A big worry with single axel caravans a puncture, you just can't pull the van off the road safely for many many kilometres it's a nightmare I hope it never happens to us...
A big worry with single axel caravans a puncture, you just can't pull the van off the road safely for many many kilometres it's a nightmare I hope it never happens to us...
first off, what made you think it was a single axle caravan.
Secondly a flat tyre with any vehicle is a concern should not be taken likely whether to change a tyre or even to have any need to stop, a breakdown or adjust your load on the side of the rooad/highway.
Your wrong a dual axel van as you may not be aware of this has another wheel to support the punctured wheel ,that means you have a safety margin ,a single axel your dragging and daesroying your rim and tyre while your looking for a safe spot to work and that can be for many kilometres .
as for the van pictured I don't know the full situation but it just reminded me how vulnerable my situation would be with the dreaded puncture .
I had a flat tyre on my caravan - right side, on the Bruce Hwy just North from the Calbouture turnoff, heading South. Sunday afternoon, traffic returning to Brisbane. Two lanes of traffic doing 110 km/h, just over the crest of a hill. I pulled off as far as I could go (the van was hard against some bushes) and my wife had to climb over and get out the driver's side. She went back to the top of the hill and started waving a red T shirt of mine as a warning. For the next 15 minutes or so, I squatted half under the van changing the wheel with traffic whizzing about 1.5 m from me. Eventually, I finished and then had to get out into the traffic again. That was really fun. The annoying part was that only 200 m or so down the road, I could have pulled right off the highway (Caboolture turnoff) and changed the wheel safely.
The tyre was completely shot anyway. Puncture proof liquid may have saved me, but I doubt it - there was a huge hole in the sidewall.
Your wrong a dual axel van as you may not be aware of this has another wheel to support the punctured wheel ,that means you have a safety margin ,a single axel your dragging and daesroying your rim and tyre while your looking for a safe spot to work and that can be for many kilometres .
as for the van pictured I don't know the full situation but it just reminded me how vulnerable my situation would be with the dreaded puncture .
like you Ron I don't know the fullmstory.
Now I do know a single axle caravan don't like having its flat tyre dragged along the road for very long from personal experience, also a dual axle caravan with a flat tyre would only like going a bit further not kilometres.
From my transport driving days when you have a flat, the options are short and there is know magic, stop and change the flat or cause more damage.
I was on the highway not far behind the caravan. There was quite a strong cross wind so if truck overtook car and van then van was on the leeward side. Good chance just got sucked into truck. Saw a near miss in that same situation only minutes before this accident. Vans need to slow down more in windy conditions, especially if you are on leeward side.
Neil
