I don't remember what I was doing to the front end, but I too drove off with out tightening the front lug nuts.
Drove about 10 miles on a windy section of road before I heard a lot of noise and found my lug nuts loose. I had no tools, no cell. This was supposed to be a quick trip around the block. I did manage to find an old vernier caliper in the trunk that I tried to use to tighten the nuts. They would hold for about 1/4 mile.
This went on for about an hour so I could get close enough to a hardware store in a nearby town.
Didn't make it. Front wheel fell off. Lug nuts were sitting in the road behind me, evenly spaced.

Had problems a while back with the engine not idling. I checked everything 10 times. I finally got so pissed off I ripped the head off the engine to see what the f^ck was going on.
Found nothing
Finally found a blown fuse. The little bastard that's hidden in the engine harness that feeds the electric choke...
and the anti-dieseling solenoid