Class A toad caught on fire

1) a rear camera won't show a flat tire. We had a flat and couldn't even feel a difference in the pull. The monitor can't show a view from the side. A motorist pulled alongside and gave us that dreaded hand signal. We were riding on the rim by that time.

We immediately installed tire presser sensors on all tires - motorhome and toad.

2) RE: a safe hidden in a rear closet, etc. Ours is portable and is kept by the front door and is easy to grab when we leave the motorhome. We don't have a safe for intruders as the chances of that are almost nonexistent. 16 years of full-timing, lots of boondocking in remote places and talking to full-timers constantly, and have never heard of an instance of intruders. Yes, it 'could' happen but if it does so be it. Our concern is having our important documents, etc. ready to grab on exit. If we're in a shop for servicing our documents go with us in the toad for the day.

dons2346 wrote:
One good reason not to put locks on everything.
Knew someone that put a lock everywhere there was a place to put a lock. Car caught fire and he lost the coach too.

BINGO!! Give that man a cigar!

Another thing to think about is most safes are located in the bedroom closet or under the bed. By the time you see this situation in your mirror or are flagged down by a motorist, it would be too late to unlock a safe with valuables.

I sure hope everyone was OK. Terrible thing to go through.

MM.

Over and over and for many years now we see RV's going up in flames.
The better percentage of them are DP's where the engine catches fire.

This looks like just that. If the toads tires were locked up and/or smoking or was on fire 'someone' on the road would have flagged him down in time to unhook it.

The amount of damage to the interior of the back of the MH suggests the DP engine caught fire first and then the toad.

Once that engine and MH went up in flames no one is going to be able to get near that tow bar to unhook the toad.

I would suspect a tire problem as the cause! You really have to watch your rear cameras when traveling.

Place me in the group that suspect a flat tire on the toad as the most likely suspect. A front brake that did not release for some reason could also be a possibility, although a lesser one in my experience.

robsouth wrote:
How did "towed" become "toad"?

IDK, but it's been that way for many years

Tire Failure

I agree and I was one of those imbeciles that believed I could tell when a FROG tire went flat. Read my post. We run TPMS all the time now.

wa8yxm wrote:
Most likely cause... Flat tire on towed, Driver of MH did not sense, tire (likely Right Front) shredded and the rim sparking along the road set fire to the towed.

But that's why I think it was a flat tire.

I Have seen a towed where the driver of the MH did not know the tire had gone flat from some distance.. Thankfully he found out before the rubber was completely gone but.. The tire was toast.. I told him about TPMS.

Over half a million his motor home cost and he did not know about TPMS.

I call it a FROG for Four Rolling On Ground.

robsouth wrote:
How did "towed" become "toad"?

amandasgramma wrote:
SAD! Possibility that the electronic braking system caught on fire, too.....they've been known to do that. :(

They have? Could you point us to some specifics about electronic systems catching fire.