Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong

scootr · Oct 6, 2023

Many years ago the then girlfriend was driving down hill on the parkway when she saw a wheel pass her on the left. A bit later when she pulled off the car tipped over the left. Apparently the wheel she saw was hers

Dftodd · Oct 6, 2023

scootr said:
Many years ago the then girlfriend was driving down hill on the parkway when she saw a wheel pass her on the left. A bit later when she pulled off the car tipped over the left. Apparently the wheel she saw was hers

I had a DOT inspection on a F550 service truck. The dude doing the inspection overtightened and stripped out the lugnuts on one the rear passenger side duals.

I was going down a toll road in Orlando FL. I was in the center exit lane which could go either east or west bound onto another toll road.

Felt the back passengerside dip and start to wobble. Figured I had a blow out.

I looked up just in time to see one of my rear tires pass me and merge west bound onto the toll road

That was a long morning. Thankfully the tire went between some cars and rolled down the breakdown lane before stopping. I was in rush hour traffic and figured that tire would have smoked someone, but thankfully it didn't.

We found the tire sitting in the grass about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile down the road.

two_bit_score · Oct 6, 2023

scootr said:
Apparently the wheel she saw was hers

A friend had a little 2 door 1980 Ford Escort and drove from Houston to Conroe (which was not near as congested back in 1981 as now) and lost the left rear wheel somewhere right out of Houston because that was when people started waving at him. But he never thought to check anything and just waved back and kept driving. Didnt notice it until he pulled into his driveway. Those front wheel drive Escorts were tiny cars, esp a 2 dr.

FriendwithTractor · Oct 6, 2023

When I was a younger man, A friend had an old Dodge Caravan from the early 2000's that was dearly loved. But, like all early 2000s Dodge Caravans, the van was in a constant state of distress. This time I was following him in my truck to get the rotors looked at. We were maybe 2 miles from the garage at a stoplight. Light turned green and the only thing that went forward was the driver's side front wheel. It made it 15-20 feet into the intersection with my friend in hot pursuit (on foot).

That was the beginning of a very not so fun day for my friend and I.

WinterDeere · Oct 6, 2023

Dftodd said:
I had a DOT inspection on a F550 service truck. The dude doing the inspection overtightened and stripped out the lugnuts on one the rear passenger side duals...
I looked up just in time to see one of my rear tires pass me and merge west bound onto the toll road

Same thing happened to us in the NJ pine barrens. Noticed an egg forming on the sidewall of the driver's side tire of the boat trailer, and stopped at a garage in Burlington, NJ to have a new tire mounted. Fifteen minutes later, we're cruising thru a sparsely-populated section of the pine barens when the wheel came off and passed us, sailing off somewhere into the woods on the side of the road. Made a mess of the trailer and fender, but thankfully the boat and everyone in the car survived. Single 3500 lb. axle, probably running near max rating with that boat, behind a 1978 Ford LTD wagon, ca.1983.

scootr · Oct 6, 2023

Dftodd · Oct 6, 2023

WinterDeere said:
Same thing happened to us in the NJ pine barrens. Noticed an egg forming on the sidewall of the driver's side tire of the boat trailer, and stopped at a garage in Burlington, NJ to have a new tire mounted. Fifteen minutes later, we're cruising thru a sparsely-populated section of the pine barens when the wheel came off and passed us, sailing off somewhere into the woods on the side of the road. Made a mess of the trailer and fender, but thankfully the boat and everyone in the car survived. Single 3500 lb. axle, probably running near max rating with that boat, behind a 1978 Ford LTD wagon, ca.1983.

I was coming back on a two lane highway from Melbourne FL, to Yeehaw junction.

I got stuck behind a truck hauling a construction office trailer.

Noticed a wobble for a few seconds and then a wheel and hub came off one of the trailer axles.

Just as it let loose and traveled into the other lane, the tire got smoke by a Pontiac fiero coming the other direction.

That tire and hub launched straight up about 50ft in the air.

Well I'm freaking out since I'm headed for where that tire seems to be headed.

I'm slowing down and trying to keep an eye on the tire to make sure it doesn't come through the window. Then.... I lost site of it

It came down next to the truck in the ditch and bounced off into the seco palms on the side of the road.

The truck driver, either didn't realize he lost the tire, or didn't want to stop and kept going. I ended up calling highway patrol and reporting the driver after chasing him for a few miles to get the tag number.

dstig1 · Oct 6, 2023

gstrom99 said:
I was on I-80 going through Iowa City a couple years ago, and had a semi tire/wheel pass me on the shoulder. This was on a stretch that had the concrete median wall, and it just kept on going - bouncing/sliding along that wall. I backed way down and watched it eventually bounce off to the right and off the roadway. No other traffic was around, strangely (maybe they all stopped, behind me?). Funny, I thought at first, then realized how lucky I was.

Must be something about I80 in Iowa About 1.5 years ago my coworkers and I in a car driving back from Omaha watched a trailer disassemble itself in front of us over the space of 10 miles. We saw it starting and stayed well back but the driver was apparently clueless and just kept going.

Having drive through Iowa many times I have a saying: "In Iowa there are cars in the ditch". And I don't mean shoulder. Always see at least one and you often look at it and go WTF?