Left rear wheel fall off...

[KingFish]

On my way to school, hear a grinding noise from rear well, start to slow down, I was only going 25, and BAM!! car drops, massive noise and I watch as my wheel goes rolling on by.
Looks like the last time the wheel came off no one staked the spindle nut. No damage amazingly. bearings still good and threads are clean. Did some sweet damage to my rear bumper and I will have to replace the seal but I got off lucky. missed school.

[Safety Guy]

Glad you "got lucky" so to speak!

Everyone should give their rear wheels a "slop check" now and then to see how much play they're dealing with. Any moaning noise from the back end should be suspected bearings going bad. Wait too long and something like this could happen--or they'll weld to your spindle.

If you purchase a Festiva or Aspire, you should check the play in the first five minutes of checking the car out and if you buy it, get the rear wheels off within a week or so to see what you have back there.

I check the play by simply grabbing the rear wheel and pushing and pulling. A little bit is usually okay. Any really measurable amount (say, over 1/16" at the tire tread) should worry you to take it off and check it ASAP. Do this test with the parking brake OFF, otherwise it will interfere with the procedure by stiffening up the wheel.

KF, needless to say, when you get this side fixed, check the other side!

Karl

[KingFish]

Bearings are fine. No lock up. Just no stake on the nut. I know I should have checked the car out as soon as I got it back, but i have been putting it off. Guess I got what was coming to me on that one...