Daydream Believer
Jul. 18, 2009, 02:54 PM
I took off Thurs am with a horse bound for Columbus, OH, from my farm in SE Virginia. I've had some amazingly BAD luck and have learned a few hard lessons along the way.
I had my GMC Sierra Duramax diesel truck into the shop Monday for a full check up and maintenance and it was running perfectly...or so it seemed. Horse trailer is fairly new (2007), 28 foot LQ rig, and well maintained...I headed out Thursday a.m.
I made it to near Somerset PA on the Pa Turnpike. I parked the rig in the truck area at a rest area and went inside for a break. I came out, put in my key, turned the ignition and it would crank but not start. It caught once, stalled and then would not start at all. I'm feeling quite ill at this point and got on my phone to call my insurance company's roadside assistance. I was informed that they'd be happy to have my truck towed but the horse trailer was not their problem. :no: Lovely...I have a horse in the back, it's 90+F and I have no idea of anyone close who can come get me.
I tried to start the truck one more time and it starts. Saints be praised I let it run and told the lady at the roadside assistance, no thanks just yet. I called my husband who is at home and he got me signed up for US Rider...something I've meant to do for a while but put off...so I now have that coverage. I headed back out onto the road and my truck ran fine for 3 hours until I reached my destination near Columbus. I parked the truck, turned it off, and that was that...no more starting!
The horse unloaded and fine, my friend's wonderful husband proceeded to troubleshoot my truck and helped me figure out what was wrong. After changing a fuel filter we realized the batteries were low. Apparently the dealership who had it Monday did not bother to test my batteries (it takes two to start a diesel) as they were both quite low. We could not even jump it off my friend's Ford gas engine truck. So two new batteries, truck starts now and runs perfectly again...crisis over. Whew...
I head out yesterday to see my parents for a few days who live in N. Ohio near Cleveland. I was on I77 and all was well and I hear a BAM and look into my mirror to see a shredded tire on the trailer on the driver's side. What next??? Thankfully the other tire held and I was empty, so I got over off the road, put out my emergency triangles and changed the tire. I had a sidewall fail..the tire simply exploded. I was really lucky..more so than I realilzed until later.
What really ticked me off was that we fought with the manufacturer when we got this trailer two years before. The trailer came with both load range E and D tires on it. We took it back for some warranty work, asked why about the tires, and they said..oh..that' wrong...they should all be D's and switched the E's to a lighter tire. We argued that we wanted E's...the heavier sidewall...and they said too bad...the D's are fine and perfectly safe...yeh right. Our trailer is a larger living quarters rig and granted we did tow for 20,000 miles or so on those tires before I had my blowout. The tires still have good tread and were well inflated and in good condition.
So, I made to my parents safely and we went today to finally buy the heavier tires we meant to put on the trailer after our initial battle with the manufacturer. I now have 5 new tires...all 10 ply load range E's and the blown out tire to show the manufacturer when we get home. The tire shop found that my other tire on that same side has a weak spot on the sidewall and was about to blow also. There by the Grace of God go I...and it held when the other tire failed. I loaded it up also and someone is going to get a major piece of my mind about those tires. Why build a nice trailer like this one and then be stingy and put tires on it that's are too light? GRrrr....I'm still fuming. :confused: Even the shop said that D's were not enough tire for my trailer. Dang I wish I had not put it off but it is pricely...and the old tires had held up OK. No more procrastinating on something like that from now on.
Changing a tire on the side of an interstate is no fun. I was shocked at how fast people blew by me only inches away. I had pulled over as far as I could go and even put out triangles. LOL...like that bothered anyone. No one stopped to help either to include several horse trailers that passed me. I guess the time of helping strangers is past. It was very nervewracking and Thank Heavens I was empty and had no horses on board.
So I head out tomorrow afternoon to spend the night close to Cincinnatti and have another horse to pick up for the trip home Monday. This haul is for a favor for a friend since I was in the area anyway.
So wish me luck...so far my luck has not been good...but then maybe it has since my truck did get me safely to my destination before quitting and my other tandem tire did not blow when the other one did which would have put me in a bad and dangerous mess.
