blown tire on toad, what a mess

David Anderson · May 27, 2009, 07:57:51 AM

Driver's rear tire (Generals brand) blew up on my truck on I44 east of Oklahoma City. Gosh, it bent the rear fender up like tin foil. It's gonna cost a bunch to fix that mess. Of course I couldn't see it in the camera and couldn't feel in in the seat, but a trucker came up and honked like the dickens to get my attention. The tire still had air but no tread. They still had good tread left before delamination, but were 5 years old. I should have changed them before the trip. My mistake. Four new tires at Walmart and we were on our way again.

David

FloridaCliff · May 27, 2009, 08:53:11 AM

David,

Glad your OK and the trucks fixable.

See this thread for an alternative toad carrying method...

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=12087.0

Cliff

edvanland · May 27, 2009, 10:26:04 AM

Glad all is well. When the tire came apart on my pickup, dirving it at the time, it cost me $3500 to fix the right rear side of the truck.
Recently on our way home from Colorado with our bus the right rear outside driver came apart. I looked in the mirror and saw the aligator flying across the outher lane headed toward a small car. No it did not hit the car, how I don not know. No damage to the bus nor my trailer, just a case of having to change my pants. The tires were 13 years old and still looked new. I replaced all 6 tires but left the tag tires alone.
Old tires are not good and my bus is kept in a closed garage.
ED
MCI 7

Nick Badame Refrig/ACC · May 27, 2009, 11:34:04 AM

Hi David,

I feel for ya.... It happened to me 3 years ago on my jeep.

Just after that, I purchaced the Duran Pressure Pro tire monitoring system.. It has saved me hardache once allready..

Good Luck
Nick-

rv_safetyman · May 28, 2009, 08:43:01 AM

Hi David. I too am sorry to hear about your damage.

Being in the business, I hear a lot about this kind of problem and the horrible damage that can result. I even have documentation of a couple that lost both the toad and motorhome to a fire caused by a toad tire failure.

I have sold several sets of tire pressure monitor systems to the bus folks (including Nick and Jack Conrad who both had huge damage to their vehicles).

I sold the Doran when they were linked to PressurePro. I now sell the PressurePro brand.

I give bus folks a 5% discount.

Sorry to be a bit commercial here, but I would like to help folks prevent this kind of damage.

Jim

Three zero Three 478-3501

David Anderson · May 28, 2009, 09:20:25 AM

Thanks Jim,

How would this warning system work if my tire still had air? It wasn't flat. It just lost the tread and was rolling on the inflated carcass. You just can't feel what's happening back there from the driver's seat.

David

JackConrad · May 28, 2009, 10:02:44 AM

David,
It depends on why the tire lost the tread. If it was due to overheating from underinflation, the PresurePro would help. When the pressure drops by about 10-12% (about 3 PSI in a car tire) it sets off the alarm. If it was simply a tire failure not due to any pressure loss, it woud not detect the problem. Almost every tire failure I have seen was due to underinflation or external damage (nails, cuts, etc.) Jack

PS: we found that we should unplug the PressurePro when camped. A cool night causes enough of a pressure drop in the toad tires to set off the alarm, usually about 4 AM LOL

Nick Badame Refrig/ACC · May 28, 2009, 10:29:30 AM

PS: we found that we should unplug the PressurePro when camped. A cool night causes enough of a pressure drop in the toad tires to set off the alarm, usually about 4 AM LOL

Hi Jack,

Mee Too.. About 4am is the time to Milk the Cows??

Nick-

FloridaCliff · May 28, 2009, 10:37:56 AM

I don't have either yet, but I think the PressurePro would be a better investment than the back up camera.

I have heard a lot of talk over the years how no one felt or saw the tire going bad, but the PressurePro at least might give you the heads up to save out on some body damage, which is probably the worst part of getting a flat, from what I have heard.

The only other alternative might be a couple of those bicycle granny flags sans the flags and the ends painted so you could see them, attached to the toad hitch so you could see them in the mirrors. I would guess you might be able to tell by the movement if you were experiencing a problem.

But the PressurePro seems like a cheap investment, one tire and some body work = FREE setup

Cliff

Jerry32 · May 28, 2009, 10:41:11 AM

I too have the pressure pro system for several years. works great for several reasond . You can check your pressure while driving down the road. Sure is anoying in the wee hours when it starts beeping on a cold ight. I always forget to shut it down I also had a driver come apart on the bus and never seen or heard it. Drove on on for about 200 miles before I stopped and found the ouside dual on passenger side missing. Jerry

blue_goose · May 28, 2009, 11:57:49 AM

Jim will your units work with the silverleaf?
Jack

Len Silva · May 28, 2009, 04:37:32 PM

A few years back I was towing a Suzuki Samurai behind my 4104. As I made the last turn towards home, I heard a strange noise in the back.

The Samurai had lost all the tread on the left rear tire. The car was so light that it's stance was still normal. The tread was completely gone and the car was riding on the sidewalls. Didn't even break the bead.

rv_safetyman · May 28, 2009, 06:37:55 PM

Jack, the PressurePro sensors can now be displayed on SilverLeaf screens including VMSpc. I have a screen display at: http://www.rvsafetysystems.com/Silverleaf3.htm

I need to update that screen image, as I now have a tire gauge that has both the color icon and pressure on the same gauge, rather than the two gauges I show on the site.

I, of course, kept my PP monitor. Like the other comments, I turn mine off at night. I don't turn it on again until the SilverLeaf tells me that the tires have come up in pressure after a few miles of driving. The monitor gives me a good audible alarm and the SilverLeaf lets me keep tabs on all tires at a glance.

The PP sensor information is converted to a format that SilverLeaf can read via a "bridge" that PP developed. The PP bridge is $295.

Jim

JohnEd · May 28, 2009, 07:37:16 PM

There are tire pressure monitor systems that monitor both pressure and TEMPERATURE and you can set the limits within which you want them to alarm. The temp system doubles as a monitor of bearings and brakes and I think that ability is worth going for.

Compatibility with Silver Leaf is a serious plus and should be a deal breaker I think Sean has this system installed and running. Give him a holler.

Don't forget....the vendors on this board do not have to be cheaper, necessarily....just close.

John

boogiethecat · May 28, 2009, 09:12:30 PM

I had the same thing happen too. The solution to never doing that again was to simply stick a whip antenna on the Toad with a lightbulb at it's tip, and position it so the tip was visible in a particular place in the rear view mirror. From that time on, if a tire blew day or night, the whip antenna would change position...markedly... and I'd pull right over. Never had a mess after that. Works great at night too with the lightbulb...