Bill/Diana
Southeastern Pennsylvania
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Joined: 04/25/2002
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Last week we enjoyed a peaceful 5 night stay at Country Acre Campground, Lancaster, PA.
On our way home we were travelling the Pennsylvania Turnpike and about 4 miles from our exit, something terrible happened. A tractor trailer about 70 feet ahead lost the tread from a tire. Directly in front of me laying across my lane was a piece of tire tread about 4 feet in length. I was travelling about 56 mph at the time and in the far right lane. In the lane to my left was solid line of cars and the berm to my right was very narrow.
I no no choice but to run over the tread. I spaced it so the front tire did not touch the tread. As the tread went beneath our motorhome it badly damage the exhaust system. The engine was now running very loud.
I decided to travel the additional 4 miles and exit the turnpike. I was concerned the brake lines, transmission fluid tank, engine water hoses, etc would have been ruptured. Once off the turnpike I pulled off to the side and glanced under the motorhome. It was apparent the exhaust system was mangled and I did not see an signs of fluids leaking. We traveled another 3 miles to home.
Contacted the insurance copy and the adjuster said take it to a shop of my choice and have them take pictures. Due to Covid the insurance adjusters are not coming to view the damage.
Tomorrow the motorhome goes to the repair shop for thorough inspection underneath. I'm still amazed that now damage has been done to our care that was in tow.
Other than being upset, no one was injured.
UPDATE....well here it is 21 days after the accident and the insurance adjuster was finally able to visit the motorhome. I was able to be at the repair shop yesterday while the motorhome was up on the lift. I was surprised they allowed me to walk under the motorhome to snap some photos. Looks like the only damage is the exhaust system. The system is a Gibson and is no longer available so the repair shop is going to salvage what they can and the rest will be fabricated. The total estimate for repair is $2,000. I think I lucky that only the exhaust was damaged by such a large piece of rubber.
* This post was
edited 07/10/20 03:24pm by Bill/Diana *
Bill & Diana
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DarkSkySeeker
Freestone, California
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Bill/Diana wrote:Ran over Gator
I am sorry this happened to you and glad you are not injured. Is "running over a gator" slang for tire tread in the road? I've never heard that.
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routeforty
ohio
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'Gator' is trucker slang for those big old pieces of tire tread laying in the road.
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Yosemite Sam1
Under the pines.
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Most of them are out of rethreads that failed.
I worked for a company that has a tire rethread subsidiary, mostly for company owned construction equipment.
In a meeting, I heard it's president that out there, there it's Wild West as there is no safety standards for rethreads.
That was more than a decade ago. I'm not current.
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DarkSkySeeker
Freestone, California
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I remember as a young kid on a school bus going down the highway when the recap came off. It did not detach completely at first, so it was whipping around in the wheel well. It slapped repeatedly on the underside of the bus. It sound like kids in the back of the bus were shooting a gun or lighting firecrackers.
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stickdog
Somewhere, USA
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You were a couple hundred feet too close for emergency stop. Remember it is the safe drivers that keep your insurance rates down.
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A1ARealtorRick
Gulf Shores, AL
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It's too bad that nobody has what it takes to get these retreads outlawed. Obviously the companies that do it have few if any standards they must adhere to, and I'm sure, the cheaper the better for the trucks they're bought for. I'm sure untold damage has been done, and untold accidents caused by these things. And, of course, there's never any way to match the gator to the truck that threw it.
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Matt_Colie
Southeast Michigan
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Realtor Rick,
I hate to tell you this but, the failure of retreads is not much different than that of first moldings. Retreads are prohibited on the steer wheels (I think that is DOT and not just state) and there are other limits as well. Time was I ran lots of retreads and had little issue apart from the fact that tires were an expense just a little below fuel.
Matt
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naturist
Lynchburg, VA
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"Road 'Gators" are hazards. Glad to hear nobody was injured. Exhaust systems can be replaced . . . you know the rest.
I've never hit a 'Gator (knock on wood), but I've seen plenty over the last half-century. Be safe out there, folks.
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noteven
Turtle Island
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It’s not necessarily a retread tire.
Any tire that builds up enough heat from running under inflated or flat can unbuild itself.
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