Harrowing experiences towing

Well, we pull our campers....anyone out there have a tale or two to tell? I'll start..Coming down hill in Tennessee, light on the throttle and a "Cab-over" Trucker juicing it on my ass..pushing air, all down force was lost on an Airstream of all things..I let off all together and let the deceleration and reese WDH and stirrup sway control do there job.

 

Being pretty conservative, I've never had any real problems over 1000's of miles of towing. However towing on snowy and icy roads is always interesting.

 

Years ago our suburban broke down on a camping trip. My dad borrowed a truck and flatbed to come tow us home. About 130 miles. Not too far away from home, I looked out the window and saw us being passed by our rear wheel! Drum hit pavement, rooster tail of sparks went up, and Dad pulled over to the side of the highway. The heavy trailer and truck on it surely helped keep us upright. Turns out, my dad's buddy had just bought new tires at Les Schwab. One wheel didnt get properly torqued down.

 

Many years ago I was towing my boat about 70 mph when the left trailer tire blew. It blew up and shredded, there was no rubber at all left on the wheel. When it blew the trailer lurched violently to one side pulling my truck rear end with it. When I tried to correct the whole rig started lurching left and right. Thought the boat and truck were both going to roll. It threw me into the next lane. Had there been a car next to me it would have been a major accident. Finally got it slowed down and pulled to the shoulder. Left me pretty shook up. Then I discovered I had left my spare at home. Went from shook up to pissed off.
The trailer tires were only 6 months old. I learned a couple things. Most trailer tires are rated for a max of 65 mph. If you exceed the max rated mph trailer tires will over heat and can blow. Some are rated over 65mph and it will say on the side of the tire. Second you need to run trailer tires at the max tire inflation stated on the tire. The number one cause of trailer tire catastrophic failure is under inflation. The more under inflated the hotter the tire runs ultimately causing failure even if driving under the max rated tire speed. I now check my trailer tires pressure about every 8 weeks.

 

I was towing my 2006 Honda Civic home on a dolly through the Caldecott Tunnel in Berkeley through the old original bore. The dolly tire was about 1-2” from touching the wall of the tunnel. Was on edge the entire time driving through.