In October 2012, we were southbound on I-5 in the vicinity of Bakersfield, CA, when the left rear dually wheels on our Silverado simultaneously flew off the truck and overtook us. The hub hit the pavement with a huge thump and we went screeching down the highway, leaving a huge gouge in the pavement. Fortunately, my husband was able to pull the truck/camper and our boat over to the side and yelled to me to watch where the wheels were going. We sat there watching the wheels bouncing down the highway in front of us, across the ditches. The car that was driving in the left lane beside us swerved onto the median to avoid the flying wheels. One wheel went across the 2 lanes of oncoming traffic, narrowly missing two oncoming cars. The other wheel went to the right, across a canal and into a farmers field. I climbed through a barbed wire fence, down the roadside ditch, across the farmers side road, down into the canal ditch (6 ft. deep, muddy, but no water,) and then went across the plowed field (probably 1,000 yards,) to retrieve the wheel. It was hot, sunny, very dusty and the wheel was very heavy.
No one stopped to help and we did not have a cellphone, so we made a "help" sign, and started waving. Soon three very nice ladies stopped and let us use their phone. They stayed with us for over an hour, until they were sure we were safe, and we will always be grateful to them for the time spent with us!!! The California Highway Patrol officer also came by twice, first time to see what the matter was, then 2 hours later just to check and see if we were okay and if help was coming. When the officer was leaving after his second visit, my husband said "Guess I should be singing: You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me Loose Wheel"
It was quite scary and traumatic to stand there and have traffic whizzing by at 75mph - less than six feet from where we were standing. At one point while we were waiting, we climbed thru the barbed wire fence and sat in the dirt on the bank of the farmerโs road, just to get away from the traffic rushing by. Every time an 18-wheeler whizzed by, the truck/camper rocked, so we could not sit in it, but we had to leave our cat inside. Guess I have been watching too much TV!!! I had visions of cars coming off the road and crashing into us!!!
We were on the soft shoulder for 12 hours, while a repair truck, dispatched by Good Sam, came out at 6p.m. and repaired the damage ON THE SOFT SHOULDER!!! He worked for about 7 hours in the narrow space between the truck and the lane of traffic! He had to remove everything, including the axle!! When he was finished, the repairman took us to the nearest Walmart - it was 2am by this time, and he promised to return next morning to check on us.
The repairman returned the next day and rechecked the wheels. Then he took us to a tire shop in Bakersfield to get the spare tire repaired. The left rear fender and truck box was all smashed, and the repair bill was COSTLY!!! We only retrieved one wheel...it was too dangerous to cross the highway to retrieve the other. However, there was no loss of life to anyone else on the highway, and we are alive, safe and well, although a bit shaken up. While at Walmart, we bought a disposable cell phone for use on our travels. There was a very nice young gentleman at the electronics department of Walmart who did the activation for me - above and beyond his job, but he saw we were technically challenged, as well as shaken up!
As we had our truck serviced before we embarked on our travels, we reported the incident to the Dealership. They were wonderful, accepted responsibility, and made good on all repairs!!! Evidently, their torquing tool malfunctioned and the lug nuts were not tight enough.
Thank you, Good Sam, for providing excellent roadside assistance.
