Check Your Lug Nuts!

[Doubeleive]

I just tighten mine till they won't turn anymore

 

[kentman]

Consider that you are giving up a level of safety by daily driving those little cars. Before they re-arranged their website, the IIHS showed that my 2009 Yukon XL has ZERO fatalities after all these years. Now they lump it in with other years but the number is still very low, they are very safe vehicles compared to those little roller skates.

There is merit to the safety aspect. Just as long as you do not drive like an idiot, then you will be safe in an Accord and Civic. I find that the Honda Sense active safety features are much better than the safety features on the '15 Yukon. Also, it is much harder to haul down 6K lbs quickly when needed. You may be safe, but your rig will be wrecked more easily. In the Accord and Civic, I can bob and weave much better, and the active safety features help keep me out of trouble better. Defensive driving is the key to staying safe.

I like large rides for absolute safety, but I love driving light and nimble vehicles with rear wheel drive and a manual gearbox for the joy of driving.

Assuming the Yukon hangs on mechanically, I will still be driving it for another five or six years. It will be paid off in another year. I like to get some bonus time with no payments. $75 fill ups for 350 miles of driving still sucks. I can get 350 miles on $30 in the Honda's, and they are much more fun to drive. The turbos have nice low end torque and still sip gas.

 

[Rocket Man]

Meh. You can have your Honda’s. No thanks. I’ll bet I can stop my Yukon as fast as them too, and it probably handles better. I drive around pretty much everything but the fastest cars daily. But I did put 16” brakes, a blower, cam, headers, lowered it, put the best suspension components on it etc. I’ve had no payments since I owned it either, spent that money on upgrades instead. Now it’s fast and a blast to drive and it’s big which I love. So does my Malamute who roams around the back like it’s a playground. Can’t do that in a Honda.

 

[swathdiver]

There is merit to the safety aspect. Just as long as you do not drive like an idiot, then you will be safe in an Accord and Civic. I find that the Honda Sense active safety features are much better than the safety features on the '15 Yukon. Also, it is much harder to haul down 6K lbs quickly when needed. You may be safe, but your rig will be wrecked more easily. In the Accord and Civic, I can bob and weave much better, and the active safety features help keep me out of trouble better. Defensive driving is the key to staying safe.

I like large rides for absolute safety, but I love driving light and nimble vehicles with rear wheel drive and a manual gearbox for the joy of driving.

Assuming the Yukon hangs on mechanically, I will still be driving it for another five or six years. It will be paid off in another year. I like to get some bonus time with no payments. $75 fill ups for 350 miles of driving still sucks. I can get 350 miles on $30 in the Honda's, and they are much more fun to drive. The turbos have nice low end torque and still sip gas.

All those electronic safety features are moot when someone hits you out of the blue, that's what I'm talking about. Those little cars crumple up like tin foil maiming or killing their occupants. The passenger compartment stays in intact on the larger vehicles, generally speaking.

A K2 Yukon XL stops from 60 in the 120s feet according to the reviews. My older 13 year old Yukon XL still stops in the 140s at around 6,800 pounds. We use a VC-200 to measure performance. That's comparable to my old muscle cars at half the weight!

Long ago, after my near fatal accidents in small cars, I resolved to drive full-size vehicles from then on, the extra cost in fuel is simply the cost of safety. My last fuel stop cost $110.

 

[kentman]

All those electronic safety features are moot when someone hits you out of the blue, that's what I'm talking about. Those little cars crumple up like tin foil maiming or killing their occupants. The passenger compartment stays in intact on the larger vehicles, generally speaking.

A K2 Yukon XL stops from 60 in the 120s feet according to the reviews. My older 13 year old Yukon XL still stops in the 140s at around 6,800 pounds. We use a VC-200 to measure performance. That's comparable to my old muscle cars at half the weight!

Long ago, after my near fatal accidents in small cars, I resolved to drive full-size vehicles from then on, the extra cost in fuel is simply the cost of safety. My last fuel stop cost $110.

36 years of driving upwards of 1 million miles and never once crumpled massively. I have been hit multiple times in sedans by idiots in small and large vehicles, but I have always walked away without a hint of an injury. Defensive driving helps keep you safe.

