PSA- lug wrench for trailer tires

[metricmonkeywrench]

So we’re on a vacation hauling our 2019 5th wheel from Virginia to Maine, all pre-travel checks were done prior to departing to include tire pressures. Not running any heavier than usual from our previous trips and our journey was uneventful up I-95 til we hit the entrance to the Jersey Turnpike (never again, but that’s a different discussion) about 13mi in there was a sound like a gunshot and the sad flapping sound of a blowout on the passenger side rear axle. The trailer handled the loss well and didn’t pull or lurch over thankfully (good info to know now) it almost handled like there was no failure. We were able to pull off safely. After assessing the blowout I started to pull out the spare tire winch handle, bottle jack and shockingly could not find my lug wrench, for whatever reason I had taken the wrench out of the trailer and not put it back.I had brought absolutely no “major” tools so we were now stuck. Of course 800 (or was it a million) vehicles drove by and no one stopped, we didn’t even get a trooper or DOT vehicle. We ended up using Good Sam and a truck was dispatched. We got the spare installed and got back on the road.

The PSA part- I implore you that if you haul any kind of trailer have an appropriate spare tire, lug wrench and jack on hand. I now have a new to me Wally World 4 way lug wrench for the remainder of the trip.

Of course the saga does not end there, just past NYC (again never again) we had a second blow out on the drivers side front axle. This definitely required a road service call for a new tire. After a long wait and a bunch of $$ for the tire the young man had the tire swapped and we were once again on our way to our midway pre-planned stop. The next day we procured 2 new tires from a shop nearby the campground. The second new one was installed on the drivers side rear to put 2 new tires on the “dangerous” side axles and the second installed on the passenger front to go with the factory spare on the rear. The last original tire on the fancy rim from the passenger front is now the spare and I kept the “good” original tire from the tire shop just in case we have further tire trouble.

PSA #2 check the DOT tire date codes on all your tires (google how to check). Tires are generally good for the first 5 years and should remain usable for some period after. All of mine are at the 5 year mark.

For future trips with this trailer I will definitely have more than one spare, and also bring along a better tool kit.

[Mal Paso]

I try to carry enough tools to intimidate Murphy. Works most of the time. Glad you're OK!

[Jsm180]

I carry a Dewalt cordless impact gun and socket for both the truck and trailer lug nuts. Also, I keep a close eye on the tire tread profile. First sign of a change and the tire comes off. Had to change one on my last trip, felt a vibration, nursed it to the campground 20 miles away. Found one tire had gone egg shaped.

[high standard 40]

What damages travel trailer tire is long periods of time with the trailer sitting immobile. That's a lot of weight bearing down the tires in one fixed position. It damages the cord inside the tire. It's less of a problem if the trailer is used often because the tires don't have time to take a "set".

[lightman]

Anytime I pull a trailer I have a 4way wrench, a jack and an electric impact wrench it the truck. With my gooseneck trailer I have a bottle jack strong enough (20 ton) to lift the trailer with my tractor loaded and I carry a farm jack when pulling my 4 wheeler trailer. And both trailers have spare tires.

[georgerkahn]

metricmonkeywrench -- I feel for your pains suffered on your trip -- but am soooo happy no (medical) injures complemented them! I had a similar failure, albeit it was a one-tire fail pulling a single axle utility trailer with about 1/2-cord more wood on it than I "shoud've had". 16" Grade E tires, they were also waaay past expiration time -- trailer chassis was a '49 Plymouth -- and rubber was about a decade old at the time.
*MY* failure was not not-having the right lug wrench, but with the "factory" jack I had in my truck. Two challenges: 1st, the trailer was higher to ground than jack's height range; 2nd, it did not have enough oomph to raise the trailer to enable putting on the spare, even with pieces of wood underneath it to enable it now being tall enough! (I was lucky and a stranger stopped with a stronger jack!)
Anyhoos -- a "word" for those pulling any trailer: I know I make sure the jack will do the job, as well as having a can of PB Blaster penetrating oil, the lug wrench, and sufficient air in spare. When I got spare on trailer there was but 60psi in it -- instead of the 85psi they're rated to run at.
My solution for "future" was to buy a $45.00 jack off Amazon. Murphy Law (good in this case) I have yet to use it for emergency -- but, I find it nice to know it is there should I have need.
geo

[10x]

Nature abhors a vacuum!
There is no word describing how much more nature abhors a trailer.
I carry a hydraulic jack, breaker bar and deep socket set, two spares, a can of spray electronic cleaner for the receptacle and plug, upgraded all trailer lights to LED. A 12V air compressor, wheel chocks, spare wheel bearings and seals, and the one spare on my small trailer is mounted on a hub with a stub axel shaft run through it, and a spare axel nut and cotter pin.
Leave one of these components out of the kit and that component will fail on the trailer.
Axel bearings get repacked once a year, checked and repacked before any trip of over 200 miles
Trailer gets lifted and a loose bearing check is done on every wheel before any trip over 50 miles.

