Bad Crash From Blowout

[Papa_Jim]

I am terrified of having a tire blowout. I realize that it's not an issue of 'if' I have a tire blowout, but 'when'.

Over the years, I've driven everything from 1/2 ton pickups, to 1 ton diesels, to 5 ton tag axle diesel trucks, to semi trucks, and now finally a Class A RV. I've experienced tire blow outs on everything except the Class A, and now what I've been hearing has terrified me.

I've come to realize that our motor coaches are poorly designed machines that are already practically overloaded before we step up into them to use them.

When I first began driving my motor coach, I used to 'float' along at 75 mph because the engine had no problem doing that. Now I refuse to drive faster than 55 mph under any circumstances.

I think that we are totally to blame for letting the RV manufacturer's sell us Class A RV's that can totally lose control and kill us just because a tire blows out. I think if the RV was properly built, a tire blow out may well cause damage to the vehicle, but a total loss of control, leading to death?

We have friends that travel in a Prevost full time with 11 children! They had a tire blowout last winter on winter roads, without drama or fear of danger to their lives. Their only problem was the travel delay waiting for a tow truck and the related service work, and repairs to their coach.

We shouldn't have to buy steering stabilizers, and 'run flat safety rings', and a multitude of steering and stabilizing aids to make our 'big rigs' handle properly and safely. Commercial customers wouldn't put up with it, they'd just hand the unit back and refuse to continue the payments. Why do we put up with it?


I watched a highway tractor blow the left front tire. The tire exploded, and blew the fiberglass engine hood into a thousand pieces. There were pieces of tire, pieces of fiberglass engine hood, and all kinds of pieces of that truck blowing all over the highway. I watched the truck. As soon as that tire exploded, the brake lights came on, and that truck quickly came to a stop in the middle of the highway. Then the driver slowly maneuvered that truck to the shoulder.

I'm sorry, but I think that's the way it should work for us with our Class A RV's.

I realize that this is probably going to start a great big argument, but that's the way I'm feeling about this right now.

[Renipladlo]

Oh wow, what can I say, you are totally correct. The RVIA is a political organziation and does nothing to ensure that the manfacturers build safe and reliable units. That organization is made up of ex teachers who have no engineering experience at all. How do I know, they called the head Instructor at the training center I went to and asked him to work with them on their instruction and test materials. They don't have a clue. But every RV has their sticker, at 300 dollars or so a pop, wow it has a sticker.

The only thing we can do is be "aware", do the safety stuff before we move the coach each and every time. Don't count on your government (DOT) to make it right, because that same government cannot get the post office in the black and it's been running for almost 200 years.

It is up to us to make sure we do everything we can to be safe, each and every day.

[blackbook]

To: Mrs Roderick, We all feel very bad for you.

Tires we all have them and with class A RV"s you need to start to thinking like a trucker.
Alpine, it has a truck frame, class 8 truck front end class 8 truck rear end and has class 8 full size tires 11 R 22
Tires need to be taken off at 5 years old.
Some rv,s look at the tires at 5 years, and say they look good I keep air in them. The tires are good to go, so off they go. But ask a trucker they will tell you that you are on the the dark side if you do this. Look the alpine that we lost in nephi utah lost the tread and then went down.
(Speed) we all look at it, how fast you drive is up to you.
Some here are terrified to drive the class A for me I love to drive the alpine. For me its a truck on the down side and a very nice home on the top.

In the last life I was a trucker 28 years with a lot of trucks and I drove them all the time to see the people that shipped with us all over this big usa. We had tires go down on the front end from a nail a rock, things in the road. IN OVER 155,0000,000 MILES we did not lose the tread first then go down. Tires are the best way to spend the cash you worked so hard for. Be safe (5) and off for me.

[1940 ford]

Thank you for reposting the u-tube video. We watched it again to refresh us and will watch it every time before we take a trip, so hopefully we will be prepared if we do have a blow out or flat.

[Rick Long]

75 MPH is the MAX SPEED for for all Goodyear and Michelin RV tires.... Travel at MAX speed on a hot desert road for very long and you are an accident waiting to happen.

It's very sad that a life was lost... the pain the wife must feel has to be unbearable... I wish her my sincerest condolences.

[greystroke]

Agree with you Rick. Going 75 is a great risk in a Class A for everyone on the highway. My thoughts are to stay well below the design limit. When I had my blowout I was doing 55. Glad I saw the video.

[JayGee]

I agree with jimkate.

[RickO]

[QUOTE=Renipladlo;703954] - Speed has a relation to mass which has a relation to stopping. QUOTE]

I agree with all your points Renipladlo. Maybe a physisist will correct me but if I'm not mistaken the energy required to stop us is actually determined by the mass of our rig times our velocity SQUARED. So speed has a much greater effect than even our weight on our ability to bring our rigs to a stop.

