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Best to check those lug nuts!

CoronetDarter

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Just took possession of my Coronet about 3 weeks ago - put in a Pertronix Ignitor III with flamethrower coil yesterday - see my post in Ignition. The engine starts right up, runs great - love it. I was sensing a slight part-throttle surge at 55 - 60 mph before - now it's gone. Take it on a extended test drive/errand running today and it starts vibrating as I merge onto the freeway. I figured one of the spark plug wires came off and I'm running on 7 cylinders so I take the next exit and start slowing down to merge onto the shoulder and then BAM! It feels like my car exploded. I get lifted out of my seat, hit my head on the roof, lose control of the steering and come to a halt on the exit ramp. My drivers side front tire came off at about 35 - 40 mph! DAMN!!! The fender is crumpled, cowl looks tweaked, took some paint off the edge of the hood, scarred the drum, ground down a castle nut on the tie rod, scraped the K-member and oil pan, cracked the rim. DAMN! Ruined a great weekend. Good thing I didn't care for those rims anyway, lol. So now I get to see how well Hagerty treats their customers.

Besides the obvious damage, is there anything else I should be checking out? BTW, the drivetrains seems OK, I backed the car into my garage from the tow truck. IMG_1167.jpgIMG_1168.jpgIMG_1169.jpgIMG_1171.jpg
 
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Holy $h!#, sorry to see the damage to your car. That really sucks. But I guess it could have been worse had the tire shot into opposing traffic or you lost control at high speed. Glad your ok, hopefully the repair won't be too costly. Damn.
 
Does the car have right handed lugs on the left side? That's the reason why 'mom' used them on our cars. If they are left loose, they won't back off. Man, sorry to see that happen.
 
Whoa. Again, glad you are ok.

What came standard on these drum brake? Right handed or left handed threaded studs. Thanks for the reminder. I will give my wheels a snugging.

That car is a beauty...still.
 
:icon_eek:

You want to remember to re-torque new mags - AFTER 50 MILES - when you get new wheels - they do come loose. The tire store will tell you that, the one time they didn't and I forgot too was on the wife's 2010 MINI Cooper. We bought different OEM mag wheels for it, all installed at a tire store. A week later we take it for a drive over twisty Chinook Pass and I start feeling ever so slight something in the corners. Didn't hear anything, didn't do anything on the straights. Pull over and check the lugs - all four wheels are loose - the same left front worse than the others. I never forget to retorque wheels now after 50 miles - and maybe again after some more miles.

Torque wrench is a must have in your garage, if only for wheel work. And be sure to reset the wrench to zero to release tension on the mechanism inside, to help keep it accurate. The tool instructions will tell you something along those lines.
 
your car can be repaired,i am just happy to hear no injuries or worse,life is one chance,cars can be repaired for many more chances,best wishes.
 
:icon_eek:

You want to remember to re-torque new mags - AFTER 50 MILES - when you get new wheels - they do come loose. The tire store will tell you that, the one time they didn't and I forgot too was on the wife's 2010 MINI Cooper. We bought different OEM mag wheels for it, all installed at a tire store. A week later we take it for a drive over twisty Chinook Pass and I start feeling ever so slight something in the corners. Didn't hear anything, didn't do anything on the straights. Pull over and check the lugs - all four wheels are loose - the same left front worse than the others. I never forget to retorque wheels now after 50 miles - and maybe again after some more miles.

Torque wrench is a must have in your garage, if only for wheel work. And be sure to reset the wrench to zero to release tension on the mechanism inside, to help keep it accurate. The tool instructions will tell you something along those lines.

Just do what I do, use a star wrench and tighten them til your left testicle bursts.
 
That sucks, Hope insurance takes care of you.... let us know.
Like said it could have been worse, the important thing is that everyone is ok.
 
I'm very surprised that you did not hear a clunking sound of the rim loose on the axle. I had such a sound and when I checked the lug nuts, I found that they were all loose on one wheel that was in effect wobbling.

Glad it was not worse than that.
 
I had a brake job done on my wife's minivan and they forgot to tighten the lugs. I was driving home on the freeway and felt a weird vibration. I pulled over and all four corners' lugs were just finger tight! Man was I pissed! If it had been my wife driving she would have just kept driving with the weird vibration until wheels started falling off.
 
Thanks for everyone's reply. Yeah, it could have been worse. The entire incident, start to finish, was less than 1/4 mile; hardly any advance warning. I wish I had pulled over about 20'-30' sooner, but at least i wasn't on the freeway doing 75.
And the threads are "normal" rotation, I guess that means LH thread. Over the years the original RH must have been swapped out. I have to get new ones pressed in because the rim chewed up the threads on 3 of them.
With a three wheeled vehicle, new rims/tires moves to the top of the To Do list. I've always loved the Cragar S/S and I already have the 15" tires. But there's a couple of guys on Chargersonly forum that are running 17" MB Old School's on a 45 / 50 ratio tire. I like the look of the gunmetal grey offsetting the T5 bronze, and the tires still have enough sidewall to keep the faith.
 
Just do what I do, use a star wrench and tighten them til your left testicle bursts.

LMFAO, Kb!!!


HOLY SCHNIKES!!! glad you weren't hurt!

sucks about the car (which is beautiful btw). im waiting to hear how hagerty handles this myself...i will stay tuned.
 
Wow, that sucks. Good luck with the repairs.

Also, standard sae threads are right hand. Left hand threads are "backwards".
 
Does the car have right handed lugs on the left side? That's the reason why 'mom' used them on our cars. If they are left loose, they won't back off. Man, sorry to see that happen.

anything after the "left hand thread" studs were discontinued in the early 70s was right hand thread on all wheels, even on other makes besides Mopar....I don't see them coming loose on any other cars that I know of
 
As a fellow 69 Coronet owner I feel your pain. I too am curious how your claim with Hagerty goes.
 
My left front fender on my 69 RR looks like that. Previous owner must have had the same issue. Lol. Was wondering how it got bent into that strange shape. I changed all my studs to right hand thread, for simplicity. They don't come loose. I am driving a 67 Satellite from Ohio to Debver this month, so thanks for the heads up. I will definitely make sure they are all tight! 1200 mile trip!
 
OUCH! You got into the lead on the cowl. That is going to suck to repair.

Still have left handers on mine, they have a special mark on the end to remind ME which way to turn.

Good luck.

Randy
 
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