Worst nightmare comes true

[Gina D.]

60 mph, hiway 46 in the central valley of California. Fortunately.. it was pretty much a non event. Heard a loud BANG, felt like I was driving over rumble strips, but no wiggle in the rig.. as a matter of fact, it took me a second to realize what happened.. when I saw the trailer leaning to the curb side really bad.

I am glad for every penny I spent on WDH and SWAY CONTROL. I absolutely did not feel the trailer at all.





I have no idea where the rest of the tire is. What you see is as I found it.

Haven't a real good idea why. I checked the tires not 60 miles earlier at a rest stop, but I did hit a HUGE pot hole 6 or 7 miles back from where it happened. The hit was bad enough to bounce the car and trailer, and everything in it. It was a mess inside.

The new tire has to come own from Fresno.. I am stuck here at Allensworth SP on my spare until tomorrow afternoon. Blah!

[Bobbie Mayer]

60 mph, hiway 46 in the central valley of California.

The new tire has to come own from Fresno.. I am stuck here at Allensworth SP on my spare until tomorrow afternoon. Blah!

Well, bummer, Gina. How was highway 46? That's the one with the construction? It sounds like it is as bad as they said. How long is it supposed to take them to get your tire? If I can do anything give me a call (I'll PM the number) as I'm leaving from Fresno tomorrow morning probably 10 ish.

Bobbie

[Gina D.]

Thanks Bobbie,

The tire is ordered and the Big O has my rim. All that has to happen is for them to mount and balance it (Assuming my rim is OK.. it LOOKED OK, but the tire mount will tell) and for them to stick it on the trailer. Not much can be done but wait.

I didn't see any construction, but this is only a few miles west of the 99. The roadway actually looks to be newly paved at this point.

The chuck hole as on the 99.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Thanks Bobbie,

The tire is ordered and the Big O has my rim. All that has to happen is for them to mount and balance it (Assuming my rim is OK.. it LOOKED OK, but the tire mount will tell) and for them to stick it on the trailer. Not much can be done but wait.

I didn't see any construction, but this is only a few miles west of the 99. The roadway actually looks to be newly paved at this point.

The chuck hole as on the 99.

Ah, well, then the construction is yet to come. I think it is at the junction of 41 and 46.

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Gina,
Your experience mirrors Ann's in Texas, even down to having checked our tires and hub temps shortly before the blow-out.
We are thankful for safety devices which do their jobs and the lack of spectacular details.
Enjoy the unexpected "free" time!

Kurt & Ann K.

[peterh]

Glad your trailer made it through OK . . . and really glad you're OK!

--Peter

[Roy in TO]

I am glad for every penny I spent on WDH and SWAY CONTROL. I absolutely did not feel the trailer at all.

Wow! Glad everything turned out with too many untoward effects.
Makes me think what would happen if it happed to me. No WDH since my 13' is light enough. No sway control because it does not sway. I've got a feeling it would not have turned out with the same results.
Gotta love your sense of humour after all this Gina ... there are not to many that would label the photographed result tireboom1.jpg

[Lisa M.]

Gina, now we discussed Allensworth last summer and I told you that, though the history behind the town is really neat, it really wasn't worth camping at. But you'll come up with any excuse!
Truly, so glad you're okay! Call me if you need anything!

[Greg A]

Glad ur ok Gina.
Any wheel well damage?
Our PO had a blowout, cause I found the patch he put in the wheel well when I gutted the trailer. Took out about a 1.5' section of the well.

[Ken Dale]

Here's an interesting article about some folks who weren't so lucky even pulling a tandem wheeled trailer;

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...story?track=rss

Happy to hear that you made it through this safe and without serious incident.

.

[Per Walthinsen]

Gina:
Relieved to hear that everything is OK (pending a report on the rim). Even the upgrade to 14" wheels could not have prevented that situation is my guess. Something similar happened to me on a city street years ago in my old van.

