“Simply, then add lightness” was the philosophy of legendary Lotus founder Colin Chapman, but it’s rather unnerving when your vehicle decides to simplify and add lightness while you’re underway. [Ed note: if you only click one link today, that’s the one.] While parts aren’t supposed to fall off of vehicles while driving, if you happen to be piloting an abominable shitbox, it can happen.
I haven’t always owned good examples of vehicles, so I’ve lost several things while underway. A section of exhaust piping on my Ford Crown Victoria made a horrendous clunk as I ran over it, the undertray on my G35 was largely silent as it parted company with the rest of the car, and an indicator lens on the Crown Victoria barely made a whisper as the ancient sealant gave up on life, allowing the polycarbonate to be taken by the breeze. Believe it or not, I’ve had a part fall off of a brand-new vehicle while driving too. Many years ago, I was driving a GMC Acadia press car over some freeway expansion joints when one of the rear HVAC vents fell out of the ceiling.
The most puzzling case of parts-shedding I’ve encountered didn’t happen to me, but I’ll never forget witnessing it. Pulled over on the oncoming side of the road was a second-generation Hyundai Accent, and several meters behind the car, its fuel tank was resting in the road. Given the tenacity of filler necks and lines, one can only imagine how the hell the driver managed to do that.
So, have you ever had parts fall off of a vehicle while driving, and if so, what were they? How spectacular or stealthy was the departure? As ever, we’d love to hear your experiences with spontaneous lightweighting in the comments below. We can commiserate, because many of us have been there before.
(Photo credits: Hyundai)
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I was at a British car show once, and saw a bumper sticker on a car (don’t remember what brand) that said “The parts falling off of this car are of the finest British quality”. Still makes me laugh
Driver’s side windshield wiper, during a torrential storm, on I-84 at the MA/CT border area. At night. Wound up flopped over the left mirror.
Volvo S40.
Been there, done that. 80’s high top custom Ford van with the family driving I-10 in the middle of the night far from civilization in a serious downpour. Damn thing flew off and was digging into the glass, so pulled over and put two of the kids socks on the arm, l leaned over to the passenger side and kept going. No way were we going to be stuck where we were, I’d have driven at a crawl to keep going.
I leaned over and looked through the passenger side too!
Didn’t help that I’d spent the day on a slow train from Philadelphia to Boston before getting in my car and driving to CT.
The part I left out is my then wife waited about 20 minutes and then asked me, why didn’t you move the passenger blade over to the driver’s side. Doh!
My dad was hauling his cj5 on a trailer when the windshield on it decided to take off, frame and all. Luckily grandpa was following us, so he pulled over and grabbed it. My dad finally put it back on 3 years ago. It came off almost 20 years ago.
My 77 Grand LeMans decided to add lightness by shedding the baffles and matting of one of the turbo mufflers while driving on I-44. I was tooling along at 70 mph when suddenly the car got quiet and the tach needle started dropping. I just had time to say “Umm” when there was a huge BOOM that oddly I did not feel as much as I heard, and I saw an orange and black fireball in the mirror as well as white tire smoke from the Toyota that had been tailgating me for the past 30 miles. The ignition had module failed, with inertia briefly turning the engine into a 400 cubic inch air pump drawing gas through the carburetor. Our best guess is that one of the mufflers had a hot spot inside that was just enough to ignite the fuel-air mixture when it got to be just so. It split the muffler case open at the seam and end caps, but the case and caps remained attached to the intermediate and tail pipes.
It was a loud drive home, with basically open headers on the right bank.
Does a driveshaft count? It was one of those old Dodge postal vans with the slant-6. Yes, the lack of a driveshaft was noticeable. Stuffed everything back in place and (gingerly) drove back to the store. It was normally driven short hauls by a bunch of different people, and had the clunks and rattles of a worn-out truck. Guess those U-joint noises were different.
