2008-04-02
Trailer Repairs
As we were about 15 hours from home we decided that we would push and get home in two days. April 1st was one of those long, boring driving days. The first couple of hours were on the Natchez Trace while the rest was on big highways. All in all an uneventful day with a night at a Wal-Mart just north of Cincinnati.
This morning we got on the road early and as we were driving through Dayton in a construction zone and car pull up beside us and pointed at the trailer. We got the message that there was a problem and pull over as soon as the construction zone ended. Generally if you have a problem, it's a flat tire, the hand rail sticking out, a cord hanging out or something else like that. As none of those items were evident, Ed stood back and looked at the trailer and noticed it was leaning to one side. Looking under the trailer he saw that a spring on the passenger side was broken. Luckily we were stopped just before an off ramp and there was a gas station with a reasonable sized parking lot at the bottom of the ramp. Borrowing a phone book, Ed found the number of a spring shop, it was only a few kilometers away and better yet if they didn't have the correct spring they could make us one. Ed crawled under the trailer and with only a few curses removed the broken spring then drove the truck to the spring shop and picked up a new spring (they had one that just need a minor change). It just took a few minutes to put the new spring on and we were on our way. The whole process only took two hours. If we had gone the route of a tow and a shop repairing the spring we would have gotten at least a day in Dayton.
The border crossing was a breeze. The guard asked for the truck license plate, when we left and if we had any alcohol. The fellow in front of us wasn't so lucky he was directed to the inspection station.
As this was our first trip to Walkerton from the Sarnia border crossing with the trailer the route was untried. Luckily Ed was more awake than I was a noticed a sign with a bridge height that was lower than the trailer. We pulled into a farm driveway to turn around and the farmer came out and gave us directions around the bridge. When we arrived home we parked the trailer in the middle of the driveway, grabbed a few necessities and went into the house to collapse for the night.
This morning we got on the road early and as we were driving through Dayton in a construction zone and car pull up beside us and pointed at the trailer. We got the message that there was a problem and pull over as soon as the construction zone ended. Generally if you have a problem, it's a flat tire, the hand rail sticking out, a cord hanging out or something else like that. As none of those items were evident, Ed stood back and looked at the trailer and noticed it was leaning to one side. Looking under the trailer he saw that a spring on the passenger side was broken. Luckily we were stopped just before an off ramp and there was a gas station with a reasonable sized parking lot at the bottom of the ramp. Borrowing a phone book, Ed found the number of a spring shop, it was only a few kilometers away and better yet if they didn't have the correct spring they could make us one. Ed crawled under the trailer and with only a few curses removed the broken spring then drove the truck to the spring shop and picked up a new spring (they had one that just need a minor change). It just took a few minutes to put the new spring on and we were on our way. The whole process only took two hours. If we had gone the route of a tow and a shop repairing the spring we would have gotten at least a day in Dayton.
The border crossing was a breeze. The guard asked for the truck license plate, when we left and if we had any alcohol. The fellow in front of us wasn't so lucky he was directed to the inspection station.
As this was our first trip to Walkerton from the Sarnia border crossing with the trailer the route was untried. Luckily Ed was more awake than I was a noticed a sign with a bridge height that was lower than the trailer. We pulled into a farm driveway to turn around and the farmer came out and gave us directions around the bridge. When we arrived home we parked the trailer in the middle of the driveway, grabbed a few necessities and went into the house to collapse for the night.
# posted by The Agnew Family @ 9:41 AM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
