Caravan lost Wheel yesterday am along the Stuart Highway
Submitted: Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 12:33
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vicmark
My parents were towing their twin axle Caravan along the Stuart Highway yesterday morning towards
Mataranka, when there was a loud explosion & one of the wheels flew off the van. Fortunately they were able to control the caravan & stop (though thought it was going to jack knife). Dad is a very experienced retired engineer (& camper) who is meticulous with his set up & routinely checks the wheel studs are not loose. 3 of the wheels were all tight, yet something wasn't right with this 4th wheel.
With so many travellers on the road, perhaps this is a timely reminder to keep an eye on your equipment.
Happy & safe travelling to you all.
Reply By: Axle - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 12:42
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 12:42
G/Day Vicmark, ...Was it the rim comming off the hub,Broken studs or loose wheel nut problem?. Or did the hub and rim come off together,,Bearing adjuster nut and lock nut problem?...... Yep things can happen alright ,Luckily he pulled up in one piece.
Cheers Axle.
AnswerID:
459481
Follow Up By: vicmark - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 17:06
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 17:06
Axle, The rim/wheel came off but they couldnt find it. 1 stud sheared off & 5 intact. They were very lucky indeed as the van slewed onto the other side of the road before gaining control.
Regards
FollowupID:
733057
Follow Up By: Fab72 - Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 16:46
Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 16:46
Can I guess the van is running Sunraysia rims?
FollowupID:
733159
Reply By: member - mazcan - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 13:50
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 13:50
hi vicmark
you have stated that your dad is an engineer and is fastidious and meticulous
i can relate to this
this thought entered my head
did your dad have his van parked prior to leaving where the lite fingered had access to it although unforseen mechanical failures can occurr !
maybe someone was in the act of stealing the wheel and got disturbed and hence it was left loose with the above resulting event?????????
cheers
barry
AnswerID:
459486
Follow Up By: Geoff H (Q - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 14:10
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 14:10
I normally do my own work, however on one occasion I had my brother in law help me out.
The trouble was neither of us checked that the wheel nuts were tight, each thinking the other had done the job.
Fortunately no one was hurt when the wheel fell off and it turned out to be a bit of a laugh.
Beware when working with someone else.
Regards
FollowupID:
733042
Follow Up By: Member - Fred B (NT) - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 14:41
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 14:41
just can't trust those in-laws can you..... lol...! (:
regards
FollowupID:
733043
Follow Up By: vicmark - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 16:57
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 16:57
Barry, You may be right. Mum did wake up to a scratching noise during the night on same side as wheel & the noise stopped as soon as she got up, but did not go outside. This is a difficult call as they will never know & can cause unnescessary alarm amongst campers.
Regards
FollowupID:
733056
Follow Up By: Member - Bruce C (NSW) - Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 15:12
Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 15:12
Same old story there Geoff H,
Your rig, you
check it.
Your load, you tie it.
I ran out of fuel in Botany bay one day in our 38ft cruiser. We used it the day before and got a mate to
check level. "Yeah, shes right" yeah right!
We all learn from experience don't we LOL.
Cheers, Bruce.
| At home and at ease on a track that I know not and
restless and lost on a track that I know. HL.Lifetime Member
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FollowupID:
733155
Reply By: Member - Toby R (WA) - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 14:50
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 14:50
A few weeks back i found a bloke with a wheel issue on his single axle caravan on the
Gibb river road he had driven with a flat tyre for so long that his alloy rim had disintegrated but the centre of the rim was still bolted to the hub however the outside of the rim was totally gone and only the centre of the rim and spokes remained. I asked him why he drove it like that for so long and he replyed i thought it was just the corrugations i made sure he was ok and drove off shaking my head some people.
AnswerID:
459493
Follow Up By: Geoff H (Q - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 15:25
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 15:25
Don't laugh, but we drove about a kilometre up the highway before we noticed the wheel gone.