The most notable for me was the summer of 2020. I was hauling a miniature Jersey cow to a customer from my farm in MD to southwestern NC with my ‘96 GMC K1500 and a single axle trailer. 8pm, I’m on I-81 close-ish to Blacksburg, VA, and suddenly the trailer lurches and the right trailer wheel comes flying past me and up an embankment. The wheel bearing had decided to vacate the premises. Thankfully the spindle was ok (it rode on the nut). After recovering the wheel and making sure the cow was ok (she was), I unhooked the trailer and headed up to the next exit to a small parts store that stayed open long enough for me to get *the wrong* wheel bearing set (it was the only one they had) and a work light. By the time I get back to the cow it’s 9pm. The axle nut was a bitch to get off but it finally comes and I’m left with the uncomfortable realization that the inner bearing is the right size but the outer doesn’t fit snugly on the axle. After some creative shimming I finally get everything sorta back together and I get back on the road praying it holds until the cow’s destination. It’s almost midnight by this point. I limp along at 40 mph the remainder of the trip, and exactly 0.2 miles from the farm’s driveway, the wheel bearing fails again. It’s 3am by this time, it’s a single lane gravel road up in the hills, so I decide, screw it, I’m going to sleep in the truck. I’d been awake for 24 hours and this point, having worked an early shift before hitting the road with the cow.
At 6am, a good ol’ boy wakes me up with a sausage sandwich and directions to the only trailer shop in a 50-mile radius. It happens to be 7 minutes away. The dude at the shop was great, had everything I needed, and in short order I got the trailer fixed and the cow successfully delivered. The customer was super understanding and actually helped me replace the wheel bearing. The trip home was uneventful. Thankfully.
Should also add, being a farmer, this isn’t the first time I’ve lost a wheel bearing and hub. Seems like every few years I’m hauling hay and a wagon hub packs it in. Wagons take a lot of abuse and hubs are usually the weak link. Last one that failed thankfully failed about a half mile from home, right in front of my neighbor’s yard. Another time, I had a hay wagon break literally in half when the frame split from fatigue. That was a fun recovery. Had to pick up the front of the wagon with my tractor and drag it, in reverse, about 2 miles to my rental farm.
Grew up farming, understand the struggle. Equipment gets used hard, and no time for maintenance. Then when you do have time for maintenance, you don’t have the money
So glad the cow was OK.
Front wheel drivers side wheel and brake plus’s some other stuff came off of a VW Dasher when a CV joint failed on the Taconic State Parkway.
Both rear wheels fell off my 1969 Chevy Malibu convertible west of Des Moines Iowa. Both at the same time! It turns out that the Des Moines Sears auto service place didn’t know how to tighten lug nuts on mag wheels. Fortunately it was real early in the morning , no traffic and I was able find two lug nuts in the road plus the ten in front to get three on a wheel and get to the next auto parts store that sold mag wheel lug nuts. Did I mention I was towing a trailer?
Tie rod fell off a Ford F100 in NYC. Did you know that you can sort of drive with only one front wheel doing any steering? Yes you can! Don’t try backing up though.
The chain broke on a Honda trail 90 motorcycle and somehow one thing led to another and the rear wheel became disconnected from the bike.
Other than that only minor stuff like all the under tray and fender liners on my mom’s Prius.
I had a hubcap come off my ’71 Fiat 128 on the highway. I am still trying to figure out the physics of it passing me.
Hmmm?
Weird car physics eh…
I mostly understand why a bee in the back of my car can hover and catch up to me in the front seat when I’m going 75 mph, it’s flying in a sort of vacuum I guess.
The physics behind being passed by your own jettisoned hubcap intrigue me.
Probably something similar to gearing ratios (I don’t know what I’m talking about).
Large circumference gears spin at a lower speed than smaller circumference gears they are meshed with (I’m making this up, just guessing from my limited knowledge of mechanics).
As a tire rolls down the road the inner portion (axis?) spins faster than the outer portion (no idea?).
When the hubcap breaks loose it’s spinning faster than the tire on the vehicle and is also suddenly unencumbered by the weight and drag of the vehicle.
It’s also ice skate thin at the edges leading to less speed reduction through friction than your tires.
