Blow out on M4
Yesterday on the M4 we had a blow out on the front nearside tyre on our twin axle caravan.. As it is a twin axle we never felt anything as the unit was quite stable. It was only when I saw smoke coming from the nearside that I realised something was wrong and pulled over.
We called Greenflag and the mechanic who was very pleasant arrived within the hour and that is when the fun started. First we had to move the caravan off the gravel bit and more into the safety lane or nearer the nearsdie lane so he could access the ALKO spare wheel carrier.
It took the mechanic nearly half and hour to remove the spare wheel partly because of the number of bolts holding the spare wheel in place on the carrier plus the fact removing the carrier to access the wheel was a mammoth task as it would not slide out easily. There were also issues putting the empty carrier back in place as it would not slide in easily as it was not greased with anything. I would have thought it would be done on a service as surely they should be checking the condition of all the tyres?
Our real concern came when he had to jack up the caravan using a trolly jack. There was no way he could access the front axle due to the slope of the ground plus the motor mover on the front wheel. He had no choice except to put the jack on the chassis and lift the caravan. However as he was jacking it up we were lowering the front steady to give it a bit more support.
The mechanic changed the wheel and fitted the spare steel wheel and this gave rise to some more concerns. Firstly the bolts for the steel spare wheel were exactly the same or identical as the bolts for the alloy wheel. Same length etc Next he tightened up the bolts with a normal wrench and not a torque wrench.
BTW checking the tyre, a Hankook tyre, we could see no puncture except the holes in the side wall which could have been caused by running on the tyre while it was deflated although it would not have had the full weight of the caravan on that side as the other tyre would have been propping it up. However I will need to check the tyre properly when I collect it later today.
Am I right about my concerns regarding the carrier being difficult to remove, the chassis being lifted using a trolley jack, the bolts and not using a torque wrench?
Surely the CC should be advising Mayday that a torque wrench is mandatory and should be used in all circumstances in addition to advice to mechanics about jacking up the caravan which probably cost the owner thousands of pounds?