Blowout on the interstate

cdub88

On our way up to Wisconsin this weekend, we had a driver's side blowout on the interstate. It was a narrow shoulder with a sharp drop-off, about 9 miles to the next exit, and was 5pm on Friday so traffic was heavy. Literally worst-case scenario. We called the non-emergency police# and they got us hooked up with the WI state police...they sent out a trooper to help slow down/direct traffic, and he literally saved my life.

Without him, I'd have had to ditch the boat. I thought about limping it along, but chunks of tire were already flying off, and obviously unsafe.

Needless to say, I'm buying 5 brand new tires (going with the Goodyear Endurance since they have higher load/speed ratings than the Marathons).

Over the weekend, I wondered how safe it would have been to limp it along on three wheels (assuming I could remove the blowout and ratchet-strap the axle up to keep it from dragging)...ironically, on our way home we saw this trainwreck of a situation: https://youtu.be/3XTtE1OH4Dk (Warning: F-bomb at the beginning...that's my wife with sailor mouth, haha)

randy56

When trailer tires get 5 years old they need replaced. I've been in your shoe's. They have date's on them. Curious how old they were?  

rasbury

I have never been comfortable trailering for any distance. I've lost track on how many tires I've lost, last mess was a wheel and hub. I redid my brake lines, went through my calipers and the brakes are now working properly...had a bad wind come through and blew our 270 down the street so my point is, it's the entire package, not just the tires...also did new bearings and races. Just not sure when it's time for a do over. Almost ready to go out on the road with it to the coast... 

PickleRick

Ive seen guys limp long distances with a flat on a tandem.  You'll probably ruin the wheel.  Keep it less than 10 mph and you could limp for a while but id have to be desperate to do so. 

TonyG13

When we traded in our 1994 Maxum for the Rinker, I warned the dealer that the trailer had never been out of the yacht yard, had original (i.e., 25 year old) tires, and never had the brakes or hubs worked on. They only pushed it around the yard during storage.

I recommended they send a flatbed that could accommodate the trailer and boat - and our yard said they'd lift it on the flatbed no charge. Dealer said, "No problem, don't worry about it."

A few days later we get a call that the dealer has the boat and to come up to do the paperwork on the trade for the Rinker.

Walk in to the dealer and see our old boat on the trailer with a blown out tire. Asked what the story was and he said they just sent a regular pick-up and towed it back and blew a tire about three miles from the dealer.

Here's the thing: The boat was in Chicago and the dealer towed it 90 miles to Walworth, WI!

Either they were the luckiest bast@rds or that trailer and tires were made of God only knows what to survive that transport after two decades of non-use.

cdub88

Oh wow - I never knew there were date codes! 
I have two from 2015, two from ‘06 (one of which is pictured above), and one with no date code  
Yikes. They’re all getting replaced, hands-down.

mattie

cdub88 said:

Oh wow - I never knew there were date codes! 
I have two from 2015, two from ‘06 (one of which is pictured above), and one with no date code  
Yikes. They’re all getting replaced, hands-down.

Lucky 13 (years)...........lol.




Installing 6 new Endurance tires on my 2014 trailer before fall.

Cableguy Greg

I just towed 620 miles from Pittsburgh to Havre de Grace, Md and back. Fortunately my trailer and tires were only 3 years old. 

Handymans342

@Cableguy Greg Thats where I was born!
@mattie. Did you look at Saluin tires???

rasbury

If you look at the post of us buying our boat it was pretty crazy...we drove from up around Pensacola to our little town a little north of Orlando...500 miles? We had no brakes, no lights, tires you could see the air...all the lugs would spin if you tried to change one. When I did get it home I had to cut all of them off...we were very very lucky...

boatman37

Not a boat but my son has a 2018 Grand Design Imagine 2670MK and he just found out he has to go to Watford City, ND from Pittsburgh next week. He has to buy a truck this week to tow it with. He lives in the camper on the job sites. Until now I have moved his camper but it was only a few hours away. He has a company truck but isn't allowed to tow with it so has to buy his own and start using it (they pay him $1100/month for using his own truck). But anyway, his tires should be fairly new but I told him to check them all before he leaves (including his spare)

PickleRick

I thought a ratty, pray to Jesus make it home on a prayer, bologna skin tire maypop brand tire, no trailer brakes and no lights trailer was just part of the new(to me) boat buying experience.  

69fastback

cdub88 said:

On our way up to Wisconsin this weekend, we had a driver's side blowout on the interstate. It was a narrow shoulder with a sharp drop-off, about 9 miles to the next exit, and was 5pm on Friday so traffic was heavy. Literally worst-case scenario. We called the non-emergency police# and they got us hooked up with the WI state police...they sent out a trooper to help slow down/direct traffic, and he literally saved my life.

Without him, I'd have had to ditch the boat. I thought about limping it along, but chunks of tire were already flying off, and obviously unsafe.

Needless to say, I'm buying 5 brand new tires (going with the Goodyear Endurance since they have higher load/speed ratings than the Marathons).

