I bought the trailer a month ago and did a coupe of short trips in the town (<10 miles each way) without any problem, it is basically brand new. Last week I went out for the first track event with this trailer then one of the wheel fell out of the hub when I went back, on the interstate at 60mph. It is so lucky that the wheel did not hit any other car and eventually stopped at concrete barriers at the center. I pulled over right away then look for my options. Because of the size, it has to be towed by lowboy and loaded with forklift, it is impossible to do so on the highway, I have to try to get off the highway. I did managed to get off by driving 15 mph with hazard light on for 4 miles to the nearest exit and wait for the tow truck.

Again, I feel so lucky that no one hit by my wheel, there were quite a lot of traffic, also I did not roll over and everything in the trailer was fine. It was very scary after the wheel fell off, the trailer and my SUV start swing immediate...I got back home by 3AM midnight with $2200 tow bill but feel thankful for the towing company which tried every single method to find me a driver at Saturday night.

One more thing, I did checked the nuts torque before I headed to the track, but I did not check before I got back. I thought it was OK since the round trip was only 300 miles, but I was wrong. I talked to the to tow truck driver and he said wheel off the trailer was actually not uncommon...

Lesson learned, check your wheel nuts before you hit on the road!

 

Do you not carry a spare wheel in your trailer ?
You could have removed one nut from each of your other wheels and limped it home slowly ...

I carry two spare wheels and a few spare lug nuts in my trailer , it's a lot cheaper than a $2200. towing bill !
Just sayin ...

Cheers
Phil

 

Sorry this happened to you. Good reminder post!

^^^^ This. I was wondering exactly the same, even with a broken stud, this should have not been no problem after you got off the highway. I highly recommend a properly inflated spare tire and a Trailer-Aid tire changing ramp. Also make sure you have your tools accessible.

 

THIS ! I have a friend that has an enclosed Trailex and blew a tire. The spare was in a floor cabinet UNDER the loaded car. I built an inTech a couple years ago and they had the spare tire box in the same place. I have the spare out and secured at the front of the trailer so I have easy access to it, and use the floor cabinet for storage.

Also agree on everything that you would need to change a trailer tire being readily available, including all of your tools and the Trailermate. On my prior trailer, I had a tire let go around 9PM in the middle of the Adirondacks on the way back from Mont Tremblant. Pitch black. I was fortunate to have everything accessible and pre-prepared.

Dont ever forget that trailering can be dangerous and is not to be taken lightly. Spend the time to ensure that your trailer is a ready as the car you have in it.

 

Unfortunately, the thread on the remaining studs were damaged, I can not put nuts on

 

oh my - what a nightmare!

 

By chance do you have one locking lug nut on each trailer wheel (possibly the one that the stud broke - would be hard to tell now)?

Weird series of events. Thanks for the reminder and sharing your story, glad no one was harmed and just a dent in the wallet.

 

OP, if you checked the torque on the lugnuts at the start of the trip, and only in 300mi later one set of wheels came off like that then something else is very wrong.
Properly torqued lugnuts on Wheels on trailers do not come loose in 300mi. You may want to have everything re-inspected by a reputable trailer shop.

 

I checked the wheels carefully when I dropped it to the shop today. It is needed one locking lug nut on each wheel. I think this is the one with stud broken, which means all the others nuts except the locking nut went loss.

Both towing company and repair shop suggest me to contact the dealer and claim factory warranty to get all my money back, the trailer is one month old and with less than 300 miles on it.

 

Yes, that's what I am doing now, dropped the trailer to shop today and let them do more inspections.

 

I think there is something wrong. Breaking a stud on a trailer is unbelievable. Also, maybe check your torque wrench against another one. Maybe your wrench is off?

 

Or could someone have tried to take the wheel off and then realized the last one was a lock? If the lock stud broke, I have to wonder if the other 4 were loosened or off .

 

Either way is possible, but no way to find out now...

I hope my experience can help other people, make sure to check the trailer from time to time, not just your race car...

 

One broken stud does not make a wheel fall off. Did it break first or last. You can torque the nuts but if the stud is not fully seated you will have a problem. Been there. When I replaced all studs I verified they were seated by torquing them before the drum was back on the trailer. Few pops with a hammer after tq as well to make sure fully seated.

 

If this was a new trailer, you should have been checking the lug nuts torque regularly. Intech specifies at 25, 50, and 200 miles. My Featherlite also had similar requirements.