Runaway Tire!

[sandman2234]

I lost a trailer tire coming into Maryland from PA on a trip chasing Allis Chalmers tractors. Sheared the studs off and on Saturday evening there were none to be found. Strapped the axle up with no tire and eased down to the nearest town and waited for the hardware store to open on Sunday. No studs available but I used grade 8 nuts and bolts to hold it together till I got home. Had to remove the brakes for the bolt heads to clear on that axle. Not a good day, just glad I got it home.
I watched a fuel tanker truck make a corner and watched the two rear tires come off, with the hub and brake drum. Luckily they rolled into a ditch to slow them down before stopping. A policewoman got the call, and was dumbfounded as to what she should do with the pair of tires. I suggested she take my phone number, and we load them in the back of my pickup. Told her I would ride around with them in my truck for a week or so till they found the owner. She finally called me and I gave them to a friend who was an owner operator.
David from jax

 

[orezok]

Worse than a tire, a friend of mine was driving on the freeway in San Diego in the 70s. He was following a semi when the back axle complete with both dualies came out from under the trailer. It started bouncing in front of him and he was sure that he was going to nail it. Just as he got to it while hard braking, the axle bounced up in the air and he drove under it! Unfortunately the car behind him nailed it

 

[QRTRHRS]

A while back, one of school buses where I live had a front wheel bearing fail causing the wheel and brake hub to come off. Luckily, no one was coming the other way but the wheel went through a fence and knocked a few blocks out on a house. The axle nut was still on the spindle!

 

[Norm W]

Many years ago I was coming from Poughkeepsie NY to Syracuse with a GMC suburban and a trailer with a Farmall A on it. I had had new rear tires put on the suburban at Sears. Checked the tires on the trip down and back before I left each place. Checked them at the half way points. I got about 30 miles from home and the left rear tire passed me. All six studs had broken off. They had evidently been over stressed by the graduate of Lug Nut School with his impact gun. Got a friend to bring me new stud bolts and nuts, repaired the hub, put on the spare and drove home. Never bought tires at Sears again.

 

[sklunk]

That will teach him to borrow a trailer with bad studs.

If the studs were bad they came from the factory that way since I had just replaced the hubs (including studs), bearings, and brakes less than 200 miles before that. They were Dexter hubs bought brand new direct from the factory.

 

[PILOON]

While I dodged a semi tire successfully I had another near miss.

Owned a nice MG-B and was behind a large semi that was hauling scrapped cars when a bumper fell off of the loaded semi.
Dang thing bounced every which way and caught my rt front fender and bounced off of my windshield.
Meanwhile I had jammed on the brakes and dove below the dash on passenger side.

Took out my right front fender and just creased the windshield post.

Three weeks later my insurance was cancelled as they claimed I frequented dangerous places*, they did however repair my car.

* like I drive on the public roads!
OK few month earlier an idiot backed into my parked MG and they had to pay that one as well.
My understanding insurance firms like to collect but not pay.

 

[Dftodd]

While I dodged a semi tire successfully I had another near miss.

Owned a nice MG-B and was behind a large semi that was hauling scrapped cars when a bumper fell off of the loaded semi.
Dang thing bounced every which way and caught my rt front fender and bounced off of my windshield.
Meanwhile I had jammed on the brakes and dove below the dash on passenger side.

Took out my right front fender and just creased the windshield post.

Three weeks later my insurance was cancelled as they claimed I frequented dangerous places*, they did however repair my car.

* like I drive on the public roads!
OK few month earlier an idiot backed into my parked MG and they had to pay that one as well.
My understanding insurance firms like to collect but not pay.

Yeah, them insurance companies sure like there premiums l, but don't like to pay out. Only exception is my health insurance at work. Currently on a medication that costs $15,000 a dose so far I'm up to $75,000 in meds Will be around $150,000 for this year alone. yup, they lost there shirt on my butt

 

[Doofy]

Yeah, them insurance companies sure like there premiums l, but don't like to pay out. Only exception is my health insurance at work. Currently on a medication that costs $15,000 a dose so far I'm up to $75,000 in meds Will be around $150,000 for this year alone. yup, they lost there shirt on my butt

You are fortunate that it wasn't deemed "pre-existing condition".

 

[Dftodd]

You are fortunate that it wasn't deemed "pre-existing condition".

Wouldn't have been preexisting anyway. Been with the company 10 years. Had the condition for 3 years.

First 3 months of treatment cost $105,000 after that it's $15,000 a month.

I was actually surprised insurance pre-approved it for 3 years. Then I have to start the process over.

I think half the reason it was approved is the fact the company has over 30,000 employees in the United states and Canada. They probably didn't want to tick off our benefits manager

 

[Doofy]

Great to see an insurance company doing the right thing.

 

[PILOON]

Speaking of insurance--- (OK off topic but blame last poster, LOL)

An acquaintance suffered a heart attack and needed CPR as well as had 2 strokes.
He surprised me saying he was off to the US for 2 weeks (we are in Canada)
Now no insurance coverage is valid for 'pre existing' situations.
Further more he said that he had cancelled his city employee policy as his wife's was a better one.

