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Deadly RV Accident Because of Blowout!!


coachmac9

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Tragic accident that took a father and sons life!! Just wanted to remind everyone how important tire maintenance as well as age and condition of your tires are...especially the new comers and folks that are looking at used RV's to check the date codes on the units they are considering to buy...just because the unit is low mileage doesn't mean the tires are good to go!! 

 

http://www.wbtv.com/story/34996837/at-least-one-dead-in-crash-on-i-77-sb-in-chester-county




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Another reason I'm going to FT in a 5th wheel. This happens to MH's alot more from what I can tell. Seems safer to have your steer wheels out in front of you when there's a blowout.

Very sad.

Retired USN Engineer

2020 Ram 2500 Bighorn 6.7 Diesel

2014 Crossroads Zinger 27RL (Traded)

2022 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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Huh?  Lots of 5th wheels have blow outs since there are many low quality trailer tires out there.  A blow out on the truck is more rare.

2004 40' Newmar Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid, Fulltimer July 2003 to October 2018, Parttimer now.
Travels through much of 2013 - http://www.sacnoth.com - Bill, Diane and Evita (the cat)
 

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I think he meant that a blowout on a 5th wheel isn't as likely to lead to a life threatening accident...I also see lots and lots of blow outs on TT'ers and 5th wheels because of dry rotted tires and low quality tires and while they are a pain in the rear they are normally not a threat to the driver/passengers like a catastrophic failure in a large Class A can be...while on the subject...I see many of the large RV's that are powered by big diesel engines going 70+ on the interstates...couldn't that also be a contributing factor in the seriousness of the accident?? I know that while my RV CAN easily get to 70 I just don't feel as comfortable and usually try to keep it around 60 for safety reasons...thoughts??




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Too many factors involved in this tragic accident. Such things as instinctively getting off the gas (instead of the correct thing - getting on the gas), braking, over correcting, loading on the mh and yes, speed. Also location. Crashing through an abutment and down into a draw is far worse then going off on a level shoulder. A combination of dangerous things came together resulting the deaths of two hence making it newsworthy. 

Does it happen more to motorhomes vs 5'ers? I doubt it. Same holds true on heading down the highway - motorhome or 5'er or TT, there will be some who will drive faster. I for one will keep to a modest speed part for safety and a good part for economy.

 

Berkshire XL 40QL

Camphosting and touring


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Proper driving technique, along with some safety training helps a great deal. So does equipment - for example Safe-T-Plus (or a like product) might have helped mitigate this some. It is a combination of factors that typically leads to this type of tragedy. Having good rubber on the vehicle, and a tire monitoring system can also help. Although  a TPMS will not help with a catastrophic, sudden blowout, many of those are preceded by conditions that the TPMS "could" help with.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

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2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
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My 2 cents. We almost ended up upside down in a ditch when we had a blowout on the driver's side front tire of our truck. We've also had blowouts on 2 5th wheels when both sets of tires were 1 year old. I don't know the statistics and probably no one does but to say a 5th wheel is safer, uh, probably not true.

Jan & Thomas

2012 Drv Mobile Suite 5'r

2012 Ford F350 Super Duty

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Overloading those tires and not running with the correct pressures also contribute to blowouts.  We checked our pressure every time we moved; didn't drive over 62mph, replaced all our tires by date, not looks, had a TPMS on both the motorhome and toad car.  We did all we could and luckily didn't have any tire issues but not saying it couldn't happen. 

Unless you've had a blowout at highway speeds I don't think any of us can determine how it actually feels and if we could bring the RV to a safe stop.  Blowouts happen in a second. Our reflexes aren't that fast in a situation such as this.   Be safe out there and do all you can to help prevent such a event!

Full-timed for 16 Years
Traveled 8 yr in a 2004 Newmar Dutch Star 40' Motorhome
and 8 yr in a 33' Travel Supreme 5th Wheel

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6 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

Overloading those tires and not running with the correct pressures also contribute to blowouts.  We checked our pressure every time we moved; didn't drive over 62mph, replaced all our tires by date, not looks, had a TPMS on both the motorhome and toad car.  We did all we could and luckily didn't have any tire issues but not saying it couldn't happen. 

Unless you've had a blowout at highway speeds I don't think any of us can determine how it actually feels and if we could bring the RV to a safe stop.  Blowouts happen in a second. Our reflexes aren't that fast in a situation such as this.   Be safe out there and do all you can to help prevent such a event!