That’s the best I can come up with off the top of my head.
The inner portion spins slower than the outer. Think of a merry-go-round in the park. In the center you turn slowly, and at the edge you are moving very quickly.
The tire tread moves quicker than the outer edge of the hubcap.
I think we’re getting into principals of inertia and gravity now.
That shit is way beyond my pay grade.
Can someone please explain this all to me?
This is a brilliant question.
I’d love to hear The Autopian answer to it.
Via deep journalistic dive or from the commentariat.
My best guess is that when the metal hubcap hit the ground, the energy of the rotation transferred to forward movement when the edge caught the asphalt.
Knowonelse: Replied to my comment.
Clever name.
I believe what happened is that the worn out wheel bearing I was putting off fixing until the weekend caused a lot of vibration which eventually loosened the lug nuts enough that the wheel was able to snap them and go solo. It was the driver’s side front going about 60mph. Somehow I was able to force the vehicle to the side of the road and stop. I was lucky the seals in the rack didn’t blow because turning the wheel with a rotor digging into asphalt on one side was like driving a heavy truck without power steering. Thankfully there were no injuries or damage aside from the car. I did have someone stop to see if I was okay and they told me they were astonished I managed to control the car. I was too, I was sure I was going in the woods.
Late 90s Dodge/Plymouth Neon
Driving down a windy fairly steep mountain road and the right rear tire on my 51 Dodge pickup passed me going down the hill. Had the wife and the new baby in the car. Luckily no traffic and I was able to find a pullout to get it reasonably off the road.
One time my driver side wiper arm (another Dodge pickup, mi-60’s) launched itself during a driving rainstorm.
The most dramatic was when the entire contents of my oil pan launched through the tailpipe of my 60’s Ford Thames cab-over van. Giant black cloud obscured all traffic behind me as the oil exited through the hole in one of the pistons.
Yes.
Normally I start this story with “you think I’ve never been in the back of a police car?!”
One time I was helping my brother test drive a used Dakota. Don’t recall the year. He drove it away from the “dealer” said it felt good. Then I took over and the brake pedal went to the floor. Being experienced in beating beaters, I had it up to about 70 when the left front bearing separated. I’m still surprised how much control I had, got to the left shoulder. A good samaritan drove us to a gas station, we called 911 from a payphone, and a cop drove us back to the dealer.
Another time the gas tank dropped in my 2004 grand Cherokee, also on the expressway. Btw, that jeep stands as the most expensive mistake I’ve ever made in my whole life. The… pitman arm..? was so close to separating and killing my family, I had enough and sold it (only vehicle I’ve sold). But it was sweet doing an alignment in my driveway after replacing that. Total toe not affected, just steer ahead.
Have more, less good ones but tired of typing.
Several times I lost the can of Diet Coke that was a fixture in my 1980s vehicles.
Fell right off the roof it did.
The advent of cupholders (along with my evolving taste) greatly reduced the frequency of these calamities.
My family once lost a large pizza to this phenomenon.
I lost the whole quarter panel off my old s-10 blazer. She was pretty rusty, but a beast in the snow. Driving home in a big snow storm one night and the snow build up must have been too much for the rust that was attaching what remained of the quarter panel. Well by the time I got home the rear quarter panel was gone. No idea when/where it fell off.
Yes, the right driveshaft of my BMW E46 fell off. On a German Autobahn. At around 90 mph. At night at 10 pm. About 200 miles from home. It’s a very loud noise btw.
Lost the belt from the diesel of my ambulance once. Was transporting a patient lights and sirens at freeway speeds to the hospital when I heard a tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-THWAPP! I watched the belt make it’s bid for freedom. Since it was a diesel (~2000 Ford E350), it kept running and we got to our destination, but no farther. I slipped and fell on my ass when I exited the cab, the whole side of the truck was covered in antifreeze.
I had the muffler fall off my Montero! It was banging around for weeks before it finally kachonked off and I drove over it with my back tires. The kids in the alleyway stopped whatever they were doing and watched me get out, slap some gloves on, throw it in the back of the truck, and just drive off with it now 4x louder. It sounded ridiculous for a week.
