Quote:
Originally Posted by rockfordroo
Also make sure you've got the appropriate lug nut tools.
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After a bad blowout, there were two tools that became indispensable, neither of which I had.
1: A break bar. This is a long handle for a socket. Wheel nuts on trailers and vans are notoriously over-tight. My supplied wrench had no hope of breaking the tension.
2: An angle grinder, with a cutting wheel. The only way the tire could be unraveled from the rim and mess of wires that it tangled was to cut it into pieces. This of course is something few of us would consider having in our travelling tool box.
As the pics show, this was a nasty one. I saw the actual moment the tire blew because I just happen to glance at my rear-view mirror when a great puff of smoke exploded from the wheel. The incident happened on a curving, cambered, narrow section of highway, with vehicles travelling at 110km/hr. Cars and trucks of all sizes were screaming past me just inches from my head as I lay on the ground trying to undo the nuts and free up the tangle of wires the rubber had ripped out.
We had put highway breakdown warning markers down the road but they were being ignored. I was fearful for my life, so I had the wife go further down the road with a light-grey fold-up table to see if that would be more visible. The wind from the traffic practically blew her off the road and over the Arnco steel safety barrier.
Our saving grace was a construction ute heading in the other direction. The guy stopped, came over and inspected the mess, drove down the road until he could find a suitable place to turn around, (he took so long I thought he had just kept going), then dropped off warning signs along the road as he came back.
He fired up the generator/compressor combo, whipped out the air tools, got the nuts loose and then used the angle grinder to cut away the rubber. He accepted nothing but our thanks and drove off into the sunset, as it nearly was. We had planned to head west to Longreach but because of the extent of the damage had to go east Rockhampton to see if we could get some repairs done, which we did. New rims, up from 15" to 16" and new light truck tires all round, inc spare, but that part is another story.