Car repair journey

The Problem

I was driving up to visit a friend in Connecticut when my front right wheel started violently shaking. I was driving at around 60 mph on the highway and it was pretty scary. I noted that it occurred primarily at higher speeds, but went away when I was accelerating. I thought it must have something to do with the alignment since I have been told that my struts are leaking and bad.

Mechanic

I brought my car to a mechanic and he put it on the lift and told me there was a bubble in one of my tires. I had purchased tires recently, so I was surprised. He rotated the right tires and it seemed to get better at slower speed (although I hadn’t taken it on the highway). He was a nice enough guy so I paid him, thanked him, and went on my way. I then noted it getting worse after I left him.

My Repair

I decided that it must be the suspension and decided to replace the strut on that side. A challenging job, although I had most of my tools with me. The decision was motivated by a lack of open mechanics due to Labor Day and it being near closing time anyway. I drove to Advanced Auto Parts and got the strut. I spent about 2 hours repairing the car myself in the parking lot. Luckily it went off without a hitch! Finally, my relevant tools and learned skills were paying off (I’ve had many misadventures in car repair up to this point). I started driving and then I noted that the shaking was gone in the front right! It just reappeared in the front left ☠️.

I was confused and decided that it must be due to the right side being weaker than the new left sided strut, but I didn’t have the time or daylight to repair another strut (and I thought I needed an new left lower control arm as well). I drove an hour back home with this violent shaking.

Upsetting Realization

I got home in one piece thankfully and vowed to fix it this week. I had some extra free time so I purchased the parts right when I parked. I rested well that night, reassured by a good plan. The next morning I looked at my car again and I was surprised to see that one of my left wheel lugnuts was entirely missing! Upon inspection it was totally sheared off. Dumbfounded, I checked the other lugnuts and found them to all be loose. My “suspension” issues were actually much more dangerous loose wheel issues. Somehow, the lugnuts all became loose, and at the high speed my wheel must have been vibrating on the studs, leading to their shearing. I’m very thankful that it was just an uncomfortable ride and that the wheel didn’t fall off on me!

Final Necessary Repair

Breathing a sigh of relief, I looked up how to replace the studs, and was pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was. They are cheap simply bolts that are tightly pressed into the outer side of the ball bearing (which the wheel spins on). I jacked up the car, and took off the tire and the wheel studs were absolutely stripped from the wheel grinding against them. The wheel holes were also a bit damaged from this grinding. With help from my dad we hammered the bad studs out, and put in new ones (tightening them but using a lugnut and multiple washers as a spacer) with some red threadlocker so that they wouldn’t budge. I ended up needing to purchase some new lugnuts as well for this tire since the old lugnuts didn’t fit so well and I was afraid I was going to strip the brand new studs. After finally reassembling the wheel, and tightening everything to the correct torque specifications (~80 ft-lbs). I took my car for a spin and all of the shaking was resolved.

No Rest, but Smooth Rides

Despite this, I already did order the suspension parts, and I imagined my car wouldn’t be worse for the wear if we were to install them, so I decided to replace the front left lower control arm and strut with my dad as well. It was tough, but time flew and at the end of the story, my car now drives extra smooth, with nearly a completely new suspension. I am also extra cautious about the torque on my bolts. In car repair, as in medicine, there are certain simple explanations for scary symptoms, that must not be overlooked. In this case I suffered from some availability bias (terribly named, but simply means that since the suspension was the most recently available memory to me, I incorrectly gravitated towards it and fixated on it). I should have taken a step back and checked the most obvious causes of a problem, included unbalanced tires, loose wheels, and broken wheel components. Hopefully this is the last repair I need to do for a while.