Quote:
Originally Posted by epeddy1
Not trying to hijack the thread, but a couple related questions.
1. I've heard that with a tandem axle trailer, if you have a blowout on a busy highway, you can safely drive on 3 tires and pull off to a safer location to change out for the spare. True? Any words of caution? Sounded like a decent risk tradeoff to me. Less risky to drive on 3 tires for a few miles to the next exit than change a tire with car whizzing by at 80mph.
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If you look closely at the right side of the picture in post #14, you will see the risk of continuing, even as slow speeds, with a blown tire. If it were just a flat or even a side wall blow out, you might be able to continue on 3 tires at a slow speed for less than a mile. However, a lot of the blow outs, especially with the china bombs, start with tread de-lamination, the tread separating from the casing. The catastrophic failure causes further tread separation. The loose flap of tread and steel belts tends to rip the fenders, side skirting, and flooring above the tires off the trailer during the initial blow out. The further you drive with that flapping tread and steel belts, the more potential damage to the trailer. Depending on which tire and your axle spacing, this could also destroy the 2nd tire on that side. You also risk damage to the rim by continuing on. Obviously, you have to evaluate these risks against the safety risks in where you stop. I certainly wouldn't stop in the middle of a traffic lane, but would pull off as soon as relatively safely possible.
The tire in the picture was the front tire on the passenger side and I pulled over pretty much immediately after it happened. This tire was the 2nd blow out. The first blow out ripped the plastic fender skirt from around the tires. This one ripped the metal skirting forward of the tires off. I was a little slower in pulling over after the first blow out, but not much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by epeddy1
2. Nobody mentioned a scissor jack. Are those ill advised, or ok options for emergency situations, assuming they meet the load requirements?
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I would not want to try to use a scissor jack. It's difficult enough to get under the trailer on the side of the road. As I mentioned, I've traveled way too many times with that as the only option and I just put the bottle jack in this time on last minute afterthought. The bottle jack I put in was a cheap standard hydraulic bottle jack. I think it was around 7-8 inches tall which was too tall to get under the axle at the flat. I wound up using the bottle jack to jack at the leaf spring enough to raise the axle just enough to get the height to put the bottle jack under the axle. Then I used the screw type factory scissor jack from my truck as a jack stand to reposition the bottle jack. I will be getting a shorty bottle jack to keep in the trailer.
I've kept a 4 way lug wrench in the trailer since I bought it, but I was glad not to have to use it. The "right" tools make things much easier. So here is what I will carry in my truck from now on:
- Ryobi 1/2" impact driver
- Impact lug sockets
- 1/2" torque wrench
- "Stubby" or "shorty" bottle jack
- work gloves (those wires are sharp and everything is dirty).
- A second spare for the trailer
I used the impact driver to remove the wheels and snug the lug nuts after putting the spare on. Sure you could get by with a lug wrench, but the impact driver is much less work. You can also go by "feel" for tightening the lugs, but I much prefer to know I'm right than guess. I also make sure to stop after driving a short distance, 10-20 miles, and re-check the lug torque. Not sure if its the way the wheel sits when initially torquing them or what, but there will often be 1 or 2 lug nuts that need to be tightened.
Also note, I've always heard that when you have a blow out, expect the other one on that side to fail soon after. I had planned to replace at least the 2nd tire on that side. My gut said to do it at the time, but as I indicated, the only tires available were more China tires. So, I hoped to make it home and then replace it. I didn't make it. I will be replacing all four tires now, including the new china tire. I will move the new china tire to a new spare rim and keep the original spare as well.
There may be many reasons for the failure of the second tire. First, all of the tires were the same age and subjected to the same use. So if one failed, absent road hazards, the remaining 3 may be as likely to fail. Second, when one tire fails, the remaining tire is overloaded. Third, as noted above, there is a potential for damage from the first tire failure.
Hal and Pam
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