[TR] TR2/3 wire wheel adapters - frightening experience.

[Angelo Graham]

Hello List:

Just wanted to comment on a very frightening experience we had on Sunday 
while driving our TR2 to a show in a neighbouring town. While just 
accelerating after leaving a small village, big bang an commotion from 
the left front of the car, and the wheel came tumbling off! Must say the 
car behaved well - at about 45 mph. Kept straight when it hit the road 
and I managed to get it to the shoulder as the disc ploughed a deep 
furrow in the gravel. Fortunately, no traffic coming in the opposite 
direction as the wheel was flopping about it the oncoming lane. Some 
kind motorists stopped to help and they retrieved my wheel with 
knock-off still firmly in place.

Looked at the damage and the front fender had peeled back and the hub 
was clearly visible. All the adapter nuts had backed off the studs and 
the adapter was still lodged in the wheel with the nuts loose between 
the wheel hub and adapter. Wow! not sure what happened here. I had 
changed knock-offs a couple of weeks ago and did not find anything amiss 
at that time, though I did not check the tightness of the nuts.

Clearly a case of needing to do more routine checking - especially when 
it comes to wheels. Can't figure out why the nuts backed off - I think 
Loctite would be a good idea here.

Fortunately, no one was injured and we did not cause any further mayhem 
with our wayward wheel - could have been catastrophic. Bad thing is my 
wife is now a bit gun-shy when it comes to getting back into the TR. She 
was already nervous when looking into the wheels of the Ram pick-up in 
the adjacent lane, but trying to convince her that the TR is "safe" is 
going to be another matter.

Thanks for your indulgence.

Angelo Graham - TR2