What happens when you lose a tire at 70-75 MPH?
With the right equipment... Nothing.:B
At least as far as safety goes.
We just returned from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Upon parking in front of our house, we were shocked to find a passenger side tire/rim/drum gone. Apparently the bearing seized up and it got hot enough to bend the spindle before the tire came off. What is left of the bearing is welded to the spindle.
The TT towed fine all the way home. I know it was there at our last fuel stop, as we always do a walk around then. DW even had to do a quick lane change manuver, as a 5 gallon bucket rolled into our lane. She swerved to miss it, then it rolled back into the lane we served to, we swerved again, and it reversed direction sending it in front of us again, the third swerve finally cleared us of the bucket. I think it was being blown around by the cars in front of us wind wash as they avoided it. The tire was likely already gone by then, as that was pretty close to home... And the TT/TV handled that quite well.
As for the damage.. We will need a new axle assembly. or at least a new axle, and one new drum, bearings, and brake assembly. We will replace all bearings now. We will need a new tire and rim. The 3 remaining Michelin XPS RIBS did an awesome job. But I won't ask anymore of them. They are nearing 5 years old anyways, so they will be replaced with new ones.
The plastic wheelwell trim is gone, and will need to be replaced as well.
The axle parts seem to be hard to find on a quick search. It has the Lippert sealed bearing 5200# axles. They are no longer available from Lippert. Dexter has them, and they appear to be the same ones. Anyone know if they are? Are other Dexter components such as the Brake assemblies compatabile?
At least as far as safety goes.
We just returned from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Upon parking in front of our house, we were shocked to find a passenger side tire/rim/drum gone. Apparently the bearing seized up and it got hot enough to bend the spindle before the tire came off. What is left of the bearing is welded to the spindle.
The TT towed fine all the way home. I know it was there at our last fuel stop, as we always do a walk around then. DW even had to do a quick lane change manuver, as a 5 gallon bucket rolled into our lane. She swerved to miss it, then it rolled back into the lane we served to, we swerved again, and it reversed direction sending it in front of us again, the third swerve finally cleared us of the bucket. I think it was being blown around by the cars in front of us wind wash as they avoided it. The tire was likely already gone by then, as that was pretty close to home... And the TT/TV handled that quite well.
As for the damage.. We will need a new axle assembly. or at least a new axle, and one new drum, bearings, and brake assembly. We will replace all bearings now. We will need a new tire and rim. The 3 remaining Michelin XPS RIBS did an awesome job. But I won't ask anymore of them. They are nearing 5 years old anyways, so they will be replaced with new ones.
The plastic wheelwell trim is gone, and will need to be replaced as well.
The axle parts seem to be hard to find on a quick search. It has the Lippert sealed bearing 5200# axles. They are no longer available from Lippert. Dexter has them, and they appear to be the same ones. Anyone know if they are? Are other Dexter components such as the Brake assemblies compatabile?
