Trailer accident!

[candycar]

Jessi!

So happy you two are OK! Very scarey stuff! Sorry about the truck and trailer. You just need to move here so I can keep an eye on you!

sherri

 

[REO]

OMG I shudder to think what might have happened! I'm so glad you and Confetti made it through that accident! You and she both had Angels watching over you!

 

[Baydreamfarms]

wow so glad you both were ok after that.

I know the freeways out there, I grew up in NW peoria and used to go out to Desert hills, now called anthem all the time. Honestly if you go below 70 regardless of what you are driving you WILL get run over or run off the road. My dad is a CDL truck driver and would do at least 75-80 on those freeways all the time with no troubles with a truck, trailer and a camper on the truck. Accidents happen and that is what this was, an accident. It would have been much worse if she had been driving slower out there. She would not have only gone off the road but I can't tell you how many times she would have almost or surely been rear ended. No one in that part of AZ cares if you have horses in the trailer or not. If you aren't going a min of 5 over the speed limit you are a speed bump

Chey you did a great job handling that, if the semi had hotten involved it would have been much worse. Can I ask what part of the 17 you were on? I'm assuming that is the freeway you were on based on your location. Cuz if I remember right Carefree hwy is still only 60mph speed limit. But the last time I was on it was 2 years ago when I went to visit my parents and went to Ben Avery.

 

[RJRMINIS]

I am so glad you and Confetti are ok......how very scarey that must have been. OH!

 

[SaddleTrail]

Thanks all.
To whomever posted the link (sorry forgot) thank I opened it and will read it.

Leia, I'm sorry you had an accident, too!!! You called my trailer little... Really? It's a 3 horse slant, large horse, with big tack room. I find nothing about it little, unless you compare it to those with huge dressing rooms or living quarters? (acutally I think my tack room might be considered a dressing room) lol

If you go below 70mph on our freeway, which by the way is the only way to get ANYWHERE from where I Live, you will get run over. You WILL cause accidents (no one drives below 80mph) and you WILL be ticketed for driving too slow.

Jessi

Here in Calif, it is the law that when towing ANYTHING you dont drive over 55 mph.

Ive towed many things and yes it seems slow but is much safer.

Again I am happy your both alright ~S~

 

[IloveMiniatureshorses]

Oh my God! It's a good thing that you and Confetti were OK!!

Alyssa

 

[SilverDollar]

OMG!!

Thank God you are all okay.

Here in Calif, it is the law that when towing ANYTHING you dont drive over 55 mph.Ive towed many things and yes it seems slow but is much safer.

Again I am happy your both alright ~S~

I'm in California, too, and do drive closer to the 55 truck and trailer speed limit. However, in all fairness, most of the freeways I drive on are at least 4 lanes wide so there is plenty of room for cars to pass. The bigger problem here is ending up sitting in stop and go traffic near Los Angeles. You don't want to be doing that on super hot days!

I love my gooseneck trailer.

It doesn't have as much likelihood to sway. It's an Equispirit (luckily I bought it used) and they have some great safety tips on their website; definitely worth a read: Equispirit. Stay safe everyone!

 

[Sterling]

What a scarey experience/ordeal for you and your little one. I'm so glad you both are ok. Whew!!!

 

[hairicane]

So very glad u both made it out with minor injuries. It could have been MUCH worse. Its a good thing u had a mini in the trailer a full sized horse would not have been able to stand and would have freaked out once the trailer went on its side. Juust try and calm down now

 

[Royal Crescent]

Thank goodness that you are both OK!!

I had to wonder about what happened when I saw that post about the truck rear seizing up.

I showed your pictures to my husband and he read your post and he thinks the rearend of your truck may have locked up, which would explain the resulting tire conditions of the truck.

How could the trailer blowout cause so much damage to the truck? Was the initial problem perhaps with the truck? Just wondering as I learn from the experiences of others, at least I try to!

I was hauling with a 2 horse trailer last week. After about 4 hours of driving, someone motioned to us to stop, and when I looked at the tires, one was shredded down to the rim.

We limped the last 10 miles and were helped to change to the spare. we loaded up with one horse and headed back which with the road conditions was 4 1/2 hours. About 5 miles from the farm, there was a shimmy and when we checked the tires, another tire had shredded. We made it to the farm but I had no spare so planned to take the tires in the next am. By morning, another tire was flat.

With neither of those blowouts did we feel or see anything that would make me think that the tire was in that condition!!

We made it to the service station and changed all 4 tires. A lesson learned. No matter how much tread your trailer tires have, they sit around alot and the tires get dry rot. When the tire heats up in travel, the cracks expand and break the bead and the air then leaks out. So please check ypur tires for more then pressure and tread.

I am just glad that I was only hauling one mini and that she was fine! I hope yours is doing well, she must be sore though! Take care

Barb

 

[joylee123]

[SIZE=12pt]I'm so sorry all these things have been happening lately

I'm so glad you are both alright. Just know there are prayers, and lots of good thoughts being sent your way

[/SIZE]

Joy

 

[Keri]

Great handling to keep out of the semi's path! Sorry this happened. With a dual axal trailer, even if a tire blows, it would not cause it to sway (I've had a blow out and we kept on driving until I could get safely off the freeway, but no trailer problems what so ever). I'm in agreement with the person that said it was probably the rear end of your truck. That much damage to the truck tires is most likely the result of something from the truck versus your trailer. Hopefully you can get something figured out with your insurance. I hav emine insured. Costs us $80 a year and well worth it in my opinion. Good luck to you!!!

