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Screeeeeee… Bam!

Not the sound you want to hear, while towing.  

We were towing our way along US101 on the Oregon Coast – minding our own business.  I did a little gentle braking for a construction area, then began to accelerate away.

Something felt weird.  I looked in my mirror and there was a cloud of white smoke near the rear of the trailer.  At that moment – Bam!  The blowout.

blowout
 

Apparently, one brake failed to release after I released the brakes.  It locked up and blew the tire within a second or so.

Luckily, with the tandem axle – we were able to slowly tow a half mile or so to a dairy with a big, flat parking area.  We pulled in and changed the tire with little fanfare.  

However, the brake continued to intermittently lock up.  I was driving with kid gloves.  I backed the brake controller WAY down so we were relying mainly on the truck brakes.

We made it about 20 miles to a Les Schwab Tire Company – where they were able to change our tire and verify, but not fix, the brake lockup problem. 

I called the Airstream warranty line.  Immediately, they said "well, sounds like we need to get you a new brake."  They called Dexter Axle company who air-freighted out a complete replacement brake assembly by next-day air.  They also called a local repair shop who scheduled an appointment for the next morning to do the work.  In about an hour, they had us on our way with a whole new brake.  

The only downside – they could find NOTHING wrong with the old brake that might have caused it to lock up.  Everything tested out AOK on that unit.  

Glad we have a new one!

(Posted by Kevin)