Pay attention to the torque on your lug nuts (long story)!

[Herbicidal]

Well we had quite a start to our weekend past (Friday, Sept. 29th).

I was planning to meet my parents at a campground in the small town of Mineral, CA for two nights of camping and hiking. A couple of weeks ago, I had new tires and rims installed onto our Outback 26RS. This was the first trip with the new combo.

We loaded up the trailer and truck, hooked them up and then my daughter, brother-in-law and my sister joined me in the truck for the 3 ½ hour drive. We stopped in Red Bluff for a gas stop and I walked around the entire truck and trailer as I always do looking for anything out of place. All looked OK. We left Red Bluff and headed east on highway 36.

About 25 miles east of Red Bluff I felt a strong “clunk”. I looked in the driver’s side rear view mirror and thought I saw a single spark. It was now completely dark and I wasn’t sure if my eyes were tricking me. I kept looking in both rear view mirrors but I didn’t see anything else. The “clunk” still bothered me, however, there were no safe places to pull over. This is a two-lane highway for the most part with little to no shoulder. I could not “feel” that anything was wrong and continued on @ 50 mph still looking for a safe pull over spot. All of a sudden the truck gave a tremendous lurch and sparks started flying out on the passenger side of the trailer. I applied the brakes and managed to get everything stopped safely. I was now about 1/3 off the road and 2/3’s on it. Basically blocking the entire lane. My brother-in-law was looking in the passenger side mirror and yelled “FIRE!”. I looked back and saw that the sparks from the trailer had ignited the dry weeds on the side of the road! We all jumped out of the truck and my sister took my daughter to a safe location just up from the truck and I grabbed the fire extinguisher from my truck and started running back down the road. My brother-in-law tried calling 911, but he had no reception on his cell phone. I made it to the fire and managed to put it out with the extinguisher before it ran out of flame retardant. By this time my brother-in-law had reached me and helped to stamp out the last bit of embers.

At this point, I still had no idea what had happened. My first concern, after the safety of my passengers was the fire. Two passing cars stopped to lend assistance and someone else was able to call for a fire truck. While heading back to the truck and trailer I came across one of the tires and rims from the trailer. It was intact but somewhat banged up. When I finally made it back to the trailer I discovered to my horror that BOTH wheels on the passenger side of the trailer were gone! As near as I could tell, the wheel studs had sheared off. There was damage down the side of the trailer from the wheel or wheels as they came off the trailer. A CDF (California Dept. of Forestry) fire truck arrived after about 15 minutes. They were pleased that I was able to put out the fire. They started providing traffic control while I tried to figure out what to do. I climbed up on a small ridge and I was able to get cell phone reception. I called my parents first since they were expecting us, then I called my wife. My parents drove down from the campground, about 15 miles away, and picked up my daughter and my sister and took them back to the campground. The CHP (California Highway Patrol) did not arrive for almost an hour and a half. Too many other calls and not enough units. So in the meantime, the CDF crew (4 people) provided traffic control while attempting to get a mobile mechanic or a tow truck to our location. CHP tried as well, with no luck. We knew the trailer had to be moved off the road so we started thinking of ways to do it. We had a bunch of firewood in the back of the truck, so we thought about using the biggest chunks of oak to act as a “skid” under the axles on the damaged side. I jacked up the trailer and placed the largest chunks in two places under the leaf springs. About this time a CAL-TRANS sign truck showed up and the gentleman suggested moving the left front wheel over to the right rear so that we would have two operational wheels on the same axle! Duh!!! Sometimes you just need another set of eyes to look at a situation. Since the wheel studs were sheared off, we had to move the whole drum assembly from the left front to the right rear. This was accomplished fairly easily by removing the dust cap, cotter pin, castle nut and then the drum. Now we had wheels on the rear axle, both sides. We hooked up my truck again, I had unhooked it thinking the trailer was going to be towed with a dolly setup of some kind, and double-checked our work.

One CDF person walked on each side of the trailer monitoring the wheels for any signs of stress. They were followed by the CDF fire truck, and two CHP cars and then the CAL-TRANS sign truck all with lights flashing. Quite a parade! I drove along @ 3 mph for about a 1/3 mile to a possible pullout. It was not a good spot. Ultimately, I had a CHP escort for 3 miles (at a whopping 10 mph) up to a vista point turnout and that’s where we parked the trailer for the night. My brother-in-law, my sister and I ended up sleeping in the trailer that night just to make sure no one messed with it. I finally crawled into my sleeping bag at 1:30 am.

