# Readiness failure. Lessons learned.



## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

Disaster readiness plan…..Fail. This was a problem with no major consequences today, but could hinder an effective bug out later. Before I go any further with this story let me say that I count all my blessings for how well it went and thank God that he was looking out for me. This was an extremely minor problem today and I realize this but I hope some of you can learn from my mistakes and stupidity. 

Hang in here until I set the stage: I was heading up north alone to join the family for a party at the cottage. I left the row boat at home due to a bad bearing on the trailer. I intended to leave at 0430 but was delayed until 0900by a daughter with a car problem that I helped her with then my next door neighbor had a minor water leak that I fixed for her.

I checked the oil and other bodily fluids on my chariot. Checked the tire pressure and fuel level. Filled my thermos grabbed some fruit and headed off to the greatness of the north. All good plans………………………………..arghhhh.

I was traveling at high speed when the steering wheel started vibrating rather severely, I slowed down until the shaking subsided adequately, cycled through the remote tire pressure gauge and noticed that one of my tires was losing pressure. 55psi..50psi….40psi on down to 20psi where it stabilized. I exited the freeway and found a strip mall that had a perfectly flat parking lot immediately off of the exit ramp. When I came to a stop the tire popped and went totally flat. Complete tread or ply separation I think. 

Now here comes the stupidity. My bottle jack was back home under the boat trailer. Dumb. My wheel chocks were also with the boat trailer. The spare tire is stored under the back of the truck on a cable ratchet system. A system that I never had tested. This is the start of the comedy. I did have some WD-40 and was able to free it up but this took time. The spare was still unused but low on pressure, adequate, but low. I had to resort to using the jack system that came with the truck (unused and not tested). My 4 handle lug wrench was lying next to my boat 100 miles away. DO NOT RELY ON THE CRAP THAT COMES FROM THE MANUFACTURER. 

I changed the tire put the bad tire on the tire lift and secured everything. Encountering all of the problems I had made this endeavor last an hour and a half instead of the 20 minutes or so that it should have taken. This delay was due to my lack of maintenance, laziness and the sin of assumption. I assumed the spare was ready to go. Dumb, Stupid and Lazy.

My emergency tire pump was loaned to my daughter earlier in the day because I repaired her tire early in the morning. My pipe wrench was sitting on the seat of the rowboat, my 4 handled lug wrench was next to the boat along with my wheel chocks and my ground tarp was still at my neighbors under the pipe that was repaired.

I never checked the tire pressure on the spare because checking fluids and tire pressure is always the last thing I do prior to a trip and I did not want to get dirty (it is under the truck). I loaned my tire inflator to my kid with the best of intentions and assumed the brand new tires (under 2,000 miles) were in great shape. I was in a hurry to join the rest of the family and was running behind schedule so I got careless.

The positive aspects to this encounter: I was able to exit the freeway safely, had a secure and flat area to change the tire, had the WD-40 to loosen the ratchet lift, had a factory jack and lug wrench and everything was done with no injuries (ego and self worth excepted). The tire rim was not damaged and ther was no damage to the chariot. If the tire failed later I would have had a ten mile stretch of road with no exit and cars flying past at 70 miles per hour. No level ground. No time to wait for the WD-40 to work. I had a thermos full of coffee, cold pop in the cooler, fruit and sandwich fixing’s and a cell phone and the grace of God with me.

Today I checked the spare tires in all of the vehicles and found that all of the doughnut style tires were under pressurized, usable but low. One of the tire pumps did not work and one of the jacks was rusty. I have taken care of everything, added fix-a-flat to all of the vehicles, tested pumps and added a second pump to all primary vehicles.

In a bug-out situation I set myself up to be taken advantage of . The tire will be replaced Tuesday morning and these short comings will not happen again. I hope that you all check your spares and emergency equipment.

Tugs


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Thanks for the report ... I love your story-telling style :wave:


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Tugs I wouldn't call your adventure so much a failure as an example of how with the right skills someone can adapt to a situation and carry on, many people would think that they were more than prepared with the tools you had, you just hold yourself to a much higher standard. Thank you for posting the lesson.


