[PNWjumper]

I was driving to a horseshow down in Eugene yesterday morning and made it to Portland (about halfway down) when I felt a little "tug" from my trailer (a 3H slant bumper pull). I looked in my mirrors and nothing looked amiss, but within seconds a car came flying up in the left lane next to me honking his horn and flashing his lights. I rolled down my window and he yelled to me that I'd just lost an entire wheel!

I pulled over (fortunately right at an exit) and ran back to look, and sure enough my right rear wheel had sheared entirely off of my trailer....all of the pins were shorn and the wheel probably a quarter mile back. A lady pulled up behind me and said she'd watched wheel bounce across two lanes of traffic, narrowly missing a couple of cars....THANK GOD no one was hurt!

I can't believe that I barely felt it when it happened. My trailer was still pulling relatively normally....thank god the remaining tire on that side (which was looking a little overloaded!) didn't blow under the pressure.

I managed to pull the horses a quarter of a mile to a gas station which was in a relatively secluded spot. A good friend of mine trains at a nearby barn in Lake Oswego, and she dispatched a couple of people to pick up my horses immediately. They deposited them at the hunt club until I could get the wheel replaced on the trailer.

Thanks to COTH I knew it was pretty likely that the lug nuts had been overtightened (I had JUST had all of the tires replaced on the trailer 2 months and <400 miles ago...wish I'd thought to remind them not to overtighten them then!). When the Les Schwab guys checked out the trailer they said that the lug nuts on the 3 remaining wheels were also overtightened. They replaced everything from the drum out....how sad that I lost my brand new tire and wheel which was apparently immediately picked up by someone else! But all in all I was surprised at how inexpensive it was to replace an entire wheel assembly (~$350).

Anyhow, I guess my point is to echo a couple of other threads I've read lately. Make sure the folks you have working on your trailer tires know not to overtighten the lug nuts. I can't believe how unbelievably lucky we were to have escaped a catastrophe in the making. Missing all of my classes yesterday was a SMALL price to pay for what happened!

[Long Spot]

So glad no one was hurt (human or equine)!

Scary stuff.

[Daydream Believer]

Wow! I can't imagine! Thank God you and your horses (and everyone else) were OK!

[Watermark Farm]

Great PSA! I'm glad you and your horses were OK.

The same thing happened to me while trailering with a friend sound of Bend (in the middle of nowhere, ever heard of Crescent, Oregon? Main street is dirt?). Except in our case, the owner of the trailer (a friend) SAID she'd had the wheel bearings serviced and re-packed, but in fact had not. The wheel froze up and broke off.

That's amazing that your trailer kept rolling on one wheel. Angels were with you.

[JackSprats Mom]

Glad you were safe!!

How does over tightening the nuts cause them to shred

[goeslikestink]

Glad you were safe!!

How does over tightening the nuts cause them to shred

i was thinking that

op glad all ok but it will teach you a huge lesson in that you must check everything on your car and trialer before you put the horses in everytime

proabably over weight on to small a vechile as had three horses in the trialer add the weight of the trialer wouldnt be less than the whatever pulling it -- so hence the shred tyres pop due to being over weight

for exsample a truck that has 1500cc engine wouldnt beable to tow two horses and trialer
average rice or ifor weights 750k ,plus 600k kilos for each horse at say 14.2hhs is 18k add the 750k
equals 2550 which is higher than the laeden weight in which the truck could tow

a single horse weight at 14 2 hh at 600k and 750 trailer is 1350 for exsample so truck can tow the laiden weight via size and weight of truck plus engine size

[apprider]

Forget the wheel! I'd be working on getting the stain off the seat!

Glad everyone is OK.

[cssutton]

Why do you post when you have not even read what happened?

The tire did not shred.

The wheel broke out around the lug nusts. Metal fatigue.

CSSJR

If we do not wish to lose our freedom, we must learn to tolerate our
neighbor's right to freedom even though he might express that freedom
in a manner we consider to be eccentric.

[cocopuff]

I asked my hubby how an overtightened lug nut would cause a wheel to get sheared. He said the metal used for the wheel studs has a certain tension threshold. When you massively overtighten the nuts the threshold can be exceeded and the pressure of the wheel on the studs causes them to fracture. Alternatively, overtightening the lug nuts can strip the inside of the lugs so they loosen/come off when the wheel is moving.

The best way to tighten the lugs is to have the trailer on the ground and tighten the lugs using a torque wrench, matching the trailer manufacturer's specs.

[EquineSublime]

I asked my hubby how an overtightened lug nut would cause a wheel to get sheared. He said the metal used for the wheel studs has a certain tension threshold. When you massively overtighten the nuts the threshold can be exceeded and the pressure of the wheel on the studs causes them to fracture. Alternatively, overtightening the lug nuts can strip the inside of the lugs so they loosen/come off when the wheel is moving.

The best way to tighten the lugs is to have the trailer on the ground and tighten the lugs using a torque wrench, matching the trailer manufacturer's specs.

Tell that to the gorillas at the tire place who just want to shove 'em in and shove 'em out. They don't check the torque settings on the impact wrench when putting the wheels back on. Further if you aren't watching or mention it to them most of the time they won't even bother to use a torque wrench. They just whack it on with an impact wrench and send it out the door.

