They could loosen up and fall off one by one over 3,000 miles, but that is a long time. More likely, the lug nuts were overtightened. Tom: Here's the likely scenario: When you had your stabilizer replaced 3,000 miles ago, someone overtightened your lug nuts. What that does is it stretches the studs.

What happens when lug nuts are over tightened?

Excessively tightened lug nuts can strip the threads, distort brake rotors, damage the wheel, and possibly shear off the lug stud.

Can you overtighten Lugnuts?

Over tightening can warp your rotors. You're never supposed to use an impact gun to put lug nuts on because there's no way to accurately control the torque that's being applied.