Oh man, got lucky today. And rock guards serve a purpose
This was a real eye opener for us today. I try to be as safe as a driver on the road as possible. Two hands on the wheel and eyes on the road at all times. Well I screwed up and it really makes me angry and a lesson learned.
We were 3 hours into our into our 41/2 hour drive to the RV resort heading up north in Michigan. The road was pretty empty with traffic for the most part. Like a real idiot I got the bright idea to look down for a few seconds to change the display on my dash readout. Then it happened. The MH lurched up into the air and back down. Once for the front and another for the back.
Scared the bejesus outta us. Unfortunately my wife wasn't watching out front at the same I time looked down. I thought I had a blow out but the MH was at least 4" off the ground or more on the right side. Then I thought I hit a deer but that was quickly ruled out. Quick glance at the side mirror as the rear tires became engaged I saw it flying out sideways about 10 feet in the air off to the ditch.
We ran over a dang 4x4 about two feet long. It cleared off to the side and just missed the toad. I quickly determined there wasn't a shimmy and scanned all my gauges. Everything was fine. The MH didn't pull to the right. So made it to the next rest area about 8 miles ahead and stopped to check things over. I didn't hear it hit anything under the MH and a look confirmed from the front wheels to the back was fine. Tires looked fine and no leaking air noise or oil or coolant.
So I stepped back about 30' to get a wider view and it was quickly apparent. The 4x4 flew out from the rear wheels and misses the exhaust system, urea tank, and everything else back there ( that I know off so far). But the hanging rock guard took the hit. Bent the******out of it.
Many people claim they aren't worth it. I'm hear to tell you they absolutely stopped that 4x4 pressure treated wood from going through the front end of our toad. It missed it by inches. Yep , I need a new flap, but under the curcumstance I deserved it and was very lucky. I'm pay for it myself learning my lesson.
It's scary how fast it happend and I feel like a real butthead. I'm ashamed of my stupidity. Please think twice about getting distracted while driving, it isn't worth it.
I do have concerns I possible could have bent some of the steel belts in the tires. There isn't a shimmy and it drove fine. What do you people think, should I have the tires looked at?
We were 3 hours into our into our 41/2 hour drive to the RV resort heading up north in Michigan. The road was pretty empty with traffic for the most part. Like a real idiot I got the bright idea to look down for a few seconds to change the display on my dash readout. Then it happened. The MH lurched up into the air and back down. Once for the front and another for the back.
Scared the bejesus outta us. Unfortunately my wife wasn't watching out front at the same I time looked down. I thought I had a blow out but the MH was at least 4" off the ground or more on the right side. Then I thought I hit a deer but that was quickly ruled out. Quick glance at the side mirror as the rear tires became engaged I saw it flying out sideways about 10 feet in the air off to the ditch.
We ran over a dang 4x4 about two feet long. It cleared off to the side and just missed the toad. I quickly determined there wasn't a shimmy and scanned all my gauges. Everything was fine. The MH didn't pull to the right. So made it to the next rest area about 8 miles ahead and stopped to check things over. I didn't hear it hit anything under the MH and a look confirmed from the front wheels to the back was fine. Tires looked fine and no leaking air noise or oil or coolant.
So I stepped back about 30' to get a wider view and it was quickly apparent. The 4x4 flew out from the rear wheels and misses the exhaust system, urea tank, and everything else back there ( that I know off so far). But the hanging rock guard took the hit. Bent the******out of it.
Many people claim they aren't worth it. I'm hear to tell you they absolutely stopped that 4x4 pressure treated wood from going through the front end of our toad. It missed it by inches. Yep , I need a new flap, but under the curcumstance I deserved it and was very lucky. I'm pay for it myself learning my lesson.
It's scary how fast it happend and I feel like a real butthead. I'm ashamed of my stupidity. Please think twice about getting distracted while driving, it isn't worth it.
I do have concerns I possible could have bent some of the steel belts in the tires. There isn't a shimmy and it drove fine. What do you people think, should I have the tires looked at?
