Blowout Results

[JumboJet]

Friends of mine had a blowout on their 2014 Tiffin Zephyr July 12 on I-10 near Tallahassee, FL. The MH ended up in a ravine destroyed. They both survived and are now out of the ICU. One of their small dogs died later at a vet clinic.

Be careful out there and wear those seat belts!

[GMandJM]

Okay...I admit to a slight exaggeration. (but not much 🙂 )

Nice Camelot in the signature pic, btw.

[Vncgrg]

GMandJM wrote:
But people get upset when I do 50mph - especially G-half.

(And, yeah, we have been passed by those 90mph DP's too. I wonder if their tow'd vehicle tires are rated for that.)

I probably wrong, but I don't think DP can go 90mph? :@

[woody38]

If you go to youtube and look up road cams they showed a rv crash with a blow out and another what to do. Also I hope every one is ok and sorry about there dog.

[azrving]

et2 wrote:

rjxj wrote:
I'm taking my chances on a pick up and believe there will be more around me when its over than the nothing that was around them. We all put our money in and that our chances.

I do my best for the others around me by not running st tires and do drive 55 to 60. The most common vehicle to come flying by is a large diesel pusher. They paid for it and have the right but just hang on when the game changes. With the way they are built and the size you would think they would be doing 50.

I drive A diesel pusher and never drive over 58 except to pass ( hardly ever). If you visit the class A forum often you would know many here drive the same as you and I ( diesel pushers). Sure there are a few yahoos, same as the fivers I see blasting by me. Just a matter of what you want to believe.

With all due respect however a diesel pusher is more stable on the road than a larger towed travel trailer or fiver. I know, I've had plenty of them. But to your other point about having good tires etc. I have seen way more fivers and travel trailers along side the road compared to diesel pushers. I suspect there are pleanty of them on the roads overloaded and improper towing equipment. Not to mentioned a tow vehicle not matched to do the job.

I'll take my chance in my MH any day. I just ran over a 4x4 fence post last week at 58 mph. The only damage was a bent rock guard. If I still had the fiver and a dually I probably would have blown at least my front tire and maybe a rear, not to mention the damage when it flew out from under the rear wheels hitting the fiver.

That's why they sell them. People make their choices. They dont collect data as they do on cars etc but when MH's crash there are high chances of dying

Just this guys opinion

Greatly increased risk of death

Little or no safety considerations

[et2]

rjxj wrote:
I'm taking my chances on a pick up and believe there will be more around me when its over than the nothing that was around them. We all put our money in and that our chances.

I do my best for the others around me by not running st tires and do drive 55 to 60. The most common vehicle to come flying by is a large diesel pusher. They paid for it and have the right but just hang on when the game changes. With the way they are built and the size you would think they would be doing 50.

I drive A diesel pusher and never drive over 58 except to pass ( hardly ever). If you visit the class A forum often you would know many here drive the same as you and I ( diesel pushers). Sure there are a few yahoos, same as the fivers I see blasting by me. Just a matter of what you want to believe.

With all due respect however a diesel pusher is more stable on the road than a larger towed travel trailer or fiver. I know, I've had plenty of them. But to your other point about having good tires etc. I have seen way more fivers and travel trailers along side the road compared to diesel pushers. I suspect there are pleanty of them on the roads overloaded and improper towing equipment. Not to mentioned a tow vehicle not matched to do the job.

I'll take my chance in my MH any day. I just ran over a 4x4 fence post last week at 58 mph. The only damage was a bent rock guard. If I still had the fiver and a dually I probably would have blown at least my front tire and maybe a rear, not to mention the damage when it flew out from under the rear wheels hitting the fiver.

[Mr_Mark1]

The Tiffin that crashed apparently went through a lot before it stopped. And, keep in mind, we are seeing the coach AFTER it was delivered to the holding yard. The structure may not have been completely separated during the crash.

Maybe the Original Poster will find out from the 'driver' and let us know the condition right after the accident. We don't know if the Zephyr was lying on it's side or not after it crashed.

rjxj, I think you have a false sense of security in your 'assembly-line' vehicle. I've seen trucks that crush up pretty bad in accidents. And, if you have a 5th wheel, it's mighty big trailer behind you that will change ALL the dynamics of everything.

Safe travels,
MM.

[GMandJM]

But people get upset when I do 50mph - especially G-half.

(And, yeah, we have been passed by those 90mph DP's too. I wonder if their tow'd vehicle tires are rated for that.)

[azrving]

I'm taking my chances on a pick up and believe there will be more around me when its over than the nothing that was around them. We all put our money in and that our chances.

I do my best for the others around me by not running st tires and do drive 55 to 60. The most common vehicle to come flying by is a large diesel pusher. They paid for it and have the right but just hang on when the game changes. With the way they are built and the size you would think they would be doing 50.

[et2]

rjxj wrote:

et2 wrote:

rjxj wrote:
Good to hear that they are ok. I cant imagine the horror as it happened. Millions of miles are safely traveled in motor homes each year but I'll take my chances in one of the big 3 engineered vehicles and not something that disintegrates and smears down the side of the road.

Then I suppose you'll never fly either. Just hooking up your trailer to your truck puts you or other drivers on the road in danger. What happens if your trailer comes off and kills some other persons family... or yours? I'm not understanding the logic behind it.

