the wheels fell off

• the wheels came off, the wheels fall off, the wheels fell off the bus, the wheels came off the bus, the wheels fell off the wagon, the wheels came off the wagon

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the wheels fell off

1. (idiomatic) Something failed, often after or amidst a laborious, tiring process.

   The coach said, "We were doing well for a while, but they got tired and then the wheels fell off".

• “wheels fall off”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.