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## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

I think you did a great job of adapting to the situation... If we left home with every little thing for every possible emergency we'd probably be pulling our whole house behind us... lol... If there were 10 of me I'd still not be able to get everything done that I want to get done... I try to focus on the most urgent things and deal with problems as they arise.. Good post!


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Well not to take away from Tugs story but. I had an outside tire on my dually seperate, about 6 miles from home last week, I was pulling my service trailer, so I pulled off on a back road , started the welder and used a grinder with a cut off disk to trim the flapping cords (to stop further damage to the fender) and limped home on the inside tire. Dually s are handy that way, but it seems that the outside tires always let go and damage the fender a bit.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*I hate when that happens!*

For those of us who to some seem to be over the top with being prepared to some others, sometimes the distractions of said others and trying to do more than physically possible, gets us off track and then we are the ones left holding the bag. It has happened to me more than once and it is so frustrating.

Spare donut tires = worthless! Maybe they work for others, but when I travel 400 + miles in one day from time to time, to places across miles and miles of no services, the absolute last thing I want to be doing is driving on some worthless donut tire that really slows me down and limits my range. We have been known to drive on days where even if there might be services, they are closed for some holiday. Also, sometimes buying a new tire that doesn't match the others out in the middle of nowhere (if you can get one the right size) can be soooo expensive. Now what? Being as well prepared as possible, that's what.

When I get new to me vehicles, the first thing I do is to get rid of those pieces of sh** donuts and get a real spare tire that I can drive on for 100s of miles.

The same is true for me relative to jacks and tire changing gear. Tire irons need to be those cross bar type, not those single type with an odd angle that are worthless. There are excellent jacks and then there are worthless jacks. As a woman, I need to take care of flat tires without being helpless and vulnerable by the side of the road. I often drive through Nebraska, and in many parts, the two lane road has virtually nowhere to pull over, no shoulder and are hilly roads. That is so dangerous.

I have been known to stop, change a tire, reload and drive away in 7 minutes. That is being prepared, skilled, equipped, and needing to be down the road. My daughter, who has been there and knows I am not the helpless type, is known to play helpless from time to time. She did not learn that from me. However, she has been known to change her own oil, do car repairs and maintenance on her own vehicles, with help from her male friends. She, like me, understands that it is much cheaper to do it yourself, if you can. And knowing how to do it yourself may be essential post SHTF.

Now I need to make sure I have clothes that can get dirty and a mat to work on when and if I need to in my tire well. I do not have that now, but I will soon.

One of my live by self rules: If I have a flat tire and need to change it, my next order of business is to take it get repaired. I do not throw it in the trunk and go shopping or to a movie or out to eat. And I get it back ASAP. The jacked up car by the side of the road with a missing tire has never been me, yet.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

I was driving on a busy bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate in Georgia and from about 200 yards ahead of me I see a tire and wheel bouncing across the highway. It would disappear into the traffic ahead and then like it was hit by a car it would get thrown into the air maybe 30 feet and then fall back into the traffic and then back into the air 30 feet or so. It was coming right at me. At the last second it hit another car and then shot into the woods on the right side of the road.

I didn't see any one pulled over on the side of the road. About 5 miles further down the road a guy was standing along the highway looking at his trailer with a wheel missing. He was driving a crew cab ford full of people. How in the hell he drove that far with a wheel missing is beyond me comprehension.

Sorry, this is what I was thinking about after reading all the posts on this thread.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Tweto, that is one of those moments that is probably burned in your memory that you will never forget. I have to wonder about the damage to vehicles that were hit by that tire. It is a miracle no one was killed.

I have a friend for whom there was a man in her church who was incredibly careless. He had so many accidents, and of course, none of them were his fault. Once he was towing a trailer behind a car and failed to lock the hitch down correctly. Somehow it came loose, and thankfully he had used the chains for backup. The hitch came loose, but the chains held the trailer, somewhat, and the tongue of the trailer drug on the road (freeway), causing sparks, igniting the gas tank, and starting the car on fire.