No I dont fly. It would be a last choice in an emergency. Getting out of your chair and going anywhere puts you in more danger. What I'm saying is that vehicles produced by the big three are far safer than motor homes. Front and side air bags, crumple zones and tighter regulations. The logic of it is that there would be a whole lot more left of most any pick up truck if it were in the same crash. How many of those Tiffins did they crash test?

On top of that you have a huge risk of all that garbage acting as a projectile and crushing you. There wasn't one stick of structural material left around those poor people. Well, there is no real structure like a cage around them. It does appear that the seats were actually attached to something other than particle board. Oops that was a forest river recall, not Tiffin.

I understand a truck is designed to be stronger in a crash. However In a roll over your chances are way down. Not to mention what the fiver is gonna do to your truck after it slams into it or some other unsuspecting familly. I believe your outcome isn't going to be much better for someone. Your fiver is a huge projectile, is it going to hit you? Someone else?

[azrving]

et2 wrote:

rjxj wrote:
Good to hear that they are ok. I cant imagine the horror as it happened. Millions of miles are safely traveled in motor homes each year but I'll take my chances in one of the big 3 engineered vehicles and not something that disintegrates and smears down the side of the road.

Then I suppose you'll never fly either. Just hooking up your trailer to your truck puts you or other drivers on the road in danger. What happens if your trailer comes off and kills some other persons family... or yours? I'm not understanding the logic behind it.

No I dont fly. It would be a last choice in an emergency. Getting out of your chair and going anywhere puts you in more danger. What I'm saying is that vehicles produced by the big three are far safer than motor homes. Front and side air bags, crumple zones and tighter regulations. The logic of it is that there would be a whole lot more left of most any pick up truck if it were in the same crash. How many of those Tiffins did they crash test?

On top of that you have a huge risk of all that garbage acting as a projectile and crushing you. There wasn't one stick of structural material left around those poor people. Well, there is no real structure like a cage around them. It does appear that the seats were actually attached to something other than particle board. Oops that was a forest river recall, not Tiffin.

[jorbill2or]

Rodz wrote:

Blaster Man wrote:
I'd like to know the cause of the blow out. Based on the year of the coach, the tire should not have been old. What about tire pressure, inflation and speed of the coach?

To me, that video by Michelin makes no sense. With the good power steering in today's vehicles, you can control the vehicle without contributing to a more serious accident by going faster. I wonder if the host has ever had a real blow out and not a staged blow out. We had a RF tire blow last May. I tapped off the cruise and coasted to the side of the interstate. We were cruising at 60 and the last thing I wanted was more speed.

Absolutely. I had a LF blowout and I did the same thing. Eased it to the side of the road.

I had a front blowout in a OTR tractor trailer (not a MH) but the same was true .. The power steering easily overcame the turning force and I just coasted to the side.there was considerable force to turn to the blowout side but not unmanageable ,It would be a different story without the steering assist .Truth is I really think people panic and slam on the brakes ( Bad ..Very Bad thing to do ) or don't have a reasonable two hand hold on the wheel causing Bad things to happen before they know it.
That wreck actually looks "good" most of the ones I saw in my OTR years the cabinets and furnature were all where the front seats "were"!

[Ivylog]

You can see in the pictures that the outside back tires are still aired up.
The worse thing you can do with a blow out is to put on your brakes. I'm pretty sure Michelin knows more about what to do than someone who's had one.

[stugpanzer]

JumboJet wrote:

stugpanzer wrote:
Agreed I would like to know as well. Also, did they have a steering stabilizer? I have a SteerSafe and if they had one I would be interested in knowing if they had something like that.

How fast were they traveling? We have had conversations on these forums about 'proper' speeds to go and I, for one, never exceed 60mph and I am curious on the speed they were going when this happened.

Is this the report about the accident? LINK

If so, then it was a front tire blow-out.

According to the driver's sister, they were doing 65 MPH. Her posts that I read have been concerned with the status of her brother and sister-in-law with very little about the actual accident.

Yes, that is the link to the brief accident story.

The pictures are of the remains after it had been towed to a lot.

Thanks for confirming. I really hope they recover and will be ok. I am sorry for their loss of their dog!

I hope they can share their full story as we all can learn from their (horrible) experience.

[JumboJet]

stugpanzer wrote:
Agreed I would like to know as well. Also, did they have a steering stabilizer? I have a SteerSafe and if they had one I would be interested in knowing if they had something like that.

How fast were they traveling? We have had conversations on these forums about 'proper' speeds to go and I, for one, never exceed 60mph and I am curious on the speed they were going when this happened.

Is this the report about the accident? LINK

If so, then it was a front tire blow-out.

According to the driver's sister, they were doing 65 MPH. Her posts that I read have been concerned with the status of her brother and sister-in-law with very little about the actual accident.

Yes, that is the link to the brief accident story.

The pictures are of the remains after it had been towed to a lot.

[Rodz]

Blaster Man wrote:
I'd like to know the cause of the blow out. Based on the year of the coach, the tire should not have been old. What about tire pressure, inflation and speed of the coach?

To me, that video by Michelin makes no sense. With the good power steering in today's vehicles, you can control the vehicle without contributing to a more serious accident by going faster. I wonder if the host has ever had a real blow out and not a staged blow out. We had a RF tire blow last May. I tapped off the cruise and coasted to the side of the interstate. We were cruising at 60 and the last thing I wanted was more speed.

Absolutely. I had a LF blowout and I did the same thing. Eased it to the side of the road.