FIRE UP wrote:
Tinstar,
Yeah, a TPMS most likely would have notified you that you had a problem. But, I'm wondering something here. You state you were rolling just fine, silk as could be, right up to the point you stopped at the light. But, the INSTANT you started to take off from the light, you KNEW you had a flat tire, correct?
Now, unless you had your music up to TEEN-AGER-LEVEL and your wife was disco-dancing on the dash, don't you think that you should have heard the 100 psi. instantaneous blow out, while sitting at the stop light, based on the fact that you said the ride was flawless up to that particular spot??? I'm certainly not chastising you here. Not at all.
Did you have any pulling of the front end, especially during braking, or any other even remote ill handling effects prior to the stop? If not, then the air escape had to be pretty near blowout speed AND NOISE VOLUME, in my opinion, at that stop light. This is all just surmising things here.
And, since we're on the subject of changing your own spare on a diesel pusher. About 99.99% of the lug nuts on those Diesels are on with usually around 450 ft. lbs. of torque, correct? May I ask, your procedure for breaking them loose and all that? This is really interesting to me. I carry a "Torque Multiplier" on board that allows me to break all 10, 450 ft. lb. lug nuts, with one arm, while sitting.
But, that really doesn't do me any good since I don't carry the spare. I would only use it if, we had a blow-out and, was anticipating Road Service sometime soon. That way I'd just speed up the tire changing process.
Scott
I felt the same way Scott. Yes, rolling up to the light was like silk, no pulling, nothing rough, no bumping absolutely nothing at all and I know I would have felt something if it had been flat. I too thought I should have heard the air escape. I had a blow-out last year on the inside rear. It sounded like a shotgun going off and I was at highway speed that time. Anyway, I sat at the light for probably 2 minutes in heavy traffic with an 18 wheeler's cab right beside my cab. The radio wasn't on and although my wife is a really good dancer, she wasn't. We were just conversing. The only thing I can think was the 18 wheeler drowned the sound out. It wasn't a blowout per se but it certainly has a fast air escape. I am hard of hearing but my wife isn't and she didn't hear anything either.
As far as changing the tire, I carry a 20 ton bottle jack so I raised it with my levelers, slipped the jack under and raised it a bit further after breaking the lug loose. I carry a double end lug wrench with a 6 foot cheater bar. Breaking them loose is a breeze and I can break anything up to about 1400 - 1600 lbs of torque. Mine torque to 450 lbs so I just measure out 4.5 foot on the cheater and put 100 lbs of pressure at that point. I also put a center support at the lug wrench to keep from torquing the lug as I loosen/tighten it. I have a 1 inch impact at home but don't carry it with me on trips although if this keeps happening, I might start.
I actually carry two spares. One mounted and the other unmounted. I have roadside service with Coach-Net. I just didn't want to wait for them to get there and since it was on the front, it's not a big deal. IF it had been on one of the inside rear, I would have waited and let someone else do it. That's where my blowout was last summer but service was at least 3 hours away as I was in the middle of a desert miles from any town. I went ahead and changed that one but I wouldn't want to do it again unless I didn't have a choice. Since I was in Denton this time, service could have gotten to me in about an hour or a little over but I just wanted to get home asap.
