Some may have used Easter to change the wheels on the car. Others are starting their summer wheel planning these days. This means that there will immediately be more to do for the companies that provide roadside assistance.
Every year, among other things, Naf sends out messages that it is peak season for car rescues as a result of wheels coming loose while driving.
According to the insurance company Gjensidige, several hundred car owners lose wheels on their cars every year.
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Two causes of broken wheel bolts
– Among the motorists we have to help out on the road, there are some who have lost their wheels completely, while others have lost their wheels due to the bolts being tightened too loosely, said head of SOS Veihjelp and NAF Veihjelp in the Oslo area, Petter Schøyen, when we spoke to him about the problem a few years ago.
And while it’s most common for problems to occur when people drive around with bolts that aren’t sufficiently tightened, the opposite can also be dangerous.
– We find that bolts are also broken as a result of them being pulled too hard repeatedly. Even then, the wheel can come loose, said Schøyen.
In the worst case, it can be fatal.
– Everyone understands that it can lead to serious accidents if the wheel of the car falls off. But it can also be an expensive affair with extensive damage to the car, said Schøyen.
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Must be re-tightened – with the right tool
Naf recommends re-tightening the wheel bolts after you have driven a few miles after a wheel change.
– We recommend all car owners to retighten the bolts when you have driven around 50 kilometers after you have replaced, says adviser at Naf, Jan Harry Svendsen.
He emphasizes that this must be done, whether you have changed the wheel yourself or have had a tire workshop do the job.
The best is to use a so-called torque wrench. This ensures that the bolts are tightened just right. The correct tightening torque can be found in the car’s instruction manual.
Also watch the video above, where we show how to use the torque wrench.
Hundreds of missions
This is what a typical callout statistic looks like for Naf Veihjelp in the Oslo area during the weeks when most of us change wheels:
- Puncture – 270
- Puncture without spare wheel – 140
- Loose wheel bolts – 80
- Lost the wheel while driving – 40
- Broken wheel bolts – 20
- Wheel bolts tightened too hard to – 20
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