Huntindog wrote:
gypsmjim wrote:
I've been towing for 47 years and have had only 1 personal incident. The truck in front of me threw blown tire debris. Swerving didn't seem the safe thing to do, nor was it an option at the time, so I hit it head on. The car got thru it OK, but it hit the trailer tire and blew it off the rim. Naturally, I knew it, but even still all passers alerted me to the problem during the minute or so it took me to get in the right lane and pull off the road.
Another time I was doing 65 and was passed by a truck towing a cruiser at about 75. I saw the trailer wheel was blowing black smoke (it wasn't turning) and layed on the horn to alert him (to no avail). I saw the tire / rim fly in the air 3 carlengths ahead of me and crash into the windshield of the 3rd car ahead of me. It caused the driiver to lose control and crash head-on into a tree at 65 mph. I waited till the ambulance came, so I don't know if the lady surviveed or not.
I am simply sick over the quality of trailer tires today. They don't last over 3 years, and the manufacturers warn you not to go above 65 mph. I personally follow that rule, plus I stop and check wheel bearings no more than every 100 miles. The 2 minute stop adds no time at all to the trip.
IMHO pulling a trailer at 75 mph is unacceptable. If anyone has a mishap it's fine to say you made it home OK. But that's not what is most important. The real issue is what damage you did (or could have done) to other unsuspecting drivers that had no responsibility for that flying tire.
I agree with you about traier tires...That is why I stopped using them in 2006. My Michelins XPS ribs cost a pretty penny.... But they are simply in a quality tire that hasn't let me down. This incident was a prime example. No tire failures, in spite of being severely overloaded after losing one at more than 65 MPH! ST tires would have blown making the situation much worse.
The failure was a cartridge wheel bearing, similar to what come on most if not all autos today. There is no adjustment or greasing to do on them. As I stated before, the manufacturer has discontinued them. I really see little difference in a tire coming off at 70-75 or 67 MPH.. Both sitauations are bad. But you are welcome to your opinion, if it makes you feel better.
Bottom line is that sometimes parts fail. It can easily be the wheel bearing on a car that is not towing anything. It is rare, but it occasionally happens. Heck, wehave even lost a space shuttle or two... And tha $$$$$/technology put into those was the best we had.
One shouldn't stop living just because something bad might happen. If we were all perfectly safe, it would be a prtty boring existance.
And since I am OK with your opinion, then you should be OK with mine....Right?:B
I am also of the opinion that auto or truck tires should be used whenever possible. Unfortunately, ST tires are necessary in some applications since there are no others that have the required load capacity.
I also agree that we shouldn't be so afraid of life that we barricade ourselves indoors. We motorcycle, jet ski, zip line on vacations, etc. However, we DO take precautions like drive defensively and make sure our equipment is properly maintained. If there WERE some way to ensure perfect safety I wouldn't find that boring at all.
Where I disagree is exceeding a safe speed with a behemoth in tow. If it were only a matter of one's own life, then I would say no problem because its your life to live as you please. But when one's actions potentially put others in harm's way, then one needs to consider the consequences. The lady I referenced in my original post - if she didn't live - what would you say to her family if it was your tire that caused her death?
Jim over and out...
