schvetkaaks

I just upgraded my account for the longer distances (Premier) and the RV towing for an additional $63 - thanks for the tip, guys!

Z-man

I try to travel in a caravan to help offset the odds of getting stranded.

I used to have a small tire trailer that I attached to my Porsche. A couple of years ago, one of the stub axles actually snapped off! Fortunately, there were some other track junkies behind me, and thanks to David & Arlene (TNT), I was able to get my broken trailer back home.

Regarding bigger trailers: I have heard that in an emergency situation, you can run with only three wheels, even two wheels on a light dual axle trailer. Granted, the loads on the remaining wheels would be much greater, but if you took it slow, you should be able to get to a place where you can further assess you options. Better to drive 50 miles or so, than to stay stranded on the side of the road with cars and trucks zooming by...

-Z-man.

M758

A few years back I was towing to Willow Spring from Phoenix one summer afternoon evening. All was going well till about 50 west of Bltyhe in the middle of nowhere. Had hot air from the A/C so we pulled over and found A/C quit. Well we farted around and found a sizes compressor, but the pulley still turned. So were forced to run with no A/C. No big deal right? Well when it is 110 out no A/C is a big issue. We made it all the way to redfield like that when the A/C clutch sized up. At this point we were in trouble since one belt ran the A/C, altenator, etc. We managed to limp to an autoparts store and were able to get a shorter belt to bypass the A/C compressor. Problem solved and by this time temps cooled down enough to make the trip ok the rest of the way to Willow springs. On the way home we just drove after dark and manged.

On another Willow trip a friend had is trailer light go out. So he turned on the car lights and use them as running lights. I think the brake light still worked.

schvetkaaks

I had my running lights go out on a trip (brake lights and blinkers worked) so I went to get and bought some of those turbo reflecting strips that the semi trailers have - with headlights behind them, shining on the surface, they look like lights.

RickBetterley

Funny you should mention running a trailer on less than the 4 tires.
I had a wheel come off left side of my CargoPro; right near the Gerber Foods plant (NY Thruway). I got way off the travel lanes into the breakdown shoulder, which means the left side of the trailer was about 12" from the fog stripe. Yikes!
Towing company guy starts hollering at me 'why didn't you drive to a safer place?' I responded that, what with the missing wheel, it seemed like a bad idea. He let me know that you could pull the trailer safely on 3 wheels as long as you stay at 40mph or lower.
I was very glad to know that when I had my next blowout.
MANDATORY TOWING stuff - 2 mounted spares with air, jack that can lift the trailer loaded (I use a drive on ramp 'jack'; highly recommended), torque wrench that you use to check lug nuts as well as when changing wheels, air, cell phone, emergency lights or reflectors.
AAA card.

Dave 86 930 Fl

David,

I've experienced many blowouts towing my boat and recently had a double blowout with my 24' enclosed trailer. The tires were in great shape, but they were 4 years old. I was lucky enough to experience the blowout in NC near a great tire facility, so I replaced all 4 tires (D range) with E range tires and the two badly damaged rims. The rest of the trip (2000 miles) was uneventful, but I'm installing a telemetry system to monitor the tires on the trailer from here on out. I have not selected the system yet, but I'm searching for the best solution.

Regards, Dave

amaist

I bought a full spare with the trailer. Later I figured out to have a proper jack that can lift the trailer loaded. I bought a simple hydraulic jack rated for 10 tons.
As I have my tools for the car in the trailer anyway remembering the torque wrench and 28v impact gun is not an issue.

I did use the spare once when I caught a big nail. I caught the issue before it became a blowout as I try to monitor the condition of the tires on the trailer when traveling. Sometimes you can nurse a nailed tire home if you monitor the situation and catch the problem early enough.

NaroEscape

I hate to say this, but I must have the WORST luck with trucks and trailers.....

