Here's one for ya.....

Moderators: Greenleaf, BC847, Richie O

Here's one for ya.....

Postby JimmieD » Sun Jan 07, 2007 8:38 am

VERY exciting morning a couple of days ago. Had to deliver my old travel trailer to the new owner I gave it to. Did the normal pre-flight check and everything looked okay so left before sunrise.

Headed down the freeway and kept it at about 45-50 to get used to it again. After about 3 miles it seemed to be tuggin on the ball. Right about that time I looked in side view and saw a little bit of sparks coming from bottom of trailer. A pickup passed me with the driver laying on the horn and pointing back at my trailer. Just then a huge shower of sparks poured out from under trailer so I immediately pulled over deep onto the shoulder.

Could not believe my eyes! BOTH DRIVER'S SIDE WHEELS AND TIRES WERE GONE COMPLETELY!!! Still can't quite believe it. Thank God no wreck, nobody injured or killed, no tickets. Was able to take one wheel/tire off other side and swap over, and reversed my drop hitch and ball to lift tongue up higher and drug it to a buddy's house a mile away.

Yes, I have an enemy out there, a full-blown wacko psycho who has chosen me for his hobby. Never have figured out why me, but with a true nut case it doesn't have to make sense. That's all my problem of course. Ha haha, he's why I'm moving out of here.

The message for you: CHECK YOUR LUG BOLTS BEFORE EVERY TRIP!!! It could save a life.
JimmieD
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: Mid-Cal

Postby TugboatPhil » Sun Jan 07, 2007 3:12 pm

I was using my stepdad's 97 3500 with his 14 ft dump trailer. I had gone to pick up a load of gravel. I was getting close to the top of a fairly large hill on the Interstate. I saw a little bit of smoke in my side mirror. I just got out to check the brakes, and before I could get back to the trailer, a guy who had pulled in behind me came up to my door.

He said, "Your wheel is about a mile and a half back, on the downhill side. I looked back and the wheel was gone on the front axle. The smoke I saw was the sidewalls of the remaining tire wearing. I was very close to a rest area, so I crawled up to it. We unhooked and sure enough, the wheel had come off and rolled down our lane about a half mile and stopped in between lanes. Thank God that it didn't cause someone to wreck.

It appeared that the lugs had loosened and rounded out the holes. We got a roadside repair truck to come out, and naturally they sent the guy who knew the least about repairing a hub. Me and dad pretty much did his work so it wouldn't be screwed up.

As we got ready to head home, I did a walk around and noticed a sticker on the tailgate. "Check Tire Pressure and Lug Nuts Often." Apparently I didn't check them often enough.
93 D350, Modifed by Smokehouse Diesel, Ashland, Ohio.
Truck renamed by wife as "The Global Warmer."
User avatar
TugboatPhil
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:20 am
Location: Floyd, Virginia

Postby JimmieD » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:53 pm

Glad you made it okay! Whoever watches over you was watching over me, too? And thanks, misery loves company ha haha.....
JimmieD
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: Mid-Cal
Top

Postby woodrat » Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:48 am

I've lost wheels/tires off of my trailers before. Once, while towing my portable sawmill, I had crummy old trailer brake pads fall apart while I was cruising along at about 65. A chunk of lining fell down and grabbed the drum and the whole thing locked up. By the time I realized what was going on, the tire had blown into pieces and tore the fender off the mill as it went. it was a miracle no flying pieces hit anyone and that I was able to get everything off on the shoulder in one piece. It happened so FAST!

I had a sorry old tire on a boat trailer that I had recently bought peel the treads right off on the highway, but the tire held air long enough to actually get to a tire store, where it suddenly deflated like I was in a cartoon or something... When I first bought that boat, I was going to take the long way aorund the Sound to my brother's house in seattle to avoid paying the huge fee for taking a trailer on the ferry. In the end I got lazy and decided to take the ferry after all. About a block from his house, I hit a pothole and the axle collapsed in a cloud of rust right underneath me. It was just rust held together with paint! i managed to roll that right up into his driveway and was really thankful that my cheap side hadn't prevailed...

and last summer, I had a rear wheel on my truck suddenly fall off while I was towing a trailer. It started to vibrate and before i could get to the shoulder it was gone. Lucked out that time too and no one was hit by the flying wheel, although the rim and drum were trashed and I spent $400 on a tow truck ride home. All the other lugs on the truck were as tight as could be, and that one was actually sabotage I think, from me inadvertently stumbling into the middle of someone else's family fued. Ugh!

I've had bearings and tires go bad so many times I've lost count. I've been towing light trailers of all kinds for over ten years, and countless thousands of miles, and I've learned to be really wary of trailers that are new to me! I have another old boat to pick up next week and for that one I am loading the whole mess onto my flatbed trailer I think, and not even chancing the old, worn out tires, bearings and rusty axles...
92 Dodge W250, 5.9 Cummins, NV4500, custom steel flatbed
bunch of A2 VW's
63 Plymouth Valiant, slant six, pushbutton auto
boats and kayaks everywhere...
woodrat
fuel pin?
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:30 am
Location: Skamokawa, WA
Top

Postby JimmieD » Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:50 am

"I have another old boat to pick up next week and for that one I am loading the whole mess onto my flatbed trailer I think, and not even chancing the old, worn out tires, bearings and rusty axles..."

