How to Handle a Tire Blowout in Your RV

[Bruce]

This was in this week's RVTravel newsletter, RV Travel - News, information & advice for RV enthusiasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwOE1yKY5c

I've never had a blow out but now I am a little better prepared should one occur.

Bruce

[Metalman]

A very interesting video. I've been driving for over 50 years and never heard of accelerating when having blow-out or rapid loss of air.

I had a blowout on the left front tire on the diesel pusher. Other than a bit of a rumble and some movement of the steering wheel, it wasn't too bad and there was no loss of control. I know I didn't brake hard, but I imagine I applied the brakes as I pulled to the right side of the road.

[Mr Sunshine]

Sometimes applying power can pull a vehicle from sliding on ice, but I can't support this theory on an RV. The side force they talk about is much less than the forward momentum of the coach and the grip of the other front tire.

I blew a front left tire on our 33 foot gasser on a 4 lane once. Like Metalman said, a bit of rumble and shake, no loss of control. Foot off the gas and it slowed with little braking and not much side pull. I had seen this video before that, but this technique was unnecessary. I had zero difficulty holding the lane I was in.

I was trying to get one more trip from that set of tires. Not long after that front blowout, a back inside tire blew, so I replaced the rest. RV tires rarely wear out, they weather out.

[Metalman]

When on our maiden voyage with our new to us Holiday Rambler Endeavor diesel pusher with 17,000 miles, we had a zipper tear on the left front tire. Getting a used replacement was time consuming and very expensive. When we got home I replace all of the tires, bought an extra rim, and a spare tire. We always carried the spare wheel and tire, either on a trailer hitch rack, in the trailer, or eventually on a brush guard I built. After several years of RVing, I never needed the spare, except for that one time.

[Chance]

The real value I see in this "acceleration" technique is more psychological than physical. People feel the need to react, and if accelerating keeps their foot off the brake then mission accomplished.

They claim in video that physics are the same for all vehicles, including cars, but the sad truth is that motorhomes have much less power for their mass to accelerate with, so the benefits of accelerating would be much less anyway.

I've had blowouts in cars and SUV, plus a tire separation in the rear of a Class C. Like others above stated, I was fortunate to control them all without any serious difficulties.

The possibility of a rear blowout in my single-rear-wheel van concerns me more. If at high speed in a curve it could become hard to control.

[Metalman]

[QUOTE=Chance;20821

The possibility of a rear blowout in my single-rear-wheel van concerns me more. If at high speed in a curve it could become hard to control.[/QUOTE]

That is a good point. The video showed manufactured blowouts in ideal situations. Add oncoming traffic, narrow pavement, rough roads, curves, hills, etc., then it can become a very serious situation very quickly.

For those of us who drove for many years in snowy climates, there is less tendency to brake hard during a blowout. There is nothing worse than forcefully applying the brakes on ice and packed snow.

[Mr Sunshine]

We had emergency road service when both motorhome blowouts occurred. Both times, it was a 4 hour event and the tire cost was the same as we paid for the other 4 later.

Carrying a spare has been discussed on another thread here. We have never carried a spare for any RV, but have carried one for our towed car on long trips, as it is an odd size. Have used that one.

I had a rear tire blow on a van pulling a trailer, that was a much scarier stop, and the tire shreds did some body damage.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Metalman

That is a good point. The video showed manufactured blowouts in ideal situations. Add oncoming traffic, narrow pavement, rough roads, curves, hills, etc., then it can become a very serious situation very quickly.

For those of us who drove for many years in snowy climates, there is less tendency to brake hard during a blowout. There is nothing worse than forcefully applying the brakes on ice and packed snow.

I've seen a lot of pictures of Ford extended vans (like mine) that rolled over after a rear blowout. It was a big safety issue with 15-passenger vans when fully loaded because center of gravity is fairly high compared to track width. That plus a large percentage of mass is over rear axle. Fortunately mine is evenly distributed between front and back so it should be safer and easier to control.

A SRW rear blowout on a curve (particularly the tire on outside of curve) can lead to excessive over steering which is much harder to control. Front blowouts are reportedly much easier by comparison. If we recall, a lot of the Ford Explorer rollovers after blowouts were caused by rear tire failures.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Mr Sunshine

We had emergency road service when both motorhome blowouts occurred. Both times, it was a 4 hour event and the tire cost was the same as we paid for the other 4 later.

Carrying a spare has been discussed on another thread here. We have never carried a spare for any RV, but have carried one for our towed car on long trips, as it is an odd size. Have used that one.

I had a rear tire blow on a van pulling a trailer, that was a much scarier stop, and the tire shreds did some body damage.

Fortunately, Axis/Vegas tires are a common size. Having said that, I would want a spare with me at all times. I think I can still manage changing it myself -- tires are no heavier than on my 1-ton van. I'd rather do that than wait for hours.

[samven]

I know this is an old thread but aside from the advise on acceleration which I would be very hesitant to do I carry a spare, not because I would ever change it myself but because if the rim were damaged from the blowout it could take a good bit more time to get the tire replaced as well as a tow.