If you get hit by an 18 wheeler, then your Yukon XL will crumple also. Ask Tracy Morgan about the Walmart semi that crushed the large vehicle in which he was riding. It is impossible to be the heaviest vehicle on the road. Even if you get T-***** on the driver side by another Yukon XL, then you are still at high risk of death in a Yukon XL.

Safety is one facet, not the only determining factor. Electronic aids help keep you out of accidents. Good driving skills help keep you out of accidents. Not rolling over keeps you safer. Lower center of gravity matters. Good tires in bad weather. Lots of facets to consider.

Price matters. I can buy 3 new sedans for the price of my Yukon XL. I can drive 2.5 times as many miles in my sedan on the same gas. I hate to light money on fire and watch it burn. Reliability and thus repair costs on the Yukon are much higher.

If safety is your trigger, then always buy the biggest thing that you can afford to buy and to buy fuel for. For me, safety is not the trigger. It has to be generally safe, but other facets matter more to me.

 

[bill1013]

Dead is Dead! But being in a bigger rig lessens your chance of biting the big one! If it's your time then it's your time, but if you're in a little box with four wheels then your time is up a lot quicker. I'll take the big, safer rig over the little aluminum shoebox.

 

[Doubeleive]

back to lug nuts
the correct type of lug nut for the wheel is important, if you change wheel type or design be sure the lug nut used is the correct type as well
some have a flatter edge and some are rounded and some are rounded even more
some allow the lug bolt to pass thru and some are only threaded a certain length inside, so the nut may stop as-if it is tight but that doesn't mean it is.
always tighten in a criss-cross pattern
you may also find one day if you have aftermarket wheels and lug nuts and get a flat and have to put the oe steel spare on the lug nuts may not work, on my 03 I kept a bag of lug nuts in the glove box in case I had to use the spare because the wheels I had used a different nut and wouldn't work with the spare.

 

[Rocket Man]

back to lug nuts
the correct type of lug nut for the wheel is important, if you change wheel type or design be sure the lug nut used is the correct type as well
some have a flatter edge and some are rounded and some are rounded even more
some allow the lug bolt to pass thru and some are only threaded a certain length inside, so the nut may stop as-if it is tight but that doesn't mean it is.
always tighten in a criss-cross pattern
you may also find one day if you have aftermarket wheels and lug nuts and get a flat and have to put the oe steel spare on the lug nuts may not work, on my 03 I kept a bag of lug nuts in the glove box in case I had to use the spare because the wheels I had used a different nut and wouldn't work with the spare.

Good point. This almost never gets mentioned.

 

[swathdiver]

I have been hit multiple times in sedans by idiots in small and large vehicles, but I have always walked away without a hint of an injury.

Small sedans are quite often hit multiple times. That's the point. You can be the best defensive driver in the world and still get whacked by a little old lady in her Cadillac. Nearly every member of my family has been seriously injured in auto accidents while being in small cars, myself included. But as you alluded to, to each his own!

IIHS data, driver deaths per million registered vehicles per year (2014-2017 MYs):

Tahoe 4WD - 19
Yukon 4WD - 27
Tahoe 2WD - 28
Yukon 2WD - 40
Civic 4DR - 46
Accord 2DR - 48
Accord 4DR - 34
Yukon XL 4WD - 0
Suburban 4WD - 8
Suburban 2WD - 25

 

[Fless]

back to lug nuts
the correct type of lug nut for the wheel is important, if you change wheel type or design be sure the lug nut used is the correct type as well
some have a flatter edge and some are rounded and some are rounded even more
some allow the lug bolt to pass thru and some are only threaded a certain length inside, so the nut may stop as-if it is tight but that doesn't mean it is.
always tighten in a criss-cross pattern
you may also find one day if you have aftermarket wheels and lug nuts and get a flat and have to put the oe steel spare on the lug nuts may not work, on my 03 I kept a bag of lug nuts in the glove box in case I had to use the spare because the wheels I had used a different nut and wouldn't work with the spare.

And don't forget to carry the correct size lug nut wrench/socket.