Tire fires

With so many people switching from Norcolds/Dometics to residential fridges....tires are the new Norcold....:B:B.....Dennis

I had that deal where a wheel came off the trailer 20 years ago.......Everything was there, dust cover, bearings, nut, washer, but no cotter key. I had been towing it for more than 6 months since I had the bearings packed. Guess it took that long to come off. Lucky that wheel didn't hit anyone, just rolled to a stop along the Jersey wall.

Tires are easy to check and see if they are inflated properly. Rusted slides on the brakes or swelling brake hoses are harder to see. I have had both of these issues. If you notice that your MH pulls to one side as you apply the brakes change the hose on the opposite side. The slides you can check by jacking the tire of the ground and spinning it and applying the brakes,then spin the tire again and see if the calipers release. If not clean the slides. While you have it jacked up check the wheel bearings by spinning the tire and see how much play is in the tire.

We went full time in may of 14. We decided to pull a 20 ft enclosed car trailer. Before we left I bought all new tires for the trailer, had the wheels sand blasted and powder coated. Replaced all bearings and races on each axel all fully packed. Went with new bearing buddies and covers for all axels. After 6 Mos of 0 troubles we were 60 miles out of yuma and the coach made a weird move. Stopped got out looked around, nothing. proceeded about 5 miles and got the wave over from a passing car. Stopped again,got out and the trailer was indeed on fire. Grabbed the extinguisher from the coach, ran back, and blasted the rear wheel area pass side of the trailer.

Luckily the tire was not on fire it was the grease. Had we run a little longer the tire would have fired up and our trailer maybe the whole thing would have burned
We dodged a big bullet. It takes a great deal of heat to get a tire to burn. Once started they are very hard to put out without the folks in the big rigs with the sirens and the big hats.

After we "got the trailer to yuma" take the car out jack the trailer up pull the tire off all while the traffic blows by at 70+, limp on three wheels.....I we discovered something interesting,
The bearing buddy was in place, the cotter pin that holds the axel nut was not to be found.
The trailer wheel with nothing to hold it in place had wobbled enough to create the friction that caused the fire.
Had a small run in a few months prior in a cg over a dog. Can't imagine someone pulling of a bearing buddy, pulling the cotter pin then replacing the bearing buddy. However it's the only thing I can come up with.
my point ....don't have one.
jw

Yesterday on the news it showed Lady Antebellum tour bus catch on fire and today they showed another Prevost or a look alike also catching on fire. It seemed like the fire on both started around the rear tires or maybe the engine. Both were on the news out of NY.

Both of these looked like new buses chassis.

Though Scott is correct-- "stuff" can happen, the likelihood is that most fires are a result of lack of maintenance and/or lack of "walk around with mechanically competent eyes".

Not always lack of maint. A component can fail suddenly (flat tire, failed seal, damaged brake, road hazard, etc.) and it has nothing to do with the maint. schedule.

So what I'm reading its lack of maintanice. Thanks for the input.

when you you combine a leaking grease seal with hot brakes, or an under inflated tire, you will get a fire. If you mix all that onto a hot roadway when it's 110 degrees outside, you get a fire in a hurry!

dragging brakes shoes, bearing failures, low pressure tires will cause it....a TST / Tire Pressure and TEMPERATURE monitoring system would alert you to an increased tire temperature AND POTENTIAL fire.

most TPMS systems don't measure temperature !

no hand held foam extinguisher is ever gonna put out a tire once its burning.