I'll let you all know how it goes...
I had my GMC Sierra Duramax diesel truck into the shop Monday for a full check up and maintenance and it was running perfectly...or so it seemed. Horse trailer is fairly new (2007), 28 foot LQ rig, and well maintained...I headed out Thursday a.m.
I made it to near Somerset PA on the Pa Turnpike. I parked the rig in the truck area at a rest area and went inside for a break. I came out, put in my key, turned the ignition and it would crank but not start. It caught once, stalled and then would not start at all. I'm feeling quite ill at this point and got on my phone to call my insurance company's roadside assistance. I was informed that they'd be happy to have my truck towed but the horse trailer was not their problem. :no: Lovely...I have a horse in the back, it's 90+F and I have no idea of anyone close who can come get me.
I tried to start the truck one more time and it starts. Saints be praised I let it run and told the lady at the roadside assistance, no thanks just yet. I called my husband who is at home and he got me signed up for US Rider...something I've meant to do for a while but put off...so I now have that coverage. I headed back out onto the road and my truck ran fine for 3 hours until I reached my destination near Columbus. I parked the truck, turned it off, and that was that...no more starting!
The horse unloaded and fine, my friend's wonderful husband proceeded to troubleshoot my truck and helped me figure out what was wrong. After changing a fuel filter we realized the batteries were low. Apparently the dealership who had it Monday did not bother to test my batteries (it takes two to start a diesel) as they were both quite low. We could not even jump it off my friend's Ford gas engine truck. So two new batteries, truck starts now and runs perfectly again...crisis over. Whew...
I head out yesterday to see my parents for a few days who live in N. Ohio near Cleveland. I was on I77 and all was well and I hear a BAM and look into my mirror to see a shredded tire on the trailer on the driver's side. What next??? Thankfully the other tire held and I was empty, so I got over off the road, put out my emergency triangles and changed the tire. I had a sidewall fail..the tire simply exploded. I was really lucky..more so than I realilzed until later.
What really ticked me off was that we fought with the manufacturer when we got this trailer two years before. The trailer came with both load range E and D tires on it. We took it back for some warranty work, asked why about the tires, and they said..oh..that' wrong...they should all be D's and switched the E's to a lighter tire. We argued that we wanted E's...the heavier sidewall...and they said too bad...the D's are fine and perfectly safe...yeh right. Our trailer is a larger living quarters rig and granted we did tow for 20,000 miles or so on those tires before I had my blowout. The tires still have good tread and were well inflated and in good condition.
So, I made to my parents safely and we went today to finally buy the heavier tires we meant to put on the trailer after our initial battle with the manufacturer. I now have 5 new tires...all 10 ply load range E's and the blown out tire to show the manufacturer when we get home. The tire shop found that my other tire on that same side has a weak spot on the sidewall and was about to blow also. There by the Grace of God go I...and it held when the other tire failed. I loaded it up also and someone is going to get a major piece of my mind about those tires. Why build a nice trailer like this one and then be stingy and put tires on it that's are too light? GRrrr....I'm still fuming. :confused: Even the shop said that D's were not enough tire for my trailer. Dang I wish I had not put it off but it is pricely...and the old tires had held up OK. No more procrastinating on something like that from now on.
Changing a tire on the side of an interstate is no fun. I was shocked at how fast people blew by me only inches away. I had pulled over as far as I could go and even put out triangles. LOL...like that bothered anyone. No one stopped to help either to include several horse trailers that passed me. I guess the time of helping strangers is past. It was very nervewracking and Thank Heavens I was empty and had no horses on board.
So I head out tomorrow afternoon to spend the night close to Cincinnatti and have another horse to pick up for the trip home Monday. This haul is for a favor for a friend since I was in the area anyway.
So wish me luck...so far my luck has not been good...but then maybe it has since my truck did get me safely to my destination before quitting and my other tandem tire did not blow when the other one did which would have put me in a bad and dangerous mess.
I'll let you all know how it goes...