*Trailer Tire Blowout*
By: 2manytoyz
29 June 2022

I've BTDT, a few times, and I now carry extra equipment based on my lessons learned.

My BIL is a LEO, with a different skill set. He likes traveling with us as I tend to have the tools, equipment, and knowledge to fix most anything that comes up. But each time a fix is needed, I treat it as a teaching opportunity.

This weekend we went to St. Augustine for a little down time. We took our Class A motorhome, and towed our Jeep. MY BIL, his wife, and two GSP dogs have a new F250 diesel, towing an almost new travel trailer. They live about an hour South of us, so we made it home yesterday when we got a phone call.

They had a major blowout while driving I95. They were worried about parking on the side of the road. Based on experience, I knew they loaded their trailer lightly, it has tandem wheels, and if they drove slowly, they could drive to the nearest off ramp, and address the issue there. That's what they did, which greatly help calm his wife.

They called their insurance company (State Farm), and waited for a couple of hours. The agent (asshat attitude) said she had called 20 places, none were available. I had the same experience a while back with AAA (which I no longer carry).

I grabbed a floor jack, cordless impact wrench, large impact socket set, dunnage, a Viair air compressor, a 12V jump pack, tire gauge, a couple of tool bags that live in the Jeep, and headed their way.

The tire was not a retread, but the cap of the tire tore most of the way free, beat the snot out of the tire well, damaged the trailer skirt, then wrapped itself tightly around the axle.

His lessons learned:

  1. The lug wrench for the truck does not fit the trailer. Carry a separate lug wrench, or a breaker bag and large socket set.
  2. Buy/bring a floor jack. Florida is mostly sand. If you pull onto the shoulder of the road, you'll likely need dunnage under the jack to prevent it from sinking in the sand.
  3. Check the air pressure of the spare. He had checked the 4 trailer tires, but neglected to check this one.
  4. Bring a 12V air compressor, and a way to power it.
  5. Invest in a TPMS to constantly monitor tire pressure and temperature.
  6. Road Rangers don't work weekends.

It was a quick and easy fix, with the right tools. He's already asking specifically what equipment I would recommend. This benefits me as well. We are planning longer trips with them starting next year, when my wife, and her brother, will retire. If he carries parts and equipment, I know they are available if I need them as well.

2manytoyz

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