This has been the year to fix/repair our TD.

[Mark & Andrea Jones]

First of all, we have had some water damage on the sides that we were planning to fix, but never got "around-to-it" somehow. So, this year, in planning our annual summer vacation to the Smokies in July, we decided that we didn't want the sides to be seen "naked" in public - they were that bad. We had two choices. Renovate or Build. The money issue decided that we were going to "renovate" the tear.

We spent two weekends in May pulling off the old trim and doors, cutting aluminum to fit (fortunately, we still had the pattern from when we built the TD in 2006), and putting it all back on. In the process, we repainted the frame black, also. We used VICOR underneath of the aluminum to help with waterproofing in the appropriate places. We left the roof alone (it was EPDM rubber roofing and in great shape). It was looking REALLY nice when we got done and everybody at the campground thought that we had traded up for a new one. I'll need to upload new pics of the "renovated" TD. That might take a few days.

In July, on our way back, we were about an hour from home, traveling north on I-81 at 65 mph in the left lane in bumper-to-bumper in traffic beside of a semi, when the passenger tire on the TD started smoking. Fortunately, the semi driver saw it happening and he slowed down to let us over to the right side of the road. By that time we were running on the rim - no tire left. So, we changed the tire on the side of the road and impressed the heck out of the cop who stopped and realized that we knew what we were doing AND had all the tools necessary. All he had to do was to sit there and look functional. Well, we got out of that one by being lucky, so we decided that it was time to replace ALL of the tires and the one rim. In the pic below, you can still see the black rubber marks from the "flat" tire.


So, we have taken a couple of camping trips this fall, and I decided that I was going to take a weekend off to go to Breaks Interstate Park to do a little whitewater paddling. Mark didn't want to go, so I took the dog, met some friends there and had a wonderful weekend on the river. Yesterday afternoon, I called Mark to tell him that I was leaving the campground and that I'd be home by 6 pm - thinking that would be after I did the trailer-tour thing at least twice. I went to the overlook to get some pics and danged if I didn't get shanghied by about 12 people who didn't know what a TD was. Tour #1.


After leaving the park (all of our friends had left about 2 hrs beforehand because they didn't have trailers to pack up to go), I was traveling towards Grundy, VA on a small, 2 lane, paved road (found out later that it is called "Cow Pass Road") that wasn't even wide enough to warrant a line down the middle when I heard a metallic thunk and a clank or two. Uh, oh, I thought. That's REALLY NOT GOOD. So, I stopped immediately (in the middle of the road- no pulloffs), put the blinkers on and went back to see what happened. I must have hit one too many bumps and the tongue simply said "No More!". It was bent like a pretzel and the only thing keeping it off the ground (by about 2 inches) was the wheel on the jack.


So, the next thing is do I have cell phone signal?? Nope. Nothing. I went up to the house that I had stopped in front of and found a frail, older woman on the front porch who was VERY generous to let me use her phone (and phone book!) to call a tow truck - the only one for about an hour in ANY direction. "Kenny" finally showed up 30 min later. He asked me if the trailer was overloaded. Nope, I said, only weighs about 1200 lbs unloaded, tongue weight about 130 lbs (showed him the TD - Tour #2). One of his buddies also comes up behind the TD in his truck while this is going on and gave him a hand. They winched the TD about half way up the flatbed, then the tow truck driver tells his buddy "Hey, you've got to see the inside of this thing." Tour #3. So, the TD got winched up, chained down, and the tow truck driver is going to store it at his shop until we can go get it next weekend. Oh, I also got a better pic of the damage as it was being winched up.


I realized as I was leaving the tow truck and headed to Grundy that within the next 1/4 mile, I would have been going up a major grade (10-15%) and over "Cow Pass". If this had happened when I was going up the pass or down the other side, this would have been MUCH more serious. OR I could have been driving 60 mph along the road. Ugh.

Oh, and you want to know what else?? I asked him how much I owed him and he said "Oh, we'll settle up next weekend." Yikes! AND after I drove off, I realized that I had his number/shop location, but he didn't have my information. Since I was driving into Grundy anyway, I left a business card on his door with my contact information. I don't imagine that we'll get it back again without at least another tour for SOMEONE.

The only thing that Mark & I (and the tow truck driver) can figure is that there were stress fractures on the tongue from 6 years of cranking the jack up in the front. The jack is mounted on the side of the tongue and there was always a perceptible twist of the tongue as it was cranked up to level it for sleeping or load it onto the ball for towing. The tongue is completely toast.

So, we will need to (at a VERY minimum) replace the tongue. However, I am so tempted to COMPLETELY replace the entire frame and axle. The axle is the only major "thing" that we haven't renovated/replaced this year so it is only a matter of time before it blows out and if that happens, I don't think there will be enough left to renovate/repair. We will also have to change our basket in the front because we'll have to put the jack on one of the cross pieces that attach to the tongue - instead of the tongue itself. That means that either the tongue has to be longer or the basket has to become smaller. <sigh> More renovation. I'm guessing that that will not happen until the spring when we are prepping for our summer vacation.

