Wheel fell OFF!

So i was driving to school on monday and i had just put new brakes on saturday.  I have knock-off rims, which means I am at high risk for having a wheel fall off.  Well...  MY WHOLE TIRE AND RIM CAME OFF when i was going about 60 MPH on  the interstate.  I fell to the ground and pulled to the side asap.  I went and retrieved my rim about a mile down the road, but i cant seem to find my center cap to put on the rim.  As you know, without this cap the rim is useless.  So i am looking for a new set of caps but i cant find the same ones anywhere online! This is what they look like.


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Probably ought to go to the manufacturer for a replacement, but ytou might also get lucky on Ebay or with a web search. You WILL need to know the manufacturer.

And then I'd get rid of those rims and install some that are much, much safer. there's no point in risking your life with those. Were it me, I'd find some stock rims and run those if needed.

well when u drop 600 bucks on rims u dont just throw them out, and also , would i find the brand inside the rim? i bought them from someone used and have no idea what brand they are

Why would it just fall off? Who did your brakes? I would be paying a visit to whoever put the tire on. Any damage done?

Aftermarket rims dont mean they are going to fall off the truck.  There are millions of cars and trucks out there with aftermarket rims on them... and if this was the case, no one would buy them and you'd see a lot of flying rims all the time.  That doesnt make sense.  Maybe a bad hub bearing?  Or someone didn't put your tire back on right after that brake job.  something just sounds off there...

The difference between the 95% of most aftermarket rims and the rims in question here is that these are knock-offs.  IE no lug nuts, they use a large threaded hub that bolts on where a normal wheel would.  Then there is a large nut that secures the wheel.  If this nut was improperly torqued or not checked for proper torque down the road, this exact thing can happen.

I already know that it was improperly tightened and i know why it fell off.  I am asking if anyone knows where i can find the brand name of the rim or find some new center caps.
 
Oh and my brakes were done by myself and a friend of mine, i guess we slipped up lol

I don't really care if you spent $600 on wheels, your life is worth more. This is one of my problems with aftermarket equipment - how do you get replacement parts or find out important information like the torque spec for the nut that holds those wheels on?  Hopefully you do have the correct torque specs so that you can make sure that critical nut is correctly torqued from now on.

My best suggestion is to visit online wheel/tire sites that offer lots of wheel options and find a match to your rims, then follow up with phone calls to see if you can find the right part.  Chances are that if the wheels are still in production, you can find the part. If they were a limited-time offering, you're probably out of luck.

Side comment:

When I sell a used vehicle, I solve this problem by creating complete wiring diagrams for any and all electrical modifications I've made, and I provide all the purchase documents, receipts and manuals for every piece of accessory equipment on the car. If I don't get ALL this when I buy a car, I either don't buy it or I remove ALL of it and return the car to stock. Since I don't trust anyones modifications but mine, this really isn't a problem. The last thing in the world I want is a vehicle that has a butchered electrical system or  mechanical or other mods that aren't 100% documented and make sense to me.

Not trying to sound funny, but did you check the inside of one of the other caps to see if the name of the manufacturer or a model number was stamped inside?  If it's not on the actual rim, maybe it's on the cap?
 
My husband said to check with Dayton, he thought they looked like something they would manufacture.

If the rim was secured by one big lug nut, at least a cotter pin should have been put in to prevent the wheel from coming off.If theres no way to avoid this, a wheel of that nature is designed for smooth back road crusin

I have always used a "dead blow" hammer to remove and secure knock offs. I don't know how you could possibly ever get a torque measurement from that!
I had knock offs on my old corvette.


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yea there is no proper way to measure the torque which is the problem.  I had them on for a long time and nothing ever went wrong until we took them off and put them back on. We must have slipped up on the tightenening thing.  RIght now the other 3 wheels stay on fine so it will be ok. Thanks for the help with finding the brand name and such.

Damn man you seem pretty chill about a wheel falling off on the highway if you ask me! I'd be a little more shaken up if my wheel fell off going 60mph... LOL

I had a wheel fall off one of my 240sx's once scared the crap out of me and I was only going like 15mph (because I was turning). Finally got the car stopped and the wheel had gone down the road bumped a cadillac and rolled literally right back to where I was standing lol.

I Had to revive this thread, 'cause I almost found myself in the same situation just yesterday.

I was driving down the highway with three pretty ladies in my truck -- when suddenly I felt a lot of vibration. I immediately pulled over, to discover that three lugs on the rear passenger side wheel had popped right off!  The wheel was being held (barely) by two bolts.  Five more minutes, and we would have all been done for.  My girl said, "Just tighten up the two bolts and drive slow, and we should be okay."  Hell no!  I had someone come pick up my passengers, and I had a tow truck take me home.  It was worth the $150.

I just finished browsing the boards and saw someone else's post about re-threading bolts.  Kyle the Guru said something very important, that I WISH the people who sold me the wheels had told me -- that you're supposed to re-check the torquing of the bolts 500 miles after you install the wheels.  They've been on the truck for about 1500 miles -- and I was also planning to take a road trip this weekend.  Thank God it happened now instead of the following weekend, while I was out in the boonies somewhere!

The tow truck driver also said that he's seen this happen many times on trucks with aftermarket wheels.  A few of the victims weren't as fortunate as me, as they left the scene in the back of ambulances.

So...others be forewarned.  If you buy mag wheels for your truck, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be sure to check the torquing of your bolts within a few hundred miles after you install them.  Your life (and your truck's) depend on it.

I'm so spooked by the whole situation that I'm tempted to slap the ugly factory wheels back on it. Can anybody else give feedback on this subject (especially Kyle)? What can we do to ensure our aftermarket wheels are safe?

Raph

Don't be spooked.  Everytime you take your wheels off, make sure to retorque the lug nuts a week or so later.
 
I had that happen to me a few times when i first got into modifying my vehicles, didn't take long to learn to retorque bolts after working on stuff (like suspension components!)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Chevy Lover
I have always used a "dead blow" hammer to remove and secure knock offs. I don't know how you could possibly ever get a torque measurement from that!
I had knock offs on my old corvette.

 
Is that why they're called "knock offs"? LOL

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jigg

Don't be spooked.  Everytime you take your wheels off, make sure to retorque the lug nuts a week or so later.

I had that happen to me a few times when i first got into modifying my vehicles, didn't take long to learn to retorque bolts after working on stuff (like suspension components!)

Jigg, thanks so much for the tip. But what a way to learn...

Yeah, no joke!
 
I actually learned the hard way with retightening the suspension components... i had a ball joint pull off of the control arm while i was out wheeling... not fun at all!  Cost me like $300 in parts because it took the CV, wheel bearing, and both ball joints with it.