Great advice...and that's why I posted the subject in the first place. So many beginners (like myself) depend on this site and the advice of folks that have been doing it for years for guidance that I figured a heads up about what COULD happen in a worst case scenario...just for an example...when I first started reading this site and learning I had no idea about looking at the tire code to find out the real age of the tires...invaluable information!! Thanks to all!!




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5 hours ago, coachmac9 said:

Tragic accident that took a father and sons life!! Just wanted to remind everyone how important tire maintenance as well as age and condition of your tires are...especially the new comers and folks that are looking at used RV's to check the date codes on the units they are considering to buy...just because the unit is low mileage doesn't mean the tires are good to go!! 

 

http://www.wbtv.com/story/34996837/at-least-one-dead-in-crash-on-i-77-sb-in-chester-county

Your intent is good, but you lack any facts to claim tire mx, age or condition were factors.  There is absolutely nothing in the video or written story that states tire age or condition were factors.  For all we know they hit something that caused the blow out.

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There was also one on I-10 in Louisiana in the past couple days.  Motorhome pulling a toad, article said they had some type of tire issue.  Went thru guardrail, down into the median, rolled and not much left of the motorhome.  2 fatalities in this one also.

 

We will be replacing our tires based on age when they are 7 yrs old next year. They look great but..........

 

Pat DeJong

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Back in 2008 when we first started fulltiming were were told tires are only good for 5 years. Then we started hear 5-6 years. Now we hear a lot of 7 years. Have tires changed that much or are we just hoping for more?

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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10 minutes ago, sandsys said:

Back in 2008 when we first started fulltiming were were told tires are only good for 5 years. Then we started hear 5-6 years. Now we hear a lot of 7 years. Have tires changed that much or are we just hoping for more?

Linda Sand

Unless it has changed since I last saw it, Michelin recommends an annual professional inspection starting at 5 years, and replacement at 10 years max.

Dutch
2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A
F-53 Chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS
2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/brake system

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16 hours ago, coachmac9 said:

Didn't say that WAS the reason...just listed a few obvious examples that might lead to a catastrophic tire failure that we, as new RV'ers might overlook and need to be aware of.

No, you didn't SAY that was the reason, but you certainly IMPLIED it by connecting your words about tire mx, age, and condition to a story of a tire blowout.

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I once had a rear tyre blow out on our motorhome at 65mph. Our motorhome was a 55000 pound bus conversion. The noise was something else. The guy following behind us had to change his pants!!!!!!! :o I managed to pull over on the shoulder ok. No worries there. But the damage that was done was incredible. The tread of the tyre damaged the front of our 4x4 toad. The very top of the rear cap had damage!! But the worst of the damage was under the coach. Hub was so wound tight with rubber it had to be cut off. Once the tech finished we found the engine wouldn't fire up. It turned out that the exhaust had been flattened so much that the back pressure was stopping it.

The moral of this story is that any blowout can be more than just a matter of changing a tyre. Circumstances can lead to all sorts of consequences. Some expensive and some fatal. Regardless of what you drive look after your tyres. And don't judge without all the facts. (In our case we ran over something).

Slow down. Don't overload. And watch your pressures.

regards

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Since there are a lot of opinions on safety issues being expressed, I'll share mine as well, but with the warning that it is only an opinion since I'm neither a scientist or a statistician.

A blowout is dangerous with any moving vehicle and the faster it is traveling when that takes place the higher the degree of risk. Based purely on general observations, I suspect that they happen more on trailers of any type than on motorized RV's, probably because the driven vehicle is far easier to detect a tire problem early when traveling before it actually explodes. I suspect that the result of such events is more determined by luck than by skill or type of RV, as either one can destroy major parts of an RV at highway speeds but neither of them are certain to do so. I consider tires to be part of my safety equipment and so I never base my choice of when to replace them or what tire to buy upon the cost as much as the reports and ratings of the tires. I believe that in the event of a major wreck, the trailer is probably more survivable than would be most motorized RV's because you do not travel inside of the trailer and are in a vehicle that falls under the highway safety equipment rules and they have fewer things to become airborne in such a disaster. I still prefer travel in a class A, and accept the risk involved. 

Life comes with various degrees of risk and RV travel is no different. The key is not to stop traveling in the way you most enjoy, but rather to learn as much as possible about ways to lessen that risk and then enjoy your life knowing that you have done what you are able, then move on. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Speed is a contributing factor to any incident. I consider , on my DP , that a blow out at 55 would be a concern but I should be able to keep it under control within reason...at 65 it get more difficult. At 75 its going to be very difficult to keep things under control. I travel at 60 to 65. I get passed constantly by other RVs ....let them go....I just try to keep away from them.

