Disaster with Windjammer 2715 vs

[Boxford]

We purchased a 2015 Rockwood Windjammer 2715vs in January. We have camped a total of 11 nights and had about 250 road miles on this trailer. On Saturday, a tire on the TT blew, causing the TT to fishtail and slide sideways. The truck turned over and the TT flipped on its side. Both are almost certainly totaled. I was trapped in the wreckage. Neither my husband, our dog nor myself had any serious injuries (only minor cuts and bruises). We are blessed to be alive!

This is our 7th camping trailer and we have had only 1 minor issue with a tire before now in over 20 years of camping. We can not imagine a new tire blowing and causing that much damage (we were not even up to speed, the road conditions were clear and the weather beautiful).

Looking forward to learning how GS handles this!

[jerem0621]

OP I am glad everyone was okay.

I read an article once that said that most TT/fiver rollovers happen because the TV actually rolls the trailer over. Did this happen to you guys? Did the fishtail cause the truck to lose control, turn over, and as a result turn the trailer over?

Also, what was the TV? Were you in a turn? Did someone hit you and that not just register? I'm curious about this because the good tire on the side of the blow out should have maintained traction.

I am really glad everyone is okay though.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[rbpru]

Do you have any idea why the tire blew, puncture, bead leak, delamination, chuck hole?

Hope everything goes well with the insurance.

[BurbMan]

Horrible way to start the RV season for sure! Hope you get some good insurance cash and get back on the road, there is still plenty of summer left! Most important thing, no serious injuries!

Hoping also that OP can fill in some more details about what vehicle they were towing with, what the weather was like, etc. A blowout on the TT is never fun but it shouldn't have sent the trailer sideways and caused such a terrible crash. Had to be other factors at work.

[knort001]

Glad you are both ok. Westlake is the worse, company did not stand behing there product, nor did goodyear where I bought it . This was a spare bought less than 7 mos ago. , Used it as a spare , it blew in less than 200 miles....

[fla-gypsy]

Keep us posted and glad no one was seriously injured. There are plenty of folks on this forum who do not take the safety aspects of what can happen seriously. For certain you will never be one of them now. It can and does happen, when it does it can be devastating

[93Cobra2771]

Glad the OP is ok.

On a side note, not very much information to figure out why the tire blew. Could have been bad tire. Could have been tread separation/heat/blowout. An alligator could have latched on right before leaving the gas station.

In other words, we have no idea what led to the blowout. And honestly, I took from the OP that it wasn't a statement on crappy tires, it was a statement to see how her insurance claim turns out.

[dan-nickie]

nomad297 wrote:

dan-nickie wrote:

nomad297 wrote:
Check out this thread.

It looks like Westlake is bad news.

Bruce

Bruce, I read most of those 7 pages and did not read any about any Westlake failures except for the first post. It turned into a ST vs LT debate pretty quickly.

OP, glad you guys are OK and wish you happier times.

That thread was started because of Westlake tires that were less than a year old.

Bruce

Right, the OP said his 'Buddy' sent him the picture.
That is all that is known about the tires, or how they were treated.
No other posters said anything else about their experience with Westlake tires.
Any brand can have one issue. Agreed?

[nomad297]

dan-nickie wrote:

nomad297 wrote:
Check out this thread.

It looks like Westlake is bad news.

Bruce

Bruce, I read most of those 7 pages and did not read any about any Westlake failures except for the first post. It turned into a ST vs LT debate pretty quickly.

OP, glad you guys are OK and wish you happier times.

That thread was started because of Westlake tires that were less than a year old.

Bruce

[coolbreeze01]

"(we were not even up to speed, the road conditions were clear and the weather beautiful)."

That is a lot of damage. Curious what your speed was? Glad you are OK.

[wing_zealot]

Golden_HVAC wrote:
Hi,

I am really happy to know that you are both OK, and that hopefully the insurance will replace everything - except your confidence in the cheap tires that manufactures install!

What kind of truck did you have? Somehow I see a F-250 in your future, it will protect you better, and hopefully prevent the tail wagging the truck in the future, and stay on all 4 wheels next time! Somehow I never feel unsafe in a 7,000 pound truck towing a 8,000 pound trailer, but that 5,800 pound truck, I might wonder!

Good luck!

Fred.

I just got to ask, how do you know it wasn't being towed with a F250, the tail wagged the dog, the TV weighed 5800lbs, etc.

[Oasisbob]

Thank God you are OK. Just curious what brand of tire? What was your load like weight wise? Were you in a turn? Let us know how it all works out please. Take care

[dadmomh]

So sorry you had to experience this. Glad no one was badly hurt. Things have certainly got to improve for you.

After following the long-running thread re "can I do 75?", please note that they OP stated "we were not even up to speed".

Re Westlake tires...when we were shopping for the last set for our HTT, our local, reputable tire dealer carried the Westlake and recommended them. DH was not familiar with the brand and asked a lot of questions. Got online and did some research and while we didn't find a lot of negatives, there were enough that we did otherwise. I think if we were in the market for a trailer, regardless of the existing deal, I would ask that those tires be swapped for whatever brand and size the buyer felt was best and adjust the price if need be. No guarantees with any tires, but maybe minimize the possibilities. FWIW, on our HTT they came with Greenball Transmasters. We replaced them at recommended time for a total of 3 sets without any issues at all. They are now carried at Sam's Club. Certainly not a recommendation as such, just something else to consider.

[xteacher]

How scary! I'm glad you are alright. I hope your insurance company comes through for you.

[Doug33]

Do you know which tire blew out? Which side and was it rear/front tire?

This sounds very similar to what happened to my neighbor a few years ago. His wife really got hurt badly and had shoulder/arm problems for a long time after. So I'm glad everyone got through this was only minor injuries.