The survey, which is based on surveys of 5,000 car owners, shows that around 30,000 wheels are lost every year and cause around 900 traffic accidents around the country.
– Purely spontaneously, I react strongly, that it is such a high percentage that actually happens to this, says Dennis Alexis, general secretary of the Scandinavian tire and rim organization, which, together with other industry representatives and several authorities, is part of the Tire Safety Council.
Same problem if the workshop does the replacement
A little surprising is that, according to the report, it doesn’t matter much if you hire a workshop for the tire change, or change the tires yourself. The reason could be carelessness with the towing, which should be done 5-10 miles after a tire change:.
– There is no major difference in how many people “decline”, depending on whether they have been to a workshop or at home, says Mattias Hjort, research leader at the Road and Traffic Research Institute.
According to Mattias Hjort and Dennis Alexis, one reason for the wheel pin could also be that the tire changes take place during a rather short and intensive period of time, which means great stress on the tire workshops.
Recommendations for changing wheels on passenger cars
Remove the bolts/nuts and remove the old wheel.
For both the old and new wheel and the vehicle: Clean and inspect all contact surfaces and threads.
Replace damaged, worn and heavily corroded parts.
Do not lubricate the threads or surfaces before assembly. (The reason is that on passenger cars there is a great risk of the bolt/nut being pulled past the material’s yield strength, which leads to damage to the threads and a worse fitting bolt/nut as a result.)
Make sure the bolts/nuts fit the rim (tapered/rounded/flat).
Fit the new wheel and tighten the bolts/nuts in a transverse pattern (crosswise) to a moderate torque, well below the recommended torque and check that the wheel is tight and flat on the hub.
Using a properly adjusted torque wrench, tighten the bolts/nuts in a transverse pattern (crosswise) to the torque recommended by the vehicle manufacturer.
After 50-100 kilometers of driving, it is time to check that the bolts/nuts are seated correctly.
Source: The Scandinavian Tire & Rim Organization – STRO