I have experienced blowouts on the front and rears of cars. I would prefer a front blowout to a rear. A rear blowout puts the vehicle into a fishtail instantly. A front blowout drops the front wheel and makes it harder to steer but the power steering does its job. That is my. Experience with blow outs.

<p>....JIM and LINDA......2001 American Eagle 40 '.towing a GMC Sierra 1500 4X4 with RZR in the rear. 1999 JEEP Cherokee that we tow as well.

IT IS A CONTENTED MAN WHO CAN APPRECIATE THE SCENERY ALONG A DETOUR.

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I commuted long distances and often got 100K plus miles out of a set of tires.  I thought I knew something about tires.  RV living taught me otherwise.  Many RVs operate close to the maximum tire capacity.  That means you need high quality tires....the best or close to it.  The load weight also means the tires are going to wear quickly.  In my case most of the weight is on the rear tires.  My rear tires are going to be over halfway worn about by about 25K miles!  At that point, I move them to the front and buy new tires for the rear. 

I also learned something I never expected.  Many RVs sit for months or years unused and are only lightly used.  A lightly used or unused tire will dry rot!!!!!!!!!  I was lucky to learn this the easy way.  I decided after 4 years, to pull the spare and put it into use.  I bought another new tire.  Did my rotation of the rear tires to the front and had the spare and new tire on the rear.  The spare tire had been under the bed of the truck and had never seen any use or the light of day.  Everything looked good and I expected to go another 25K before buying two new tires.  Fortunately my trip was delayed, but I did make a few very short trips.  That was enough.  The spare tire showed cracks and signs of deterioration everywhere.  I briefly  considered upgrading to 19.5 wheels and tires so I talked with the experts at Rickson.  They explained that tire rot due to non-use of the tire is something that all tire experts are familiar with.  Using a cover might help but as in my case the tire never was exposed to UV light.  Air and ozone are all that is needed to dry rot the tire.  Heat and flexing causes chemicals in the rubber to move to the surface and protect the tire.  At least that is the story I got from Rickson.  I am not sure if any spray or paint on tire treatments will help.  Many claim to protect against UV light, but that is not sufficient. 

So how long can a tire be used safely?  Probably 5-7 years for a tire in regular use but more like 2-3 years for a tire that is not used.  As we speak the tires are deteriorating on your unused RV.    

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A better title would have been.... "Blowout may have contributed to deadly accident".

As far as a 5th wheel trailer being safer than a Motorhome - maybe yes, maybe no.

Often there are posts to 5th wheel forums of owners telling of being alerted to a blow out on their trailer by a passing motorist honking, etc.  The driver didn't know he had a flat - but was continuing down the road.

Safe driving practices  - in *ANY* vehicle- begin WAY before you turn the key in the ignition - then continue during your journey.  Some vehicles *may* be safer than others.   Lots of factors involved.  It is what it is.

Bottom line - the sky is not falling!

On edit:

My father in law was adamantly opposed to his kids having a convertible while they were still living at home.  Convertibles were just NOT safe!  A driver and/or passengers could be ejected in a crash - not so for a hard-top!

Once on their own, both his son & daughter (the DW)  eventually had Corvettes ('64 & '65).  Good drivers, never had an accident. BIL still has his.  (Need to remind him that "glass" convertible is dangerous - and needs a new home - like MINE!)

 

 

 

 

.

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Lot of valid comments on what to do if/when a tire fails. I note the claim that a tire "blow out" came from the State Police. I would caution people to jump to the conclusion that the investigating troopers have a working knowledge of tire failure analysis.

The fact that the tire is damaged after the accident is not in dispute but why it is damaged is a question that can take hours of detailed inspection and possibly chemical and certainly microscopic examination.

Having taught tire failure inspection and analysis to hundreds of engineers as well as the engineers at DOT Office of Defect Investigation, I can assure you that this is a very specialized topic and many times years of experience is needed before we can have a high degree of confidence on why any particular tire failed.

I have already read where some are claiming the tire was "defective" but when I asked for details or pictures no information was offered to support the claim.

I have contacted the TV station mentioned in the first psot and asked for contact information at the State Police where the responsibility for a thorough investigation currently resides. If I receive any facts I will report back here.

Check out my Blog www.RVTireSafety.NET

 

I serve on Tech Advisory board of FMCA as their Tire Expert.

Give three different seminars on tires at RV events and I also give three seminars on Genealogy too.

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