When I (ahem) “borrowed” my Dad’s Subaru one night just after I got my license, the car’s steering suddenly bound up and I started skidding. In the third lane of the freeway. At night. In the rain. After fighting the car over to the shoulder and internally shitting all the bricks, I found the left front wheel pinned diagonally across the rear edge of the wheel well. But no other damage.
So, turns out my Dad had had some axle work done a week earlier, and the dingus at the “shop” had forgotten to put the cotter pin back in the ball joint assembly on the left side.
I happened to be driving the car when the nut decided it was done with its ride and exited stage left. First bump I hit after that and the ball joint popped out. Game Over.
I alway brake before a bump, then coast over it. Doing so on a shallow left into a store, one of the rf brake pads broke free as that wheel hit the trough between road and the store’s lot. I reinstalled it, drove home quite gingerly, pulled a few new parts plus the motor, and junked the rotted shell. At almost a quarter million miles, it had served well, but was done
The Porschelump keeps snapping and/or trying to shed its alternator tensioner bar. Haaaaaaaate ittttttttt.
Yes, I have. Behold, my 88 Audi 5000S Quattro: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ptG6MqaE4bskqMiL6
It was 2011, and we were going to spectate a snow rally race in Michigan. We loaded the Quattro up with 4 guys and all our gear (you can see some strapped to the trunk lid). Unfortunately, we blindly followed the GPS, which took us down a snowmobile trail. As the snow got deeper and deeper, I could feel it pushing up on the rear footwell. Eventually it ripped the exhaust off. We got turned around, and went into town.
The (now glorious sounding) Audi was quite the hit. That night, as we were going through town back to the hotel, I was driving as gently as I could. As I turned at the only stop sign in town towards the hotel, a cop pulled us over. When he asked why he stopped us, I responded “because my car is *ridiculously* loud. Sorry about that, the exhaust got ripped off. It’s in the dumpster behind that gas station.” He looked in and saw all of us bundled up in ski suits, stuff crammed into every square inch of the interior, and said “OK, you boys have a good night!”
I lost the sunroof (glass panel) off of my Avalanche in Kansas going 80mph. I didn’t know what happened at first as I had the sunshade closed. All of a sudden, it got really loud. I pulled over and it took awhile to figure out what it was. Drove to Lowes and cut a piece of plywood and tape to close the hole. Found out later, there was recall on the sunroof for that problem.
Yes… One time when I was driving my 2000 Saab 9-3, I had to slam on the brakes because someone cut me off.
As a result, my front bumper flew off.. but remained dangling by the fog light connectors.
It was embarrassing.
Had to get out, shove my bumper back on and was back on my way. Then subsequently tied my bumper more securely to the car so it wouldn’t happen again.
And another time with that same Saab, after hitting a bump, part of my exhaust fell off onto the roadway.
I just remembered the time a headlight on a 911SC I was driving fell out under braking, rolled into traffic and got crushed by a school bus. That was awkward.
My Mustang decided to eject it’s hood while my Dad was driving it thanks to a faulty hood latch that wasn’t replaced after an accident.
My Silverado work truck had its brake pedal come loose and fall to the floor mid u-turn thanks to, frankly, a god awful design and nobody from management telling me about an active recall.
The entire front-driver wheel of my 1989 Pontiac Grand Prix.
Luckily I felt a wobble and had already slowed down to about 30mph. Then I hear a bang, and imagine my surprise to see my wheel rolling out across the field. “Hey, that looks like mine!”
Turns out mechanic cross threaded and gave the lugs a few too many ugga-duggas.
Fortunately, the wheel knuckle landed and slid on one single bolt, and didn’t damage anything. Mechanic paid to have it fixed, including the fender body work.
My Lotus Elite discarded the catalytic converter heat shield on a spirited drive last year. I did circle back and retrieve it, but decided to follow Chapman’s philosophy of lightness and elected not to reinstall.