I Was Trailering a $130K Corvette With My GMC Sierra Denali at 1:00 AM When A Wheel Came Off, “It Was a Miracle That No One Got Hurt”

It's your worst nightmare.

Imagine pulling a $130,000 Chevrolet Corvette behind your faithful GMC Sierra Denali pickup on a trailer, and the worst thing happens. A wheel comes off your truck. It could have been a disaster, but it may have been a miracle.

Sherwood from Royalty Auto Service in Georgia couldn't believe his eyes when a customer had his 2019 GMC Sierra Denali towed in with the wheel missing. 

The customer tells the auto mechanic that he was pulling a $130,000 Chevrolet Corvette behind his trusty truck on a trailer and told him the wheel had come off while he was on the highway.

In his TikTok video, Sherwood says, "The customer drives 3,000-5,000 with this vehicle and has 380,000 miles on it right now, a clean vehicle. He has all the services done, the tire rotation services done every few weeks."

He had the oil service done, but they forgot to rotate the tires, so he took it somewhere else to have the tires rotated. That was about 400-500 miles ago, and he was pulling a trailer, which is what he does, and he had a $130,000 Chevrolet Corvette on the trailer in South Carolina, and a wheel came off and rolled off into the woods."

"I've seen wheels broken off before, but every one of these wheel lugs is snapped off clean against the hub, and there's nothing left of the bolt. He said he heard a little bit of a noise for a few minutes, and then the wheel came off." 

"We don't know if the wheel was over-torqued because it snapped on the same spot on every one of the lug bolts." 

"We're definitely going to pull all the rest of them off, and we'll check the torque on them and just see where they're at so it doesn't happen on another one." 

"We need to double-check all those studs because if it compromised them to this point, it might have compromised every stud on the vehicle; we don't know, but we're going to check them."

"I mean, this was a miracle. There was no damage to the trailer, no damage to the car in the trailer, no damage to the truck's body because it hit the rotor, and because of the suspension, it didn't push it further into the vehicle where it didn't leave the truck on the ground." 

"It's a miracle at 1:00 in the morning, there were a bunch of fallen trees in the median because of the hurricane, so the wheel went into the trees and stopped. It kept the wheel from going on into oncoming traffic. The wheel was gone; he couldn't find it." 

Conclusion: 

I have pulled a trailer tens of thousands of miles behind my Dodge Ram pickup and did have the dual wheels on the back of the truck come off. We found that the axle nuts had sheered off, and Dodge had a problem with its axles doing this. 

The GMC truck's wheel came off because the lug nuts sheered off. I would guess the GMC Sierra Denali's wheel lug nuts were over-torqued. 

Over-torquing can lead to the shearing of lug nuts, as seen in the GMC Sierra Denali incident. Using a torque wrench will achieve the right torque level. It's crucial to prevent such accidents.

Chicago Pneumatic warns, "Wheel nuts that are over-tightened can often become damaged or broken, especially when hitting bumps in the road. This can result in a potentially catastrophic wheel failure, posing a serious risk to the safety of the heavy vehicle and its drivers. Using the right combination of tools to prevent this and achieve the right torque level."

With any vehicle, it's essential to take it to a qualified tire shop that uses a torque wrench to tighten the wheels' lug nuts. They will tighten them to the exact torque specs for your vehicle. If you don't, you run the risk of catastrophic failure of the lug bolts. 

Here are a few insightful comments from the Royalty Auto Service video, where viewers shared their experiences and thoughts on the incident. 

• Steven Whetstone - I am a mechanic. Have those lug nuts been torqued too many times? It's like a head bolt. That's a question. How many times can he torque a bolt before it breaks?
• Aaron Blue: Lug nuts were loose, and the vibration sheered the studs. I've seen it a ton of times. The telltale is what the holes in the wheel look like; they're probably egg-shaped.
• Daniel Curry: Was over-tightened, had a 99 RAM 1500, and had to replace all my studs.
• Kkustomz83 - Over torque issue, it looks like.
• Matthew - Happened to my RAM 3500. the wheels themselves had washers on them from the factory on every other hole. They break the lugs off if you don't line them up in the correct spot.

Have you had a similar experience with a wheel coming off your truck while towing? If so, we'd like to hear your story. Click the red Add New Comment link below and share your experience with us.

Check out my 2024 Chevrolet Silverado pickup story:

Imagine buying a new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado pickup, trading in your 2017 truck to a Chevy dealer, and then your bank says you still owe them for the old pickup you traded in. Here is David's incredible story. 

I am Denis Flierl, a Senior Torque News Reporter since 2012. My 30+ year tenure in the automotive industry, initially in a consulting role with every major car brand and later as a freelance journalist test-driving new vehicles, has equipped me with a wealth of knowledge. I specialize in reporting the latest automotive news and providing expert analysis on Subaru, which you'll find here, ensuring that you, as a reader, are always well-informed and up-to-date. Follow me on my X SubaruReport, All Subaru, WRXSTI, @DenisFlierl, Facebook, and Instagram.

Photo credit: Denis Flierl via Royalty Auto Service and GMC