Another Tire Blowout story.

[KennyM]

I just thought I would share this since I have been dealing with it all day.



My brother inlaw and his family Just recieved a brand new Jayco 35 foot tag a long. They just brought the trailer home Tuesday. Today they set out for Texas, Made it about 25 miles away from home when all hell broke loose. All of the sudden his trailer starts swerving and swaying the trailer flipped the van (Ford 350 PS) onto it's side then the trailer flipped end to end and snapped the hitch in two leaving the Van crushed on it's roof, and the trailer all over the place, both were facing 180 deg the direction they were traveling.



My Brother inlaw, his wife and three kids only had minor injuries.



Later in the day I went to the Salvage yard in Frederick to help gather what was left of their life. The remaines of the trailer body was tossed in a dumpster all mangled, The van had been crushed on all four sides, and just about all windows gone.



Upon inspecting and taking pictures of the mess we noticed that one of the tires was blown out, of course we found out later it was nted by the investigater also. This tire brand was called DURO, anybody ever here of this brand.



This has been a very tough day and someone was looking out for my family. Ken



P. S. A witness said they were only going 55 MPH when this happened. Sorry about any spelling errors.

 

[78repowerwagon]

Sorry to hear about your day.



I don't have any experiance with Duro tires good or bad. They sell ATV tires and seem to be good tires. I think I will avoid selling trailer tires from them now however.

 

[Larry Willard]

Sorry to hear about your family's bad luck, at least they are OK.

I had never heard of Duro tires previous to getting them with a baaot trailer. Have been running them since '95 with no problems, although they are now pretty cracked from age. I only tow this 2 times a year, once to the shore and back again in the fall.

Larry

 

[John Berger]

That sucks

This hits too close to home. Tell them to hang in there, things are gonna be kinda otherworldly for awhile. I know of what I speak, unfortunately.

 

[Barry]

KennyM, please keep us informed as to the outcome of this accident. There is more to this story than a blown tire. Hopefully, an accident specialist is going to investigate this one. Normally, a blown tire does not cause the kind of wild gyrations that you have desribed. If it were me, I would inspect the frame and suspension from A to Z. There could be a cause for the blowout other than tire failure. Something is wrong here and since it was a new unit on it's first voyage, I would also get Jayco involved.

 

[KennyM]

Barry, That is very good information. I will pass this on. We also think the sway bars falied, we and the Police could not find them. The first comment from the Police was where are your sway bars or the hitch other than the part left in the reciever. It will be very hard to investigate the frame of the trailer, Again this trailer went end over end length wise. when the rear slamed down it bent the frame down about two feet towards the ground.





Ken

 

[lizzyhermit]

two axles ? I have had more than one blow out on the rear axle at speed with 30' of TT and nothing untoward occured. I agree with the above thoughts, there's more to this than a blown tire. If it's a single axle there might be weight issues. BTW, what was the ply rating of the tires? share with your brother and his family they have very much to be happy and thankful about, the hassle over the vehicles is just that, a hassle.

our lives are precious and most of all need to be appreciated.

 

[Barry]

..... and all God's children said Amen!

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I've had excessive wear problems with tires on our 24 foot Kit fiver since it was new - finally replaced them due to EXTREMELY poor wear patterns, cupping, etc... Got a full set of Duros, made sure they were properly inflated, but they wear as poorly as the originals that were NOT designed for RV use as it turned out...



In addition, the Duros developed significant sidewall cracks within a year of purchase, even tho the fiver is kept under a cover out of the sun, and we are not in a smog area...



I realize other problems usually cause strange wear patterns - but the sidewall cracks so soon are unacceptable!



No more Duros for ME!



Good luck and best wishes to your sister and family...

 

[ddesau]

Tires

I would think that a through investigation needs to be done on the tires on his trailer - . It is very possible that the tires may not have been up to the load they were carrying. As far as the roll over goes - if you are talking about a Ford Van - they are very easy to roll over -especially if they go sideways. If the tires were not suitable for the load they were expected to handle - then he would have a possible action against Jayco and the tire manufacturer.