The spring retaining pin on the receiver gets replaced every year or at the first sign of rust on it.
Always check to make sure that little $1.25 pin is there before you leave any place you have stopped. Had one "borrowed" in a coffee shop parking lot. These spring pins can break and fall out too.

Make sure your tandem trailer is pulling level with your tow vehicle. Even 2 inches out of level will put undue pressure on front or rear axel.
when you stop, put your hand on each tire and hub - heat means something needs to be addressed before you hit the road.

Make sure the Safety Chains are crossed under the hitch and twisted to the shortest length that will allow hooking them up. This will keep the hitch ball shaft in the receiver if the spring pin fails and the hitch pin falls out.

When checking trailer lights, clean all connections with Spray electronic cleaner, check the ground wire first.

Look for cupping wear on the treads of your tandem trailer tires, cupping means a possible misalignment, or a bent axel. This causes friction, makes handling interesting, and burns fuel as well as wears and heats tires.

Learn how to set up your brake controller. Road conditions change and set too heavy on slick roads the trailer brakes (with wet drums) may lock causing interesting handling issues. Like the trailer attempting to pass you, happened to me once in 6" of slushy snow in the mountains. Max setting was 10, was set at 4, had to back it off to 2.5

The Murphy principal applies to trailers. Even stuff you never expected to happened can go wrong. My wife was driving and ran over a 2' length of broken leaf spring. The back tires of the van kicked it up just right so it caught the tire of the tent trailer, bounced the trailer about 5 feet in the air, and bent the axel when it came down. About 30 miles later the tire was bald and the axel broke at the bend.

Trailer wiring - wired a boat trailer, fished the wires to the back through the frame tube. - had a short somewhere in the first 100 miles.
Turns out the frame tube had a sharp flashing inside that would cut the insulation and short it out.

Watched a mechanic fight with trailer lights, when they turned on either signal light the clearance lights would blink. Told him to check the ground - all wiring issues resolved when he fixed the ground issue.

When you pull a trailer wheel off the axel, to check the axel and the bearings, put on a new seal. Here the seal costs about $2 less than the complete bearing kit that comes with the seal. When replacing the outer race in a hub take the old race and cut a slot in it turning it into a outer race bearing driver.
If the inner race has turned on the axel shaft you can salvage it with an epoxy liquid steel compound. If there is any space, that wheel will get loose quickly and the bearings will fail.

I pulled my first trailer 51 years ago with a 35 HP, 235 cubic inch 6 cylinder '57 chev sedan. I swore "Never again" I now own and use 6 trailers for various purposes and a couple of holiday trailers. 375 HP, disk brake brakes do make a difference.


Good luck trailering

[gwpercle]

What does PSA stand for in this instance ... concerning trailering and tools ?

I have heard the term used ... in my Doctors office during a prostate Exam ...
He used the words ... Prostate Specific Antigen ... I knew what he was looking for ...
but don't think his PSA means the same as your PSA ... what's it all mean !
Gary

[Finster101]

Public Service Announcement.

[Ickisrulz]

I always carry a full set of hand tools in the truck as well as a fire extinguisher, jumper cables, zip ties, duct tape, self taping screws, breaker bars, gloves, first aid kit, etc. There's also jacks in the camper as well as traffic cones. I carry two spare tires for the camper.

I need something pretty much every time we go on a trip with the camper. It is not a hands off hobby.

[Omega]

I have been there and done that except I didn't have a jack, but I made due with what I had.

[megasupermagnum]

I'm no fan of those 4 way wrenches at all. There might be good ones out there, but most of the cheap ones are pretty bad. They don't always fit, especially on car tires. A vastly superior option is a cheap 1/2" breaker bar, a couple extensions, and thin wall 6pt deep well sockets. Cheap standard sockets work really well. If you want the best, a good brand like SK makes thin wall flip sockets for two sizes in one. I also almost always have a big 1/2" impact gun with, but I'd never rely on that alone.

