Disabled Somewhere in Oklahoma

I've been on the road for three days now. It was a drive from Tucson to Holbrook, AZ, then to Midwest City, OK, which is located out side of Oklahoma City. I stayed at the Elks Lodge there. The information I had said there was full hookups. When I arrived I was shown to the site. They had a 30 amp pedestal hooked into the electrical post in the middle of a field. There were no other hookups. I didn't have any water on board so I postponed a shower until the next day. The Lodge was not open for business either. I didn't understand that, after all it's Friday.

Anyway, the manager pointed me to where to hook up and that was that. No fee, though I understood it was $10.00 a night. I hooked up and watched TV to a pastrami sandwich. It was to bed early for me. I wanted to get an early start in the morning and get to my next destination, Lyndon, Kansas. It is only a 250 mile drive to get there. I thought I could be there early enough to watch the tail end of the US Open golf tournament.

I did get up early and out of the Oklahoma City area by 8:00. Unfortunately, I had a little boo boo as soon as I got out of town. I felt a big vibration accompanied by noise. It was as though I drove across a railroad track - many of them. It lasted only a few seconds. I experienced this once before when my pickup bed cover came loose. I looked and couldn't see anything wrong with it. I happened to glance at my right side view mirror at the same time. I saw chunks of rubber, some of it glowing red, flying from my right side trailer wheels.

North bound I-35, one mile south of exit 211, forty miles north of Oklahoma City.

I knew right away what it was. A blow out! I pulled over as soon as I could find a shoulder wide enough. When I got out to take a look, I saw an incredibly destroyed tire. Oh boy, now what! I had to tell myself to stay calm and not get too excited. Okay, get my flashers on. Get the caution sign out and think about a routine tire change.

How can a tire be this destroyed?

I got the jack out. I got enough blocks out to elevate the tire once I had the jack in place. I had the jack engaged to just lift the tire. Then I used my tire iron, and guess what? It won't fit the lug nuts on the trailer wheel! Okay, now what! It is in the upper 90's by this time in the morning and the humidity put the heat index well into the 100's! I was sweating like crazy by now.

I hope the rim is okay.

I remembered I opted for the road side service coverage with my vehicle insurance. I amazed myself when I put the contact information in the glove box only a month ago. I called, gave the info of my situation to the nice lady on the other end and she contacted a nearby towing service. I was in this predicament for over an hour now and it would be another hour before somebody could get out. I got inside the rig, found a bottle of water and just hung out, trying to stay cool, waiting for help.

Broken gas lines.

Help arrived inside of 20 minutes and it was routine from there. It didn't cost me anything. My spare is now on, and after a close look over at the damage, I felt I could continue as planned.

A broken support for the mangled side skirt.

There was some damage done to the underside when the tire exploded. The gas lines to my water heater and refrigerator were torn out. It looks like the gas line to my furnace is okay. The wheel well was strong enough to absorb the impact so there was no damage to the inside of the rig. The fairing is a little mangled and a support bracket is broken off. I'll have to deal with this when I get to Minnesota. I'll double check everything when I get settled for today.

Safe in Lyndon, Kansas.

I checked all of the tires for proper inflation last Thursday, before I left Tucson. I stopped only ten minutes for fuel and a break before this happened. I did a walk around and visually looked at everything before I drove on. That's routine for me. I didn't expect this. I've heard the tires that are put on RV's for the last few years come from China. I've also heard war stories about them. Mine are Chinese, I think. They aren't any brand name I'm familiar with.

Lyndon Kansas is where I'm at now. The RV park is very nice and I may stay an extra day and assess the damage. As well as take a break.