Saturday we worked on the repairs. My brother-in-law and I put the trailer fully up on blocks and removed all 4 drums. We decided to replace all 20 wheel studs since we had no idea why the first wheel failed. We never did find that wheel and tire combo. I’m sure the second wheel failed because it was the only one holding up the load on that side. It took the better part of 6 hours and about a dozen auto parts stores to finally come up with 20 wheel studs. We even stopped by Dan Gamel’s RV superstore and the parts department didn’t even carry wheel studs!!! A small trailer shop in Cottonwood, CA named Halco Trailer Works removed the old studs and pressed in the new ones. They also came up with new grease seals, and dust caps.

We finally had all the parts we needed and headed back to the trailer, now some 40 miles away. We made the repairs in about 45 minutes, I even had high temp wheel bearing grease so we repacked all the wheel bearings while we were at it. We used the spare and put back on the 2nd wheel that had come off. Our one remaining concern was that the bottom of the U-bolts that hold the axle to the leaf springs were ground down pretty far. However, they were still attached. We stopped about every 10 miles to check their condition and they held together just fine. The one wheel that came off that we did find had a slow air leak, but I was able to inflate it periodically using my trucks on-board air compressor.

We finally pulled into our original destination @ 5 pm on Saturday. We cooked dinner and enjoyed each other’s company. Sunday morning we did the breakfast thing and drove into Lassen park for a 2 mile round trip hike. Trying to salvage something from the weekend! We left the campground for home @ 3pm. We finally made it safely home by 7:45pm. I only needed to air the tire up once at about the halfway point.

I've already called the dealership and ordered a new fender skirt along with 4 new U-bolts and the related hardware. I’ve already spoke with America’s Tire Company and they are ordering two new rims and two new tires for me. I can do the remaining work myself. Thankfully, all’s well that ends well. It sure could have been a lot worse.

A huge THANK YOU to the following folks for staying with me and coming up with solutions:

Marty Mills: CAL-TRANS, he just jumped right in and helped with the repairs.
Ed Hersom Jr: Sergeant for the CHP. Stayed with me and provided protection from the rear with his patrol car for the agonizingly slow 3 mile drive to the vista point.
CHP officer #2: I did not get his name but he helped with the trailer repair and finding safe turnouts to let traffic by.
Jason Morris: CDF Captain and his crew who were the first to arrive and stayed with us for over 3 ½ hours. They provided Gatorade for us to drink and even called personal friends to try and find someone to help with the repairs.
Eric: Halco Trailer Works who even offered to drive up to the trailer some 30 miles away to help with the repairs if we needed him. He also installed the wheel studs and grease seals.

All of these folks went above and beyond to make sure we were safe during this entire ordeal and helped with the repairs in one way or another.

I have since called Keystone (Outback trailer manufacturer) and they gave me the number for Al-Ko (the wheel hub manufacturer) in Elkhart Indiana. I explained what happened and they asked me to send some sample of the wheel studs for hardness testing. He also explained that when the new rims and tires were installed, the tire shop may have over torqued the lug nuts. I am currently trying to find the manufacturers torque specs for my rims.

Here's a link to some pictures I took that night and the following day.

Be safe everyone.

[Portugue]

OMG!!! I would have pooped in my pants if I saw that in my mirror! Glad to hear noone was hurt and you were able to put that fire out. Makes me want to go out and get an extinguisher. to all those that helped you out with the repairs.

[mustang67408]

Glad to hear you and the family are ok

I also carry a fire extinguisher and have done so for many years. You never know when fires will start, like under the dash .

Nice to know there are still some really good people out there willing to lend a helping hand.

[TMS2U]

While airguns are fabulous tools, they can also wreak havoc when used incorrectly- eg over torqued lugnuts. Not the first time I've heard this, prolly wont be the last. A torque wrench is your friend- dont go to tire shops that only use their guns.

Herb- cudos to you for being prepared!! That fire could've easily gotten outta control. I know several firemen, and as a rule Hoses (affectionate term) are great people.

[Herbicidal]

Thanks guys! It was a little hairy there for awhile. When that extinguisher ran out, I thought I was going to have to "use" the 32 oz Coke I drank earlier! But fortunately, some good stomping around on the embers put them out.

I may just buy a 2nd torque wrench and keep it in the trailer.

That reminds me, I need to get another extinguisher before this weekend, don't wanna burn down the dang forest!

[tomhole]

WoW! I'm glad no one was hurt. Sounds like you made the best of it.

I am also reassured that the Tundra handled this very serious emergency with aplomb. Like me, you are towing at the limits of the Tundra. Makes me feel more comfortable. I can assure you that many of the rigs I read about on other fora that are overloaded would likely have killed someone.

Let us know what you find out as the root cause. We are heading out tomorrow and I'm heading out now to check my lug nut torque.

Tom

[RockyMtnRay]

Herb, I too echo everyone's comments about the Wow in this tale...and commend you on the excellent presence of mind and skill in handling this almost-disaster. And I thank you for taking the time to detail all that went wrong...and all that went right...there's much to learn from your experience.