We we happily driving along on the hub.
Luckily we did find the lost wheel but had to replace the wheel studs.
FollowupID:
733048
Follow Up By: Member - Toby R (WA) - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 15:44
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 15:44
Wow reading some of the other posts it seems like a fairly common issue i would have never known that. Those in car tyre pressure monitoring kits could be a great investment for van owners then.
FollowupID:
733050
Follow Up By: Member - barry F (NSW) - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 17:59
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 17:59
You are dead right in my opinion Toby, & a flat a few years back on our then single axle van convinced us to get a tyre pressure monitoring system.
It may sound silly, but back then the only thing that alerted me to a problem was that our tow vehicle started to "pull" a bit heavy even though the road we were on was as flat as a billiard table.
By the time we pulled up the tyre was
well & truly shredded & we were lucky that the disintegrating tyre did not damage our van or cause an accident involving other road users as
well as us.
I would feel uncomfortable these days towing without a TPM. Cheers
FollowupID:
733063
Follow Up By: Lex M (Brisbane) - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 18:56
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 18:56
Don't you guys look in your rear vision mirrors.
A visible horizontal line across the van, I use a strip of insulation tape, makes it obvious when the van is not level due to a deflating tyre.
A similar strip across the back window makes it really obvious.
Or if you can't see out your rear window, then a couple of reference marks each side that you can see in the external mirrors will work.
Wont help if a wheel suddenly falls off, but will show a deflated tyre.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: MEMBER Bushbum - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 20:18
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 20:18
What absolute nonsense. There is no visual change evident with a dual axle van.
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Follow Up By: Lex M (Brisbane) - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 20:56
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 20:56
"What absolute nonsense. There is no visual change evident with a dual axle van."
So what happens. The side of the van with the flat tyre gets held up with skyhooks? Get real.
I have in the real world used this to pick up a slow leak with less than 10psi pressure loss on more than one occasion on a single axle van. Long before the tyre or rim was damaged.
The references above were to a "single axle van" anyway.
Unfortunately most people seem to drive along happily blithely unaware of anything that's happening to their vehicle or trailer. So be it. Their money, their life.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 06:33
Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 06:33
Now Now girls ...
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Geoff H (Q - Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 11:29
Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 11:29
Doesn't work on a small box trailer behind a 4x4 either.
When the wheel lets go it happens in an instant and if you don't
check the mirrors right then you can travel a kilometre pretty quickly unless you have some miraculous braking system.
Regards
FollowupID:
733127
Reply By: Member - Toyocrusa (NSW) - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 15:03
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 15:03
My next door neighbour had a similar thing a couple of months ago in the Mallee area of Vic. Sounds like it is a fairly common occurrence. Took him one and a half hours to find the wheel but he was happy that he found it. Bob
AnswerID:
459497
Reply By: aussiedingo. (River Rina) - Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 18:51
Saturday, Jul 09, 2011 at 18:51
G'day all, 2 days ago my neighbour picked up beside the Hume Freeway a brand new wheel, tyre, brake drum still with the grease cap on & no axle nut under the grease cap obviously has left the factory without an axle nut! I wonder about quality control? where did it come from - time of day - finding another wheel? I wonder...... hoo roo
AnswerID:
459515
Reply By: Member - Bucky - Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 06:44
Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 at 06:44
vicmark
Any vehicle is capable of winding off a tyre, especially a LHS one, as the thread pattern wants to naturally unwind, that is if it were on the LHS. This could be the case, if not checked regularly. They stopped making opposite threaded wheel studs, years back, but the issue is still there..
If not then I would expect that some light fingered person wanted a wheel more than your Dad did, (and almost got it) , and unawares, your Pa headed off.
I regularly
check my wheel studs, for tightness, at least twice a day, and as we
bush camp a lot, look for unusual or unfamiliar footprint around
camp.. One never knows.
CHeers
Bucky
AnswerID:
459535