PSA- lug wrench for trailer tires

[gwpercle]

Public Service Announcement.

Thanks Finster ...
I don't do U-tube , face book , twitter , twister , tick-tock , red dot , snap chat , hip hop or nip tuck ... so I don't keep up with the latest Social Media lingo ... if it isn't old age related or casting reloading related I usually not with it .

PSA ... Public Service Announcement got it !

[Mk42gunner]

A decent torque wrench (and the appropriate socket) is a very good thing to have along if you have aluminum wheels.

Robert

[MT Gianni]

A back up to the impact wrench is a good 1/2" drive breaker bar. Go to a pawn shop and get a cheap aluminum bat that is a youth model, 24"-30" long. Cut the end off and pound it down to just go over the breaker bar. You can stand on it to loosen things if needed. When you put the lugs back on get the dipstick out of your engine and use the oil on it to lube the studs.

[DougGuy]

We had a Sportsmobile conversion on a Ram 3500 van, that bad boy had dualie sized front end parts, hubs, rotors, tie rods, SUPER heavy duty for a van. I had to take the front wheel off once and loosed up a sticking caliper luckily parked in front of an Advance Auto. They had a BAD ASS 4 way lug wrench and it took all I could give it to break the lugs loose. Should have kept that one but I think the ex GF let it go with the van.. Oh well..

GF after her had a Jeep Grand Cherokee with 20" rims, had a flat and I twisted a typical 4 way but would NOT break those lugs loose.

If you have a heavy vehicle, with big lug nuts, don't scrimp on the tire tools, been there done that, I would buy the one from Advance in a heartbeat if I needed a replacement again.

[Oaks&Pines]

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.

Anti seize anywhere the rim touches the hub, just keep it off the studs. Will make your tire rotations a lot easier
Have not had one stick again since I started using it.

[DougGuy]

Anti seize - just keep it off the studs.

It won't hurt the studs and in fact will keep the lugs from rusting and welding themselves onto the studs. Just don't GOB it on, use a thin coat on the threads.. The place you do NOT want any lube or anti seize is where the lug nut tightens against the wheel.

Some manufacturers give wheel stud torque specs for both lubed and dry threads, others give torque specs for clean, dry threads only. With manufacturers it goes both ways, and there are as many posts in agreement with using anti seize in the engineering forums as there are cautions against using it.

[.429&H110]

YMMV! greasing studs is a neat debate.
My Dad taught me to silver grease lugs in salt country. One coat lasts a long time.
I have had service trucks where we had to break off the lugs to change tires,
and had tire shops over torque lugs so they would snap instead of turn.
Lube studs, then torque them.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Time to close the loop on this story, the return trip was quite uneventful. The stay up in Bar Harbor was great and we got about ate some lobster and seafood, saw the sites and usual shopping got done. The key thing was getting my sister-in-law’s toes in the ocean on the east coast as she was visiting from California. Our journey reversed our route from Bar Harbor back to mid Connecticut for a pre planned stay. We finally got our Mystic Pizza and got to watch the bridge raise/lower which were missed the first time around while getting tires sourced and installed on the trailer.

For those who haven’t traveled through the north east, most all of the major north/south roads seem to merge in and around New York City especially the Jersey Turnpike. You can get around it all but it takes a combination of outer loops and secondary roads. In our youth years ago to visit family up in eastern New York from Virginia I came up with a route that avoided most of the tolls but got us there in a decent amount of time. So I pulled the page from the old playbook and went the “long way around”.

To close out the tale I still need to replace one last tire to match up the set (oddly enough the 2 from the tire shop were an exact match to the one delivered on the road). By Months end the tool issues will be resolved and an enhanced tool kit will be added to both the truck and trailer to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Longer term I’ll be on the lookout on the secondary market for at least 2 more rims to have at least 1 additional spare for both the truck and the trailer for when we are on the road along with a compressor of some sorts.

Fun cannot held up for something as annoying as tire failures. I have been dragging camping trailers around for about the last 35 years and blowouts happen, but this is the first time for two on the same trip so close together.

