Newmar King Aire fire

[Neal]

From Facebook - Newmar Owner's Group

Unfortunate fire in a King Aire on I70 near Silverthorne CO today. At the base of a long 7% grade coming out of the Eisenhower tunnel.

 

[Neemer]

Damn

 

[No Plan]

I have ascended and descended the Continental Divide through the Eisenhower and Johnson Memorial Tunnels a few times this year. The West side ascent and descent is very long, and as noted, a 7% grade. I've seen a lot of trucks needing to use the runaway truck ramps because of burning up their brakes. I'm wondering if this might of been what happened to this King Aire?

 

[DennisT]

I know the ones I have come down in our Superstar, with the engine brake on high, I’ve actually had to push the suggestion pedal as it was slowing me down too much.

Guess I should consider myself lucky with the weight, etc of our setup.

 

[SteveMA]

Sad. Can happen to any of us.
Best wishes to them.

 

[Jim]

Terrible.

 

[sanda]

We drive I 70 often . Many times we've seen semis along the road burning in the rear axle area from riding the brakes. This motor home driver should stay on the flat lands for everyone's safety

 

[JBright11]

I have no idea where the folks were from and will just say I hope they all got out safely and no one was seriously hurt.

 

[LeslieGary]

Terrible tragedy and won’t pass judgement on the driver or Newmar.

I can recall being near Yellowstone in the mountains and wondered why I was having to use my brakes so much…..turns out while I thought my engine brake was on, it was off. I was fortunate to learn from this without incident or injury.

 

[Neal]

In the Air Force, we studied accidents to learn from them. Sharing situations like this unfortunate situation with the King Aire and the recent Canyon Star help us learn from what happened to them. It is "assumed" this King Aire was a brake fire, who knows. We've heard about New Aire issues with hot tire/wheel temps. These vehicles do not go through the same safety channels and tests that our cars do, it is higher risk so we always need to be aware and ready and do our best to mitigate issues with routine maintenance, tire monitors as they do alert on temps (properly configured), etc. Cheap insurance to have quality products helping you with safety.

 

[turbopilot]

I lived and worked in Colorado for 20 years with a cabin in the Breckenridge area. So I got to see the drama play out on either side of the Eisenhower tunnel on a weekly basis. Number one issue, particularly going down the grade to the West, is trucks running too close or over their GVWR. Class A's are simply too obese. There is no attempt to use modern materials to bring those weights down. Sometimes the TOAD braking is not optimized putting more stress on the RV brakes. The other issue I experienced in my Class A in the mountains was unusual activity of the DPF regeneration cycles, creating higher than normal temperatures in the engine compartment.

 

[No Plan]

I spend my Summer months traveling in the Rocky Mountains and I go over a good number of high mountain passes frequently. From my observation I see far too many motorhomes of all classes overtaking me barrel-assing down the descents.

 

[AbdRahim]

I spend my Summer months traveling in the Rocky Mountains and I go over a good number of high mountain passes frequently. From my observation I see far too many motorhomes of all classes overtaking me barrel-assing down the descents.

We still don’t know what the issue was. However, since we are on the subject of brakes, I will add. After surviving several scary episodes descending steep curvy grades, I now resolve to start the descent in cruise control and tow mode, 5 mph under the speed limit. Let the coach hold back, with occasional foot brake application. Stay away from trucks, as best as I can.
Slow and steady. I am no longer in a hurry to get up the hill either. 2.3 mpg, or less, racing up the hill is enough incentive to slowdown- use flashers, if necessary.

Actually, I believe the recommendation is to descend no faster than one would climb the hill.

 

[redbaron]

One comment I saw on facebook was a owner that was not using the engine brakes because they heard that the air brakes in the mountains cause over heating. Instead they just use the foot pedal.

This comment did get a lot of feedback as you might assume, but it struck me how many people are clueless. They just do not know the mechanics of what they are driving, and since no education is required, it is as bad as the flip flop wearing non-english speaking California licensed truck drivers that killed 3 people in Florida making an illegal u-turn.

There really should be a solution that addresses all drivers, regardless of vehicles. I am all for written tests and proving that you can operate the vehicle you are towing.

How many of us had a proper drivers license before driving the class of RV we own? I sure didn't. My first was a 5th wheel that requires a non-commerical class A drivers license and a 1 ton dually at minimum. I was sent on my way with a short bed 3/4 ton and didn't know any better. I thought I did good getting home without damage.

It wasn't until my 3rd Class A that I decided to get my non-commerical class B license, and by then I had already driven 100k miles with vehicles that required at least that.

Until we get enforcement of the existing laws, no new laws will help.

 

[turbopilot]

One comment I saw on facebook was a owner that was not using the engine brakes because they heard that the air brakes in the mountains cause over heating. Instead they just use the foot pedal.

This comment did get a lot of feedback as you might assume, but it struck me how many people are clueless. They just do not know the mechanics of what they are driving, and since no education is required, it is as bad as the flip flop wearing non-english speaking California licensed truck drivers that killed 3 people in Florida making an illegal u-turn.

There really should be a solution that addresses all drivers, regardless of vehicles. I am all for written tests and proving that you can operate the vehicle you are towing.

How many of us had a proper drivers license before driving the class of RV we own? I sure didn't. My first was a 5th wheel that requires a non-commerical class A drivers license and a 1 ton dually at minimum. I was sent on my way with a short bed 3/4 ton and didn't know any better. I thought I did good getting home without damage.

It wasn't until my 3rd Class A that I decided to get my non-commerical class B license, and by then I had already driven 100k miles with vehicles that required at least that.

Until we get enforcement of the existing laws, no new laws will help.

It gets worse. When I picked up my new Class A Newmar from a dealer in 2018, having had no experience driving a Class A, I asked the dealer to spend a few hours giving me some driving lessons. They flat out refused, instead claiming their insurance would not cover such education. It absolutely blew my mind, so I had no option but to take the rig out into San Diego rush hour traffic as a total newbie to get it home 150 miles away.