3 Wheel Drive

Disagree 100%. This is a known fault with Patrols. I have lost the same wheel (drivers side rear 2003 Patrol) with all 6 stud shearing off, and from damage under the vehicle this is the second time it has happened. Been given all the same excuses, too tight, too loose, ill fitting nuts etc etc. In 30 years of driving have only ever lost 1 wheel and I am doing nothing different with this vehicle compared to all my others. There is a fault, Nissan just wont admit it
Peter

"The only way a wheel will come off is if it has not been fitted correctly"
That's true! There are multiple ways of incorrectly fitting a wheel.

"There is no way it was over tightened."
How do you know this?
Overtightening a nut/bolt will cause as much or more damage as under tightening ever will.

"Your wheels were obviously put on by the apprentice" Bloody good chestnut for avoiding responsibility this one!!
Have you ever been an apprentice? A good apprentice will shame a hell of a lot of 20 year alledged tradesmen.

Geoff.

As a matter of fact I was an apprentice mechanic once and I do agree with you that a good apprentice can shame alot of tradesmen but it is incredibly hard to find these guys........ And when you do you hang on to them.......

Thanks for the replies.

A few people we've spoken to have wondered if the tyre place had used a rattle gun rather than do the wheel up by hand ? We found the wheel after it overtook us and one of the holes had elongated into a sort of figure of 8. I'm guessing it was the last one to go. It was a strange experience !

Ian

Can't agree with you Bilbo,

I watched while the boys at my local Bridgestone dealership fitted a couple of new tires.

When one considers how many wheels removed and refitted these guys do in a day, a rattle gun makes good sense, provided it is used correctly.
They used the rattle gun, first to undo the wheelnuts, then initially to put them back on. BUT, they finished off with a torque wrench.

I would guess more and more tire outlets would be using the same practise to maintain their customer base. No one is going to go back to a shop that has incorrectly replaced wheel nuts, either by overtightening, or by not doing them up tight enough.

The manual method of final tightening ensures this process.
Using a torque wrench just improves the accuracy of correct fit.

Yep agree with you Bilbo, bob jane stuffed my thread on my commodore when they changed over the mags which were also faulty, (thats another story) when I went to take off the wheels due to the problem I couldnt get the nut off so I put all the rest back on again and took back over to them told them to get it off and yep stripped the thread tryed to blame me and I let loose, went back to holden as bob jane reckon holden did it on their pre delivery check, and the mechanics there said they should be charging bob jane as they had to replace the stud and said it was the 4th they had done in 1 week due to there rattle guns, and I couldnt beleive it when holden wewre using a wheel brace. They said they have gone away from using rattle guns as they cause too much trouble but I thnik it does have a lot to do with the torque settings, I have seen them use a bar that they attach between the socket and the gun suppose to be the correct tool to stop this from happening, but at the end of the day I wont let them use them on either of my vehicles, if they dont like it I go else where simple. Regards Steve M

Hello Snowy

You are spot on - we did have alloys on the Patrol when it happend. After 6 hours or so after the accident we go going again. I took some studs from the trailer we were towing and used them to get the spare on (also alloy, unused). At first I stopped every 30 km or so to check the nuts and I could get a little more of a "nip" into them until the 3rd or 4th time,

Interesting

Regards
Ian

i work for a nissan dealer, have done for many years. we sell more patrols than almost any dealer in the country and have never seen this problem. i would sugest it has to do with the use of rattle guns as a main cause
we all know patrols have their problems but this is a new one...will look into it.

have asked a few other dealers and all seem to agree it is to do with over tightening. even if you only do it by hand yourself, others may have over tightened previously, weakening the bolts. tyre shops are notorious for their use of rattle guns. here we only use them for undoing nuts...never doing them up.

When it comes to Nissan, nothing surprises me. They have been fogging off 4.2 owners regarding their overheating for years. Just another nail to their coffin as far as I am concerned. Young and plenty more new cars left in me yet but not Nissan one's.

Trevor.

Well put Trevor. We are kindred spirits and that was the gist of the sheep shearing crack as Nissan is the manufacturer I had in mind.

the hi and low points of the gauge is only 7 degrees different. past the h line is when you need to worry. normal operating position is about half way, there fore if it moves a bit higher, the actual temp has only risen about 3-4 degrees.

Donks,

If you are talking about temp gauge, I beg to differ. I have an aftermarket temp gauge (that has been checked for correct reading) and the GU's gauge moves 15c from 1/2 way to the bottom of the H zone. it also moves 15c before the GU gauge moves.

Regards, Trevor.

Hi,

Yes they sure do....The flange nuts are to suit the Alloy rim and the square bolt for the steel rim.

Found this recently after buggering one of the flanged nuts.

Rod

Bet that was an expensive learning exercise. The ones for the Tojo are ~$25 each.

Steve

that should have read - stray wheels leaving cars!

The web address for lodging your case with the federal Department of Transport and Regional Services is:

dynamic.dotars.gov.au/recalls/NotifyUs.asp

I ask that all Patrol owners that have lost a wheel send their details on.

Peter

Peter

can you give me an address where I can contact you ? I'd be happy to follow this up and will lodge a case

Thanks
Ian

Ian,

Give me a call tomorrow evening on 03 9754 1113 and I'll fill you in on my experience with my Nissan dealer. Email is mcguckian@acer.edu.au

Cheers

Peter

Mazdan

In my case the wheels had been last changed 5 months before. I suspect the issue is not with the studs but the seating of the nuts on the alloy wheel. The Nissan alloy wheel is made quite differently to Toyota, Landrover in that it uses the same nuts for the alloy wheel as for the steel wheel.

The fact is though that Nissan have not yet provided an explnation as to why and how this is happening. And they should! And quickly before someone is injured!

Peter

Hi Mazdan, Peter,

We have the what was left of the studs, but never recoverd the nuts and the better part of the studs. I asked one of the metallurgists in the company I work for to look at the parts we have. I'd damaged the ends when I hammered them out, but he seemed pretty confident it was a fatigue induced failure. The studs are "clean" new and not corroded in any way. His initial impression was that the nuts had been under torqued. I wonder looking at some of the posts that they became loose due to an issue with the alloys ? I regret I didn't ever check. Before the trip we drove around Perth for a couple of weeks ok. I find it hard to believe if the nuts were loose from the get go we would not have known earlier

Ian

And PostID 34261 relates to my experience. So we are running at one each month reported on Exploroz and many before that.

As I have said earlier, please send a submisison to federal transport.

Peter

Gary,

The handbook has only one set of torque settings. No difference between steel and alloy. If oyur theory is correct then all alloys on all GUs are likely to drop off and as I have said Nissan should be doing something. Like calling all wheels in for inspection and change as necessary.

I understand that factory alloys on 2000 and 2001 TIs had a totally different wheel nut - similar to Toyota alloys. They had a centre which fitted through the wheel. This would seem a much better option. Clearly to expensive to make though.

My recommendation is to fit steel wheels with new nuts and then use a torque wrench.

Please spread the word.

Peter

It was more general info, rather than specific to the GQ/GU....