I have seen vehicles and trailers flip under the right circumstances.

 

[Fuzz]

another

My tire's failure seems kinda trivial after all their problems. Hope it works out for them.



Last week pulling fiver,checked airpressure on all tires before I left

campspot in WY. Everything aired up to 80#'s on trailer.

Got about 20 miles down the road and threw a tread. . saw it flying

off left side. . changed tire and returned to last town. . No General dealer. Bougt a used spare and continued on to daughters about

300 miles. Visited for a couple of days,headed home,(140miles).

Got about 10 miles from home. Left side threw tread. This time condsiderable damage to trailer. Trailer handled OK.

Tires are(were)General Ameri 50 275/85/16 Load range E.

Previously had trailer weighed . Each wheel seperately and was under the tires max weight by 400 t0 800 #'s. Am waiting on paper work from General tire to see it they will fix trailer.

 

[KennyM]

I have more info on the accident. First, It was raining and it was a newly paved section of highway, this was the first rain for the new pavement. Second it was a downhill grade with a curve, when they paved it they changed the bank of the road due to many accidents on this curve (quoted from Officer yesterday when he visited the family). Now for something not noticed yet, the bearing casing on the right rear wheel was melted, this was on the same tire that was blown out. My brother inlaw is letting a lawyer handle it from here. Also the trailer was a Keystone, not Jayco.



Larry Willard, Would you happen to have the Friday Frederick newspaper? We were told that a picture of the accident was in it, and would like to get hold of a copy.



Thanks Ken

 

[ddesau]

tires/accident

Originally posted by KennyM

I have more info on the accident. First, It was raining and it was a newly paved section of highway, this was the first rain for the new pavement. Second it was a downhill grade with a curve, when they paved it they changed the bank of the road due to many accidents on this curve (quoted from Officer yesterday when he visited the family). Now for something not noticed yet, the bearing casing on the right rear wheel was melted, this was on the same tire that was blown out. My brother inlaw is letting a lawyer handle it from here. Also the trailer was a Keystone, not Jayco.



Larry Willard, Would you happen to have the Friday Frederick newspaper? We were told that a picture of the accident was in it, and would like to get hold of a copy.



Thanks Ken

It sounds like the wheel bearings were not properly greased - The dealer would have liability for that !



I suggest that you take photographs of the vehicle-the trailer-the Hwy if you can and the wheel bearing and tires - a photo is worth a thousand words to a jury - and they will be glad they had it later on when it goes to court...

 

[Extreme1]

Make sure the trailer, the tires and axle don't go anywhere. They will be needed as proof. Glad no one was hurt bad, that had to be a wild ride!

 

[Cowboy Medic]

As a paramedic, I have unfortunately seen this way too many times, and for some reason Vans with bumper pull Travel Trailers are the number one for us in RV type wrecks. Your family is very lucky to have come out the way they did. I hope they are not turned off to the RV experience as it is a great one the majority of the time. Good luck in getting everything back in order.



Jon

 

[Barry]

Now, we are starting to get somewhere is this puzzle. Keep us posted.

 

[Larry Willard]

Yea Kenny I have that paper saved, you gonna be at Cummins Saturday I will bring it along.

Larry

 

[Boost]

One scary thing is that, at least in some states, it is legal for passengers to ride in 5th wheel trailers. If anyone sees what happens to a trailer when it is rolled over, they would not even consider letting someone ride in one. Unless of course its your mother in law.



Rob

 

[KennyM]

Larry, Thanks for the response. We have come accross copies, so we will not need yours, also the newspaper will sell us a copy of the actual picture for only $35. 00. I will not be in town on Saturday, I will be in Myrtle Beach for the next 2. 5 weeks.



Ken