Have you ever been in a situation where you barely avoided disaster? We knew when we got into this full time RVing thing that our trailer’s tires were something we would need to keep a close eye on. Let me tell you a quick story about how we averted a safety disaster.
We were making our first trip from one state to another, a 750-mile round trip to visit family. We always visually inspect our tires and check air pressure before leaving, and this trip was no different. After verifying that all was well we were on our way. Every gas stop was an opportunity to visually check the tires. Everything looked good every time. We arrived at our destination, got parked and set up….and then we noticed something neither of us has ever seen before. A small bulge in the sidewall of one the trailer tires.
Now, I don’t know about you, but the first thing I thought of was to take a picture. See that round bubble on the sidewall? That picture was taken Friday evening around 8pm.
By 10:00 Saturday morning the “tumor” had grown considerably. We attended a wedding Saturday afternoon and canceled our plan to move our trailer to the grounds of the after-party. There was no way we were moving our home with a cancerous tire.
The bulge in the tire wall continued to grow throughout Saturday and into Sunday. Sunday morning we jacked the trailer up, switched the defective tire with the spare, and prepared to bring it all in to the nearest tire shop a couple days later. We ended up replacing all four tires. Lesson learned.
Tire Safety Tips and Reminders
- Always visually inspect your tires and check air pressure every time you stop at a gas station and when arriving at and leaving your destination. Under-inflating and over-inflating your tires are equally dangerous.
- Just because the tread looks good, doesn’t mean the tire is good. It is quite common for a tire to age out before it wears out.
- Sunlight and the elements contribute to tire wear. If your vehicle will be parked for extended periods of time outside, it is a good idea to use covers on your tires to protect them.
- Always carry a spare tire for your trailer and your tow vehicle. Many RVers carry two spare tires, because if you experience a tire blow-out it is very like that the blown tire will take out the tire in front of or behind it. Also, a spare tire doesn’t do much good if you don’t have a jack designed for your vehicle’s weight.
- It may be worth your peace of mind to invest in a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). We know of several RVers who have, and although we don’t plan on purchasing one in the near future, it is on our list to get eventually.
- We travel with a small air compressor that plugs into our truck’s cigarette lighter. If we find ourselves in a situation where we need air in our tires but aren’t close to a gas station, we’ll use our own. It has come in handy many times.
Praise God that the tire didn’t burst while we were driving! We are so thankful He protected us from such disaster. Have you experienced any tire safety issues? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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