So, its been an eventful 6 months. I hope you're not as exhausted as I am just from telling you the story. At least I had a great weekend on the river with a fine bunch of friends.


AJ

[S. Heisley]

Sorry to hear about your trailer. You'd think the chassis would be tougher than that. But, it does look like you had great fun on the river and got to tell an interesting story, complete with several tours!

Hopefully, your pick-up and repair work will go smoothly and not cost you too much.

[Mark & Andrea Jones]

No modifications to the original trailer frame. It was a 5 x 8 from Little Red Trailer - came in a box and put together with an impact wrench. The only thing we did differently was to make the tongue fixed instead of a tilt trailer.

I'm pretty sure the tires are 12" tires. Six years ago, we didn't think it was necessary to change it. Not sure if we will now.

Ah, well. Just goes to show that if the tongue is twisting while cranking the jack, you WILL eventually have failure where it connects to the cross bracing - even if it happens 6 years later. Just wanted to show you so that you guys can plan ahead on making the appropriate adjustments.

Except for the fact that we now have to drive back 3.5 hrs to bring the TD home THIS weekend, it really was a good weekend.

AJ

[CARS]

Sorry to hear about your "adventure". Glad it wasn't more serious.

When you retrieve your tear could you do us a favor and tell us what size and wall thickness of the tongue tube? I am curious to see if it's 2" box, 1/4" thick tubing. Alot of people suggest that we are all over building our trailers. That may be true but as you found out, light has it's limits.

[bobhenry]

2X2X1/8 or even less is my guess. You won't bend 2x2x 1/4 with that kind of tongue weight and you arn't going to twist it either.
I was having issues with the long single beam tongue on the barn until we undertrussed it. That would be a good repair for this type of damage.

Let me see if I can find the post

Had a major engineering rebuild on the tongue. It had bent as some of you said it would and I jacked it back into position but it needed more so we trussed it by using 1 1/2 flat stock and a 4" piece of 1 1/2 square tube. Placed the tube at the front rail of the trailer frame under the tongue and the flat strap was welded to this tube and 3 feet forward and another 3 feet to the rear. A saddle was placed over the square tube and welded to each piece of flat stock to connect them and relieve some of the strain on the tube weld. Then we tensioned the strap by mashing with a monster "c" clamp and welded the edges at both ends. This effectively makes a truss out of my extra long tongue As the tongue load increases the front strap tensions and actually lifts the leading edge of the frame while the rear also tensions to assist the front strap. I know clear as mud but it worked and you can play a tune on the straps.
I'll try and get some pics because this was a very good repair method.



In this pic you can just see the hint of the truss highlighted by the snow behind.

Here is a rough drawing of before and after.

[Mark & Andrea Jones]

Sorry to hear about your "adventure". Glad it wasn't more serious.

When you retrieve your tear could you do us a favor and tell us what size and wall thickness of the tongue tube? I am curious to see if it's 2" box, 1/4" thick tubing. Alot of people suggest that we are all over building our trailers. That may be true but as you found out, light has it's limits.

It was manufactured in China, so who knows??? I think it is probably 2x2 box, but the thickness??? That's anybody's guess! Bobhenry's got a good point. (Thanks for the engineering suggestion!) I just don't have a clue.

We're still tossing ideas around as to what to repair and how far we want to take the repair. We're going to bring it home on Saturday. Then we'll probably wrap it up for the winter and work on it in the spring. I guess after we fix the tongue issue, we'll have a great little trailer that we can sell once we start building our NEXT one.

AJ

[bobhenry]

I edited my post above with a little drawing of the repair. As I looked at it I realized I actually took the 2x2x3/16 square tube clear to the rear. Made a great reciever.





If it was my delima I would try and jack the tongue at the bend while coupled to a vehicle in an attempt to straighten the tongue enough to be repaired. You might find a good welding / metal fabrication shop and toss this drawing past them. A lot would rest on whether the original material is heavy enough to weld comfortably. I am almost guessing it is formed gauge stock as 2x2 structural tube starts at 1/8"

[asianflava]

Luckily it was at relatively low speed and it didn't totally break off. I was probably doing 60mph on an interstate when it happened to me. Heard a noise, but didn't know what happened until I saw my trailer getting smaller in my rearview mirror.

Although my trailer was a bit overloaded, I think it was more due to the road surface. It was rough with expansion joints and compression dips. It probably hammered the tongue.

I felt that my tongue was a little weak to begin with, it was 2x2x1/8, I cut off 18in to buy me a little headroom. When it broke, I wanted to replace it with 2x3x3/16 but the repair place couldn't get it so they used 2x4x1/4, which is total overkill. I also had them lengthen it by 18in (back to the original length) so now it is much easier to backup.

The tow bill, motel room, and repair added about $700 to my trip. I'm just so glad that nobody got hurt. That $700 would be a drop in the bucket if somebody did.