Expensive Lesson Learned

[safetybruce]

Hi Forum Members,
I thought I would share an expensive lesson learned during my attempt to pick up and bring back my 1950 Travelo from Maine to Mississippi. The trailer had split rims (not mentioned in the e-bay description). I had to purchase two new rims and two new tires. I packed the bearings and put the new rims and tires on, hand tightened the lug nuts. Let the jacks down, and then "tightened the nuts" including hitting the lug wrench firmly with a hammer to make sure the lugs were snug. I drove 120 miles south to the entrance to the Massachusetts Turnpike entrance. Even though it appeared the trailer was towing very well at 55 to 60 mph, with no noticeable sway or wobble, even when 18-wheelers blew by me, I pulled off in the park & ride parking lot to check to make sure the hubs were not hot. Much to my horror, there were no lug nuts left on the left wheel!! The lug holes were "wallowed out" and the lugs were sheared almost in half!! The only reason the wheel was still on the lugs was that the cuts in the lug nuts must have prevented it from flying off.

I managed to get a car hauler/Jerr Dan tow truck to get the trailer 23' feet in length up on it and transported to the only commercial trailer repair facility in the region. The professionals looked at the wheel/hub and the first question asked was..."Did you torque the lugs to 100 foot pounds all around ?"

Of course I described what I had done...they said...you must torque to at least 100 foot pounds to be safe. The hub and drum were too badly damaged to repair. The hub, being cast metal, was scored and showing signs of extreme heat. I had to abandon the trailer there while they ordered a whole new axle and hub assembly with new wheels and rims to be fabricated and installed. That will take 3 weeks. I had to return to Mississippi without the trailer because I had to get back to work here in Yemen. The trip to date with gas, hotels, food etc up and back as well as the new axle assembly cost me $2500, and the trailer is still 1500 miles from home. I will return and pick it up and try to bring it back next time home at the additional expense of another round trip and 7-8 days on the road.

Please make sure you confirm that 100 foot pounds torque might be needed on your lug nuts if planning a long tow.

Fortunately the wheel did not fly off and cause a major wreck on the heavily congested Mass Turnpike.

This Valuable Lesson I learned, I just wanted to share. I will not purchase and transport a trailer in the future more than 1 day tow from my home. Too expensive if something goes wrong.

With this experience in mind I wish to lay claim to the following:

VSTF's Most Ignorant Novice Trailer Puller.
VSTF's Owner of the Most Expensive Bargain Trailer prior to beginning it's rehabilitation.
VSTF's Poster Boy for the Fact that The Good Lord Protects Idiots and small children.

As a post script, I also bid on and won the 30's Hayes Travel Trailer on e-bay located in North Texas. After returning home without the Travelo, and taking two days to calm my shattered nerves, I drove to Justin Texas, (one full day's drive) met the buyer at the crack of dawn the next morning and repacked the Hayes bearings and made sure the lug nuts were torqued to 100 foot pounds with my newly purchased torque wrench. Made it back to my farm in Stone County Mississippi at midnight, and safely detached and positioned the Hayes before heading to my home in Gulfport.

Finally I want to mention...almost every major city from Mississippi to Maine has major construction on-going on their interstates and hub roads. Many work zones take two 15 foot wide lanes and compress them to 2 or 3 very rough surfaced lanes some as little as 9 feet wide with concrete barriers on both sides, many running for more than 10 miles...18-wheelers do not even slow down through those areas, even when passing someone pulling a trailer. When I go back to retrieve the Travelo, as a novice, I will get AAA to prepare me a trip tick that routes me away from construction zones in heavily trafficked urban areas, even if it lengthens the amount of miles to be covered.

Cheers,

Safetybruce

[distant75]

All I can say is WOW.

[61shastacompact]

What an ordeal! I can not believe that all the lugs were off and you did not lose the wheel....Amazing.

Hope to see some pics of your new projects when you have a chance.

Jim

[joek]

Thanks for sharing, very good information.

[B.Tal]

holy lug torque Batman! Thanks for sharing!

[Bow_Tied]

100 ft.lbs seems like a lot to me, but who am I to argue.... thanks for the tip. I will be checking the lug torque on Friday before heading out for the weekend!

My tip to add to your story is to be sure to store your torque wrench with the setting at zero.
Thanks Bruce!

[safetybruce]

I thought 100 ft. lbs. was a lot too. Origionaly I was following the instructions from a 63-year old guy who has been pulling large horse trailers since he could sit in his daddy's lap and steer, when I tightened the nuts before I started out on the trip, and look where it got me although I still can not rule out "operator error" somewhere in the process. I was just passing on the comments from the Trailer Sales and Repair place that appears to have a very good reputation, a couple of the guys also there were nodding their heads in the affirmative when the guy, who first looked at it, after saying Holy s-it! added...did you torque them to 100 ft. lbs.? I think that is why it is good to look for published pamphlets from manufacturers, to confirm verbal advice. If anyone else out there knows that the 100 ft. pounds is too high let us hear about it. The more good (accurate) info in...the better we can apply it.

[Ian]

Yikes, scary story. All bolts have standard torque specs for their size and construction. If you know what size the studs are I can look it up.

[mary1960]

Yikes Bruce ... you're home safe though, that's the main thing!

[effierover]

Wow! Glad you're safe.

Just FYI, a couple years ago a service shop (trying to be helpful) OVER tightened the lugs on my minivan, snapping off the bolts in mid-highway transit. We all went face down into the ditch; the wheel wobbled on its merry way for a few hundred more feet. (Lucky it was the front passenger side that snapped and that something 'felt wrong' so I had been slowing down as it happened.)

Do get a proper spec for the trailer and be safe ...

[betsy99669]

Yikes!!! Lots of scary stories. It almost makes you want to stay home and camp in your own driveway.
I'm so glad everyone is safe.

Betsy

[waywardho]

Not to put my two cents in, but I have to. Always, always, always use 'never seize" on lug nuts, and make sure it gets on the tapered nut seat. That 100 lbs. is a bit much, but you could give up 80% of that to friction trying to get them there. On aluminum wheels, don't use "stainless or pure nickel special" on the seat or you may never get them off. The copper colored product is the best to have in your kit as it won't cause any problems with galvanic corrosion or galling. Thanks for indulging me. If you have a need to test this out, try them dry with a torque wrench and count the turns after finger tight and do the same with a treated assembly. it's pretty amazing.

[rogerthedodger]

On my airstream, the manual says 90#, so 100# not too far out for steel wheels.