This happened to us many years ago just inside Mexico (surprise..). The rear tire & rim cracked off a cement mixer ahead of us on a 2 lane road with K-Rail on one side, and a 15+' border fence on the other. We drove under it mid-air in a bounce off the fence. eeeesh!
Having driven semis for 10 years, I can tell you that unless the driver is looking in the mirror at the time the tire comes off or the tread separates, he probably won't be aware that there is a problem until he stops and does a quick walk around inspection. The second tire in a set of duals will support the weight of the load for quite a few miles before the second tire also lets go.
The best advice I can give is to be aware of the danger and give the big rigs plenty of space. Pay attention to the big rigs around you and, while it may sound crazy, even in the excitement of dodging a tire or tread, take a 10th of a second to try to get a company name off the truck.
Greg
Full-timing and soon to be retired US Navy Master Chief
Enjoying Champagne on the King Ranch!
'06 King Ranch F-350 Dually Diesel 4x4 Long Bed Crew Cab w/ Tow Boss
'07 Champagne Edition NuWa Hitchiker 3 axle 4 slide 37CKRD /w TrailAir all around
Glad to hear that you and DH are okay. Sorry about your RV.
Stepsons friends Mom was killed by a bouncing Semi tire and wheel. Very sad.
Local IHOP was damaged by rolling tire and wheel not too many years ago. The combination came crashing thru the restaurant early in the a.m. and luckily missed the few patrons in there.
Steve & Tracy Webber
'07 F250 6.0 PSD LariatFX4,AirLift,Edge Insight
'07 Jayco Eagle 314BHDS "The Cramalot Inn II"
ReeseDCHP,Atwood 3500#,FlushKing,WeberBabyQ Our Pic's
We do not stop playing because we grow old, We grow old because we stop playing!
A traveling salesman friend of Dad's was killed in the 1950's by a wheel & tire coming off a semi on a mountain road in West Virginia. It bounced down the mountain and hit the guy's car head-on, and went thru the windshield.
Jim, "Mo' coffee!"
'06 Tiger CX 'C Minus' on a Silverado 2500HD 4x4, 8.1 & Allison ('Loafer's Glory'); '07 Forester 2.5 ( the 'HANDBSKT'); '95 Toyota SR5 V-6 4x4 pickup, ARB locker, Bilsteins, Warn hubs & M8000, etc;
'94 968, M030 swaybars ('DOPPLER')
I was behind an unloaded 18-wheeler a couple of years ago when both rear wheels came off on one side on one axle. One of the wheels rolled to the right through a field until I lost sight of it over a hill. The other rolled to the left, across a wide Interstate 20 median and hit a car a glancing blow. It did not appear too serious.
The truck never slowed down. I could not catch it since it was moving a lot faster than I was towing. However, several miles farther, I saw it pulled off to the side.
It could have been a very serious accident. The momentum of those tires and wheels has to be tremendous.
* This post was
edited 07/08/08 07:25am by Airstreamer67 *
Thank you for all your words of support. It was the whole tire and not just the tread. It came from a semi going southbound. From what we could tell, it bounced once on the medium and then flew right for us. We have decided to leave it here at CW (34' Holiday Rambler Ambassador) and will travel back to Ohio in the Honda CRV. They are outside right now writing up an appraisal. I figured that, yes, had it hit a car someone would have been killed. I truly am grateful that if it had to hit someone, it was us.
Hey, Parta,
We live not too far from where you are. We frequently go to that Camping World, its not far from where we live. Yep, Holiday Kamper (I think thats the name of the RV dealer) are some great folks to work with.
Glad to hear you have a 'toad' you can drive back home, and that CW folks are taking care of you. Indeed, you were fortunate this happened so close to a place that can do the repairs for you.
That stretch of I-77 you were on, is not fun. Tons and tons of traffic going to/from Charlotte, lots of semis, a lot of it only 2 lanes each way....Not my favorite road to travel.
Remember those two long bridges over Lake Norman on that stretch? Traffic got soooo bad there from boaters 'diverting' drivers attention in the summer and causing traffic problems...They talked at one point about putting up barriers along the sides to alleviate that problem.
Anway, glad everything is working out, in spite of the bad luck you had there. Happy camping.
Will & Angela
2 wonderful children that love camping, Stephen & Allison
2003 Ford Excursion V10 4x4
2003 Thor Citation 33M, Hensley Arrow hitch, Brakesmart Brake Control
(wanna see? Here is a picture of it )
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