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## dirtgrrl (Jun 5, 2011)

Whatever happened to the days when a car came with five tires? And it was common to rotate five tires instead of four. Now when I go have my truck serviced I have to tell them to rotate the fifth tire too, or else they won't.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

weedygarden said:


> Tweto, that is one of those moments that is probably burned in your memory that you will never forget. I have to wonder about the damage to vehicles that were hit by that tire. It is a miracle no one was killed.
> 
> I have a friend for whom there was a man in her church who was incredibly careless. He had so many accidents, and of course, none of them were his fault. Once he was towing a trailer behind a car and failed to lock the hitch down correctly. Somehow it came loose, and thankfully he had used the chains for backup. The hitch came loose, but the chains held the trailer, somewhat, and the tongue of the trailer drug on the road (freeway), causing sparks, igniting the gas tank, and starting the car on fire.


The tire was breaking windows and damaging cars. The great news here is that no one panicked and slammed on their brakes. There could have been several injuries from subsequent car accidents.

Here's another trailer story

I guy I worked with was pulling his boat and motor behind his truck at night. About midnight he pulls into an all night truck stop to fill up the truck and he noticed his boat was gone. He turned around and back tracked up the highway, about 70 miles back up the highway some how he sees something on the side of the road. He turns the truck to shine the lights to the side of the road and there is the boat just sitting there undamaged.

Back at work I asked him if he was using the safety chains and he said that he didn't know what those chains are for so he just wrapped them around the frame of the trailer.

Oh well!


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

Tweto said:


> The tire was breaking windows and damaging cars. The great news here is that no one panicked and slammed on their brakes. There could have been several injuries from subsequent car accidents.
> 
> Here's another trailer story
> 
> ...


How many six packs was he into the trip? Didn't notice the boat was gone? Even towing a small rowboat behind my truck I somehow always see it in the mirrors. There are "accidents" and then there are/is "stupid". Stupid can and will be painful.

Tugs


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*OMG!*

Okay Tweto, I gasped out loud. When it comes to preparedness and common sense type things, there are people who evidently have no idea about how stuff like this works.

Recently I was talking to someone who said that nothing good happens after midnight. And she meant until morning. She was talking about those who party and the like, a lifestyle that has never been me.

Because I grew up with drunks and the like, I have gone the opposite way and have worked hard, avoiding the party lifestyle, AND I really do not like to be out much after dark. I am an early morning person and as the day goes by, so does my energy. I have always been ready for bed by 10:00 p.m. Someone once told me they like to leave on long term traveling late afternoon. Late afternoon is when I am about done.

This is a perfect illustration of why that will continue to be one of my ways of being.

Evidently he couldn't feel any pull from the boat trailer and maybe wasn't listening to the noise some of those things make. And he may have had a few too many for it to be on the radar. When I tow trailers, I am often looking back, checking, making sure things are not shifting and that everything is okay.

Several decades ago there was a young couple and their two children from south central South Dakota who were killed in eastern Nebraska. A car that was being towed broke from the tow truck right in front of them and killed them all instantly. I knew the guy.

A way of being for me is to never stay behind tow trucks which have a vehicle in tow. It may never happen to me, but I am not giving it any chances. There maybe more careless tow truck drivers out there.


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

I am glad that I heeded my own advice and checked the spares, jacks etc. in all of our cars. (Sometimes I Talk it without the Walk it). I borrowed the brides car today and you guessed it I had a blow out after hitting a pot hole. This is Michigan road taxes at work.

The spare tire (?) was aired up. This was one of the spare tires that was low. The jack was oiled up, 4 way spanner right there and a new bottle jack. 13 minutes from start to being back up to speed. A fresh pack of wet wipes made the clean up easy. The new small tarp in the trunk was handy.

These small "almost" tires (doughnut) are a lousy excuse for a spare tire. I need to look into a full size spare if one will fit in the trunk. I needed to turn off the traction control on the front wheel drive due to the rotational difference of the real tire and the fake tire. (This is a bad time to read the owners manual).