[PNWjumper]

proabably over weight on to small a vechile as had three horses in the trialer add the weight of the trialer wouldnt be less than the whatever pulling it -- so hence the shred tyres pop due to being over weight

for exsample a truck that has 1500cc engine wouldnt beable to tow two horses and trialer
average rice or ifor weights 750k ,plus 600k kilos for each horse at say 14.2hhs is 18k add the 750k
equals 2550 which is higher than the laeden weight in which the truck could tow

a single horse weight at 14 2 hh at 600k and 750 trailer is 1350 for exsample so truck can tow the laiden weight via size and weight of truck plus engine size

It was definitely not a case of an over-weight trailer for my truck! I have a brand new F-350 Diesel truck to haul my trailer (and could have MUCH more trailer than I have). I only had 2 horses in the trailer and not much tack. I would guess that the fact that trailer was only "partially" loaded is what allowed the remaining tire to assume the full weight without shredding. Oh, and as someone else pointed out.....the WHOLE WHEEL came off, not just the tire (the tire was in perfect condition....whoever picked it up off the road before we went back to look lucked out!)

It's also worth mentioning that I'd just had the trailer FULLY serviced (at a "trailer place," not just a "car place") in January and the all the tires replaced in February. I check EVERYTHING before I load a horse each and every time (especially before a 5-hour drive), but I never would have known that the lug nuts were too tight (where they are now...loosened by the service shop....feels just about as tight to me as they did before).

Thank you for the explanation, cocopuff! I've had several people tell me they don't understand how overtightened lug nuts could be a problem and therefore it must not be true. The tire shop guys told me that when all of the pins shear at once it's almost always because of overtightened lug nuts. Loose nuts cause different problems (wobbling, one or two pins shearing, etc.).

[PNWjumper]

The same thing happened to me while trailering with a friend sound of Bend.... The wheel froze up and broke off.

That's amazing that your trailer kept rolling on one wheel. Angels were with you.

What happened when it happened to you guys? Did the trailer keep going?

[goeslikestink]

It was definitely not a case of an over-weight trailer for my truck! I have a brand new F-350 Diesel truck to haul my trailer (and could have MUCH more trailer than I have). I only had 2 horses in the trailer and not much tack. I would guess that the fact that trailer was only "partially" loaded is what allowed the remaining tire to assume the full weight without shredding. Oh, and as someone else pointed out.....the WHOLE WHEEL came off, not just the tire (the tire was in perfect condition....whoever picked it up off the road before we went back to look lucked out!)

It's also worth mentioning that I'd just had the trailer FULLY serviced (at a "trailer place," not just a "car place") in January and the all the tires replaced in February. I check EVERYTHING before I load a horse each and every time (especially before a 5-hour drive), but I never would have known that the lug nuts were too tight (where they are now...loosened by the service shop....feels just about as tight to me as they did before).

Thank you for the explanation, cocopuff! I've had several people tell me they don't understand how overtightened lug nuts could be a problem and therefore it must not be true. The tire shop guys told me that when all of the pins shear at once it's almost always because of overtightened lug nuts. Loose nuts cause different problems (wobbling, one or two pins shearing, etc.).

and its worth mentioning all cuases when trialering so others are aware and can help others
dont get so defensive ---
cocopuff

[cocopuff]

and its worth mentioning all cuases when trialering so others are aware and can help others
dont get so defensive ---
cocopuff

Was my post defensive? It sure wasn't meant to be. I read the thread, was curious how this stuff happens and asked my hubby who is a car guy. I figured he would know so I posted what he said to be helpful to those who own a truck and trailer. I believe the person who said shops are quick to use an impact wrench to remove/replace lug nuts and don't bother with using a torque wrench.

[goeslikestink]

whoops my fault not you the op

[mcm7780]

Wow! Glad to here that no one (human or equine) was harmed!

[TrueColours]

Wow! How unbelievably scary

Thank God everyone came out okay - you, your horses and the other drivers around you ...

[CosMonster]

That is scary, especially since it isn't something that most of us would even think to check. Thanks for the PSA and I'm glad everyone is okay (and that it didn't break the bank to fix it!).

[jengersnap]

Very glad you and everyone involved is okay! I had something similar happen driving home in heavy interstate traffic. A large double axel trailer in left lane had a tire sheer right off the side traffic was on. It rolled across the middle lane of traffic, bounced off someone's side, boinged its way right toward the middle front of my grand cherokee and I had nowhere to evasively manuver. The thing miraculously bounced right into my grillwork, took a big rebound off the impact and bounced over my windshield as it went across the median into oncoming traffic. The trailer tower sped off to an exit ramp, not even bothering to see if anyone was affected. I couldn't possibly get over to follow from my lane and the chaos that ensued. It's scarey stuff though.

[CDE Driver]

Wow! This is so timely. I just last week had three tires replaced on my trailer at Les Schwab. I am going to call them first thing Monday morning and talk to them about this.

Bye the way.... I am heading down Highway 97 right through Cresent, Oregon on my way to California!