Flat Tire on Tow Dolly and what NOT to do

[pneumatics]

Traveling West on I-10 in Mississippi a couple of weeks back I was passed by a older Class A that is dolly towing a car. Moving faster than me at 70 plus but my Toad is 65MPH limited so that is not all that unusual.

Suddenly I see the left side Dolly tire explode with debris everywhere and the car jerked sideways. The car straightened out but now a trail of sparks from the now lower to the pavement ramp flew from the dolly.

Thinking that the driver knew that a problem existed I expected a quick pull off to the shoulder. But the driver continued on at speed FOR 3 MILES. Sparks flying, smoke everywhere. Had to trace it later on Google Map to see how far. Perhaps trying to get to the next exit.

Everybody on the road was slowing down and trying to get to the passing lane to avoid the flaming tire debris spewed along the road. The driver finally pulled over after a pickup truck flagged to pull over. I caught up and saw smoke and flame. Pic 1

The tire had come off the flaming rim and was on the shoulder burning. Pic 2

By now the extreme heat caused the CAR to alight on fire. I passed on the side and since I have no firefighting skills passed the vehicle. Pic 3

Later I checked Google maps which showed a long back up and hopefully fire trucks and emergency workers doing the best work possible.

Comments:
Lack of working TPMS on the tow dolly tires, which would have alarmed the driver. In seeing a couple of tow dolly's on this trip, does not appear many people employ them.

Lack of a working rear camera or not attentive to the screen. I check left, front, right, front, rear camera, front continuously all day.

My hope is that the damage was limited with the help of emergency responders, and that nobody was injured. And a lesson learned.

 

[16ACE27]

So what do you think would put a bigger hit to his wallet?
An 8 sensor TPMS System?
An always on rear camera/monitor setup?
The insurance deductible for the trailer and car? (Or maybe two deductibles since there are two vehicles and maybe two insurance companies involved.)

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

Sometimes unfortunate things happen to the most careful people. I feel for those unfortunate folks.

And sometimes clueless people invite their own little disasters which have the potential to injure/kill innocent people.

You just can't fix STUPID!!

 

[Bob Nodine]

Since the tire exploded, my guess is this is a case where the owner of the tow dolly assumed because the tread was good on the tow dolly tires they were ok. I would be checking the date code on the tires and if they were over seven years old would replace them.

 

[RACarvalho1]

and that is the reason I have a good TPMS and rear cameral always on....

 

[ericmac450]

I had almost the exact same thing happen with my tow dolly. The tire blew out and went to the rim. I felt it very quickly and saw it on the camera so I was able to get pulled over very quickly.

While I do not have a TPMS on all my tires, they were very new tires and everything was setup as well as possible. My tow vehicle is very heavy, so we have switched over to a flat tow dinghy.

They should have noticed it popped, but it wasn't a drastic feeling for me, the dolly still drove pretty solid even on the rim.

 

[Jimbo56]

I have tons sensors on the dolly tires as well as the motorhome. And rear tires of car. 10 altogether

 

[Scubawise]

I have tons sensors on the dolly tires as well as the motorhome. And rear tires of car. 10 altogether

Great job!

 

[macdaddy1111]

Delta fire!! Time to Jetason!

 

[RV Driver]

…
Comments:
Lack of working TPMS on the tow dolly tires, which would have alarmed the driver. In seeing a couple of tow dolly's on this trip, does not appear many people employ them.

Lack of a working rear camera or not attentive to the screen. I check left, front, right, front, rear camera, front continuously all day...

The real problem here is a driver with a total lack of awareness of his own driving situation. Does he never look in his mirrors? This is so typical these days. Drivers who just zone out and stare straight ahead and never check their dash gauges or their mirrors. Or worse, driving and texting.

I have no sympathy for the guy. He got what he deserved.

 

[powerboatr]

The real problem here is a driver with a total lack of awareness of his own driving situation. Does he never look in his mirrors? This is so typical these days. Drivers who just zone out and stare straight ahead and never check their dash gauges or their mirrors. Or worse, driving and texting.

I have no sympathy for the guy. He got what he deserved.

another reason my back cameras are always on so i can see the toad or the trailer.


and them things we have hanging on the side with reflective glass...i look at them ALOT

 

[Jimbo56]

The real problem here is a driver with a total lack of awareness of his own driving situation. Does he never look in his mirrors? This is so typical these days. Drivers who just zone out and stare straight ahead and never check their dash gauges or their mirrors. Or worse, driving and texting.

I have no sympathy for the guy. He got what he deserved.