One thing is clear to me: the 17' Burro is very well designed as far as axle placement/general geometry/ surface areas in relation to wind effects is concerned. It does not surprise me that you hardly felt any significant tendency to sway or lose stability.

[james kent]

Wow! I can hear that thing go from here. Had one go while on a 2 mile down grade. Straight drop off on one side and cliff face on the other. We had to tow the trailer on the rim to the bottom to get to a pull off. Threw that rim away. Take a picture and mount your new artwork on the wall .

[Alf S.]

Hi: Gina sssorry about your NDE!!! I would send the invoice for the replacements to Gov. Arnold for reimbursement.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Christi V.]

oh wow... glad your ok!! thats not a nightmare I want to experience...!!

[John Salomon]

Glad to here you're ok Gina! Sounds like a very scary situation. Does anyone know if these trailer tires can be doubled up side by side like a dually wheel?

[Donna D.]

Glad to here you're ok Gina! Sounds like a very scary situation. Does anyone know if these trailer tires can be doubled up side by side like a dually wheel?

Anything is possible with enough time, effort and money. But unless you want the tire to stick way outside the body, you'd need to take more of the valuable floor space to make a wider wheel well. Not my cup of tea! I'd rather drive a little slower, a little more carefully and check the bearing and tires frequently... as Gina did.

I'd think you'd rather have tandem axles if you were concerned anyway.

[Kevin A]

We blew a tire similarly on I-88 in northern Illinois last Memorial Day. The whole tire came off in one round piece (re-tread?). This was our first trip out with the newly acquired 1986 UHaul trailer and it was a shock! I ran on the rim about 100 yards before I could pull off the road. The rim was so hot that I couldn't touch it for almost an hour, so I ate my lunch sitting by the trailer. I didn't have any special hitch set-up, but the trailer (16' UHaul VT) behaved as yours: just a lean with no swaying, but it felt like running on rumble strips. After I pulled the rim, I found the special UHaul hub had a real grinding noise inside. I think I probably cooked the sealed bearings! When I put the spare on, I discovered that the PO had guestimated on the rim - it didn't quite fit the special UHaul hub spacing. So I bolted it down the best I could, drove home at 35 mph on side roads with flashers on (about 110 miles), and promptly order two new rims from UHaul the next day (this one was bent, so I got a pair). The hub grinding went away when it cooled down, so we used the trailer for another trip without incident. Then, in Wyoming in July, we blew the hub apart - bearings rolling down the parking lot! Luckily no accident - I just saw the tire sitting cockeyed and checked it out. The whole thing was loose and fell apart when I removed the rim. We found a pair of new replacement UHaul hubs in Cheyenne (what dumb luck!), installed one the next day, and finished our trip. Moral of the story... Check your tires regularly, and don't forget to check the hubs and nuts, too! (The other new hub is getting installed when we have some dry weekends.)

[Pete Dumbleton]

Glad nothing worse happened! Now you know your rig is stable.

I had a tire blow on my Scamp 13' (no WDH or sway control) and hardly felt it. It was just towing strangely and making some tire noise -- Looked in rear view and realized egg was no longer level, so I pulled over.

With Jayco 16' I had a spring break -- Body dropped onto wheel, felt the drag, saw the unlevel in rear view and smoke in side view -- Propped up spring with piece of pipe I use a extension arm for tools (which bent into a more convenient form) and limped to rv place to get new spring.

[jim munson]

Was it a passenger car tire?

[Domenica and Sheila]

Gina -- I'm so glad to hear you are ok and had good equipment to help out in such a situation. It sounds like your trailer faired perfectly, as well.

When you say sway control, does that mean sway bar? And what is "WDH". I did a scan, but could find a hit.

Last year at Bandon, we camped near a great couple from texas. He told us their blow out story - he moved to "E" rated tires and recommended we do the same. After your story, I think we are ready to do our research and make some changes.

Take care, Domenica