That being said, it seems to me that much of your near disaster could have been avoided if you'd known exactly what happened when the first tire/rim departed from the trailer. And that would have been possible if you had been able to (1) constantly verify the presence of all 4 trailer tires and (2) constantly know their current air pressure.

Because my trailer is single axle, one of my greatest worries is a blowout on a narrow 2 lane road. I've done a lot of research on trailer tire blowouts and concluded that while many blowouts are definitely the result of overloading or underinflation resulting from infrequent trailer tire pressure checking, a lot of people who don't overload their trailer tires and who do check trailer tire pressures every day also have blowouts. And rather scarily, many of the blowouts in the latter group are caused by underinflation leading to overheating. The likely cause in these cases is a steady leak caused by road debris during the towing day...like running over a nail or sharp chunk of metal.

Sooo, I invested this past Spring in a Doran Pressure Pro monitoring system. Although a tad pricey ($290 for pressure monitor + 2 tire sensors), I couldn't be happier with the system. Basically it works as follows:

• During install, each sensor is registered at a specific location on your rig...so if there's a problem you know exactly which tire is affected
• At the time each sensor is screwed onto the valve stem, it establishes in that sensor's memory the tire's pressure at that instant as that tire's baseline pressure.
• As long as any give tire's pressure is not less than the baseline pressure minus 12%, the sensor sends a pressure readout to the monitor every 5 minutes. Which means that with a bit of patience, you can do a tire pressure check on all the trailer tires before departure and at any time during your trip. Saves traipsing around with the tire pressure gauge every day and it's really reassuring to be able to check trailer tire pressure whenever I want to during the trip.
• If the pressure in any tire drops below baseline minus 12%, the sensor sends an alert to the monitor and starts sending pressure every second. The monitor sounds an audible and flashing warning light alert for the driver...the alert identifies exactly which tire has the low pressure.
• If the pressure in any tire drops below baseline minus 25%, the sensor sends another alert to the monitor. The monitor sounds an audible and flashing emergency warning alert for the driver.
• If the monitor does not get the normal pressure signal from each sensor at the expected 5 minute intervals, it will sound and flash "a lost sensor" warning inside the cab. Although the typical cause is the sensor coming off its valve stem, the loss of the entire wheel would also cause this warning to go off. In other words, if you had had this system on your trailer tires you would have known within 5 minutes that you'd lost the 1st wheel!

The monitor can handle up to about 16 sensors...each sensor above the basic 2 is $50 each.

I strongly recommend this system for anyone who tows...I simply can't even imagine towing without it now.

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by tomhole

Let us know what you find out as the root cause. We are heading out tomorrow and I'm heading out now to check my lug nut torque.

Tom

Thanks Tom. I'll be sending out the wheel studs for a hardness test and also ask them to "mic" the intact wheel studs to see if they were stretched, which would indicate an over-torqued condition. Perhaps by examining the ends of the broken wheel studs they can determine somthing too.

Originally Posted by RockyMtnRay

Herb, I too echo everyone's comments about the Wow in this tale...and commend you on the excellent presence of mind and skill in handling this almost-disaster. And I thank you for taking the time to detail all that went wrong...and all that went right...there's much to learn from your experience.

That being said, it seems to me that much of your near disaster could have been avoided if you'd known exactly what happened when the first tire/rim departed from the trailer. And that would have been possible if you had been able to (1) constantly verify the presence of all 4 trailer tires and (2) constantly know their current air pressure.[*]If the monitor does not get the normal pressure signal from each sensor at the expected 5 minute intervals, it will sound and flash "a lost sensor" warning inside the cab. Although the typical cause is the sensor coming off its valve stem, the loss of the entire wheel would also cause this warning to go off. In other words, if you had had this system on your trailer tires you would have known within 5 minutes that you'd lost the 1st wheel![/LIST]The monitor can handle up to about 16 sensors...each sensor above the basic 2 is $50 each.

I strongly recommend this system for anyone who tows...I simply can't even imagine towing without it now.

Thank you too RockyMtnRay. Also for the information and link you posted. I will definately check that system out. Seems like pretty cheap "insurance" for the extra level of safety it provides. I wonder if it can be programmed to say "your wheel is missing, your wheel is missing!"

For those of us with double axle trailers, we can lose a wheel (or get a flat) and possibly not even know it. I felt the "clunk" but I wasn't 100% sure what the problem was. The trailer still towed fine. Only in hindsight can I say the "clunk" was the first wheel coming off.

[tomhole]

Went out and checked all my lug nuts today. I have a Craftsman torque wrench that goes up to 150 ft-lbs. Even at that setting, the lugs were breaking the wrench, so they were at least 150 ft-lbs. I'm guessing 200 ft-lbs. I loosened them up and re-torqued all of them to 100 ft-lbs. One of them was loose to the point where I could turn it easily by hand. So, you're experience may have saved me. We're heading out soon for the weekend.