Case #1: 20ft enclosed trailer heading up to Watkins Glen a few years ago. We have a caravan of 4 cars/trailers heading up to a DE. We all run with Motorola talkabouts. Crossing the Susquehanna River, one of my buddies calls me and says "Bob, your wheel just came off the trailer!"...WHAT??? My WHEEL came off? We pull over and, yep, the entire wheel and tire came off. The bearings gave out and ground it all the way to the spindle, then everything just came off! We limped to a trailer place and found, lucky us, we needed a whole new axle (spindles are part of the axle, not separate on most trailers). And, no suprise, they did not have our size. So we had to leave the trailer there to be fixed, and we rented one of their open trailer to finish the trip. The trailer wasn't done when we came back so I had to take an aditional trip up 2 weeks later to get our trailer.....

Case #2: This one is a real biggy.... Targa Newfoundland 2007. We have someone take our dually truck and 40ft trailer up to Halifax where we'll meet him, he flies home, and we take it to the ferry in Sydney, NS over to Argentia, NF. One the way to Halifax, the trailer blows a tire, the truck battery dies, and the alternator dies. But he makes it to Halifax on time. We pick it up, head to Sydney and all seems fine. We get up on Friday morning to head to the ferry, and about 1 mile from the ferry, the truck dies....and won't start. Many competitors stop and help, and take all our stuff and gear to the ferry for us, so we're left with the truck, trailer, and the 2 cars (ours and another competitors that we were trailering). We get the truck/trailer towed to a dealer, and they determine that they will not be able to fix it in time. We unload the cars.....and the other guys car won't start!! Finally, after 30 minutes and 10 Ford mechanics looking at it (1980 911) we get it running, and race to the ferry....only to see it leaving in the distance....
The story goes on, but suffice it to say the truck did not do us any favors.

Case #3: That same 40 ft trailer in 2006 on the way to Targa Newfoundland had a blowout, and somehow something got caught in the brake drum and ripped apart everything, so we had to have it all replace - bearings, brakes, drum, etc.

Case #4: single axle boat trailer had a blowout, landed on the wheel, tore it up, almost flipped the boat off the trailer, and we had to have the boat/trailer flat bedded to a trailer shop.

Should I go on???

993inNC

Man..............remind me not to caravan with you JK


You guys have me thinking now I should have my unmounted spare mounted and carry 2 ready spares.

NaroEscape

Word to the wise: get your trailer axles serviced EVERY year, whether you used it or not. Simple preventative maintenance.

Edward

And that means what, exactly? As in greasing/repacking wheel bearings? Is this an easy/straightforward DIY-er task?

Edward

schwank

Man you guys have me paranoid. I just bought a brand new trailer but have images of crazy blowouts on the way to Seattle or worse, NorCal. I towed to Seattle last weekend on a wing and a prayer. Everything worked out but I really should get some spare stuff.

KRA993tt

I just had two blowouts this weekend on I95 going from Charlotte to Roebling. I changed the first one no problem but when the second one let go I was hosed. I called Onstar and got the number of the closest tire/tow place. I was a mile and a half past there exit but it was 6pm and they were closed. I ended up talking to the guys wife who tells me he would be home in 15 minutes.

This guy came down picked up my two blown out tires and was back in about 20 minutes with two mounted and balanced tires. I was on the road in under an hour.

These tires were over four years old and I was too cheap to replace them like I should have long ago. I'll be replacing the others this week.

RickBetterley

Maybe paranoid is too strong a reaction, but the rule in trailering is:
There are only 2 kinds of trailers: Those that have had a breakdown, and those that will have a breakdown.

NaroEscape

Yes, grease and repack bearings, and actually, yes it is a DIY-er. Just takes time. Admittedly, most of the issues I've had with the trailers in my past have been due to lack of maintenance of the bearings/axles. You get so caught up in getting the car together that you forget the trailer.

Keep a spare and preferably a hydraulic/bottle jack with the trailer when you go somewhere. We forget how heavy a trailer with a car in it is (I learned the hard way on one of the Newfoundland trips), and a normal floor jack will most likely not lift it.