Saturday, October 30, 2010

Tire Blows....but all is well

Yesterday's travel day was one scary day, but we did fine!  About two hours into our travel and BAM!  We lost the passenger side front tire on the rv.  Billy immediately pulled off to the shoulder.  Here is what we found upon inspection.
 This is a photo I took on the side of the road.  We put out our hazard triangles, put on the flashers and put on the spare.  All I can say is thank goodness we had those Big Foot Jacks installed.  They sure made lifting the fifth wheel simple.  We didn't even need to unhook from the truck.  God was indeed smiling down on us...we had a good level shoulder and the tire that blew was not roadside.
 Again, very lucky on damage as well.  Here you see the wiring that was hit.  Fortunately all it took out was some wiring to a running light....everything else looked untouched.
 This is a photo of more damage to the outside of the fifth wheel.  It is not pretty, but could have been so much worse.

Once our spare was on, I got on the internet and found a tire shop that handled Goodyear tires.  We were sure we would have to order one, but the folks at Raben Tire in the small town of Poplar, MO happen to have six of them in stock.  Within the hour, we had a new tire back on the fifth wheel.  We decided to go ahead and stop for the night....we had enough excitement for one day.  We stayed at Bullwinkle's RV park.  Once we were set up....we headed into town to get a bite to eat.  Found an Applebees, guess what DAD they had 99cent margaritas....guess they knew it was toddy time!  And boy oh boy, I sure needed that toddy!  So thankful that the day ended well....

5 comments:

  1. You are right, it could have been much worse! Glad that everyone is safe and sound!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Boy, can I relate to your troubles. We've had our fifth wheel for almost 17 months and we've had two blowouts, both on the passenger side back tire. Luckily, no major damage either time, we had good road service and insurance handling, but it sure is an unnerving situation.

    Glad your troubles turned out to be no bigger than they are.

    Selene, NC

    ReplyDelete
  3. So glad that you are okay and that there was not a lot of damage that can't be fixed.

    Safe travels as you continue on your journey.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry to hear about the tire blow-out, but glad the damage wasn't any worse! 99 cent margaritas sound like a nice reward after a rough day!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so glad you were able to control the RV and get to the side of the road. I had that happen to me last year and it was very scary.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.