Community Forums

GKW · 07-23-2013, 01:46 PM

I am pretty confident in avoiding most accident situations having driven Class A's for about a hundred thousand miles. But thankfully I have never experienced a blown tire while traveling. I would be interested in hearing about anyone who has had this experience, particularly with a front tire. I am well aware of tire care and condition and rely on this to minimize the chances of this happening. The biggest unknown is just how much control you have with a front tire blow out. I know gently slowing down and nursing it off to the side is the recommended way to handle this, but does this really work? I know the shredded tire will flog some serious damage to the coach.

Raist11 · 07-23-2013, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GKW

I am pretty confident in avoiding most accident situations having driven Class A's for about a hundred thousand miles. But thankfully I have never experienced a blown tire while traveling. I would be interested in hearing about anyone who has had this experience, particularly with a front tire. I am well aware of tire care and condition and rely on this to minimize the chances of this happening. The biggest unknown is just how much control you have with a front tire blow out. I know gently slowing down and nursing it off to the side is the recommended way to handle this, but does this really work? I know the shredded tire will flog some serious damage to the coach.

Take a look at youtube. I know a while back I saw a video on this. Was quite interesting.

greezykid · 07-23-2013, 01:58 PM

I had a front tire of motorhome blow at 65 and was able to ease to the side of road without a problem, also had a front one blow on suv at 65 without a problem.Only 2 flats I've had since I was 16 and drove on MAYPOPS.

GKW · 07-23-2013, 02:07 PM

Thanks for the u tube advise. Excellent video by Michelin. Also thanks for sharing the practical experience...I feel better already!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwOE1y...%3DlkwOE1yKY5c

Craigls2 · 07-23-2013, 02:41 PM

We had a front tire blow out in a 40' class A while towing a toad and I posted some details on a thread about seatbelt use. Basic details are that we were traveling eastbound on 76 just east of Sterling CO. Had a TPMS system installed. Heard a loud boom and the whole coach veered left from the right lane. The TPMS alarm was screaming at me to stop and I was doing my best to stay on the road. No luck! We went down into the sandy, brush filled divide between the east and west bound lanes. Thought we were going to roll but got the coach pointed downhill enough that we didn't. Took maybe 400-500ft to stop and I was able to get it back up to the shoulder. Fiberglass around the wheel well was shredded, compartments flew open and our stuff was strewn down the median. Everyone was OK though my wife was up at the time and damaged her knee. Coach was towed to a truck place and took them a week to get a compatible tire to put on. We drove back to Wisconsin in the trailblazer which was full of sand but undamaged. Went back two weeks later to drive the coach home and couldn't get it above 60mph. Turned out the air filter was full of sand and restricting the airflow to the diesel.

I never had a chance to let the coach coast to a controlled stop. The catastrophic failure of the tire caused the wheel to bite into the asphalt and controlling is was very difficult. It's just one persons experience but I hope it answers your question

MSHappyCampers · 07-23-2013, 02:58 PM

When we bought our MH last year I was scared to death of having a blowout on the front tires. One of the first things I did was order a set of the SteerSafe stabilizers. I installed them myself which wasn't too bad a job. After seeing the videos and reading all the reviews I felt like that was my best protection at a reasonable price. At least it gives me peace-of-mind!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

redfire312 · 07-23-2013, 03:37 PM

We had a blowout on drivers front while my wife was driving on a 4 lane hiway about 50 mph towing a car on the dolly. I was sitting back at the table researching some stuff to see on our trip and heard a BOOM like a gunshot or something, blew the engine cover up with cup holders and ashtray everything went flying...I hollered at her to gas on it because I had remembered watching that video that was referenced above and she kept everything under control. After control was affirmed we got slowed down and safely stopped. I was expecting the wheel well to be destroyed or something but the tire held together perfectly minus the rubber on the sidewall, no damage to the coach. Tires were 9 year old Michelin XPS RIB that has steel belt sidewalls. really pleased how they held together. I remember popping a tire on a boat trailer the tread came off and beat the heck out of my trailer before I got it stopped.

Raist11 · 07-23-2013, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GKW

Thanks for the u tube advise. Excellent video by Michelin. Also thanks for sharing the practical experience...I feel better already!

Excellent, glad you were able to find it. That was the exact video. I would have linked it but I was at work using my phone so couldn't do it at the time. I'm glad you were able to find it.

garyswann · 07-23-2013, 04:53 PM

Had a front drivers tire blow on a 86 chieftain around 1992. I got it off the freeway OK but it really scared me. That was the old narrow chassis and I think it swerved off two wheels at one point. The tires were about seven years old. I change tires every five years on everything I own after that.

vsheetz · 07-23-2013, 05:30 PM

Inside rear dual blew on current coach at 65 mph on freeway. No trouble controlling and coming to a stop on the shoulder. Assessed the damage (luckily none to the coach). Was way to busy freeway and too close to the freeway to affect repairs there. Slowly drove to the next exit a few miles down the way. Pulled into the far side of a large parking lot. Called EMS. Ate lunch at nearby restaurant. EMS arrived and swapped on my spare unmounted tire and off we went. Yes i carry a spare...

About a 2 hour delay in trip but no impact to schedule. Good outcome considering.

Dunner · 07-23-2013, 09:08 PM

I've seen that video several times. Still, it is hard to think about not take your foot off the pedal when something goes boom. I had two blow outs on the rear of my truck when pulling my 5er. They were quite manageable but did make a lot of noise and did a lot of damage when they released 80 psi.

buynow43 · 07-25-2013, 09:47 AM

thanks for the video. as a newbie i would have not thought to keep the foot on the gas to control the RV until i could pull over.

i love this forum.

RedWing Nut · 07-25-2013, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buynow43

thanks for the video. as a newbie i would have not thought to keep the foot on the gas to control the RV until i could pull over.

It hasn't happened to me yet. I try to think about what I would have to do, in different situations, while driving down the road. I'm not sure I would be able to react correctly, but I hope that picturing it often would be like repetitive practice.

AGP · 07-26-2013, 04:20 AM

Had a front drivers side blowout on the highway going about 65 mph.
Year was 2002 was driving a 36 ft 2001 Journey at the time.
i just pulled over to breakdown lane drove a short way to the an exit and into a parking lot, control of the vehicle was not an issue.