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Old 09-02-2013, 09:27 PM   #1
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Flat Tire

So we went out camping this past weekend with my brother and his family. As normal they were not ready to go so we got a late start as they wanted to follow us. We had 150 miles to go and left my place at 7 pm. We got about 4-5 miles from home and we got a call that they had a flat on their PU, unfortunately in the spaghetti bowl (I94 and I35E interchange). There is no easy way to turn around and get to them, but I did and had fun doing it (not). I pull up behind them. Luckily it was the curbside tire. As I walk up, I see he is using a 6” crescent wrench on the lug nuts. I pull out my emergency kit, that included a flasher unit to make all the HTT marker lights flash, my jack, 18” breaker bar with the correct socket, and so forth. 20 minutes later we have the tire changed. Luckily he did have the spare replaced the day before. But my jack would not fit under the axle, and when I lifted the frame I could not lift it high enough. Luckily he uses a couple automotive scissors jacks as stabilizers, which we placed under the axle.

We had planned to stop for dinner in route so a few miles up the road we stop for dinner, and decide to get a new spare as who knows how good the other tire is. By the time we are ready to get out of town it was 9:30 and my truck has 14 miles on it. He turned around and went home for the night, and we rolled on to camp. We rolled in at 12:30 am and turtle it. The camp ground was very nice and did not charge either of us for the 1st day of our reservation.

This incident has made me wonder if my jack will fit under the frame and lift the HTT unit high enough to change a tire.

My brother and his wife did give me a hard time in camp for having a safety vest, but I believe I want to do what I must to be able to sleep in my bed each night.

Moral, make sure you have the correct tools on board just in case you have any issues in route!

By the way the rest of the weekend did go by without any other major issues.
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Old 09-03-2013, 03:29 AM   #2
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Jagiven - the safety vest is definitely a good idea. Here in Virginia, if you operate a rollback or tow truck, it is a requirement to wear one while hooking a tow. As for the jack, perhaps a Trailer-Aid would be a good investment for you. I have one, and it works perfectly. Glad to hear the weekend went well.
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Old 09-03-2013, 07:22 AM   #3
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Sorry for your misfortune. I was travelling I-70 on Friday and traffic slowed as I passed a tandem axle TT on the side of the road with a blow-out - they're vacation didnt look like it was getting back on track as fast as yours. Family standing way off the shoulder.

It reminded me that I haven't been diligent to check the car jack, lug wrench and and camper resources to be sure I'd be equipped to handle the same.
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Old 09-03-2013, 08:20 AM   #4
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Think your brother ought to thank their lucky stars that you were there to handle all their problems. We all have family or friends who always seem to be a day late and $$ short on planning and necessary equipment. I'm guilty of bringing the kitchen sink [lots of tools] but had plenty of room and weight capacity on the previous TT. With a new and bigger White Hawk in tow now, have had to sort out the extras but will always travel with the appropriate safety / road repair stuff. May not need it but if you do you won't have to track down your helpless brother to help.

Read a tip on another thread that might come in handy when faced with the jack problem. Pull the TT up on 2 or 3 stacked 2x6's [good tire on the same side as the flat]. That should give the flat axle a few more inches of clearance.
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Old 09-03-2013, 02:57 PM   #5
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We were coming back from Yuma Az last weekend, Overnight-ed at a rest stop in Nev. and as we were bedding down for the night a semi pulls along side with a blow out. He called a truck service co. to come make the repair and offered to move to a different part of the rest stop to keep the noise down. I told him he was good, kids were out and wife can sleep thru my snoring and I can sleep thru a diesel idling, a sound I don't mind.
He was gone when we got up. We hit the road (after checking tires) and drove till lunch. Ate Lunch, walked around a bit to loosen up, checked tires and hit the road again. 1 hour later, looked in the passenger mirror, see part of trailer fender flapping in the breeze. Oh Cr@p. Pulled over and found a wheel with two round chunks of rubber on it. Tire was 1 year old and we did not hear it go, or beat itself to death on the trailer. Took out the fender and trim that we just had replaced last year from the last blow out. But since this was the 5TH flat on this trailer since we got it, had the spare on and back on the road in less than 30 minutes.
The good part, we have heard every tire that has blown out except these last two. Last years went in a work zone where the road was so bad we could not hear or feel anything until it was way to late. This one was on a smooth road and we must have picked up a nail or something so if I had a tire pressure monitor we most likely could have saved the tire and trim, so DW says I can now spend the money one one. :clap:
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