mfoster711
College Station Tx
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Joined: 08/12/2006
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Just wondering, I have a 5th wheel with 2 axles. If I have a single tire go flat, how far can I drive on 3 tires? I know, I would slow down and be cautious but I am wondering how far I can go before I MUST pull off the road. How long before I blow the other tire on the side with a flat? I don't care what damage I do to the tires and wheels, I would replace both tires on the flat side anyways and if needed replace the wheels also. I am more concerned about my safety when changing a tire and I don't want to be on the side of a road with cars flying by at 70 mph when changing the tire.
I frequently travel on Texas back roads that do not have a shoulder and it might be 5 - 10 miles before there is a good place to pull over.
Note: I just bought a TST tire monitoring system to help me catch this early. Also, I carry full two spare tires/wheels.
Update: I would plan to drive slowly (~20 mph) to the first safe place I can find to change the tire. I don't consider the side of the road safe. While I drive slowly my wife would be using Google Maps on the IPhone to find the first safe place she can see. I don't care if I destroy the tire because I always change both tires on the side of a flat. Honestly, I don't care if I damage the RV some. My life means more to me than money. I am mainly wondering how long before the RV starts to fall apart.
* This post was
edited 11/07/09 11:07am by mfoster711 *
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Mile High
Lone Tree, CO
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Couple of things I would worry about -
1) The tire will eventually start coming apart because of the heat, and it could do some damage to the trailer in addition to the tire and wheel, not to mention whoever is behind you.
2) The axle drop can cause some damage to the spring hangers and shackle, even the axle after a while. I mention this because when we lost a wheel the axle drop caused the spring hangers to bend to the side and we had to go to an alignment shop and they used the ram to straighten them back out.
But you still have to do what you have to do, when there is no shoulder it puts risk to you and other travelers if you try to fix it there in the road.
Brad & Dory
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Tedtoo
Livingston, Texas
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Friend had bearings on axle go out and had to remove tire from damaged axle. On I-20 in Arkansas-very busy truck route. No room to do anything there on side of highway. Dumped all FRESH water and crept slowly on shoulder about 3-4 miles down the highway to a ramp to get off highway. Just be really careful, flashers, slow, etc.
TedToo
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HpyKmpr1962
Western NY
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Joined: 05/02/2005
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Probably no longer than it takes to safely pull over / off the road to make a safe repair.
You mentioned about not worrying about tire/ rim damage, but I would be very worried about the extensive damage that is caused by the tire whipping/ thumping around in the tin or plastic fender well on your fiver. Tires can and will tear things up very quickly, usually way before you even notice you have a flat tire, and the cost and headaches caused by this damage may make you re-think driving on a flat tire.
You could probably travel a long ways at say 2-4 miles per hour, but I imagine this would not be any safer than pulling over to change a flat. Going this slow on a busy road will get you rear ended or sideswiped by other drivers.
It's a double edged sword, but be safe either way you decide to go.
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weathershak
Delaware
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Joined: 12/11/2006
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In my line of work, working on and hauling boats for the last 25 years, I have had that situation happen a few times. The worst thing about it is when the tire goes flat, the axle drops a bit and puts alot of stress on the tire on the other side. Stop and get it fixed as soon as you safely can.
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Couple of hundred feet if you expect to use the tire again.
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big dave
Soldotna, Alaska, USA
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A friend had a flat on the front axle of his 5er, and the first he knew of it was when the front axle went under the rear one. They never did figure out exactly how it could happen, but it did. No one was near him at the time, and it stayed uprite, but based on that, I wouldn't drive any further than absolutely necessary.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Last Spring I drove several miles on the edge of the road to get to an area with a wide enough shoulder to change the tire on the left side. I was going maybe 5 or 10 mph. I ended up buying five new tires soon after. I would run on the steel wheels for many miles before I would ever change a tire right next to traffic.
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mowermech
Billings, MT
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Many years ago, I had a flat tire on a 1941 Buick. No money, No cell phone, no spare tire, no way to get help.
So, I slowly kept driving.
In about 2 miles, what was left of the tire fell off the rim. Another mile or two, and the rim was starting to get square, and was completely ruined. I know, it doesn't make sense, the rim should wear round, but it was getting square as the flanges bent.
Since then, I won't drive more than a couple hundred yards on a flat tire. After just a few feet, the tire is ruined (heat doesn't seem to have much to do with it, the tire just gets shredded), but it doesn't take much to ruin the rim, as well.
Good luck.
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Trailer Trash 2
Santa Fe Springs, CA
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I dont understand why you would would want to put your 5ers axels under all that stress, instead of putting on the spair tire, the realy bad part about that is the tires are usually so close together when the bad tire starts to go south, it will attack the other tire and your trailer wheel wells and anything close to it, I have had two tires go and and repaired them on the hwy or street. I now have GSERS now they will do the work for me.
Don & Georgia
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