Tire Blowout, interior damage, need a photo or two

[s205designs]

Hi All,

In case you're not into reading, I'm looking for a photo of the interior storage compartment of a 17T, on the passenger side under the dinette seat. Had a blowout which took out the wheel well and I'm wondering what it looked like before so we can make the repair. Also a description of the inside of the forward section of the wheel well would be helpful. The full story is below...

Our little family has truely enjoyed our 2009 17T and have taken it on many different boondocking excursions. But this last trip was a bit more adventurous than we would've liked... About a mile from our exit, the right side tire blew at highway speed. Parts from the tire punctured the wheel well and flew into the front of the trailer, most of the interior wheel well parts fell through the new hole, and shrapnel punched holes in the dinette seat base. The front of the wheel well completely disappeared and for those familiar with the 17T, the heater duct was sucked in to the remains of the tire and was pulled out from the heater in the front all the way to the axle. The 8ga power wire melted due to friction contact with something and a mysterious white wire was yanked out of its ring terminal. The entire trailer smelled of burned tire and black rubber dust was scattered from the back all the way to the front.

We put the spare tire on and pulled into the closest walmart, bought some duct tape, some wire nuts, some dryer duct and a disposable turkey basting pan. Taped the pan over the open wheel well, repaired the wires and re-ran the heater duct and enjoyed a weekend of forest road camping. (it unexpectedly got down to 29F so glad we were able to repair the heater duct).

Now that I'm home, have to figure out how to "really fix it" as i doubt a turkey basting pan will last all that long! Looking for a photo and any descriptions that 17T owners may have.

Thanks!

 

[JackandJanet]

I'll try to get a picture or two in the next day or so. Sorry to hear about your misfortune!

I've posted on this several times now, but I STRONGLY recommend the Tire Minder TPMS from Minder Research. It monitors your tire pressures AND temperatures. I'm reasonably sure at least one of those would have caused the TPMS to give you a warning before the blowout happened. I wouldn't tow my trailer without those sensors on both my trailer and on my truck, even though my new truck has an OEM TPMS installed.

- Jack

 

[JackandJanet]

OK, I've taken two pictures of that area. They don't show a whole lot, in my opinion. I think the second picture is more informative. The metal "box" that the flexible furnace ducting snakes around is the inside surface of the wheel well. Yours is probably pretty badly mangled.

That ducting goes back under a floor-level square enclosure under the dining table to the furnace, and then it extends under the floor of the wardrobe to the outlet at the bottom front of the wardrobe.

The panel behind the duct on the side of the trailer that is held on by screws probably has wiring behind it. I could take that panel off if you need to see what is there. Let me know.

Hope this is what you needed, if not, give me further guidance.

- Jack

 

[s205designs]

Jack,
Those pictures are exactly what we were looking for. Thanks so much for the quick response. Only the forward portion of the metal wheel well box is missing, the side and top are intact. We weren't sure if there was something more (wood paneling, etc.).
Thanks!

 

[JackandJanet]

That's great, s205. If you need a closeup of that part of the wheel well box, let me know. I'm starting winterizing efforts on the trailer right now, so it's easy to do.

Just inspected the top pulleys and the cables over them and they look brand new. Gave them a good lubrication to keep them that way. Doing some minor adjustments to the front cables to get a better seal where the bulb seal meets the lip on the lower half. It's easy to do that with the interior trim off.

- Jack

 

[hilltool]

s205

Any pictures of the damage you could share? And the repair ? Pretty innovative of you.

 

[s205designs]

Sorry for the delay but here are some photos of the damage and the temporary repair. This weekend we assessed the damage and will be evaluating how to handle the "real" repair.

 

[RCREYES]

I have a friend that used some thin diamond plate to do the interior of his wheel wells on a different brand of trailer.

 

[JackandJanet]

Diamond plate would certainly work, but I think I'd try to find sheet metal of the same thickness and composition as the remaining "box". I have not checked, but I suspect that box is steel (if it's aluminum, fabrication would be even easier, but don't use aluminum on steel due to galvanic corrosion problems).

I know you could bend a lip in the replacement panel that would fit over (or inside) the existing box. Then, you could secure the two parts with JB Weld. This stuff is like magic and is a permanent repair. The pieces could be held together while the JB Weld sets using pop rivets (again, steel rivets if a steel box or aluminum if aluminum).

I suspect the original wheel well was welded, but unless you can get the remaining part out of the trailer, that should not be attempted.

Good luck, we'll all be looking forward to seeing your fix! I certainly think it's doable!

- Jack