Wheel came off and by the grace of god

PeterR · 23 May 2010, 18:35

Check your wheel nuts when getting a trailer with a boat.I had an interesting drive back today.When i bought this recent boat it came with a trailer that had had new bearings .Before i used it i did jack it up and spin the wheels and they were smooth and no play

I thought towed it home did a maiden voyage all went well.On the way home doing 60mph road ahead all breaking due to an collision.I braked and thank god i was only doing 15mph when the trailer wheel came off

I imeadiately stopped to find wheel lying 10ft behind in the kirb on the A14 100yrds before the orwell bridge.The hub was all intact studs were all good no wheel nuts.Absolutely bizzar.I had a jack and socket set so took two nuts from the other side and limped to the next exit.Called the RAC.Whilst i was at the road side on the A14 a traffic cop went past blues a two,s minutes later another came and stopped to asist me

but saw i was ok. so went.After i had pulled off the A14 onto a small rd and was waiting for RAC an AA van pulled in to help as i had my triangle out as a warning,then the same copper stopped again on his way back from the collision whilst he was there the RAC van turn up.First thing the RAC man said was DO YOU REALISE YOUR TRAILER IS NOT COVERED AS ITS CLASED AS FREIGHT

Boll-cks is what first came to mind.Has anyone else heard of this.I got home fine.As he followed me with the two nuts on each whell at 30mph

ribmad · 23 May 2010, 19:20

When the suspension broke towing a rib home from windemere we had to pay something like £200 to get it towed back. we got back and paid the bill they informed me if i had been a member of the caravan club it would have been free up to 9 meters it think? For the cost of that the extended insurance is great.

what caused the wheel nuts to come off any idea?

PeterR · 23 May 2010, 19:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by ribmad

When the suspension broke towing a rib home from windemere we had to pay something like £200 to get it towed back. we got back and paid the bill they informed me if i had been a member of the caravan club it would have been free up to 9 meters it think? For the cost of that the extended insurance is great.

what caused the wheel nuts to come off any idea?

I can only asume when the bearings were done by the previous owner they were not done up properly it never occured to me to even check.I am a member or the caravan club and yes it does waver height and weight restrictions.At the time the Rac driver wasnt aware of that part of my membership.I pay anbout 350 quid a year for europe and everything else.So i was ready to give him a hard time but it wasnt necessary as it was quicker for him to follow me than wait for a tow truck.

BruceB · 23 May 2010, 20:31

A couple of months ago I stuck my Cherokee in for an MOT, on the way home after passing the front nearside wheel fell off in the main road in Oban
If I hadn't had been almost stopped after hearing the wheel wobbling around and banging around it could have been fairly nasty. As it was I found all the nuts in a distance of 50 yds back down the road and only lost one snapped stud when the wheel finally parted company with the hub.
Guess what is part of the MOT?

willfinch36 · 23 May 2010, 20:45

Oof my wheel bearings collapsed last year at the bottom of the ski slope in Ipswich, luckily I was only doing about 15mph also, so AA managed to recover the trailor with boat on back to my house

Hightower · 23 May 2010, 22:40

I'm with Britannia and they include trailer recovery as a standard part of their basic recovery service providing it doesn't exceed certain dimensions.

bedajim · 24 May 2010, 06:35

I ended up taking recovery cover with the Camping and Caravanning club as they will recover the boat and trailer

There's a few threads on here about it

Sting in the tail on that is they don't cover my Navara as its commercial but Nissan do and at the end of the day it's all done by the RAC

Jim

wavelength · 24 May 2010, 10:14

Always check torque on wheelnuts a few miles after a wheel change. Was towing a friends trailer to Ireland and we lost three wheelnuts (and destroyed the remaining one which was hanging on by a thread or two) -he had had a puncture on the beach and replaced it there but not rechecked it.

Heard of loadsa probs with RAC and trailers - wouldnt touch them with a barge pole. Green Flag/Caravan club recovered our trailer in above incident with no probs, have replaced caravan wheels on motorway etc after puncture. A diver friend of mine was killed replacing an offside wheel on the motorway when a lorry mowed him down on hard shoulder so i get a man with lotsa flashing lights and a big truck to do that if it happens.

Other reason for wayward wheels is re-using split pins in bearings after roadside dramas. Get a new one in asap-esp in the nearside one. If the pin fails there the castle nut unscrews itself-unlike the other side which srews itself on, unless you are thinking of reversing home

Ian M · 25 May 2010, 21:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hightower

I'm with Britannia and they include trailer recovery as a standard part of their basic recovery service providing it doesn't exceed certain dimensions.

Yes Andy, I'm with them too. The overall length restriction is 8 metres, so if they have to come out to me, I'll put the engine down first

whiteminiman · 25 May 2010, 21:36

Similar story to the above, only I lost the whole hub assembly and stub axle.... at 50mph, on a dual carraigeway.

Luckily it was fairly late and quiet, and there was enough weight in the van that everything stayed straight. Even more luckily, thanks to my extra-cautious strapping, the RIB was completely undamaged with exception of one of the battery terminals (which were allready corroded) snapping.

Company is member of the RAC - was told they didn't do trailers.

I was personal member of the AA - was told that they didn't do recovery from "live" traffic lanes (there was no hard shoulder).

Police arrived, and said they weren't waiting for recovery patrol, needed to clear the carriageway asap.

Tow-truck turns up (under contract for the police), takes me off the dual carriageway - and as I was only a few miles from my destination, kindly took me all the way - for the £150 standard police charge.

However, the annoying thing is that as this is out in the sticks - it's the same guy, in the same truck that responds for the police, the AA, the RAC, and Green Flag!

Bloody stupid if you ask me!

Lets go boating · 27 May 2010, 06:33

suspension arm snapped n my jetski trailer, no body hurt, so it was a good lesson to what to look out for

Dobieman · 27 May 2010, 19:00

I've just spoken to the RAC who will cover me and the wife in any vehicle and recover the boat/trailer if it has a problem for less than i am paying the AA at the moment.

All this for £147 per year with free membership to the camping and caravanning club

I should have sorted this ages ago when the AA charged me £100 to recover a newly purchased boat and trailer with a burst tyre a few years ago....

Nos4r2 · 27 May 2010, 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobieman

I've just spoken to the RAC who will cover me and the wife in any vehicle and recover the boat/trailer if it has a problem for less than i am paying the AA at the moment.

All this for £147 per year with free membership to the camping and caravanning club

I should have sorted this ages ago when the AA charged me £100 to recover a newly purchased boat and trailer with a burst tyre a few years ago....

This is the same cover I've had for the last 6 months-they trialled selling it round here. Hopefully I'll never need it, but it feels a lot better knowing I've got it.

Stoo · 29 May 2010, 02:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterR

DO YOU REALISE YOUR TRAILER IS NOT COVERED AS ITS CLASED AS FREIGHT

That's the situation over here. I am a member of CAA but in order for the trailer to be covered, I need to have the "RV" Membership, which is about 50% more expensive. If the truck or trailer breaks down they will recover it in a flat bed.

Speaking of loosing yer nuts,, my son and my brother in law both had incidents in the past few months where they picked up their cars after being serviced only to have a wheel come flying off within a day. In the b-i-l's case he was merging onto a highway at about 100 kph when his wheel passed him. Fortunately it didn't hit anyone and he wasn't hurt, but his truck sustained considerable damage...