when wheels are too big

Everyone knows that we all love big wheels, I do just as much as the next guy. We all, well most all, hate on donks with big ass wheels either because we simply don't like them or we feel that they are unsafe. Well the same holds true for any other vehicle with larger than average wheels.

What I'm getting at here is that a local guy around town here, a friend of a friend if you will, had some 27" wheels on a Tahoe (not sure what year). while he was driving down the road his axle snapped making him lose control and crash into a school bus, which then flipped and landed on his Tahoe killing him and sending at least 8 of the students to the hospital.

People always make comments on unsafe vehicles and everyone thinks it wont happen to them, or affect them but this goes to show that the worst case scenario can occur. Crashing into a school bus is about as bad as it gets. A lot of people think about bigger brakes with bigger wheels, but axles almost never get changed.

Sorry about the novel but I just wanted to make everyone aware that the worst case can happen and if it were you, or your family member, driving that Tahoe or on that school bus you would be a little more concerned about the safety of the vehicles that we all build here.

i dont understand how wheel size is in relation to the axles strength?

am i missin something here.....

well idk about axle strenghth eather but.... say u ot 26 or w/e stock brakes arnt gonna cut it.. so yea thats unsafe

he was probably driving like a fucking idiot. axles don't just snap under normal driving.

From what I know Lexani made the only 27" Wheels, and they were actually 22" wheels with a big lip that bolted on once you mounted the special construction Nittos on them. I could see a front suspension snapping but not a rear axle. A 27(actually22) should not cause insane wear and breakage. Now cars and trucks come with 22s from the factory. There has to be more to the install and condition of the vehicle than just big wheel made axle snap.

like i said this is a friend of a friend that his happened to. i just heard this from the people that he rolls with. i dont know how he was driving, no one does for that matter. i was just thinking more along the lines of the increased torque that the axle has to have in order to accommodate the extra weight. ive heard of donks breaking axles, why wouldnt a tahoe be able to? im just curious, not being hypocritical here.

Well it sucks that someone died but there have to be some underlying factors in the scenario. Hopefully the kids are all ok. Someday they will put seatbelts on school busses.

I agree with the donk deal but like in a newer chevy truck where you have 4 wheels disk and i also have slotted and drilled rotors also a hydoboost setup. If you guys read the article in the Truckin mag bout 2 months ago just with hydro it stops quicker. In the mag it said the average caliper is about 800psi where the hydro boost is like 1200psi. But the axlesbreaking with big wheels, you can break axles with 15s and axles are very hard to break and then he flipped into a school bus that crap had to be on cnn.

some of the more oulandish donks have big ass motors that are not even CLOSE to stock... they put 12 second motors in some of those things and drive the piss out of them... put a 120 pound wheel at the recieving end of 4-500 horsepower with stock axles and something will give.

a 5.3 is not going to break an axle shaft under normal driving, period. factor in all the freak occurances you want, it just isn't going to happen. rest in piece to the guy that died, and 35 spline moser axles to the rest.

in a way i can see why the axles broke. being under so much stress of a 27" wheel and then add on the size of the tire, there is quite a bit of rotational force going on and could have twisted the axle. its just like in a lot of off road applications, they swap for thicker/stronger axles b/c at times when trying to get over a big ledge the axle itself can twist in opposite directions and shear apart. call me stupid but thats the way i see it.