Drivers Front Wheel fell off '04 V70 X/C

[Mike Langlois]

So I lent my V70 X/C to my Dr. who had just had just totaled his Mini Cooper; we like him, so we stuck him in a Volvo. After 6 months I had to take the car back for service and a Volvo Factory Recall (front Air Bag). I drove the car twice and noticed an issue in the front end while driving. To keep the story short, I did not stop and check the problem out immediately (smart course of action). Since I had noticed an issue, I was in the slow lane of the freeway when the wheel finally dropped off the spindle and I got the car to the shoulder without damaging the body. Then the tire rolled off the car as it was being put on a flat bed tow truck and it took the liberty of removing the drivers front fender . The lug nuts came loose and so did the wheel. I'm professional mechanic for industrial equipment and do small things like cars for fun. The tires were rotated about 4 weeks prior to the wheel falling off and I did it. In 45 years of mechanical work, I have never had a set of lug nuts come loose and a wheel fall off; I'm not perfect, but I do follow procedure and tighten in a star pattern, then double check torque in a sequential pattern.

Anyone else ever have a wheel fall off or know of any reason why this would happen? I'm also looking for a source for a used '04 V70 X/C dr. front fender. The X/C uses a special fender evidently and Volvo is VERY proud of it; I think they raised the Blue Tax! Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
Manic Mike

[scot850]

For parts try vandsautodismantlers in Sacramento area. (Volvo/Saab specialists).

Does your car have the lugbolts with just a fixed head on them, or do you have the ones with the slip collar on them?

What torque did you torque them to? For a P2 it is 140Nm if I recall correctly.

So far, thankfully, I have only ever had one occasion when this happened on a 98 V70XC we had and I noticed it in the driveway as my son was backing out. Very lucky!

The car had been in to the dealer for some work and can only conclude they forgot to torque that wheel. I checked the other 3 and all were right on the money.

Good luck with finding the front fender and hopefully in a matching shade!

Neil.

[br0dy519]

One time I did brake work and torqued everything down on the tire. During my test drive a noise started almost like a clank. Every lugbolt was half a thread from coming out. I have no idea how that happened but now every time I torque a wheel on I check the torque 50km later. And sometimes I check randomly. It was a pretty startling experience.

I’ve heard something about aluminum flexing with the bolt or something to that effect and requiring retorque. But it doesnt seem substantiated. Sorry to hear of your experience.

[jonesg]

examine the bolts for stretched threads.
Torquing them doesn't work when threads are stretched.

Theres always the possibility someone loosened them.