by the top of the wheel well. So it held that rest of the car off the ground. If the wheel actually got all the way separated from the car, my whole axle would have hit the pavement and I'm sure I would have been sent in to a ridiculous spin, probably taking some other cars with me, almost totaling my car.
So I'm glad I'm not dead or hurt and now know that the 1993 BMW tricycles, arenÔÇÖt very good. I'm glad the rear wheels on my car tuck inside the wheel well or else I'd be screwed... Bilstein coilovers saved my ass.
hock: you might want to inspect the other wheel hubs to see if there could be a chance for this again.