It has been years since my last flat tire and I have had two in less than a week. I am afraid to hold my new grandson. I seem to have a dark cloud following me lately. I hope the skies clear soon.

The car has two new tires and is better than new. I even cleaned the car out and washed it but somehow the "War Department" thinks I was careless with her car. Jeeeeeez.

Tugs


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Note to self*

Put one of those spare packs of wet wipes in the tire well, along with a rug, gloves and coveralls for changing tires.


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## CoffeeTastic (Apr 12, 2013)

Wow . At least over here I get to test my tire-gear twice/year when switching to and from winter tires.


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## AgentFlounder (Dec 12, 2008)

I agree with others: adapting and overcoming adversity is the real lesson here.

I'd rather have the mental agility to improvise and deal with emergency situations than have all the right tools.

I think that no amount of preparing for an emergency can eliminate the need to improvise for the unexpected, anyway.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Tugs I may have gotten carried away , is bringing an extra Dually a bit much??


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

@ Tugboat, the OP:

I think you just had aperfect storm of stuff getting together.

We all make risk tradeoff analysis in everything we do all day.
I am usually a pretty judgemental guy when it comes to those things but in this case I will not fault you since you had such new tires.

One of my preparedness things is getting the tires on my vehicles as new a sI can possibly afford.
That means i change them well before the tread wears down as the most dangerous tire wear can be on the snide with a disintegrating carcass or some such.

I am very interested to hear what brand/model tire it was.
On such a new tire it shouldn't happen


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## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

I just had a reminder to update our vehicles. One of our coworkers accidentally left her fog lights on and her car died. So, she asked my husband if he could jump start it for her. Turns out, he didn't have cables in his car, so he called me to come help. I didn't have any in my truck either, but I did have some at home, so I loaded those up and went and helped her out. We are definitely updating all of the kits in the cars this month as our new project.


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

Tirediron said:


> Tugs I may have gotten carried away , is bringing an extra Dually a bit much??


Not at all. Me likes........No me loves the idea.

Tugs


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

BlueZ said:


> @ Tugboat, the OP:
> 
> I think you just had aperfect storm of stuff getting together.
> 
> ...


These are Michelin tires. It appears that there was excessive damage at the sidewall/tread interface. I have hit nothing with the tire but there has been a lot of grading going on at work and several other vehicles have been damaged in the lot from concrete slabs and curbs being pushed around.

I suspect that this is what happened to my tire. I have never had any problems with Michelin tires on my trucks. When the tire was replaced I was shown damage on the rim. The rim never never came into contact with the pavement.

The Dealer was great. The tire was replaced. The Dealer gave me a great discount on a new rim and they even vacuumed out the truck when done. He appologized for the spare tire being low. It should have been checked when the tires were replaced.

Tugs


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## Onebigelf (Sep 17, 2011)

Good lessons. I can, and have, changed a tire in about 6-7 minutes. Lessons: I only use the factory jack if I need a safety back-up. If I have to get under the vehicle I'll put the factory jack in place as a redundant lift in addition to the bottle jack. Lesson 1: The bottle jack is your friend. Lesson 2: the factory lug wrench is for prying off the hub cap. Period. Get one of the + lug wrenches. I like the one with the foldable arms. Lesson 3: Donuts are for cops, not spare tires. Self-explanatory. Lesson 4: Ladies, Fix-a-flat is a great way to get to the next exit so that you can get to a safe place to change a tire. It is NOT an excuse to continue your trip without addressing the issue. This will only insure that you are another hundred miles down the road when it strands you again, necessitating that you call your husband at work....

John


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## Reblazed (Nov 11, 2010)

Onebigelf said:


> Lesson 4: Ladies, Fix-a-flat is a great way to get to the next exit so that you can get to a safe place to change a tire. It is NOT an excuse to continue your trip without addressing the issue. This will only insure that you are another hundred miles down the road when it strands you again, necessitating that you call your husband at work....


Onebigelf ... Do you have ANY idea how much statements like this piss off self-reliant females ??? 

.


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