She worked for the Federal Gov't and her policy covers him as well and that is for anywhere any time no matter what and supposedly even includes air ambulance if needed.

Guess I worked for the wrong employers.
Shucks to get travel insurance I need my MD to certify my health B4 I can get coverage and they don't like to cover anybody over 80.

 

[Jim Shooz]

Sometimes a loose wheel does it right

The funniest moment in motorsport!!! - YouTube

 

[CoastlineDJ]

UPDATE!!! Sorry for not following up regularly (been working on daughters house that got flooded). Insurance adjuster was going to have my trailer repaired and I told him as long as it was like new, I had no problem with that. It was going to cost them a little over $2000 so he decided to buy me a new trailer. I've still got time invested into installing tie downs etc. so I'm not ahead in any of this. I am satisfied though and I'll have to say Geico was great to deal with and they were nothing but courteous throughout the ordeal. Thanks for all the support.

 

[Will S]

UPDATE!!! Sorry for not following up regularly (been working on daughters house that got flooded). Insurance adjuster was going to have my trailer repaired and I told him as long as it was like new, I had no problem with that. It was going to cost them a little over $2000 so he decided to buy me a new trailer. I've still got time invested into installing tie downs etc. so I'm not ahead in any of this. I am satisfied though and I'll have to say Geico was great to deal with and they were nothing but courteous throughout the ordeal. Thanks for all the support.

Thank you for the follow-up. It always good to hear the outcome of these things. I'm glad they did the right thing. One for Geico!

 

[dieselscout80]

I saw his post on another forum and attempted to calculate the force. At a 120 mph closing speed ( which probably wasn稚 that fast here ) a 50 pound tire would have 24,000 foot pounds of energy and a 200 pound truck tire would hit with 95,000 foot pounds. A bouncing tire in the windshield would be bad news.

Some of them time when a tire comes off it is because the wheel bearing seizes and then it cuts the spindle then you have the complete set of duals, hub and brake drum which on a semi is more than 200lbs. I saw the after math of just that in the 1980's it hit a Cadillac head-on and pushed the engine into the passenger compartment.

 

[Dftodd]

Some of them time when a tire comes off it is because the wheel bearing seizes and then it cuts the spindle then you have the complete set of duals, hub and brake drum which on a semi is more than 200lbs. I saw the after math of just that in the 1980's it hit a Cadillac head-on and pushed the engine into the passenger compartment.

I had that happen on an F550 service truck. Was heading down a toll road on my way into work. Was fixing to merge onto another toll road. Toll road had three merge lanes. Right side was west bound only. Lane I was in had the option of going east or west.

I felt the truck catch and veer to the right, then started wobbling on that side. Thought I had a blow out. Checked the mirror on that side fixing to merge over to the brake down lane when I saw a tire pass me . Let out a couple cuss words, straightened the truck back up and took the east bound brake down lane.

As I was easing the truck to a stop, I watched the tire weave through traffic and merge west bound. After getting stopped, I checked the truck out. One of the right real wheels was what went by me. The other finally flopped over when I stopped. And the axle, and rotor were resting on the tire like someone jacked the truck up and placed the wheel under it.

After the tow truck got there and loaded my truck, my boss and I went hunting for the other tire. We found it almost a mile down the road and about 20ft off the road in the grass next to a retention pond.

In my case, the shop that did the annual DOT inspection the day before on the truck overtightened the lug nuts and stretched the threads really bad causing the rims on the right rear to wobble slightly finally causing the studs to give out. Said shop had to pay for the tow, and the dealership for the repairs. They ended up having to replace all 4 rear rims, a new hub, as well as new studs and lug nuts on the front axle and left rear.

Thankfully the rim and tire somehow got through traffic without hitting anyone.

 

[zing]

If the studs were bad they came from the factory that way since I had just replaced the hubs (including studs), bearings, and brakes less than 200 miles before that. They were Dexter hubs bought brand new direct from the factory.

So because he towed the trailer with a truck that didn't have a brake controller, you decided that he should pay for new wheels studs, new brakes that weren't necessary since you had done them 200 miles before, new tires, and a full inspection on the trailer?

 

[sklunk]

So because he towed the trailer with a truck that didn't have a brake controller, you decided that he should pay for new wheels studs, new brakes that weren't necessary since you had done them 200 miles before, new tires, and a full inspection on the trailer?

First of all he pulled a 7000# trailer with electric brakes WITHOUT a brake controller. I don't know about Nova Scotia but in PA that is ILLEGAL -- period. If a trailer is above 3500# capacity in PA it MUST have working electric brakes and MUST be inspected yearly. So yes I was a little upset with him.

Just to clarify he paid for everything that was damaged while he was using the trailer. That included SOME new wheel studs (I never said all of them -- just the ones that broke), SOME new brakes (when the wheel came off it twisted the drum which damaged the brake magnetsand wires on that hub), and the tire he damaged (again I never said all of them). He offered to pay for the trailer inspection to make sure everything was back up to snuff so I wouldn't get hit with a surprise bill at the next yearly inspection.

You don't have any skin in this game so I'm not sure why you are getting so wound up about somebody else's story. Also if you knew somebody was doing something illegal that could put other peoples' livers in danger are you saying you would not do anything about it??