Trailer wheel fell off on the A 421 just after Bedford

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Mar 2005
Messages
12,954
Location
Buckingham
www.keepturningleft.co.uk
Not the sort of day I wish to repeat too often. I fear I am getting too old for trailer sailing.

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full confession and more snaps on a blog somewhere

Dylan
 
Hope you had a full recovery insurance, otherwise could be expensive. Did the wheel just come loose off the hub, or was it something worse?

In the past I had a dinghy tyre burst on the M6 when a bolt holding a metal mud guard sheered, so I know how you are feeling. Hope it all gets fixed quickly.
 
Concerto said:
Hope you had a full recovery insurance, otherwise could be expensive. Did the wheel just come loose off the hub, or was it something worse?

In the past I had a dinghy tyre burst on the M6 when a bolt holding a metal mud guard sheered, so I know how you are feeling. Hope it all gets fixed quickly.
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The full story is in the blog - but it cost me £250 to be removed from the dual carriageway.

the drum was undamaged, the bearings were fine. The blokes from here http://www.buckdale-recovery.co.uk/ took me back to their yard, left the boat on the truck while I went to get replacement studs and a replacement jockey wheel. They helped me to re-assemble it all and within three hours we were back on the road. However, I am now sixty and fear that I not as strong as I was when I was thirty.
 
dylanwinter said:
The full story is in the blog - but it cost me £250 to be removed from the dual carriageway.

the drum was undamaged, the bearings were fine. The blokes from here http://www.buckdale-recovery.co.uk/ took me back to their yard, left the boat on the truck while I went to get replacement studs and a replacement jockey wheel. They helped me to re-assemble it all and within three hours we were back on the road. However, I am now sixty and fear that I not as strong as I was when I was thirty.
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Know how you feel Dylan,glad the wheel did not injure anyone,as has happened to others in the past.Makes for a hellish complication when personal injury claims are involved.
 
It sounds like the wheel nuts came loose. This is not uncommon in fact it happened to me a long time ago. Fortunately the wheel just started to wobble and I noticed it. Nuts were scrounged from the other side and I got home OK.
However in my case the wheel was ruined with the movement of the studs and some of the 5 studs were snapped off.
Ever since then I have been happy to leave the wheel on the hub when I do bearings and happy to have the wheel nuts effectively rusted on. Or at least very tight.
Yes breakdown of the trailer on the road is my biggest phobia stopping me from doing any long distance trailer sailing. Indeed half a mile seems to be my current limit. (getting old). olewill
 
I had a similar experience when collecting my new boat from Essex. I had been checking the hubs, bearings and brakes the previous day, sans boat, and had obviously not tightened the wheel nuts fully. Nearside wheel came off completely and disappeared into the hedge, fortunately missing passing traffic. We found the wheel and two studs and replaced the wheel with the help of a passing squaddie (AA attended but we're useless). Jacking up a trailer with a boat on it is a challenge! Returned to vendors yard and left it, drove 180 miles home, bought replacement wheel and studs next day, drove back, changed wheel and drove home without further incident. My sympathies, Dylan, not a good experience.
 
Towing my lib home a couple of weeks ago the spare wheel jumped off the trailer. I'd naively assumed it was well attached rather than just pinned between the boat and the frame. It destroyed the trailer board then followed me rolling down the road, I pulled over and the wheel crashed gently into the kerb next to the car.

I breathed a big sigh of relief... lesson learned :(
 
I live a thankfully boring life. I towed my boat the 20 miles home last Sunday after crane out, it towed very nicely and arrived without drama. I must admit I like having 4 wheels on the trailer rather than 2. If one falls of it is not going to be so bad.

I can't see anything on KTL about this incident?
 
dylanwinter said:
I do not ever want to repeat yesterday's games

still aching this morning

D
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As I tell people, a few years back, working on the boat at the weekend, I'd be aching and stiff till maybe Tuesday... Now being marginally more vintage than you (61), I find I'm still aching when I go back onto the boat the next weekend... Jeez what have we got to look forward to????
 
Gladys said:
As I tell people, a few years back, working on the boat at the weekend, I'd be aching and stiff till maybe Tuesday... Now being marginally more vintage than you (61), I find I'm still aching when I go back onto the boat the next weekend... Jeez what have we got to look forward to????
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Last week I had to the Tri lamp on the mast, I still have some pains now. Todays job is in the bilge so not looking forward to tomorrow.
 
Not a good post Dylan when I have my trailer on jacks giving it a going over prior to getting my boat.

I have had a wheel come off a heavily loaded box trailer. Fortunately nearside on a rural road so not doing any great speed. No idea whether I had not tightened nuts, they had worked loose or been tampered with. The first is probably more likely.
 
I used to buy disused mooring chain from Falmouth harbour. They assured me 3 bins to the ton, so I put 2 bins in the (750kg) trailer. Up the hill in Mabe a wheel came off, I just managed to gun the Volvo enough to drag it up the kerb. It took a substantial jack borrowed from a nearby house to even lift the back corner, most of the weight was still on the hitch and other wheel. Proceed with caution, when I weighed the chain it was 700 kg to the bin.
 
Back in the day I had an ex post office mini van. One evening it gave a lurch at the back and went grinding along the road. The rear wheel rolled past and hit a brand new Fiat. On examination the middle of the wheel was still firmly fixed to the drum with all four nuts.
 
Tam Lin said:
Back in the day I had an ex post office mini van. One evening it gave a lurch at the back and went grinding along the road. The rear wheel rolled past and hit a brand new Fiat.
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When I was about ten we had a back wheel come off the school bus and fly past us. Somehow it managed to roll right down Hartley Wintney high street without hitting anything. The bus company claimed that someone must have got into their yard at night and loosened the wheelnuts as a form of vandalism, but it's an odd vandal that carries a socket set and is into delayed gratification...

Pete
 
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