To answer a few questions:
Tires were checked for pressure and secure lug nuts prior to departure.
Pre-trip visual inspection showed no signs of bulges, tread separation, dry rot or anything that would have thrown a flag.
Still not sure on the cause, the first one blew on a clear dry road and there was no debris see at any point along the route prior the blowout.
The second failed after a particularly rough bridge expansion joint crossing and the trailer was chucking pretty good. Chucking on a 5th wheel trailer is when the trailer gets to bouncing and the harmonics of the motion jerks the trailer back and forth on the hitch. It feels like the trailer is trying to hump the truck like a happy dog. Generally it can be ridden out or a tap of the gas or trailer brake controller will break the cycle. Again though nothing that has not happened before or after.
I have enough tools around the house that I should be able to fill my needs, so thank all of you for the kind offers.
The truck and trailer are fairly well matched, no issues with unlevel towing or pin box weight or loading either axle. I did add air springs several years ago to aid in leveling the truck a bit.
There was and has been absolutely no heat, noise or vibrations associated to a bad bearing or locked up brake(s)

[725]

1/2" breaker bar with a pipe over for more leverage - deep well impact socket - and a square of plywood to go under the jack. Never fails me but when I start the jack, it goes deep into the ground.

[downzero]

I use only American made tires and sadly I've experienced what you're talking about as well. Trailers are just hell on tires.

[BD]

I live in Maine and have made the trip south to PA, WV or SC many times. Coming north I much prefer 81 to 84, the Mass pike for one exit to 290 then 495 to 95 north. On paper it's about 1/2hr longer, but in reality it can be 3 or 4 hours shorter, and much more rural. I've learned the hard way to stay well clear of the Baltimore/DC metro area and north jersey/NYC.

[farmbif]

I guess your fortunate just to get flat tire from rough bridge or pot hole damage. there are some potholes on our roads that will swallow a small Volkswagen whole. I thought Louisiana was bad with the built in speed bumps on the interstates until I went and took a trip up 95 and through the rotten apple

[CLAYPOOL]

I like those "HANDY MAN FARM JACKS" . THEY do real good when you lose control and the handle wacks you under the chin twice before you can get back while lifting something TOO heavy. F.Y.I.

[MaryB]

Time to close the loop on this story, the return trip was quite uneventful. The stay up in Bar Harbor was great and we got about ate some lobster and seafood, saw the sites and usual shopping got done. The key thing was getting my sister-in-law’s toes in the ocean on the east coast as she was visiting from California. Our journey reversed our route from Bar Harbor back to mid Connecticut for a pre planned stay. We finally got our Mystic Pizza and got to watch the bridge raise/lower which were missed the first time around while getting tires sourced and installed on the trailer.

For those who haven’t traveled through the north east, most all of the major north/south roads seem to merge in and around New York City especially the Jersey Turnpike. You can get around it all but it takes a combination of outer loops and secondary roads. In our youth years ago to visit family up in eastern New York from Virginia I came up with a route that avoided most of the tolls but got us there in a decent amount of time. So I pulled the page from the old playbook and went the “long way around”.

To close out the tale I still need to replace one last tire to match up the set (oddly enough the 2 from the tire shop were an exact match to the one delivered on the road. By Months end the tool issues will be resolved and an enhanced tool kit will be added to both the truck and trailer to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Longer term I’ll be on the lookout on the secondary market for at least 2 more rims to have at least 1 additional spare for both the truck and the trailer for when we are on the road along with a compressor of some sorts.

Fun cannot held up for something as annoying as tire failures. I have been dragging camping trailers around for about the last 35 years and blowouts happen, but this is the first time for two on the same trip so close together.

