We all know the wheels on the bus go round and round. However they are not supposed to fall off. Last week a bus driver made a quick stop at the liquor store. Must be hard to get reliable employees.

DETROIT (WXYZ) - A middle school bus in Michigan broke down on the side of the road after two wheels apparently detached from the bus while it was in motion.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

A photo of the L’Anse Creuse Middle School bus is making rounds on social media and sparking concern and frustration with parents.

“Nobody said anything to any of us,” Tammy Caparo said. She has a granddaughter in the seventh grade that attends that school.

She says there was no email, phone call or alert to tell families what happened.

Caparo picks her granddaughter up from school, but on social media parents who say their children were on the bus are reporting they didn’t hear from school officials.

“I would hope the school would do more about the safety of the children and reach out to the parents and let them know that they are doing everything they can to make the buses more safe for their children to get on,” Caparo said.

After the incident, many are left wondering how the wheels just rolled off a moving bus.

According to a L’Anse Creuse school official, it appears it was caused by a mechanical failure involving a bolt.

“The district has not had any other issues of this nature in the past,” the official said.

They went on to say that “extensive bouncing” caused by road conditions, such as potholes, could have played a part.

“Wheels just don’t come off of school buses,” said Andy Didorosi, owner of the Detroit Bus Company.

He’s repaired buses for years.

He said they are one of the safest vehicles, and it’s unlikely Michigan roads are to blame for wheels detaching.

“School buses are made to take hundreds of thousands of pounds of force on their axles,” he said. “They are extremely, extremely tough vehicles.”

Didorosi said it’s likely the bolts or lug nuts loosened over time, and the daily inspector missed it.

“And frequently drivers give a vehicle a quick visual inspection, which is oftentimes not enough,” he said.

WXYZ asked L’Anse Creuse if the bus had recently been repaired, as well as when it had its last state inspection, but did not get a response.

link: https://www.wlbt.com/2022/04/1...us-while-its-motion/

The wheels on the bus just fell right off.
Fell right off.
Fell right off.
The wheels on the bus just fell right off
All day long.

p.s. glad no one was injured...

Good. How about one with the bus driver stopped at the liquor store?

^^^

Bus-ted!

What do you want to bet the bus had had brake or other service(s) that required removal of the wheels and the lug nuts weren't tightened properly, or not at all? Some dual rear wheels have an indexing pin on the hub that goes through the corresponding hole in the wheel. If these weren't lined up, the lug nuts may seem tight, but the wheel (or plural, if rear wheels) wobbles, vibrates and eventually works loose. (Sh)it happens.

Must've gone to Sears, a trusted name in automotive repair...

That actually happened to my bus when I was in grade school...very dramatic morning. We only lost one wheel though.

Adds new meaning to the expression,
" The wheels fell off the bus."

Have excess of bolts/nuts (depending on wheel type) on hand for maintenance requiring wheels removal/installation.

Install bolts/nuts, apply paint line across bolt/nut and wheel.

Any maintenance performed, remove old bolts/nuts, install new bolts/nuts and apply paint line on new bolt/nut and over existing wheel paint line.

Removed bolts/nuts get cleaned (including paint removal) and inspected for serviceability and then put in the "replacement" bolt/nut bin.

Simple procedure to adopt.

When bolts/nuts are loose, it results in stripping of bolt holes, or thread damage or shearing of wheel studs and that can lead to damage of wheels and hubs, or loss of wheels.

Just eliminating a couple if instances would pay for the cost of bolt/nuts, labor and downtime of a fleet.

Solving problems is not difficult. Convincing people that are involved in getting good and effective policies in place is the hardest part.


Or, I just like the sound of "bolts/nuts"...

quote:

According to a L’Anse Creuse school official, it appears it was caused by a mechanical failure involving a bolt.

Umm, that would be a failure of 10 lug nuts.
Either not torqued to 450 - 500 ft lbs or over-torqued with a tire gun and popped the studs off.

That's not a good situation, glad no one was hurt.
I've seen the aftermath from a wheel end coming off a few times.
Wheels, hub, drum and axle shaft departing at high speed takes out anything in it's way.

At the DC in Washington that I used to manage, all the trucks had these nifty little triangles that were on the lugs. They pointed toward the center of the axle. If a lug was loose, it wouldn’t be pointed the correct way. Quick, easy, cheap inspection device. We never had a wheel fall off.

Similar to these.

I've gotten good compliments for doing a thorough pre trip inspection on my equipment. The old Autocar and Diamond Rios I drove always had lugs come loose from driving in and out of gravel pits and job sites. Every morning I'd get after those with the heavy T handle. Actually hurt my hand to crank down so hard. Only thing I ever missed on a pre trip was my Stanley thermos bottle which I sat on the diamond plate fender of one of the Autocars and I drove off. It came off on the highway at 45 MPH. There went my coffee.