Autocross mishap
 

http://www.teamjamoto.com/dixeregionpage.htm

I'd venture a guess that he changed wheels/tires for the event.... and didn't torque or otherwise check his lugnuts.

Lesson: WHENEVER you swap wheels, CHECK YOUR LUGNUTS!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Thats freaking funny.

What a dumb ass. :eek:

i could just imagine what his face looks like when he saw his rear tire went ahead of him..hahahahahahahah!

good post, fray! ** that's my 2 stars

I think he can just buff that out!

The dude's shoes matched his car! That's even funnier.

That is just too funny

Sux being him, how do you not know something doesn't feel right before that happens....I mean all 4 wheels at once??

You got to think the people walking around the car just wanted to explode laughing at the guy....

Holy guacamole!! Geez...glad I use a torque wrench when reinstalling my wheels. LOL

How the heck was everyone so serious sounding when they crowded around the car? I didn't hear a single bit of laughter... I'm sorry, but I would have been cracking up. I can MAYBE understand forgetting to torque one wheel... but all four? It didn't even look like those things were hand tightened with how quickly they fell right off.

How embarrassing.

I am thinking sabotage. No one can forget to tighten ALL of their lug nuts...

Hahahahahahahahahahahhahahaahhahahahahaha........ Idiot

that sux....i kinda feel bad for a guy

You would be surprised what people can forget when they are in a hurry or easily distracted by something else. ;)

If that were me,as soon as the wheels came off I would run and hide behind the nearest bush or tree possible cause that is embarrassing.

I did some work on the brakes once, hand tightened the lugs, lowered the car and then my wife pulled up with a load of groceries. I carried in the groceries, encountered a few other distractions, then jumped in the car for a quick test drive. I got a few miles from the house and began to notice a wobble. I immediately knew what the problem was and pulled over. To add insult to stupidity, the torque wrench, lug wrench and cell phone were sitting in my driveway... a few miles away! :rolleyes:

stupidity or practical joke?
 

Let me play Sherlock Holmes here:

So you drive to the Auto-X on street tires but change to racing tires there.
You untighten the nuts and jack up the car. Street wheels off, race wheels on.
Now you hand-tighten the nuts, lower the car, take your torque wrench and finish the job.

IF you would put the nuts on that loosely that they fall off after a few feet you would IMMEDIATELY notice it when lowering the car, as the whole wheel would tilt - right? And we are talking ALL FOUR WHEELS here. So your immediate reaction would be to jack up the car again, and hand-tighten the nut. The chances that this happens to you on all 4 wheels - impossible.

So IMHO there is NO WAY that the guy forgot to tighten the nuts, someone played a practical joke on him.

Now let's start the discussion how bad you have to behave at an Auto-X so that you motivate other folks to do that to you.....

I just watched it again. :D

I bet he said, "Hey, that wheel looks just like the ones I have", when the wheel flew past him!

That has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever seen.
The wheels coming off was so perfect, it almost looks like a special effects stunt.

LOL :D

yes, the first thing I thought when watching this vid is that it was planned. The reaction of everyone else though through the rest of the clip changed my mind on that. I think somebody set this guy up...

Wow...the sound of the car hitting the ground is nerve wracking. All four...if it were my car I'd be convinced someone did it to me!!!!!!!!!

Lmao!!! :d

Ok, to shed some light on what supposedly happened; another forum I frequent also hosts the Dixie Region forum and word is:
"He bought lug nuts by telling merchant what car, wheel, etc. Apparently they had the wrong threading. He could torque them to 80lbs and all seemed fine, right up until..." well, you know.

I would think that if incorrect lugnuts were the cause... even if he could have torqued them on, the wheels would have had to be VERY loose to suffer that catastrophically, and that quickly.

i'm going to go with
at least the motor didn't give up.

or


rx-7s are unreliable enough and don't need any help from operator error.

If someone did that do me on purpose I would sue them. That would require new exhaust, brakes, etc. Not to mention getting the wheels realigned, and possible transmission damage. At least $5k+.

if the tire knocks a cone over, does that count against you?

Now that was funny. I do believe that you are assessed a penalty.

If the car fails to make it through the course under its own power the driver is assessed a DNF.

I watched that video several times, and got a good chuckle out of it. It looks to me like that guy way over torqued the studs and they snapped as soon the load from turning hit them.

Do they not have tech inspections at autoX events? This would have been much more spectacular had it taken place at a DE event...

After watching this a few more times I think it is staged. First, if you hand tighten the nuts it will take more than a few hundred yards before they work there way out. It was mentioned below that someone forgot to tighten the nuts and after a few MILES the tire started to wobble, NOT fall off. For the nuts to work themselves loose at exactly the same time is impossible given that different loads are placed on them through the first couple of turns. Also, about 55 seconds into it there is a panned out shot of the "rest" of the course and I don't see any cones. Could be poor video quality though. Lastly, there seems to be too much emphasis on the missing lug nuts. Everyone scrambling around to find the nuts?? In reality there would have been just one and people would have been laughing at him. If it is real than it is and its still pretty funny. My two cents.

That's the thing. They DO. And at PCA events, they actually have people come torque them for you.



At other events I've gone to, they just grab the wheel and try to make sure it's on securely.



Maybe this guy got an inspection and then changed his wheels...or maybe he was cocky, didn't get an inspection, and nobody noticed that his car wasn't marked.



Nice Rx-7 too.

Guys,
Maybe this guy was going for his third or fourth run with loose lug nuts. But I think the bolts most have snapped of the hub!!! Regardless, I feel his pain!!!!