Ha haha, considering your track record, sounds like a plan :lol: I felt sorta dumb posting that but surprised to see I'm not alone on bizarre trailer adventures!
JimmieD
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: Mid-Cal
Top

Postby JimmieD » Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:51 am

System glitched and I posted twice...sorry. I have strange internet adventures too :lol:
JimmieD
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: Mid-Cal
Top

Postby woodrat » Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:57 pm

Mine posted twice too, but I was able to delete the second one.

Yeah, I guess my track record speaks for itself! And I'm a reasonably careful person, but when you tow as many different trailers as I have as many miles as I have, the "incidents" do stack up. I made it all the way home, almost 500 miles from a milling job once, and went out the next morning to move the mill around in the driveway and as I was looking in the mirror I could see one wheel wobbling. When I tore it apart, the bearing was totally gone, with the hub riding on the spindle alone, but the nut was still there and had kept it from coming off. And I had checked the wheels for looseness before I had left the day before, knowing that the bearings were getting tired and due for replacment soon. Instead of just bearings, I got to replace the whole axle assembly, since the spindles weren't removable.

Boat trailers are the worst though, since they get wet and then they sit around without being used most of the time. I've had more grief from old boat trailers than anything else...
92 Dodge W250, 5.9 Cummins, NV4500, custom steel flatbed
bunch of A2 VW's
63 Plymouth Valiant, slant six, pushbutton auto
boats and kayaks everywhere...
woodrat
fuel pin?
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:30 am
Location: Skamokawa, WA
Top

Postby woodrat » Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:59 pm

each time I post, I get one of these:

"Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, support@supportwebsite.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Apache/1.3.33 Server at 1stgen.org Port 80"

but the post goes through anyway...?
92 Dodge W250, 5.9 Cummins, NV4500, custom steel flatbed
bunch of A2 VW's
63 Plymouth Valiant, slant six, pushbutton auto
boats and kayaks everywhere...
woodrat
fuel pin?
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:30 am
Location: Skamokawa, WA
Top

Postby dodgeracerss » Tue Jan 09, 2007 7:11 pm

hey guys we had are 33 foot goose behind my bosses 04 3500 and the rear right tire blow going 65 down the interstate hauling 30k paper and trailer we were able to pull over safely and 4 jacks later got it changed
dodgeracerss
 
Top

Postby JimmieD » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:23 am

Yea, the more miles, the more adventures! Drove from Pocatella to Twin Falls, non-stop, pulling a travel trailer. Got into Twin and pulled into a big lot, got out and did a walkaround. Surprised to see the right front tire casing hanging in shreds! Absolutely no idea where or when it blew ha haha!???!
JimmieD
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: Mid-Cal
Top

Postby dpuckett » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:10 am

I bought 2 first Gens from Rosenberg TX (30min south of Houston). Borrowed a trailer from a buddy, and drove down there with no problem. Being it was a 18ft triler, we had to drive one truck home (we had determined that one was drivable before we even set out). Truck weighs about 8000# on a 7000# gross trailer. Bias tires. We drove about 55-60 most of the way back.

Had the lugs on the driver's side rear come LOOSE, and the wheels were wobbling. FOrtunately, we were making a fuel stop. I radioed up to my g/f to keep it in 2nd gear, your left wheels are about to fall off. I took te breaker bar and almost gave myself a hernia tightening the things up, all around on the truck. Checked tires on trailer- good. WEnt on.

Had a flat on the trailer about midnight. PUlled to a rest area, and found the spare had leaked down. Dorve 20mi down interstate to an all night truck stop to get it fixed. Drove back, took a nap, as we had been up since 6am. Put tire on 1hr later, and went on. Radial passenger rated spare ran cooler than truck rated bias tires. Tucking this away in my memory.

So, check lugs and wheels often, no matter the supposed torque of the impact wrench at the tire shop.

Radials run much cooler than bias. Never running bias tires on anything again.

Dont overload your trailer by 33%- BAAD IDEA.

Daniel
His- 93 W250 club cab LE, auto to Getrag conversion, piston lift pump, 3.54 LSD. 400k+
Hers- 04 QC 4x4. Built auto, Triple Dog, Air Dog. Funny Round truck that aint so quiet.
dpuckett
14mm rotor
 
Posts: 2196
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:33 pm
Location: Perryville MO
Top

Postby JimmieD » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:41 am

Man, days like that can just beat you senseless! As to your advice: YEP! I'm going to torque the wheels on my newer trailer with the I/R 1/2" impact, and hope I never have to change one by hand...
JimmieD
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: Mid-Cal
Top

Postby PToombs » Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:03 pm

No frickin' way! I always torque them with a torque wrench, then again soon after. 2 reasons, they are all tighened evenly (no warping drums), and they are not over torqued ( leading to broken studs).
pete

Just enough power to break everything behind the crankshaft.
User avatar
PToombs
14mm rotor
 
Posts: 11367
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:13 pm
Location: Syracuse NY. Snow central!
Top

Postby JimmieD » Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:05 pm

I have no idea what the proper torque spec would be, but guessing around 85-90 lbs. or maybe more. Mine has 6 lug-bolt wheels on a '75 TravelEze chassis. Any idea what kind of torque is correct?
JimmieD
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: Mid-Cal
Top

Postby JLeonard » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:19 pm

I have no idea what the proper torque spec would be


I generally tighten untill I get 2 nice squeaks on each lug nut. :wink:
Really...I haven't lost a wheel yet.
Jay
91 D250 w/modified Cummins, 89 D250 donor (future boat engine)
User avatar
JLeonard
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 111
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:55 am
Location: Connecticut
Top

Next

Return to Things you've learned

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

cron