gitane59 wrote:
Left our home Saturday for the first multi-week trip out in the RV in almost a year due to many family and personal matters.
Got about an hour down the road and started to feel a funny vibration in the seat of my pants.......right front hubcap shot across the road up a curb into a parking lot .......right front wheel was being held on by only 3 studs.
Needless to say all the stud holes in my aluminium rim were reamed out and totally shot now forcing me to find another rim.....also noticed while checking tires before getting to the tire shop the that the left rear brake caliper bolts had fallen out completely.
Going to have a quick conversation with the shop that had done my maintenance and safety inspections for the past 6 years. "YOUR FIRED" will be my message.....The shop I have used for 6 years had the rear calipers off not 2 months ago to replace leaking rear axles seals.
You're being too kind as "YOU'RE FIRED" is not strong enough. When shoddy workmanship just looks bad that's one thing. In your case, the ineptitude of the shop could have led to massive loss to you (i.e. totalled vehicle and/or trailer), serious injury, or possibly death. A wheel coming off the steer axle while at highway speed can be a terribly devastating situation. The fact the tire came loose while you were in a populated area, without the trailer attached, and going at a relatively low speed is certainly a miracle.
At bare minimum your shop back home should compensate you for the purchase of a replacement wheel, the flatbed tow, and all labor costs associated with the repairs necessitated by their poor workmanship and quality control. Really, they should also compensate you for the campground fees because of the nights you had to stay in that location while waiting for repairs to be completed.
I'm not familiar with 'Safety Inspections' in Canada but I would assume that is a government mandated service? If this is true, I would also assume that shops must go through a registration process to be certified to perform these safety inspections.
I did some searching and found the
Canadian Light Duty Vehicle Inspection Standard which states:
"As partners in road safety, licensed Motor Vehicle Inspection Station owners and technicians must carefully review and apply the requirements contained in this technical Passenger / Light Duty Vehicle Inspection Standard (herein after referred to as the “Standard”)."
Section 9.8 of this standard refers to Wheel Fasteners. The technician is directed to reject the vehicle if:
- any fastener is bent, broken, otherwise damaged or missing
- there is evidence of a loose or ineffective fastener.
To determine if a 'wheel fastener' is properly tightened one must know the required OEM torque value then apply a torque wrench to the lug nut and determine if the nut is tightened to that level. I would also assume that ALL lug nuts must be checked during this process.
So where am I going with all this? Your shop is federally mandated to follow the procedures in the Inspection Standard. The fact that your wheel fell off means they didn't complete the inspection properly. This failure by the shop broke the law, caused you significant inconvenience and cost, and had the potential to cause you serious injury. The reason governments have things like safety inspections is to prevent harm to motorists due to improperly maintained vehicles.
You really need to report this shop to the proper Canadian authority. They took your money to provide a required service but they failed to do this properly. This shop put you in harms way and they need to be held accountable.
KJ