 

[Lost Spoke Ranch]

My goodness Jessi.

What a bumpy start you’ve had this year. Your accident looks terrible and I’m surprised and relieved everyone made it out alright. Someone was definitely watching over you guys.

Dawn

 

[SaddleTrail]

I understand other states don't or may not have the 55 mph law that we in Callie do, but it is a much safer speed when hauling anything but especially horses.

I used to be a Uhaul Dealer and let me tell you, the accidents Ive seen , all caused by speeding while towing.

Sway bars are a must for bumper pulls, they help tremendously, trailer brakes, properly inflated tires with not less then 9/36ths of a inch in thread left. If you can, always try to keep your trailer tires covered when not in use, the sun causes so many problems. Even if you just lean a piece of wood up against them out of the sun. Weather check everything before ever loading a animal. Check your wiring, all plugs in good order, check your hitch to make sure you have the correct size ball, proper weight etc.

We call this procedure a "walk Around". My hubby is a trucker and we both are very hard on each other about this. He always checks after me and to this date. I am 53 and have never had a accident, towing or not towing.

Im not getting on to you at all, just trying to help keep another accident from happening where you may not be so lucky next time ~S~

 

[Minimor]

I understand other states don't or may not have the 55 mph law that we in Callie do, but it is a much safer speed when hauling anything but especially horses.

Not if everyone else is doing 70, and you get run over!

I used to be a Uhaul Dealer and let me tell you, the accidents Ive seen , all caused by speeding while towing.

Just curious--were those accidents involving U-haul trailers? I've hear plenty of U-haul accident stories & they were all about the poor upkeep on the trailers, not about speeding.

 

[CheyAut]

Baydream (sorry if I got that wrong) yes it was I 17, just south of Anthem. It's 65 up till Carefree Hwy where it then changes to 75. I usually do 65 but it was a big of a decline so had gained some speed up to 70.

I can't remember if it was this forum or a different one that I got this link from, but I"m going to be buying this: http://www.equalizerhitch.com/

Vet checked Confetti over the next morning and all is well

She gave me some ointment for her eye as a precaution but said she looks great

Jessi

 

[SaddleTrail]

I understand other states don't or may not have the 55 mph law that we in Callie do, but it is a much safer speed when hauling anything but especially horses.

Not if everyone else is doing 70, and you get run over!

I used to be a Uhaul Dealer and let me tell you, the accidents Ive seen , all caused by speeding while towing.

Just curious--were those accidents involving U-haul trailers? I've hear plenty of U-haul accident stories & they were all about the poor upkeep on the trailers, not about speeding.

No, a few were u-haul trailers but the rest were either car towed or truck towed trailer accidents.

U-haul has it very clearly on all their trailers not to go over 45mph. I know for a fact the trailers are kept up very well, we have a rotaional period, inspection period that ALL towables and trucks have to go through. We as dealers must maintain the equipment and like every one else, if the dealer doesnt follow the timelines, rules and by laws it is not on Uhaul but the dealer themselves. Ive had customers come in and not have a hitch, or a ball. They didn't have light hookups or wanted to tow a full size truck with a litte datsun pickup. When you tell them no way in heck, they get all angry and blame the dealer. Unless your in the rental business you have no idea just how bad, rude and stupid people really are.

I had a MAN ask me if I would please just let him tow the trailer home and he promised he would get a hitch put on. He had a chain he wanted to tow it with. How stupid can you get??

Yes that again is slow but it is a safe speed. I go 55 when towing and up to the speed limit when not towing.

Also, I wanted to add, yes you can go with the flow of traffic, but most places have a fast lane they can use. I have been going the speed limit and have people pass me going faster.

If you are towing a trailer, don't mind if they pass you. You are responsible for your rig, let them pass you. I would almost guarrentee if you asked a CHP what the correct speed limit was when towing they would say alot slower then 70.

 

[SaddleTrail]

I just found a website for the state towing speeds.

I am shocked that states allow 70 mph when towing.

Here is the link.

http://www.towingworld.com/articles/TowingLaws.htm

ETA spelling.

 

[Minimor]

In regards to U-haul, many would not agree that they are safe; here is just one example:

Uhaul Safety Alert.org

As for 55 being the safest speed, that very much depends...I have been in the very frightening position of nearly being run down by a semi...on a 4 lane highway with a posted speed of 100 km/h where I was doing a comfortable 90 km/h (roughly your favored 55 mph) Traffic was light, road was nearly empty, so when the big rig came up behind my trailer I had no concerns about the driver being able to pull out and pass. Only he didn't; I believe he was just about asleep at the wheel & didn't even see my trailer until it was literally right under his nose. I still shudder to think how badly it might have ended had traffic been heavy that morning so that I had nowhere to "run" to and/or he had no room to make a last second lane change. At that moment in time, 55 was not a safe speed and since that incident I have changed the way I drive on the highway.

 

[SaddleTrail]

I understand what your saying. As for the Trucker, that is driver error. Here trucks are only allowed to go 55 mph, cars are allowed to go 65 to 70 mph. The CHP will pull over a truck going over the speed limit. They will allow you maybe a few miles but never over 5 mph.

As for the UHaul, again that is dealer error and neglect, not uhaul it's self. U Haul has one of the best inspection and repair programs Ive ever seen. If a dealer doesnt do the inspections as they should upon return and before rental, then things will happen. Ive known dealers who have been in the business 50 years and have never had a bad peice of equipment out on rental. Then there are the dealers who dont care and rent out anything.