Tom

[cupidstoy]

not to scare you or anything, but there is some evidence that even ONE serious over-torquing can stretch out a lug bolt to the point it is not up to par anymore. if you seriously think yours where up in the 200 ft-lb range and normal is 100 or less, i would consider replacing them at your first convenience.

i too have been a victim of the over-eager air gun jockey. even my local tireshop with the nice, fancy hunter road force machine couldn't manage to put the front wheels on the truck back on with even torque. i am in the habit of always loosening and re-tightening the lugs after anybody else works on it now. that may seem overkill to some, but its cheap insurance in my book.

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by tomhole

Went out and checked all my lug nuts today. I have a Craftsman torque wrench that goes up to 150 ft-lbs. Even at that setting, the lugs were breaking the wrench, so they were at least 150 ft-lbs. I'm guessing 200 ft-lbs. I loosened them up and re-torqued all of them to 100 ft-lbs. One of them was loose to the point where I could turn it easily by hand. So, you're experience may have saved me. We're heading out soon for the weekend.

Tom

Tom, I'm glad to hear my story gave you a "heads up". Now you have piece of mind that the lugs nuts are torqued correctly! Have a safe trip!

*** Hopefully others reading this thread will go check their lug nuts too. HINT, HINT!!! ***

I stopped by America's Tire Co. at lunch this past Friday and gave them the one rim/tire that I did find (and was leaking air). The store manager said he would replace the tire with a new one. I stopped by again on my way home Friday evening and picked up two new rims, two new tires and a third tire at no charge to me. All the original warranties transferred to the new wheels and tires as well. The store manager apologized several times for what I went through. I realized later I forgot to pick up lug nuts, so back to the store today. I'll use that scuffed rim with the new tire as my spare. I just about have everything I need to put it all together again.

With any luck, we go camping again on the 20th for two nights. Hopefully I'll have more time to relax!

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by RockyMtnRay

Sooo, I invested this past Spring in a Doran Pressure Pro monitoring system. Although a tad pricey ($290 for pressure monitor + 2 tire sensors), I couldn't be happier with the system.

RockyMtnRay - I just placed my order for the 4 wheel system with the optional suction cup clip mounts. $400 out the door, no sales tax and free shipping. A small price to pay for the information and piece of mind it will provide. Hopefully I'll have it before our next trip.

Thanks again for the link.

[mustang67408]

I bit the bullet too and just ordered the same 4 sensor kit as Herbicidal.
Thanks for the Idea (RAY/Herb)
I'll feel alot safer towing the Family & TT and my enclosed trailer with my Mustang inside it.
I remember getting a flat on my flatbed trailer and didnt know I had a flat until I saw chunks of rubber flinging out from underneath it and almost hit the vehicle behind me. This may have warned me if I had had it.
Hopefully they will be here before this weekend, going to a little trailerpark in Pahrump with my parents for a relaxing weekend.

Thanks again

[RockyMtnRay]

Welcome guys. I think you'll really like the system. Be sure to very carefully follow the instructions for installing and registering the sensors at the correct display location on the monitor. And be sure to give us a report of your impressions after you get them installed and in use.

A suggestion: after you get the sensors installed and registered, immediately affix some kind of permanent, water proof marking/labeling to each sensor so you know which tire position (not the actual tire) that sensor is assigned to in the monitor. That way if you rotate the trailer tires...or remove the sensors (as in for storage...see next paragraph), you'll know where each sensor should be reinstalled and won't have to re-register them in the monitor.

A little info on the sensors...as noted in a prior post, the sensors transmit pressure info every 5 minutes or so as long as they are on the tire and detecting "normal" air pressure. If they are not detecting any pressure, they don't transmit. Because each transmission very slightly depletes the tiny battery that's sealed inside the sensor, you will get much longer sensor battery life if you remove them from the tires during periods of extended storage. Doran states that sensor battery life ranges from 2 to 4 years. (assuming the sensor seldomly or never goes into low pressure transmission mode where it sends a pressure reading every 1 second (300 times as often!)) . Because the batteries are sealed inside, they're not user replaceable. Doran does have a sensor replacement plan...for a fee that's less than the cost of a new sensor...I think around $35 each...they'll send you new sensors when you send in your old ones with depleted batteries.

Because most of the places I like to camp have 9 months of hard winter, 2 months of poor skiing, and seemingly only about 1 month of summer each year , my trailer goes into storage in early September every year and doesn't come back out until mid-to-late May of the next year. So you can be assured that my sensors also are being stored....off the tires! If you use your trailer pretty much year-round, it would probably be best to leave the sensors on the tires...but if you also have extended periods of non-use, it would help battery life to remove them from the tires during those non-use periods.

[mustang67408]

Thats great info
Thanks, and I will keep you posted of what I think of these when they arrive.