Crazy vehicle accident in LA

Nobody seriously hurt. And just to add insult to injury, the tire comes back and smacks the car one more time...



Couple of years ago I saw a tire come off a semi from the opposite direction. When the tire hit the first pothole/bump, it went flying at least 70-80 feet up in the air. Landed in the ditch and wobble/bounced into the woods. This was on I-80 east of Merle Hay Rd.
 
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Reactions: isutrevman
I saw something similar, but less crazy, on my way back from Iowa City about 20 years ago. Full tire/rim from a car in the eastbound lane came flying across to the westbound lane and smashed into the side of a van that was just in front of me. Driver of the van got it to the side of the road alright, no one hurt, but the van was toast.
 
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Only question I have, what did the wheel hit after rolling back, so it could bounce forward again? Maybe the guardrail/divider? Or is it possible the spin was so extreme it rebounded? Not sure what's physically possible in that situation.
The tire was never going backwards. It was just going forward slower than the crashing car and the camera car, when they stopped it caught back up.
 
Only question I have, what did the wheel hit after rolling back, so it could bounce forward again? Maybe the guardrail/divider? Or is it possible the spin was so extreme it rebounded? Not sure what's physically possible in that situation.
Probably the forward torque being released caused the tire tread torque (which would be the opposite direction)to be dominant and have it go backwards.
 
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Guessing that truck driver that lost the tire regrets not tightening the lugs on the tire properly…

You’d think the tire would be wobbling before coming loose. I may or may not have forgotten to tighten my wheels down after a brake job on my truck in the college years and there was a definite wobble. I pulled over and had two lug nuts left and found a couple on the shoulder along 30.

My guess is he had cheap wheel spacers or his dumb lift caused enough stress that a ball joint or tire rod let loose and caused enough stress at high speed that it sheared the lugs.

Either way, I’m sure backyard mechanic skills caused a potential life altering accident. I always get nervous around lifted or lowered vehicles.
 
I went from commuting 3.5 hours a day on LA highways to about 3.5 hours a month thankfully. I felt like I was rolling the dice with life. I think that's hwy 118 that I would take a few days a month when 101 was really bad. The wild thing is that looks like wonderful traffic conditions on a road that's often crazy.

Do any "truck guys" know if it could be that truck's fault for the way it has the wheels out like that?
 
Only question I have, what did the wheel hit after rolling back, so it could bounce forward again? Maybe the guardrail/divider? Or is it possible the spin was so extreme it rebounded? Not sure what's physically possible in that situation.
It was always moving forward. When it was on the truck. When it fell off the truck. When it went under the other car. And then when it ran into the other car again. Forward the whole time.
 
It was always moving forward. When it was on the truck. When it fell off the truck. When it went under the other car. And then when it ran into the other car again. Forward the whole time.
I see it now after a couple of responses to my post, and I viewed it again. Easier for me to realize when I played it full screen.
 
I went from commuting 3.5 hours a day on LA highways to about 3.5 hours a month thankfully. I felt like I was rolling the dice with life. I think that's hwy 118 that I would take a few days a month when 101 was really bad. The wild thing is that looks like wonderful traffic conditions on a road that's often crazy.

Do any "truck guys" know if it could be that truck's fault for the way it has the wheels out like that?

People put on wheel spacers to create less backspacing and a wider stance. There are decent ones and there are ****** ones. IMO all of them are dumb AF on trucks when they’re used to widen the stance. They can be used to adapt different bolt patterns to cars and trucks and in certain instances they have their purpose.

61UEXLr-0KL.jpg
 
People put on wheel spacers to create less backspacing and a wider stance. There are decent ones and there are ****** ones. IMO all of them are dumb AF on trucks when they’re used to widen the stance. They can be used to adapt different bolt patterns to cars and trucks and in certain instances they have their purpose.

61UEXLr-0KL.jpg

So possible the guy effectively caused this by messing around w his truck?
 

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