Last Sunday we went to Megan's softball tournament for one game. Here are a couple of pics.
When I checked the tires I noticed that two of them were getting weathered looking. I was concerned but not overly so, the trailer is only two years old. I made a mental note to add four new trailer tires to my list of things to do in the near future.
Friday came and we were excited to finally be heading out again. We had only driven about ten miles when a trailer tire blew out. When we pulled over I quickly realized that there was more damage than just a tire. The tread had separated from the tire. It tore off the fender which broke into a million pieces and tore out a section of the wheel well and insulation above it as well as a piece of the plywood decking. It then wrapped around the axle and ripped out the wiring to the electric brakes. All of this damage happened when we were going forty miles an hour on Seawall Blvd. in Galveston. I hate to think what else might have happened if we were on the freeway traveling at sixty mph.
That tan section is the trailer floor.At the station they were able to jack the trailer up and remove the wheel fairly easily. Removing the tread from the axle was a little more difficult. They were finally able to cut it off and it was time to settle up. I almost fainted when the station owner told me I owed him fifteen bucks. I was expecting at least fifty. I tipped the guy who did the work five dollars and made a promise to myself that I would start buying my gas and deisel here from now on.
We towed the trailer to the dealership where we bought it and unloaded everything into the truck. Jackie brought us an additional cooler for the refrigerated stuff. The service department said they would do an estimate in the next five days and for me to call the insurance company. I called and filed a claim but haven't heard anything yet. I'll probably check with them later today to get an update.
We returned home quite disappointed. Connie was especially down. I tried to cheer her up but nothing was working. She had so looked forward to getting away that the sudden change in plans crushed her. I asked her if she would like to go anyway and just stay in a hotel for a night or two. She was pretty indifferent to the idea but I knew she would come around if I got the ball rolling. I usually leave this kind of planning for her to do because she is better at it than I and she seems to enjoy it.
I called the Bed & Bisket and made arrangements to drop Sam off Saturday morning. I made a few other arrangements and got Connie's mood to start changing. We unpacked then repacked for a shorter stay, looked up some places to check out on the internet and hit the sack at about 9:00.
We have been rethinking our retirement plans for the last few months. For a lot of reasons we have pretty much decided to become part time fulltimers. We are going to buy or build a little place inland somewhere to use as a home base. We plan on travelling two or three months at a time and returning to home base for breaks in between.
One of the things we were going to do on this camping trip was look at some properties. We were going to spread it out over the three days. Instead we did it all in two days. We drove over 500 miles and looked at more areas than I can remember but it was well worth it. We have a better idea where we want to buy and about how much we can expect to spend. Now it's time to start looking more at specific properties.
We did see one house on a small lake that looked to fit our needs and price range exactly. Connie called this morning but there is a deal pending and the realtor thinks it will go through. I knew it was too good to be true and way too easy. We'll be taking more excursions looking for our "shack in the woods" this winter. I just hope the trailer is fixed fairly soon so we can use it as a base to look for our future home base.
We picked Sam up at about 3:00 yesterday and returned home tired but definitely in better moods than when we left.
Adios for now, enjoy the day.
--Rod
Had the same thing happen to our first 5th wheel, and for the same reason, the trailer was 2 years old(a93) at the time and the tires were 5 years old so figure they sat on a shelf for 3 years before being put on the trailer, maybe the factory goes around and buys up big lots of tire nearing there age limit at a good price.Anyway I had the hole in the floor and the tire wrapped around the axle, and torn out wiring , and last but not least a shattered main drain valve for the grey and black tanks, Good thing they were both empty. I didn't have a separate policy on the trailer at the time since the salesman had told us the trailer is covered by your truck insurance, found out he was wrong and it was only covered for an accident liability not comprehensive although we had that on the truck.So I ended up taking a week of vacation time and fixing it in my garage.actually I think I did a better job than the dealer as I used a piece of marine grade plywood and plenty of caulk for the patch. luckily the hole was under the bathroom vanity, where it could not be seen. and rewired the brakes with one grade heavier wire than factory, the hardest part was getting the right valve from the factory it took three tries even with pictures of what was left of the old one. the rest of the piping I used PVC pipe. and I bought a replacement fender cover that matched perfect.The main thing I learned was to switch out tires every 5 years no matter what they look like and go by the date stamped on the tire.So far no trouble since even with the new trailer (2006) which came with (2005) tires on it. Hope everything turns out okay for you. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.
ReplyDeleteIf it is a Good Year tire, I was told by a dealer that GY will pay for the repairs. They need the tire that blew and it will have to go to a GY authorized service center. I don't know how true this is but would be worth checking into.
ReplyDeleteStay Safe
We lost 2 tires on our 2 year old 5th wheel within 2 months. When the 2nd one went, we went ahead and replace all 6. We were lucky, and when it blew on Interstate 10 someone flagged Johnny down so there was no damage to the trailer.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really wanted to tell you is that we fouond out in that incident that our trailer insurance included a roadside assistance plan. They came out, changed the tire and Johnny was on his way. Our insurance is with National Interstate. Saw you have Geico, but it might be worth checking for future reference. We've had one claim with them -- new roof and awning (don't ask) -- and they were great also! Hope you are back on the road soon!