Our convoy consists of a '98 Dodge pickup and a newer Ford dually outfitted with spray tanks. Either can pull a trailer full of chemical and 400 gallons of water. In addition we have a '98 Ford hi-rail truck with a 750 gallon tank and homebuilt spray equipment. Today we were headed from Newcastle, WY, to Edgemont, SD, to spray the BNSF yard there. Myself and Tom were in the hi-rail and Wes was driving the Ford pulling the trailer.
Not far out of Newcastle Wes thought something was wrong with the truck because it was shaking at higher speeds. Since it had been driven through a lot of mud the previous couple of days we figured it was mud between the duals that was causing them to be unbalanced. A look between verified there was mud and was likely the cause of the problem.
I don't think we got more than five miles down the road when Wes said it was shaking so bad he had to pull over and check everything. It's a good thing he did because he discovered the duals on the drivers side were sitting at odd angles. A closer inspection revealed the lugnuts were missing! An even closer look also showed that the studs had been sheared off! The wheels were just barely on the axle.
It could have been a complete disaster if Wes hadn't pulled over when he did. Both wheels probably would have flew off and who knows what the heavy trailer would have done? It could have been very very bad. Luckily it was all able to be fixed within five hours.
What apparently happened was the lugnuts were not completely torqued on the last time the tire was changes. Between rough roads and mud the lugnuts had worked loose until a big bump causes all the studs to just shear off. It's amazing no one was hurt and the damage was a little as it was. Someone was looking out for us today!
No comments:
Post a Comment