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jmconneely's avatar
jmconneely
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013

First trip out.......

Well our first trip started out with a few glitches and went great as far as the camping went. We overloaded the fridge which hindered the cooling. Then it took a few minutes to get the water heater working. Once we realized the drain plug was out it worked great(go figure). Overall we had a nice weekend of camping.

The trip home, well that is a whole other story. We had a tail light our when we got hooked up and ready to leave for home. Stopped by Walmart, replaced the bulb and back on the road. About a half hour or so into the journey home, I blew a tire on the front right side of my F350. I was in the left lane and preparing to move back into the right lane. Well when it blew it jerked the truck towards the shoulder....clipping another truck fifth wheel. This forced him off the road and into a deep ditch. No one was hurt. Minor damage to my rig, his 5ver has a decent amount of damage from what he has said.

Now it is in the hands of our insurance companies. Hoping for quick repairs for all involved so we can get camping again.
  • jmconneely's avatar
    jmconneely
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2013
    ken07734 wrote:
    I have read a fdw stories about blown tires on TT and 5vers and TV's out here and it gives me pause to understand why would tires just blow like that? I can only think that maybe these people are over weight by a bit or driving a bit aggressive or are not keeping up with regular maintenance?

    thoughts?

    If not then we should all be concerned about blowing tires.....


    For one the truck is a 2002 F350 DRW pulling a 6,200 lb. fifth wheel. Safe to say it is far from overloaded. Two...the tread on both front tires is about 75 to 80%, so keeping an eye on tires and maintenance is probably not the blame. Third thing is I was only running around 60 mph on a straight road when it blew. That means I wasn't taking turns too fast or traveling at a high rate of speed.

    My thoughts are....things happen that we can't explain. Could of been a number of other things too. Maybe instead of replying with this type of comment you just say "Man I'm glad no one was hurt. Hope their next trip is better"

    Oh another thing, I drive a tuck for a living hauling large excavation equipment, I know a few things about weights and how to check my equipment.
  • JiminDenver's avatar
    JiminDenver
    Explorer II
    Jul 10, 2013
    Thank goodness that no one was hurt and luckily insurance will make it right for everyone. Better luck on your next trip.
  • JamesBr's avatar
    JamesBr
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2013
    Bad things happen all the time. You do not need to be overloaded to lose a front tire on the highway. Something as simple as a piece of debris/nail, a pothole and other road hazards while traveling that can lead to a blowout. And that can all happen between stops and spot checks.

    Gladd to hear noone was hurt, my only parting note would be a suggestion to have your LF tire checked out or just replaced as a pair unless you found the cause of the blow out.
  • dwayneb236's avatar
    dwayneb236
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2013
    ken07734 wrote:
    I have read a fdw stories about blown tires on TT and 5vers and TV's out here and it gives me pause to understand why would tires just blow like that? I can only think that maybe these people are over weight by a bit or driving a bit aggressive or are not keeping up with regular maintenance?

    thoughts?

    If not then we should all be concerned about blowing tires.....


    And another reason I rarely post here. Someone always getting accused of something. Sometimes bad things happen to good people through no fault of their own. But I will NEVER post a problem I have in here. People just can't say sorry it happened. Gotta attack.
  • phenrichs's avatar
    phenrichs
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2013
    I say congratulations. We all have at least one bad trip in our time. You have the good fortune to have it on your first trip and get it out of the way. You all made it out of a bad trip without a scratch and now can put it behind you and have happy sailing for the rest of your camping days. I have been fortunate and have only had an awning break in the wind. I think I am still due for a bad one. Would prefer to have it over with.
    Chin up and camp on. Glad to hear everyone is ok in both rigs.
  • ghaindle's avatar
    ghaindle
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2013
    ken07734 wrote:
    I have read a fdw stories about blown tires on TT and 5vers and TV's out here and it gives me pause to understand why would tires just blow like that? I can only think that maybe these people are over weight by a bit or driving a bit aggressive or are not keeping up with regular maintenance?

    thoughts?

    If not then we should all be concerned about blowing tires.....



    Let's not just rip on the OP. How about throwing in the possibility of a defective tire?
  • ken07734's avatar
    ken07734
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2013
    I have read a fdw stories about blown tires on TT and 5vers and TV's out here and it gives me pause to understand why would tires just blow like that? I can only think that maybe these people are over weight by a bit or driving a bit aggressive or are not keeping up with regular maintenance?

    thoughts?

    If not then we should all be concerned about blowing tires.....
  • popupcamping's avatar
    popupcamping
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2013
    Is this your first towing experience?

    it sounds like your truck needed tires before you headed out.

    Were you passing the guy you hit?
  • 2edgesword's avatar
    2edgesword
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2013
    Wow! Sorry to hear about the troubles on the first trip but very glad to hear no one was injured.

    Stuff happens. Don't let it spoil what can be in the future wonderful times.

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