The day finally came for us to my kitcar from Cardiff-Poole. The wiring is a complete bitch to do so I'm getting someone else to do it for me. Anyway, my mate decides that he will tow me in his LPG-converted 1.1 Fiat Doblo white van! So, we get a big enough twin axle trailor and wack the kitcar on the back and Bobs ure uncle, we're off, allbeit a bit on the slow side! This is us litterally crawling up the M4 just after the Brynglas tunnels (Quite steep and suposedly limited to 50mph, but the audi can do !00 round it with no sweat)....
Then, just as we get onto the Severn Bridge (New one) we hear a weird chugging noise, which sounded almost definitely engine-based (like a rough 5-cylinder noise, or in the doblo's case a 4-cyl with one of them not firing). But then it started to sound like it was coming from behind us and then DISASTER struck... it got louder and louder and Just as my mate says, oh its stopped now... the nearside front trailor wheel flys off backwards! **** **** ****! By that time we were doing about 45 because we were worried for the 1.1's sake, but alas it was the professionally hired trailor (ie- not a bodge company)!
As we crawled along the hardshoulder with this thing going along motorway and all the cars slowing down (luckily it wasn't too busy) I thought it apt to get a quick shot of the wheel...
This second vid was done after rescuing the wheel...
How frigging lucky was it that it didn't cause an accident! My mate thinks that it hit another car on the other side of the carriageway in lane 3, but I didnt see it, although the huge dent in the wheel can't have been from us as we didn't hit anything so
The bolts on the hub that keeps the wheel on sheared off and seemed to mangle the end of the hub too. (Pics at bottom show that better)
We pulled up and called the AA in the wideload section of the round-a-bout which connects the M4 and M49. Also, while we were there 3 Police cars came to see what had happened and none of them said anything about a car being hit and litterally stoped by us for 30s. Had a car been hit then I'm sure they'd have notified someone at the tolls on entry to Wales.
The trailor company looked worried when we returned (after I gave them a bit of anger on the phone "Had this been a single axle we could have been dead, blah blah!"), and if they think they can charge me for the work or get away without rembursing me for the trailor hire then they've got another thing coming!
_phil
PS- some pics of the wreckage!
Then, just as we get onto the Severn Bridge (New one) we hear a weird chugging noise, which sounded almost definitely engine-based (like a rough 5-cylinder noise, or in the doblo's case a 4-cyl with one of them not firing). But then it started to sound like it was coming from behind us and then DISASTER struck... it got louder and louder and Just as my mate says, oh its stopped now... the nearside front trailor wheel flys off backwards! **** **** ****! By that time we were doing about 45 because we were worried for the 1.1's sake, but alas it was the professionally hired trailor (ie- not a bodge company)!
As we crawled along the hardshoulder with this thing going along motorway and all the cars slowing down (luckily it wasn't too busy) I thought it apt to get a quick shot of the wheel...
This second vid was done after rescuing the wheel...
How frigging lucky was it that it didn't cause an accident! My mate thinks that it hit another car on the other side of the carriageway in lane 3, but I didnt see it, although the huge dent in the wheel can't have been from us as we didn't hit anything so
The bolts on the hub that keeps the wheel on sheared off and seemed to mangle the end of the hub too. (Pics at bottom show that better)We pulled up and called the AA in the wideload section of the round-a-bout which connects the M4 and M49. Also, while we were there 3 Police cars came to see what had happened and none of them said anything about a car being hit and litterally stoped by us for 30s. Had a car been hit then I'm sure they'd have notified someone at the tolls on entry to Wales.
The trailor company looked worried when we returned (after I gave them a bit of anger on the phone "Had this been a single axle we could have been dead, blah blah!"), and if they think they can charge me for the work or get away without rembursing me for the trailor hire then they've got another thing coming!
_phil
PS- some pics of the wreckage!
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