“Because of a nail . . .” The Devil Is in the Details
05-18-2016
Author: in RVing Ruminations by Russel
Most of us are familiar with this age old proverb. I will share with you a cautionary tale about how it may once have applied to me during my travels.
It was a wonderful spring day as I pulled my travel trailer slowly up to the top of the high Cascade Mountain pass. It was a long climb in second gear. I didn't mind going slowly, as it gave me a bit more time to enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery to be found anywhere in the lower forty-eight states. It is a good four lane highway with a concrete divider between opposing lanes. Being a mid-week day, there was hardly any other traffic.
I thanked my truck, old Kloud Kicker, for getting us to the top once again. I had just started the long downhill grade when I heard a noise behind me. My jaw dropped at what I saw in the rear view mirror! The plastic “fender” over the dual trailer tires on the driver's side was flapping, accounting for the noise but not preparing me for what I watched in horror transpire next. As my foot went to the brake pedal, one of the tires complete with wheel attached came out from under the fender rolling full tilt boogie on past me in a heartbeat or two and as I pulled over, and went rolling on down the highway picking up speed as it went! By the time I got stopped I had watched it for a considerable distance until it rolled out of sight. I was relieved there were no other vehicles to be seen anywhere and I only hoped that there were none a short distance ahead of me either. Luckily, I was fairly near an exit, which were few and far between, and I got well off the road. I went back and got the shattered plastic fender off the road, thanking my lucky stars that I had a trailer with dual axles and shaking my head in disbelief as I replayed the vision in the rear view mirror over and over in my head.
But I was extremely puzzled as to how this could have happened. Experience had long ago taught me the importance of good tire maintenance. I always stop at my local tire store, Les Schwab, on the way out of town and make sure all, including the spare, are properly inflated. They do that for free and have many outlets throughout the Northwest, so it is easy to have them check every couple of thousand miles or so.
I didn't loose the kingdom that day as in the poem, but I might well have. So what had gone wrong? Well, come to find out, one of the lug bolts on the tire has a hole through it, so that once the lug nut is tightened, a cotter pin can be inserted through the hole and bent so as to prevent the lug nut from working loose. Well age and vibration in this case had allowed the nut to work in such a way as to shear off the end of the cotter key (they are made of soft metal.) Once the one nut was loose, that allowed the other nuts to work free as well and the tire to slide off. I surmised this must have been quite a quick process or surely I would have noticed some wobbling effect in the way the trailer pulled, which I hadn't. I won't bore you with the details of the recovery and tire service provided by my Allstate Motor Club Membership, whose merits I have already extolled here but I must say when I got to the next largest town a few days later and fifty miles down the road and went to (where else) Les Schwab there, they just happened to have the very tire, on a rim, that I needed even though it was an outdated style. It was used, and I didn't ask them how they came by it.
I can look back now and am still amazed but am still thankful no other vehicles became involved with the tire. Although, I shudder to think of what driving down the highway some day and looking in the rear mirror to see a single tire rolling behind me might be like, especially since it would probably be catching up to me fast!
So what's the point of this story? It pays to pay attention to details because even very tiny ones such as that cotter pin can have major consequences. Of course it is difficult to know about all those tiny things that may make a difference, so we can only try to be cognizant of as many of them as possible, and hope that keeps the devil out of the works.
Some of you doubtlessly have stories about details that make a big difference and your fellow RVers would enjoy hearing about them in the comment section below.
Until next time, walk in beauty and keep it between the ditches,
Russel
It was a wonderful spring day as I pulled my travel trailer slowly up to the top of the high Cascade Mountain pass. It was a long climb in second gear. I didn't mind going slowly, as it gave me a bit more time to enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery to be found anywhere in the lower forty-eight states. It is a good four lane highway with a concrete divider between opposing lanes. Being a mid-week day, there was hardly any other traffic.
I thanked my truck, old Kloud Kicker, for getting us to the top once again. I had just started the long downhill grade when I heard a noise behind me. My jaw dropped at what I saw in the rear view mirror! The plastic “fender” over the dual trailer tires on the driver's side was flapping, accounting for the noise but not preparing me for what I watched in horror transpire next. As my foot went to the brake pedal, one of the tires complete with wheel attached came out from under the fender rolling full tilt boogie on past me in a heartbeat or two and as I pulled over, and went rolling on down the highway picking up speed as it went! By the time I got stopped I had watched it for a considerable distance until it rolled out of sight. I was relieved there were no other vehicles to be seen anywhere and I only hoped that there were none a short distance ahead of me either. Luckily, I was fairly near an exit, which were few and far between, and I got well off the road. I went back and got the shattered plastic fender off the road, thanking my lucky stars that I had a trailer with dual axles and shaking my head in disbelief as I replayed the vision in the rear view mirror over and over in my head.
But I was extremely puzzled as to how this could have happened. Experience had long ago taught me the importance of good tire maintenance. I always stop at my local tire store, Les Schwab, on the way out of town and make sure all, including the spare, are properly inflated. They do that for free and have many outlets throughout the Northwest, so it is easy to have them check every couple of thousand miles or so.
I didn't loose the kingdom that day as in the poem, but I might well have. So what had gone wrong? Well, come to find out, one of the lug bolts on the tire has a hole through it, so that once the lug nut is tightened, a cotter pin can be inserted through the hole and bent so as to prevent the lug nut from working loose. Well age and vibration in this case had allowed the nut to work in such a way as to shear off the end of the cotter key (they are made of soft metal.) Once the one nut was loose, that allowed the other nuts to work free as well and the tire to slide off. I surmised this must have been quite a quick process or surely I would have noticed some wobbling effect in the way the trailer pulled, which I hadn't. I won't bore you with the details of the recovery and tire service provided by my Allstate Motor Club Membership, whose merits I have already extolled here but I must say when I got to the next largest town a few days later and fifty miles down the road and went to (where else) Les Schwab there, they just happened to have the very tire, on a rim, that I needed even though it was an outdated style. It was used, and I didn't ask them how they came by it.
I can look back now and am still amazed but am still thankful no other vehicles became involved with the tire. Although, I shudder to think of what driving down the highway some day and looking in the rear mirror to see a single tire rolling behind me might be like, especially since it would probably be catching up to me fast!
So what's the point of this story? It pays to pay attention to details because even very tiny ones such as that cotter pin can have major consequences. Of course it is difficult to know about all those tiny things that may make a difference, so we can only try to be cognizant of as many of them as possible, and hope that keeps the devil out of the works.
Some of you doubtlessly have stories about details that make a big difference and your fellow RVers would enjoy hearing about them in the comment section below.
Until next time, walk in beauty and keep it between the ditches,
Russel
Related Tags:Devil is in the detailsRV Maintenance
Comment
WanderLusterJune 7, 2016 | 10:07 AM
What a close call- good thing you knew what to do!
Author: Russel Micnhimer