By saying that, I'm in no way suggesting that this coach in question was going too fast. Frankly I'm very skeptical of the original reports which indicate it was traveling 75 mph... but, none of us know.

Rick

[BZam]

Originally Posted by 1940 ford

Thank you for reposting the u-tube video. We watched it again to refresh us and will watch it every time before we take a trip, so hopefully we will be prepared if we do have a blow out or flat.

Yes, Yes, and I verbalize a blowout situation with my wife telling her what I am going to be doing per the video. Should do this once or more per trip, just like going through fire escape drill at least once per trip.

Bob

[Dale777]

Ricko,

Actually the Kinetic Energy (KE) of a moving body is defined as:

KE = ½ x mass x velocity-squared

However, your point is well taken, since mass x velocity-squared, even when halved for the correct formula, still provides a huge KE for a 30,000 lb motor home @ 75mph.

For example with a 30,000 lb motor home,

KE = ½ x 30,000 lbs x 75mph-squared = 84,375,000 “somethings”

However, in modern physics, KE is stated in JOULES in the metric International System of Units (SI), so this example has to be converted to metric to be meaningful, instead of the "somethings". At most speeds and locations on earth,

a) Mass is stated in kilograms (kg), and
b) Velocity is stated in meters/sec (m/s).

In the SI system,

KE = ½ x kg x (m/s)-squared

So,

30,000 lbs = about 13,608 kg
75mph = about 121 kilometers/hour or 121,000 meters/hour or about 33.6 m/s

Therefore,

Equation (1) @ 75mph is: KE = ½ x 13,608 kg x (33.6 m/s)-squared = 7,681,443 Joules

Now at 62 mph (about 100 km/hr or 100,000 meters/hr or about 27.8 m/s), which seems to be the sweet spot for good fuel consumption on our coaches, the KE would be thus:

Equation (2) @ 62mph is: KE = ½ x 13,608 kg x (27.8 m/s)-squared = 5,258,403 Joules

Thus, the two KE results compare in this way:

At 75 mph, equation (1) is about 1.46 times as much KE as equation (2) is at 62 mph. For the moving motor home to come to a stop, this KE has to be dissipated in some way (friction, heat, vehicle damage, etc).

Note: I ignored the toad in this discussion.

[takepride]

Yep!

?

[Renipladlo]

I second that YEP!!!!!

[ChrisNiemann]

Originally Posted by Dale777

Ricko,

Actually the Kinetic Energy (KE) of a moving body is defined as:

KE = ½ x mass x velocity-squared

However, your point is well taken, since mass x velocity-squared, even when halved for the correct formula, still provides a huge KE for a 30,000 lb motor home @ 75mph.

For example with a 30,000 lb motor home,

KE = ½ x 30,000 lbs x 75mph-squared = 84,375,000 “somethings”

However, in modern physics, KE is stated in JOULES in the metric International System of Units (SI), so this example has to be converted to metric to be meaningful, instead of the "somethings". At most speeds and locations on earth,

a) Mass is stated in kilograms (kg), and
b) Velocity is stated in meters/sec (m/s).

In the SI system,

KE = ½ x kg x (m/s)-squared

So,

30,000 lbs = about 13,608 kg
75mph = about 121 kilometers/hour or 121,000 meters/hour or about 33.6 m/s

Therefore,

Equation (1) @ 75mph is: KE = ½ x 13,608 kg x (33.6 m/s)-squared = 7,681,443 Joules

Now at 62 mph (about 100 km/hr or 100,000 meters/hr or about 27.8 m/s), which seems to be the sweet spot for good fuel consumption on our coaches, the KE would be thus:

Equation (2) @ 62mph is: KE = ½ x 13,608 kg x (27.8 m/s)-squared = 5,258,403 Joules

Thus, the two KE results compare in this way:

At 75 mph, equation (1) is about 1.46 times as much KE as equation (2) is at 62 mph. For the moving motor home to come to a stop, this KE has to be dissipated in some way (friction, heat, vehicle damage, etc).

Note: I ignored the toad in this discussion.

NICE, SOMEONE WHO LOVES MATH LIKE I DO! LOL

[Romeo]

Something I have been concerned with since first owing the motorhome, is the possibility of all the loose items in a motorhome flying through the air in the event of the MH leaving the road, or in the event of a roll-over.

We have a free-standing dining table that tips up against the sofa when braking hard. That has happened twice in the last couple of weeks. We have loose dining chairs...Many times we have utensiles in the sink and the coffe maker on the kitchen counter. This has always bothered me. I think it is time to have a plan to stow loose items before taking to the road.
Reading about an accident such as this wakes us up to the reality that MH's do have accidents.