was having a conversation with a guy today on the subject of DRW vs SRW. We talked about airbags and rickson wheels and tires and then he said something that stopped me in my tracks. I've been towing my 5er for 7 years but this guys been towing lots of stuff for 30 or 40 years. he says " If you have a blowout while towing with SRWs you're gonna have an accident, period." What do yo'all think? has anyone on here had a blowout under load at highway speed? If so, did you live? I'm thinking that the stability of a 5th wheel or goose neck would keep the truck and trailer pretty stable even during a blowout, but I have no experience to base that on. As always your response is appreciated, knowledgable responses are really appreciated.

 

I had a left rear blowout on my 2003 F250 (srw) while pulling my 78 F150 on a flatbed bumper pull equipment trailer at 60 mph on a two lane highway on my way to a four wheeling spot. The tires at the time were 37" super swamper ssrs. The back of the truck dropped enough that the trailer jack was able to scrape along the road, but I was able to stay in my lane, safely slow down, cross a small bridge over a creek, and pull off the road to change the tire. The truck didnt pull one way or the other when the rear tire blew. It could have been just dumb luck as it has only happened that one time under load.

I also had one of those swampers blow out on the right front while empty that required a tow truck to winch me out of a 5' ditch. When the front blew and the front of the truck dropped with that large of a tire on it, it actually ripped the wheel from my hands. I fought back but ultimately the ditch won, of course on the front it doesnt mater if you have srw or drw, so that is besides the point.

FWIW I have since dropped down to 35" bfgs on the F250, and I am looking to lower it from 6" lift to about 2" with 33" tires soon now that I use the F150 for playing off road and the F250 is a dd/tow rig.

 

You can have a blow out with duallys too. When I used to drive tractor trailer I lost all 8 tires on my right hand drivers. Someone must have dropped a box of nails on the road or something. Anyway one tire on each dually must have gone flat so there was only one tire on each axle on the right side to carry the load. They probably were leaking too to add to the problem. When the tires got hot enough they both blew at the same time. It sounded like a bomb going off. The concussion was so strong it blasted dust and dirt up in front of the cab. I was going about 65mph at the time. Surprisingly it wasn't as hairy as one would expect. Once I got my heart going again I slowed it down and pulled it off to the side of the highway. I walked to a gas station a mile up the road and they said heard the bang at the station.

 

I had a blowout on the left rear at 70 mph, towing our 5th wheel. Tires had less than 10,000 miles. A big chunk of the sidewall was gone.

The left side just set down, I pulled to the side and stopped. No real pulling, some vibration from the wheel rolling of flat rubber but no trouble.

There was nothing in the road, it was a tire failure. Had two more tires get tread separations on the same trip. Top of the line Big O's, paid $167 per tire almost 20 years ago.

 

Sound like you talked to a Doom & Gloom kind of guy. I had a blow out on one of my SRW trucks years back with out having any major problems. The only fatality was the tire and rim, the biggest problem was the bead braking loose from the rim and the rim riding on the pavement. I stopped to soon and without a LS rear end the truck would not move with only the rim on the ground so I had to change it where it sat part way on the road.

Denny

 

Very few things in life are as cut and dry as the guy telling you about the accident would imply, not as much black or white,mostly gray areas! If it was inevitable,the guy who responded about a blowout with 37" tires,wouldnt have been so lucky! There are quite a few people who think they know it all,but thankfully most of us here know we dont have all of lifes answers..... the posters here who have told you about there own experiences in these matters have already disproved what mister SRW told you...........

 

> of course on the front it doesnt mater if you have srw or drw, so that is besides the point.

Actually, the DRW is easier to control with a front blow out.

If you get a blow out with a SRW while lane changing you -can- have more problems then with a DRW. But, most people pulling a big load are not likely to be doing the soccer mom in SUV lane changes at 75 mph.

I have only seen one SRW crash, of all types of trailers, and it was caused by a speeding car clipping the trailer and spinning the truck out.

If I was going to be worried about blown tires causing an accident, I would worry about a boat trailer blow out behind anything. Those are the ones I see pulling the truck off the road into an accident requiring heavy equipment removal (always sad when they use a Hough with forks to pick up your boat).

Which I think is a combo of high load center, single axle, small tires, not enough width, bearing lock up.

If I had to choose the most dangerous situation in a blow out, a SRW towing a 20 foot trailer at 65 mph with a tractor as a load or my empty Bronco II at 55 mph, I would pick the B2 , fwiw.

 

I lost the left rear on my E-350 doing 65 pulling a 30' travel trailer. At first I all I noticed was the sound of the tire shredding. I pulled over and went through the hassle of changing the tire which got a lot easier after I thought to disconnect the trailer from the van. You know it's mighty hard to jack up the van with 900 lbs of tongue weight on the hitch.

 

There are lots of Know-it-all blowhard types out there,those who will tell you that black is black and white is white,thankfully you are intelligent and open-minded enough to not take what he says as gospel. i would think the same cautious gradual application of brakes that you employ when a tire blows on an empty vehicle would apply equally if not more so,when towing. i would think that a bumper pull trailer would handle worse than either a gooseneck or 5th wheel,because of the different loading of the tow vehicle.........all are just thoughts on my part,ive had a couple highway blowouts,but not while towing.....