To answer a few questions:
Tires were checked for pressure and secure lug nuts prior to departure.
Pre-trip visual inspection showed no signs of bulges, tread separation, dry rot or anything that would have thrown a flag.
Still not sure on the cause, the first one blew on a clear dry road and there was no debris see at any point along the route prior the blowout.
The second failed after a particularly rough bridge expansion joint crossing and the trailer was chucking pretty good. Chucking on a 5th wheel trailer is when the trailer gets to bouncing and the harmonics of the motion jerks the trailer back and forth on the hitch. It feels like the trailer is trying to hump the truck like a happy dog. Generally it can be ridden out or a tap of the gas or trailer brake controller will break the cycle. Again though nothing that has not happened before or after.
I have enough tools around the house that I should be able to fill my needs, so thank all of you for the kind offers.
The truck and trailer are fairly well matched, no issues with unlevel towing or pin box weight or loading either axle. I did add air springs several years ago to aid in leveling the truck a bit.

Check your bearings... one may be running just hot enough to get the rim hot and that will raise tire pressure considerably!

[jonp]

I live in Maine and have made the trip south to PA, WV or SC many times. Coming north I much prefer 81 to 84, the Mass pike for one exit to 290 then 495 to 95 north. On paper it's about 1/2hr longer, but in reality it can be 3 or 4 hours shorter, and much more rural. I've learned the hard way to stay well clear of the Baltimore/DC metro area and north jersey/NYC.

We now avoid DC/Baltimore/NJ and NYC Metro after too many traffic jams, construction etc. Now on our way to the NE we 81 to Scranton Binghamton then over to Albany. Farther but much less traffic. The best trip we came back from north was Christmas Day one year. Made it in 12hr's. Most times now its 16hrs. Used to do a straight shot but got tired of getting there in the dark or near dark so now 12hrs or so, stop for the night in an interesting place and next morning on the road 0500 or so and home around 0900.

1/2in breaker bar, deep well impact sockets, bottle jack and a 8x8 block of wood. Of course we do a pre trip weekend before on the truck not forgetting to tighten the lugs, check air pressure and that includes the spare tire.

[MaryB]

For those in climates where road salt is used make sure your under bed spare on your pickup will move... after buying my last pickup we went to check the spare and had to cut the cable holding it with a grinder. It was a rusted in place mess. Yearly coat of grease/oil the cable will help prevent this. I made a mount in the box for the spare with a lock to keep it in place to keep it from walking off.

[jonp]

For those in climates where road salt is used make sure your under bed spare on your pickup will move... after buying my last pickup we went to check the spare and had to cut the cable holding it with a grinder. It was a rusted in place mess. Yearly coat of grease/oil the cable will help prevent this. I made a mount in the box for the spare with a lock to keep it in place to keep it from walking off.

Great advice and id forgotten about that after moving south. We always doused with penetrating fluid to get it moving and in the fall when changing oil and greasing sprayed it down with something.

[Mk42gunner]

For those in climates where road salt is used make sure your under bed spare on your pickup will move... after buying my last pickup we went to check the spare and had to cut the cable holding it with a grinder. It was a rusted in place mess. Yearly coat of grease/oil the cable will help prevent this. I made a mount in the box for the spare with a lock to keep it in place to keep it from walking off.

Also make sure you have the right key for the lock, if it has one. I had to cut the cable holding the spare up on time since no key was with the truck when I bought it. Luckily I found out about the lock in my driveway, not on the shoulder of a highway.

Robert

[waksupi]

I guess your fortunate just to get flat tire from rough bridge or pot hole damage. there are some potholes on our roads that will swallow a small Volkswagen whole. I thought Louisiana was bad with the built in speed bumps on the interstates until I went and took a trip up 95 and through the rotten apple

The pot holes are so big around here, they have visitor's centers.

[bbogue1]

No one has mentioned this yet .... When the lug nut is tightened at a shop, often they are tightened with either an air or electric impact. Some shops do the right thing and use a torque wrench to tighten the nuts to spec. In either case, they are so tight they are a real son of a gun to move. A space-saving lug wrench is a ratchet, a 17 and 19mm 6-point socket, and an 18 to 24-inch cheater pipe to fit over the rachet handle. More times than I think necessary I have had to jump on the cheater to budge the lug nut, hoping to not break the socket or ratchet. With that set up even my wife can change the tire should the need arise.