Handling a Tire Blowout!

Every year thousands of RVs travel the nation enjoying the variousamenities that recreational vehicles has to offer. While most drivers feelcomfortable with any situation the road may present, there is one situationthat even the safest drivers dread. A rumor that even some of the mostprofessional drives believe it can't be handled. That situation is the rapidloss of air in a tire, a blowout! We know that the most common cause of ablowout of a motorhome tire is due to overload or under inflation. It iscritical therefore that you know your loaded corner weights and keep yourinflation pressure at the minimum requirement to carry these loads. Airpressure should be checked prior to each trip and each morning you travelduring your trip. The word blowout shouldn't necessarily even be used in asituation like this. That’s because even though a rapid loss of air in a tirecan be noisy, a tire can also go flat and present control problems for a driverdue to a long, slow leak.

Perhaps the most important thing to know is that loosing the air in atire, even rapidly, does not automatically mean loosing control. There is noguarantee but there are certainly simple ways to maintain control over avehicle by using established physical principals that have proven effectiveover the years if used quickly, and properly. Keep in mind that theseprincipals are the same for every type of vehicle, loaded or empty. A commonmisconception is to automatically hit the brake but unfortunately that is justnot the case. In fact panic braking is the worst possible thing you can do.Taking your foot off the accelerator is the second worst.

The real solution is to step on the accelerator. Getting power to thedrive wheels means maintaining control. Even though in this situation you maynot want to go faster but instead stop, by hitting the brake you may loosecontrol of your rig. Your RV moves forward on the highway unless it is actedupon a new force in a different direction. A rapid air loss creates a new sideforce and so unless the drive compensates for the new side force, the RV willmove in a new direction, which is typically off road. By stepping on theaccelerator the driver will start to compensate. The bottom line is when a tiregoes flat, the RV will want to turn in the direction of the flat. As the driversteps on the accelerator, the added power applied to the drive wheels allowsthe driver more time to make the necessary steering corrections. This doesn'tmean to hit the 'pedal to the metal' and pick up speed rapidly, but insteadmaintain acceleration to get the RV stable before you gather up any significantextra speed. The exact opposite will happen if you step on the brake. You loosethe forward force which then makes your rig suddenly much more vulnerable tothe side force giving you much less control of the vehicle. By following thesesimple procedures during these split second emergency situations, you canassure a much safer outcome for you, your passengers, and your RV.