Bad LOUD Thumping Sound

[Blueribbon]

Yesterday on some tight twisties, trike started making very loud thumping sound. I immediately pulled on to a side road. Looked under and could not see anything. I jerked the drive shaft and it appeared that was not the problem.

Pushed the bike with no engine power, and still made thumping sound. Not consistent with specific number of tire rotations.

Friend volunteered to go to my house get truck, then drive to storage and get trailer. While waiting for my truck & trailer, decided to pull hub cabs and what did I find. In one of them a couple sheared lug bolts with nuts attached. Other two lug bolts, nuts were finger tight!!

My experienced Honda dealer took it in about an hour before closing on a Thursday. They checked with parts department and said they could get 4 new lug bolts on Tuesday!! H*ll no! It is riding season. I called a NAPA dealer 6 blocks away, and they had them. Got them put in, and was ready to go by 6 PM and my wallet was $169 lighter.

Last Monday both rear tires were off to change from rubber to metal valve stems (as I had just put in a DORAN TPMS and they strongly suggested metal.) Told mechanic about it, and he swore he used impact wrench. I was sitting right there, but don't remember what re did on second tire (the one that failed.) He had no other comments other than "Oh, sh*t!) No offer to help pay for repair. (He could have repaired the hub, but not until next Monday, and I would loose out in a long ride Sat. and a good ride on Sunday.) Not wanting to miss rides is why I paid a dealer to do it.

 

[07BlueCSC]

:cxtv:The lug nuts should be TORQUED with a TORQUE wrench(not an IMPACT gun).:blush:
TORQUE should be somewhere between 70 & 100 lb/ft, depending on
manufacturers recommendation.

 

[RcSuD]

..and if you have aluminum wheels they should be re-torqued again after a couple hundred miles.

 

[TwoBye]

..and if you have aluminum wheels they should be re-torqued again after a couple hundred miles.

Quoted for truth!! I have alum wheels and I re-check mine about once a week. Have found them loose a couple of times, not finger loose mind you but loose enough that I had to re-torque them back to 90 lbs.

 

[msocko3]

:cxtv:The lug nuts should be TORQUED with a TORQUE wrench(not an IMPACT gun).:blush:
TORQUE should be somewhere between 70 & 100 lb/ft, depending on
manufacturers recommendation.

:Agree: I Never use an impact, depending on the type they can develop 200ft/lbs which is way more than needed. The OP got lucky, it could have been his final ride. IMO I would be all over the mechanic with the impact like white on rice. A co-worker had his truck to a local Sears for new tires, they used an impact to tighten the lugs. A few miles away his front tire came off when all the lugs sheared, he got lucky and didn't wreck.

 

[cscsonny]

Good to hear no serious damage or injuries.There are photos here on TT that a member lost a wheel while on the highway,not pretty.
I have chrome wheels and check torque often,just have to be careful to not break those plastic hub caps,$30 to replace.
I do have a question,how did you manage to pull the drive shaft on the side of the road as low as your trike is?

 

[SEABILL]

I do have a question,how did you manage to pull the drive shaft on the side of the road as low as your trike is?

Not sure this is true for the other trikes, but on the CSC Cobra you can pull the right side cover, reach in and test the drive shaft.