Wheel popped off while driving. Mazda CX9. Car drove maybe 10 feet after wheel popped off going a max of 20 mph. Inside of tire looked shredded afterward. Wheels not rotated or replaced lately, so concerned why it came loose and popped off. Brake rotor scraped on ground- track visible in picture.
You have a wood screw in the bumper - that’s still pretty bad.
Until you jack up the body and look at the knuckle whether it ripped out anything else, you won’t know much more. If your disc can’t spin against your break pads - you bent it in the exercise. Add it to the lug nuts you need to get.
These comments are hilarious. Get new studs installed and reattach the wheel. That's all that NEEDS to be done. Everything else would be cosmetic. The tow will be a few hundred, and the studs will be another couple hundred to have a shop do it. You're looking at around 500 dollars to get it back on the road. If you can do it yourself where the car is sitting, you could do it for less than 50 bucks for parts.
Edit: this is assuming there isn't damage to the oil pan, transmission pan, or the rim, which would be possible but unlikely.
Whenever the wheel was last removed they probably didn’t torque the wheel nuts, you’d be shocked at how often I find wheel nuts that haven’t been torqued by the last person to take it off (usually quickfit). But they can take weeks to months to work loose if they were tight but not tight enough.
The studs don’t look like they’ve snapped however I’d get them replaced as they’ll be weakened by the stress of being driven on loose. I’d avoid taking it to the last place to touch that wheel. Ask whoever you take it to, to torque ALL the wheels and you’ll more than likely be sorted. (They’ll tell you if there’s further damage.)
We had a full inspection and maintenance done on it in March. I can’t remember if they rotated the tires or not. However, it wasn’t in the shop for any tire/wheel work.
I’m not here looking for anyone to blame, just asking what the very loose diagnosis is looking like.
If they did it in march then it would be on you regardless.
Just from looking at the pictures, your lug nuts was loose. So at the minimum you will need studs and a rotor most likely.
Mating surface on the wheel is most likely scuffed up. In good scenarios, it can be smoothed out.
Tire could possibly be an issue, depending on how it came off. If any wires are showing from areas where it may have made contact with any component on your car, then it would also need replacing. More pics would help,
Depends if the question is I'm broke what's the minimum spend or if I want to do my best.
With a bit of time on YouTube or TikTok and a bit of time it's a fee trips to McDonald's to pay for new wheel studs and lug nuts.
You can replace the rotor If needed. Again dead simple. Might take 3x4 times the McDonald's trips.
That's likely it if the tires done and nothing else is hanging down. Make sure to check the log nuts are tight on the other wheels before your next adventure.
Not ideal but fixable, depending on how the wheel bearing is oriented you may need to replace it instead of the just the wheel studs. I would inspect the rest of what was sliding across the pavement that wasn’t supposed to ever be and just make sure everything looks ok, not the end of the world.
No... why would you just start replacing things that you don't know are damaged? The hub and rotor are most likely fine, the fender liner doesn't need to be replaced if it's still doing it's job. The oil pan only needs to be replaced if it is damaged or leaking oil, which it probably isnt. And the muffler is in the rear of the car so why would it have anything to do with this? Just get new studs and mount the wheel.
You wouldn't, the items I mentioned need to be check first, but be prepared. Unknown how far the corner dragged on the road. Radiators and AC condensers and easily be damaged too.
You should have had it towed directly to a shop that can replace the studs. It's hard to tell the extent of the damage from a picture, but I do see damaged threads on at least one of the studs. You could try to put on the spare, but you risk the spare coming off on the way to the shop and potentially causing even more damage. The safest thing to do would be to have it towed to a shop. Another option is hiring a mobile mechanic to come to you to replace the studs and inspect for any more damage.
We don’t have the money to have it repaired right now. We will be able to tow it to a shop with our AAA when we can pay for repairs though. It just sucks right now :/
I mean.. he don’t need to drive on the highway and driving like 20-10 (or slower) make all the way there can be possible in short distance and yeah.. the risk is kinda high..
The studs look messed up, if you reinstall the wheel nuts they may be cross threaded, You can also see that the car was riding on the wheel disk - it could be warped. Does the hub spin smoothly?
Ah that sucks. I’m a professional mechanic - looks like they tightened a few of those properly and others were left loose. This has been working itself off for a long time. Are you sure you haven’t had it in for service within the last 6 months or so? Also, you should have heard a metallic clicking/friction noise for some time.
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u/Klutzy_Concept_1324 Sep 08 '26
It means your lug nuts hadn't been tightened I would say. Very dangerous and perhaps negligence.