I recently had the front wheel bearing/hub assembly replaced (3 weeks ago) on both sides and the outer tie rod ends on both sides and the idler arm and bracket replaced 3 days ago (friday) and after driving 60 miles then had a front end alignment the same day. I then took my 1995 chevy k1500 z71 truck home. The over the next 2 days I drove about 160 miles. On monday when I drove it I started feeling some vibration and hearing tire noise. I pulled over glanced at the tires which seemed to be in good condition, and continued on. By the time I drove another 10 miles the noise and vibration got worse and at my next stop, I looked and saw that the center cap on my left front wheel was missing and so was one lug nut and the other 5 lug nuts were about to fall off. I took it back to the place I had the alignment done and they said that they would not have touched the lug nuts to do the alignment. I also talked to the mechanic who replaced the tie rod ends and he told me that he torqued the lug nuts properly, and my father witnessed him doing it. Anyway, the one lug nut was missing because the stud had broken off. After tightening the lug nuts the left wheel is now making a grinding noise whenever I am turning left. Honestly that wheel is making the same noise it was before I had the wheel bearings replaced. Could driving on the loose wheel have damaged the new wheel bearing or the new tie rod ends
SPONSORED LINKS
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 AT 9:33 PM