While deep in conversation en route from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Athol, Massachusetts, we heard a strange noise. “What’s that whop-whop-whop?” Bob asked from the passenger seat. I said I didn’t know but started to slow down. Then we heard a pop and knew exactly what it was: a tire. For the first time in seven years of RV life, it was a tire on Gulliver, not Tagalong. 

The training I had gleaned from a YouTube video kicked in: Slow down but don’t slam on the brakes, turn toward the problem, keep it steady. I flipped on our hazard lights and gently pulled the truck and trailer to the side of the freeway, about 8 miles south of Hartford, Connecticut, thankful that the weight of the rig helped keep the truck headed in the right direction and controllable. 

Bob got out. I turned off the engine and followed, watching our hubcap roll to the other side of the freeway. A quick peek at the tires confirmed our dilemma: Steam rose from the front driver-side truck tire, which had shredded.

“Should we call Coachnet?” I asked. Normally, we’d get in gear and change the tire. Fixing a driver-side tire within 2 feet of fast-moving traffic whizzing by, however, would put us at risk of injury or death. 

Waiting for help

Bob called Coachnet. The representative told him someone would be out to assist us within 35 to 40 minutes. In anticipation, we lowered the spare tire from underneath the truck and then moved to a shady spot to wait, sitting on cables forming a type of guardrail.

I considered darting across four lanes of traffic to try to find our runaway hubcap. But knowing that it was plastic and likely damaged as a result of the incident, I wasn’t sure it was worth the risk. No one racing by would be expecting to see a person on the freeway, and I didn’t have a neon vest or anything. In fact, I was wearing a black T-shirt.

To the rescue

I looked up and noticed a state trooper walking toward us. Someone had seen us and called, she told us. We explained that we had help on the way, and she almost left. 

We kept talking and said how we’d change the tire if it weren’t on the driver’s side. She agreed we shouldn’t attempt that. When we asked how that would work for the tech coming to help us, she offered to block the right lane. We gladly took her up on that. 

She backed up her police cruiser in the emergency lane and then moved to the right lane to put flares down to force traffic over. Meanwhile, Bob climbed in the bed of the truck to secure a breaker bar and torque wrench. He loosened the lug nuts successfully but had trouble jacking up the truck. Without a tire on the driver’s side to hold it up, the frame hung too low to get the jack underneath.

Backup support

Before long, a tech in a neon yellow shirt arrived, assessed the situation, and went back to his vehicle behind our trailer to secure a floor jack and impact wrench. 

In no time, he had the truck jacked up and the lug nuts removed. He pulled off the shredded tire and rim, and Bob and the trooper carefully loaded it into the bed of the truck. 

Then another state trooper came on scene as backup support, parking in the right lane behind the other trooper as reinforcement.

The service tech took the spare tire back to his vehicle to air it to capacity with a compressor. Then he brought it back to the truck, put it on the lugs, finger-tightened the lug nuts, lowered the jack, and torqued the nuts. 

While he was doing that, we regaled the officers with tales about our RV lifestyle, and they agreed to pose for a picture. 

On the road again

With the job complete, the tech disappeared. We cleaned up our tools, and the female trooper said she’d follow us. 

As we headed out, we reflected on how, once again, God took wonderful care of us. We’re grateful the tire didn’t cause any damage to the truck, that we were able to get to the side of the freeway safely, that we had roadside assistance, and that the police showed up when they did. Even the tech, who’s been making service calls like ours for five years, said this was the safest service call he’d ever been on, thanks to the police blocking the right lane. 

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