The jack depends on the vehicle. Some people like scissor jacks, and they do work well, and store small. They are very low profile, but they aren't super stable. I don't think I've ever gotten a bottle jack to work, they seem to always be too tall to fit under anything when a tire is flat. I prefer a small low profile hydraulic floor jack myself, I think mine is 1.5 ton. It takes up more room, but what you gain is a lot more stability, especially on dirt, which is where I always am when I have issues.

[Ickisrulz]

A ramp for tandem axle trailers works well for removing the wheel. You can make your own from an 8 foot 2x6 or buy one already made.

[.429&H110]

Welcome to NJ! Been there.

Don't forget the old spare 1/2" torque wrench!
If you torque them on, you might get the nuts off again someday.

You could have had brand new tires and still hit road debris.
Do you think NJ ever sweeps that road? They can't-don't-won't.

Can't: because the traffic never ends, people would get killed hitting the sweeper
Don't: because they don't see it as a problem
Won't: because NJ doesn't have any money (left)

In Alaska I carried a plug kit and 12v compressor, two spares and one for the trailer.
And now in Arizona there is all shiny collision debris everywhere crunching under the tires,
(unbelievable how Arizonans cheerfully destroy vehicles at high speed)
we don't sweep roads here either, same as NJ or AK.

[MaryB]

I carry a 12 volt impact that I can connect to the car battery, usually have a 20 volt battery impact in the car, a spare set of cheap impact sockets in SAE and metric, 4 ton floor jack, other tools, a small compressor... it all fits in a plastic tote I can pull out if I am making under 60 mile round trips. I do have roadside assistance but hate waiting... but my main trip to town once a month for food/supplies I need all the space I can get in the SUV. 50 mile round trip so a car issue isn't that critical. Friend can come grab me if roadside assistance takes to long.

[MarkP]

I'm no fan of those 4 way wrenches at all. There might be good ones out there, but most of the cheap ones are pretty bad. They don't always fit, especially on car tires. A vastly superior option is a cheap 1/2" breaker bar, a couple extensions, and thin wall 6pt deep well sockets. Cheap standard sockets work really well. If you want the best, a good brand like SK makes thin wall flip sockets for two sizes in one. I also almost always have a big 1/2" impact gun with, but I'd never rely on that alone.

The jack depends on the vehicle. Some people like scissor jacks, and they do work well, and store small. They are very low profile, but they aren't super stable. I don't think I've ever gotten a bottle jack to work, they seem to always be too tall to fit under anything when a tire is flat. I prefer a small low profile hydraulic floor jack myself, I think mine is 1.5 ton. It takes up more room, but what you gain is a lot more stability, especially on dirt, which is where I always am when I have issues.

1/2" Breaker Bar and a deep socket to fit lug nuts and a small floor jack is what I kept in my camper. Also 2 x 8 boards cut into 18" lengths just case jack did not work I could drive over boards to lift other tire off to change or if too rough of a surface for floor jack to rest on.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have a great story about hauling a motorcycle (street bike) from MN to TX, and then back (for some winter time driving on vacation). On the trip back, about 100 miles from home, I go over some railroad tracks, and the leaf spring on the trailer broke.
I was lucky to find a 4 foot piece of 2x4 laying in the ditch. I lifted the trailer and slid the 2x4 in, between the axle and frame. I limped home that 100 miles going 25 mph.

[HWooldridge]

I carry a Dewalt cordless impact gun and socket for both the truck and trailer lug nuts. Also, I keep a close eye on the tire tread profile. First sign of a change and the tire comes off. Had to change one on my last trip, felt a vibration, nursed it to the campground 20 miles away. Found one tire had gone egg shaped.

Me too - got the idea from my son, who hauls cattle all over Texas. He said it was the best tool he ever bought - no need for air and totally portable.

[Ickisrulz]

I took my truck in to Discount Tire for a tire rotation. I watched as they had a heck of a time getting two of the wheels off the truck. They employed a large sledge hammer as a ram to knock the wheels loose. I am wondering if I need a sledge hammer with me all the time now. BTW, this wasn't the first time the wheels have been off.

[jakharath]

I have a Tundra and the aluminum wheels like to stick to the hubs. The front tires aren't bad, just loosen the nuts, start the truck and let the power steering pump do the work. The back tires are a different story...