What do you think happened

[tech4]

Let’s see if any of you truckers and mechanics can help me figure out what happened to me today. I was on the expressway today doing about 70mph when a 18 wheeler was passing me. Just as the 18 wheeler was abreast me there was a loud bang that sounded like a shotgun. I thought the truck had a blow out and I slowed down to let the truck pull in front and pull to the side of the road. He did slow down and put his blinker on to pull over but there was a car in the emergency lane. I could see no tires blown out. The truck then speeded back up and I passed him but he did not pull over.
Now my question: what do you think this loud bang was? I did not see any flash or smoke. I did not see any rubber coming off the tires. I did not feel or see any damage to my car. I don’t think diesels backfire and as I said no smoke or flash. I can’t see it being a blown tire without some debris or tire wobble. How about the air brake tank? I won’t mention if I needed an underwear change

[nutrivet]

First off, I'm glad to see you here and was wondering wth is going on. Did something look like debri and dust flying off the trailer? container? Anything else would have been evident, tire, engine. Something else was going on. The driver didn't run into the emergency lane vehicle. There have been cases recently where idiots fired on trucks from close to the road. It may be he received a shot and wanted to investigate but figured he should go down the road a piece.

[markkw]

Could have been any number of things but I'd say if it was an older truck/trailer, could have been a steel spring breaking ... a newer one it could have been an air-spring blowing out. Could have been a crossmember on the trailer breaking free or the coyote in the trailer whacking one of the illegals. It could very well have been the spare tire or if it was a refer, the battery for the refer unit blowing up.

[Johnboy]

Potatoe rock from jobsite gets stuck between duals and, blammo! Happened to my service truck once. Yup, had to change shorts!