OMG sorry to hear.
Does that qualify as "significant emotional experience"?
I've only seen that happen once. Rock truck, drivers front, he was coming at me but fortunately on the other side of a 4 lane hwy. That literally threw gravel (from the busted concrete) across all lanes of traffic. Scared the heck out of everyone.

 

Well small update...

I'm still at work trying to get things done but I called the place and talked to the manager. He kissed my butt six ways from Sunday. They have a tech on their way over to my brother's shop at this very moment, to get the wheel that was trashed and to inspect the damage to the rest of the truck.

The Manager vowed that he would 1) replace the wheel 2) pay the bill for any and all damage, even any tow bills I may have incurred. He said he would quote "Take care of me for the rest of my life and i'll never pay full price for tires ever again."

I doubt they'll be able to match those wheels I believe they've been discontinued. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of this plays out.

So a positive outcome so far. when I was on the phone with the poor guy I definitely got the feeling that he was REALLY scared I would sue, and potentially put his job at risk. I think he might do just about anything to make reparations and make me happy.

Lucky for him i'm not the type to take advantage. I just want what's broke to be fixed and a new wheel. After that, i'm happy.

 

Glad to hear everything is working out!! I am sure they will go above and beyond.

I had a similar experience with discount tires once. They BENT OVER BACKWARDS to make everything right. New rims, tires, and free balance & rotations for as long as I owned the vehicle it happened on. They know they are lucky that things weren't as bad as they could have been.

 

almost happen to me about 6 years back on the way to my girlfriend's senior prom. I was in my 66 Nova and felt some strange vibrations. Pulled over to find that I only had 2 lug nuts left. Almost lost the others.

Now, whenever I notice a new vibration, I nervously check the lugs every time.

Glad to hear things seem to be working out and the shop is going to make good on the deal.

 

Those pictures are ROUGH!! When I lived in MD I remember seeing this gouge in the road and knew it was from the same thing happening... but this one went for over 200'!!!

Very good to hear that you're OK and they're going to take care of you proper.

 

Wow, great outcome, good for you. And also, kudos for not being vengeful and sue-happy.

I guess this is a good reminder for all of us to check the torque ourselves after tire work, although it sounds like you wouldn't have even made it home to do that. Those nuts must have been pretty loose.

 

I'm late getting in here, but glad no one was hurt.
Smokin' it sounds like you have a straight up shop manager to deal with there. Accidents happen and how they deal with the aftermath separates the men from the boys. (And the little girls from the women too. )

 

Hey Lisa -

I'm up north of Fort Collins and always poke around craigslist and came across this truck being parted out - i'm looking for interior parts and will be calling about them later (seats, console, etc.) but thought you might have some interest for a spare set of wheels

Post some pics up once your baby is back to 110%!

 

Wow, taht sucks. Good to see the shop manager taking care of it for you. I have seen this happen on more than one occasion.
First time, I came upon a man sitting on the side of the road in a small town with the left front tire on the opposite side of the road. I stopped to help and he said the garage where he had just had the tires put on had sent a guy already. The sad part, the shop was only 3/4 mile away.
Second was just last week. I'm driving home from work(Interstate,70mph) and I happed to glance over to the southbound lanes to see a Jeep sitting on the shoulder missing the left front tire. Next thing I know, traffic is slowing down rapidly in fron of me. Turns out, it was the tire from the Jeep crossing the median and both lanes of northbound traffic.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for all of the great replies! I finally have my truck back. Yay. So the shop manager came through. By the time I got to my brother's shop at 1PM today, the guys from the tire shop had already brought my tire back, mounted on a brand new wheel just exactly like the one I had. They paid the bill for the new rotor, bolts, pads, and seal. They gave me new lugs and even 8 spares and a new cap for that tire. I'm happy and will try to contact the owner of the joint to tell him about the manager and how he did a good job of cleaning up that mess.

One interesting side note, though. I guess at this tire shop, they continually record every car and truck that comes into their bays for service. That way, when something like this happens (like Kwik said, ***** happens) they can go back through the video to see what happened and who wasn't paying attention. Unfortunately this probably means that the guy who rotated my tires will be losing his job...but they need to get guys in there who pay attention. When it comes to vehicles, it's people's lives you are playing with. Maybe he should be working at Mickey D's where all he might do is burn a burger.

Drove the truck out to the country this evening and it did great on the highway, no braking problems or odd vibrations...I feel pretty confident everything is okay. Upon visual inspection all other rear parts and axle looks okay.

I'll post pictures AFTER I wash the truck. It's been raining here, and she's dirty.

 

That's great news. Glad it worked out for you, unlike someone's bad experience with a tranny shop in NH.

 

Sorry Lisa, I just got Nyx washed up the other day.... I should have posted that so everyone else in CO would know it was guaranteed to rain!

 

Hmmm...could be a good idea, but being that I am part nomad, I'm not sure I would have a place to keep them. Luckily I got my wheel replaced and I have a good spare, so I think I should be okay. Hopefully I don't have any more wheels fall off in the nearby future. ;-)

I'll be thinking about that truck, the one that's getting parted out, and what parts I might like to have off it. I'll have to think about that. I'll let you know if I come up with anything. So far the things I really want are things I can't get off a parted '99, like new carpet and cup holders that hold my drinks instead of throw them.

 

Hey Smokin, Be sure to have your brother recheck the lug nuts. You'll find that when it comes to Aluminum wheels, they do need to be retorqued after about 1-week and then agian after a month or so. It's a good practice to get into checking the lugs periodicaly, especially with the Aluminum/Cast rims. Unfortunatly I speak from experiance also. HAH HAH. Glad to hear you are OK. Take Care... Country

 

Very good advice, and something ill be doing tomorrow after the short stint on the highway this afternoon..JUST TO MAKE SURE. Unfortunately, it hadn't been a week since I had those babies rotated so I hadn't gotten around to it. D'Oh.

I check my tire pressure about once a month and will get in the habit of checking those lugs too.