Protecting the plumbing from tire blowouts

[T and C]

Those of us who have been on this forum for a few years have viewed photos of destroyed drain pipes and valves from being beaten by a blown out tire. I know that several handy members have built metal shields around their pipes for protection. However, I am not that handy.

I have seen several TM's that have truck mud flaps bolted on to serve the same purpose. My question is this: Do these mud flaps actually do the job?

I would appreciate hearing from folks who have mud flaps and have had a blowout. Did the mudflaps adequately protect the plumbing?

Thanks in advance,

Tom

[Bill]

I think that I was the one who suggested installing heavy mudflaps, sometime in the dim past. Sadly, I have to report from personal experience that it did not work, at least in the only incident I have experienced.

Tires can fail in different ways. The ones that are destructive are the ones where the tread separates from the body of the tire, and is thrown at high speed against the plumbing. The intent behind the cage, or the mudflaps, is to deflect the tread away fror the plumbing.

If you get a sidewall blowout or a nail through the tread - in other words, if the tread stays whole, and attached to the carcass of the tire - then I think that the plumbing will be OK.

If the tread breaks, and then peels off the carcass in one long strip, it is likely that the strip will make a couple of rotations around the wheel, with the loose end beating on the mudflap - and the plumbing.

If the tread peels off the body, but stays in an intact ring, then it might be thrown off to the side without hitting the plumbing. But not necessarily.

I experienced one or the other of the last two. Although the tread was gone, the body of the tire was still holding air. As the tread separated from the body, it grabbed the mudflap, flogged the lower half of it off, and destroyed the plumbing.

Sorry to report this. A mud flap may help in some situations, but it is not the universal fix I had hoped for.

Bill

[Roy in Texas]

In 2011, I installed a set of aluminum mud flaps hoping to protect my plumbing before starting a trip to Yellowstone from San Antonio. I can report that when my tire blew out, the tread came apart and the mud flap provided no help in saving the plumbing.

I have since added a steel plate cage. I had the work done by a local welding shop.

[MarkoPolo]

Not sure if this is a plus with the new cassette toilet, but there is no black water pluming and the gray water fitting is farther from the wheel well. I do have rather light duty mud flaps and was thinking of upgrading to a more robust pair, but after reading these posts, I'm not sure that would be any advantage.

[Bill]

In my case, the damage included both the black and the gray plumbing. The floor flange for the toilet was not damaged, but everything beyond it was gone. The toilet itself was not hurt, but I'm not sure this is the universal experience. And fortunately, the gray tank itself was not damaged, so I could replace the missing exit pipe. Maybe the mud flap saved the toilet and the gray tank - I'll never know.

Bill

[T and C]

Thank you Bill, MarcoPolo, and Roy

Tom

Originally Posted by Bill

In my case, the damage included both the black and the gray plumbing. The floor flange for the toilet was not damaged, but everything beyond it was gone. The toilet itself was not hurt, but I'm not sure this is the universal experience. And fortunately, the gray tank itself was not damaged, so I could replace the missing exit pipe. Maybe the mud flap saved the toilet and the gray tank - I'll never know.

Bill

I did the mud flap thing too, but I never had a blow out. I am just wondering if you buy new tires every spring, would that solve the problem? Wrecking your plumbing on a nice 2 week, 4 week vacation trip is a BIG pain. Those tires go through a lot of stress every season, and we keep pushing them. Be safe!

Dave

[Speckul8r]

Here's the Plumbing Cage Thread.
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...plumbing+cages
Never did think the Flaps would do much and I guess Bill has proved that right. It might be worth the dough to have someone build 1 for you if you can't do it.
Buying tire each year seems to me to be an expense that shouldn't be necessary.

Originally Posted by Speckul8r

Here's the Plumbing Cage Thread.
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...plumbing+cages
Never did think the Flaps would do much and I guess Bill has proved that right. It might be worth the dough to have someone build 1 for you if you can't do it.
Buying tire each year seems to me to be an expense that shouldn't be necessary.

I think I paid $150 for a machine shop to build my solid aluminum cage. It took me perhaps an hour to mount it. I had to move a couple of holes due to clearance in getting the drill around my black water plumbing. There are several good designs in this thread, I went with my design because I don't have metal bending tools, and I wanted aluminum so I didn't have to paint it.

This was a one time expense. There is no reason to replace tires more than every 4-5 years, barring some sort of damage.

Another benefit of a cage is it protects the plumbing from any road debris kicked up by the tires, whether the tires get damaged or not.

[Speckul8r]

MisterP,
If you have a chance to post a picture of your cage, I think folks would be interested.