[whatsnewell]

A few weeks ago while we were in Forks, WA I noticed my right rear trailer tire's tread was separating, so I took it down to the local tire store and got the tire replaced for $120 (tire, balancing, labor) and reinstalled it. I, apparently did not tighten the lugs enough...I should have used the torque wrench at 90 foot pounds, but I was in a hurry, and then forgot about it. Well, your mistakes never forget about you, and this one reminded me this morning on I-84....we had just passed the intersection of I-84 and I-184 when a motorcyclist passing me on the left indicated I should pull over...I assumed something was wrong with the coach, or trailer, so began to pull to the shoulder....as I checked the right side view mirror I saw the passenger side trailer fender flopping in the wind, so I thought I had a tire had blown. The next exit was only 1/4 mile, so I exited and parked on a side street and got out to see the bad news. Well, it wasn't a blown tire, the entire wheel was GONE! The lugs had sheared off at the brake housing...all six were gone with the wheel. Half the fender was bent up, and the dust cover was gone.

I decided to call Good Sam ERS to send a mobile service out, and as I walked back to the coach to get my phone a guy drove up in a public utilities truck (can't remember the name) and asked if I was missing something...I wasn't sure what he was getting at, so I just said "Yes my trailer wheel".....he said "well, I saw it come off and stopped to retrieve it from the roadside brush, and then tracked you down". I said, "wow, that must have taken a while" (we had been stopped for about 15 minutes at this time) and he said he just got off at the next exit and drove both directions looking for the coach (it's hard to miss, right?). His name was Royce, and I will be eternally grateful to him for his Good Samaritan gesture.

Anyway, I decided to take off the brake drum, and take that with the wheel over to Big O Tires just a few blocks away. The rim was ruined as the lug holes where all oblong now, but Big O had the same rim for $30, so they just switched the tire to the new rim, and then ordered new lugs form a local parts store. The parts store did not have the right dust cover so the service guy, Brant, modified it to somewhat fit temporarily, and I used duct tape to be sure it doesn't come off before I get the right one. I reinstalled the brake drum with the new lugs, and the wheel, then used my torque wrench set at 90 foot pounds to torque down all 6 bolts this time. 90 was what the tire shop recommended.

All is well that ends well...it could have been worse.....just let your imagination run wild for a couple of minutes....I did. Well, that was my adventure for the day!

[Fulltiming]

You are one lucky dude Clarke. It would not have been that cheap or uneventful had that been one of the wheels on the Newell. Don't forget to re-torque the wheel after 50 miles or so.

[whatsnewell]

Thank you Michael.....I didn't check the torque between here and Boise (130 miles), but I checked it this morning and all is fine. I also checked the torque on the other three and there was at least one lug nut on each wheel that needed a few more foot pounds of torque, but nothing loose. We will be here until Thursday, but I will check at first rest stop on Thursday, and everyone after that until I am confident they are holding. Very, very grateful this was not worse! Blessed it happened in an urban center close to repair shops and exits, otherwise this would have been taking place along the Interstate.

[Brad Townsend]

Yes you were Blessed.
That is one for the books. I think I should invest in a torque wrench.

[whatsnewell]

I need to use my torque wrench more often. I've owned it for 4 years and now I've used it twice including yesterday....I should have used it at least 2 times before yesterday.

[larryweikartsr]

Somebody was looking over you Clarke and also sent you a very good samaritan. Lesson well learned for us all. Thanks for sharing. Best of luck on your future travels.