Toaster Travels
Our adventures with the Airstream - a 2006 19' Safari SE.
Our adventures with the Airstream - a 2006 19' Safari SE.
Trips, tips...and troubles too. We learn something new each time we take our Bambi out.
Will include links to sites we think are helpful, and trip initiation date (YYMMDD) in the blog entry title.
Will include links to sites we think are helpful, and trip initiation date (YYMMDD) in the blog entry title.
090613e - Four Corners
Posted 07-02-2009 at 08:34 PM by chbocca
From Gallop we left early, north on US-491, to traverse the Navajo Indian Reservation during cooler temperature. We pulled over to side of road a couple times to photograph some of the great natural monuments. You do really get the impression that this area was once under water a long, long time ago...driving on the floor of an ancient sea.
Pulling back onto highway, we experienced our first trailer flat tire....driver side. We were not going fast, nor was the side of the road rough. Guided the Jeep and Airstream back over to side and began process of replacing a trailer tire...something we had never done, or even practiced.
I must say, here Airstream deserves credit for a very good design. There was not much traffic and we had plenty of room to work, so we were lucky...bonus points for being scenic (flat tire location picture attached). Unhitched the trailer. Then, pulled the cotter pin and released the spare tire frame, which is stowed in front, underneath, just aft of propane bottle area.
Next, used Jeep jack to lift driver side trailer axle. With flat tire still on ground, loosened the seven tire bolts. Then, jacked up trailer rest of way until flat tire was well clear of road. As a precaution, lowered the two driver side stabilizing feet...added redundancy against the jack collapsing.
Removed the flat, installed spare, tightened bolts, lowered trailer, re-tightened bolts. Whole thing took 15, maybe 30 minutes including hitching back-up. MJ was impressed!
The tire, an original equipment Goodyear Marathon Trailer Tire (ST225/75R-15D), had failed completely! There was still plenty of tread, but the side wall had given way (picture attached). I realized the tires were now four years old, and probably should have been changed after three years just due to age, UV exposure, extended storage...as a precaution. Still, I was dissappointed the failure was so catastrophic...and, it really makes you think twice about going fast.
Worried at this point about driving without a spare, we considered canceling planned sightseeing stop to go straight to Durango for a new spare. But, fortunately, we stuck to our itinerary figuring the chances of two flat tires on same leg of journey were pretty low. So, took US-64 west to US-160 and Four Corners Monument, where Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico all share a common boundary. We enjoyed the stop...and fried bread with powered sugar from local vendor.
Pulling back onto highway, we experienced our first trailer flat tire....driver side. We were not going fast, nor was the side of the road rough. Guided the Jeep and Airstream back over to side and began process of replacing a trailer tire...something we had never done, or even practiced.
I must say, here Airstream deserves credit for a very good design. There was not much traffic and we had plenty of room to work, so we were lucky...bonus points for being scenic (flat tire location picture attached). Unhitched the trailer. Then, pulled the cotter pin and released the spare tire frame, which is stowed in front, underneath, just aft of propane bottle area.
Next, used Jeep jack to lift driver side trailer axle. With flat tire still on ground, loosened the seven tire bolts. Then, jacked up trailer rest of way until flat tire was well clear of road. As a precaution, lowered the two driver side stabilizing feet...added redundancy against the jack collapsing.
Removed the flat, installed spare, tightened bolts, lowered trailer, re-tightened bolts. Whole thing took 15, maybe 30 minutes including hitching back-up. MJ was impressed!
The tire, an original equipment Goodyear Marathon Trailer Tire (ST225/75R-15D), had failed completely! There was still plenty of tread, but the side wall had given way (picture attached). I realized the tires were now four years old, and probably should have been changed after three years just due to age, UV exposure, extended storage...as a precaution. Still, I was dissappointed the failure was so catastrophic...and, it really makes you think twice about going fast.
Worried at this point about driving without a spare, we considered canceling planned sightseeing stop to go straight to Durango for a new spare. But, fortunately, we stuck to our itinerary figuring the chances of two flat tires on same leg of journey were pretty low. So, took US-64 west to US-160 and Four Corners Monument, where Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico all share a common boundary. We enjoyed the stop...and fried bread with powered sugar from local vendor.
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