how do you know if your trailer get a flat tire on the road?

[Victor]

hey guys & girls ... just had 2 flat tires on my car in a span of 2 weeks (now I just gotten a new set of winter tires) and that experience got me thinking ... how would you know if your trailer got a flat tire on the road? When I got the flat on my car I clearly felt that my car was getting pulled towards one side ... would you feel anything with the trailer though? I understand that it will dip down lower on one side, but is it significant enough for the driver to see?

 

Assuming that there are no other cars nearby to let you know, what does it feel like? It would help to know before hand so I will be able to notice it sooner and fix it before damaging the trailer. I hope it won't ever happened though *knock on wood lol*

 

arg man i gotta stop thinking about softwater ...

[Dnthmn]

Assuming your trailer is a single axle it will want to pull to one side while being towed just like the car. It will eventually start swerving side to side and start pulling the rear of the tow vehicle. "Tail wagging the dog" so to speak.

 

If it's a tandem axle you may not notice one flat tire but you will when the other one on the same side goes

[HTHM]

Well, when you see smoke behind you, it's a pretty good clue.... You will feel a tug when it blows out, and it will feel hard to pull when it is a slow leak.

[bigugli]

I just blew a trailer tire yesterday and I definately felt the thump, thump, thump, fast enough, and the pull to the blown side.

[limeyangler]

i blew the tire on my trailer the first time i took it out...i cant remember really what it felt or sounded like...but i remember i knew instantly something was wrong.

[tinbanger]

It will depned on size of trailer/boat and type of tire failure.

 

I pulled my old 12' tinney on a trailer from Barrie to Missisauga with one tire with no air in the tube at all.

The tire sidewalls where stiff enough that you couldn't tell the tube had zero air .

 

anything bigger ... you will know and if you don't have one already get a spare and make sure you have a lug wrench that fits the wheel nuts on the trailer and a jack that will work on your trailer .

Rented a tent trailer 4 years ago and had a blow out in Thunder bay ,trailer had a spare tire but no jack and the van lug wrench didn't fit the trailer wheel. We instantly heard/felt the tire go .

 

TB

[River Rat]

I had a blow out on the inside wall of a trailer tire once....big bulge. I could hear it whistleing down the road. Puller over, didn't see it. Kept going and pulled over again and took a closer look and found it before it blew thankfully

[joonmoon]

Had a bearing seize on my utility trailer a few years back. Matter of fact happened twice. First time we were over loaded with weight, hauling a 850 lb landscape rock and a riding lawnmower on top of that and a BBQ strapped to the front of the trailer. We knew right away, it banged and began to sway side to side real bad almost thru us in the ditch. Kept it under 80 klics for the next 100 km home. The next time we were empty and the bearing went. It locked up the tire and we dragged it a bit. I jumped out had a boo at it and couldn't do anything with it so we finished our journey, about another 35 klics...again kept it under 80 km/h. When we arrived there was about 1/8" of rubber left cause it had dragged. We swithed bearings both sides and I put larger wheels on and have had no problems ever since. We did blow a tire on a trip to Elliot Lake hauling a tent trailer too. Don't worry you'll know if/when it happens. Just slow down and get to the shoulder carefully.

[Victor]

thanks for all the replies, i guess i won't have to worry about "not knowing it happened"

 

and joonmoon, nice avatar pic!

[diggyj]

Usually a good sign is when other motorists pull up beside you, start honking their horns and make hand gestures.