In my unit, I cannot see the car or dolly with the side mirrors. I must punch the button for my emergency flashers for the back up camera to come on. Even then, it’s so grainy I can’t make out much detail. But I can hear. And I do have all tires on the ground monitored by a goog TPMS system.

 

[NordicVetMBA]

Traveling West on I-10 in Mississippi a couple of weeks back I was passed by a older Class A that is dolly towing a car. Moving faster than me at 70 plus but my Toad is 65MPH limited so that is not all that unusual.

Suddenly I see the left side Dolly tire explode with debris everywhere and the car jerked sideways. The car straightened out but now a trail of sparks from the now lower to the pavement ramp flew from the dolly.

Thinking that the driver knew that a problem existed I expected a quick pull off to the shoulder. But the driver continued on at speed FOR 3 MILES. Sparks flying, smoke everywhere. Had to trace it later on Google Map to see how far. Perhaps trying to get to the next exit.

Everybody on the road was slowing down and trying to get to the passing lane to avoid the flaming tire debris spewed along the road. The driver finally pulled over after a pickup truck flagged to pull over. I caught up and saw smoke and flame. Pic 1

The tire had come off the flaming rim and was on the shoulder burning. Pic 2

By now the extreme heat caused the CAR to alight on fire. I passed on the side and since I have no firefighting skills passed the vehicle. Pic 3

Later I checked Google maps which showed a long back up and hopefully fire trucks and emergency workers doing the best work possible.

Comments:
Lack of working TPMS on the tow dolly tires, which would have alarmed the driver. In seeing a couple of tow dolly's on this trip, does not appear many people employ them.

Lack of a working rear camera or not attentive to the screen. I check left, front, right, front, rear camera, front continuously all day.

My hope is that the damage was limited with the help of emergency responders, and that nobody was injured. And a lesson learned.

That completely encapsulates what I don't like about the idea of dragging a tow-dolly, and why we went 4-down from the start. We had a travel trailer for about 8 years before our Class A - we put a lot of miles on that little trailer, and learned quickly just how crappy trailer tires are. You get like 10k miles out of the things, maybe 6-7,000 if they are Walmart China Bombs, or maybe 15k if Saluns or Carlaisles, but generally, anything after 10k you are really on borrowed time.

Using a tow dolly means more trailer tires. Yuck. I wasn't interested in the least. The last thing I wanted to deal with would be another "DIY" removal of a trailer tire showing cords all the way around in a Walmart parking lot because the Walmart techs won't touch the RV, but they will change the tire for you (and usually the only place in a small town that has -any- tires.)

 

[Scubawise]

That completely encapsulates what I don't like about the idea of dragging a tow-dolly, and why we went 4-down from the start. We had a travel trailer for about 8 years before our Class A - we put a lot of miles on that little trailer, and learned quickly just how crappy trailer tires are. You get like 10k miles out of the things, maybe 6-7,000 if they are Walmart China Bombs, or maybe 15k if Saluns or Carlaisles, but generally, anything after 10k you are really on borrowed time.

Using a tow dolly means more trailer tires. Yuck. I wasn't interested in the least. The last thing I wanted to deal with would be another "DIY" removal of a trailer tire showing cords all the way around in a Walmart parking lot because the Walmart techs won't touch the RV, but they will change the tire for you (and usually the only place in a small town that has -any- tires.)

Well..glad we have never towed ..
Our 2015 colt bullet TT got us 50,000 miles on OG tires

 

[Agvegas]

Tow Dolly and TPMS

I tow my car on a dolly with my Axis 24.1. Not only do I have TPMS on all 6 tires on the Axis, but I have them on both dolly tires and both rear tires of my car.

Like others have mentioned, I am regularly scanning my back-up camera, mirrors, gauges, the road ahead and then back to the back-up camera to repeat the process.

It is very sad that this happened to that person. No one deserves that and we don't know the driver's situation that allowed him/her to not see what was happening. We can speculate for ever as to what was happening inside the motorhome, but this is a good reminder to all of us to be aware all around, all the time no matter what is towed or how it is towed.

Safe travels to all.
Andy

 

[MLP-THOR]

When I had a class C and a tow dolly, we blew a tire on the dolly on I80 in Nebraska. I knew it before the pressure monitor went off. I cannot understand how a driver could not unless it would be a heavy diesel pusher. The pavement was too narrow, but there was just enough of it and dirt to get fully off. Getting that car off the dolly with trucks and cars going 70 plus inches from me. We had just finished getting through 20 miles of road construction without any pull over. I managed to change that tire, because it was on the passenger side. I never travel without a spare tire until the diesel pusher.