Over the weekend, I wondered how safe it would have been to limp it along on three wheels (assuming I could remove the blowout and ratchet-strap the axle up to keep it from dragging)...ironically, on our way home we saw this trainwreck of a situation: https://youtu.be/3XTtE1OH4Dk (Warning: F-bomb at the beginning...that's my wife with sailor mouth, haha)

I had a hub issue a few years ago and did exactly that. I ratchet strapped the leaf up after compressing it with my jack and drove 20 miles home on 3 wheels very slowly. It was late in the evening and I had no other options. 

Dude_Himself

I drove my brand-new used Rinker 280EC and trailer 910 miles home - had to detour to Southern Maryland for work unexpectedly. It was:

1. the largest thing I've ever towed
2. had to drive all night thanks to work
3. my F150 had oversized tires that made the mountains of West By-God Virginia quite a challenge - thankfully at 4am there's little traffic to worry about.
   
4. had to be navigate DC Beltway during rush hour
5. crossed the Potomac River Bridge into VA with an oversized load and no permit - tight fit!

Dream_Inn

@dude_himself - that 301 crossing is one very narrow long bridge over the Potomac!  I'm sure you were white-knuckling that wheel!  I'd have taken 77 south over that route any day!  (I know, you had to detour)

Lake_Bum

rasbury said:

If you look at the post of us buying our boat it was pretty crazy...we drove from up around Pensacola to our little town a little north of Orlando...500 miles? We had no brakes, no lights, tires you could see the air...all the lugs would spin if you tried to change one. When I did get it home I had to cut all of them off...we were very very lucky...

I'd say you got lucky on more than just that tow!  Someone who has neglected a trailer THAT badly, has almost a 99% chance they neglected the boat as well. 

rasbury

Boat was kept on a lift.. after he got it home he never used it and was used when he bought it....

rasbury

And the boat only had 100 hours on it so I figured worse case he was behind an oil change....

Dude_Himself

Dream_Inn said:

@dude_himself - that 301 crossing is one very narrow long bridge over the Potomac!  I'm sure you were white-knuckling that wheel!  I'd have taken 77 south over that route any day!  (I know, you had to detour)

Yeah - I'm glad things worked out, but at 7" over I figure 3.5" per side wasn't hard to navigate. Then a truly permitted wide load met me in the middle from the other direction and I just did my best to keep the boat from getting sucked into it. Not to mention I had driven almost 20 of the previous 24 hours at that point, as soon as I crossed into NC I stopped for the night. STILL took me until 5pm the following day to get home.

PickleRick

I wouldn't want to tow that(stop that) with an f150.

Even with my 8,000 lbs diesel 4x4 excursion, upgraded suspension and 10 ply tires anything over 5000 lbs towing requires extra attention to traffic/conditions. 

You sir win the puckered rear end award.

I see lots of boats 28 plus foot being towed all other hwy 1 every summer and not a single flag or banner.  

boatman37

Not sure I'd tow a lawn mower with a Ford but that's another story...lol. But yeah that is a big boat for a 1/2 ton. My 2013 Ram 1500 towed my Crownline very easily at about 8500-9000lbs and towed my sons 7500lb camper very easily but I just upgraded to a 2018 2500 Ram with a 6.4 Hemi so I'm good now. My 1500 was rated to tow 8600 and the payload was about 1300 so with the camper I was probably over payload after factoring in me and whatever else I had in there.

69fastback

Lol The best thing that ever happened to me was when FCA bought my Ram back. 

Glassguy54

Heck, I wasn't comfortable towing our 246 Captiva with a Tahoe, so I upgraded to a Silverado 2500 HD LTZ 4.10 gear with 10 ply E rated tires for piece of mind!

GMSLITHO

I tow my 270 with my Ford F-350 with the 6.4 diesel but I don’t go far with it I’m 10 miles from the lake and 20 to the Hudson ,IMO no mater what you tow that with it’s one heavy boat ,before that I had a 26 foot Chris Craft I would tow with a F250 with a 7.3 I was comfortable towing with that 

PickleRick

There's nothing wrong with a ford, so long as it's got an international engine under the hood!!(or a Cummins)

rasbury

New Ford diesel seems to be a great motor...the Navistar was not so good...

PickleRick

My 01 7.3 has 310,xxx miles...ill judge the new ford diesels once they have a chance to compete with the longevity.

The new diesel trucks are stupid priced. In 01 my excursion rolled off the lot completely loaded minus the dvd player for 45k.  

rasbury

That 7.3 was the best diesel I ever sold...no question. New 2020 explorer st is 65 grand...400 hp....that's what a camero as had!

PickleRick

Id say the early 90s pre computer control 6bt was best for power economy but the 7.3 from 99 to 04? Was amazing other than the 4r100 it was commonly matched to. The Dodge never offered a better slush box back then.

Didnt the suburban line drop the diesel/3/4 ton options?

rasbury

I'm not sure...with the cost of diesels, almost comparable fuel economy and cost..unless your really doing some weight or miles...

PickleRick

In all honesty in stock form the v10 excursion pulled better than the 7.3.  With about 5k thrown at the tranny and some more cash thrown at properly adding another 100 hp with real custom tunes then you get some real towing.  

The Europeans are killing us when it comes to fuel efficient diesels.  

Just Google some om606 boats or souped up cars.  400hp or more with a 3.0 diesel isnt uncommon.

I love seeing a diesel powerd inboard ski boat rolling coal!