A cautionary story. A lapse of attention, a bit of fatigue, along with late afternoon traffic and things can go bad fast.
A few weeks ago I set out to hit a river to do some water sampling. In tow behind my FJ60 was my 14' johnboat. It was late afternoon and I was waiting to pull into traffic. I had to cross two lanes then make a left turn into the lane I needed. A good break in the flow of traffic finally developed and I pulled straight out across the two lanes then made a left turn into the lane I needed. But I failed to note how sharply I was turning and the sign posts in the median. I heard and felt a loud noise and looked in the mirror just in time to see the left side of the trailer and boat in the air.
I immediately pulled off the road to inspect the damage.
The edge of the left wheel caught the sign perfectly which peeled it back, but the tire was still holding air. The axle stub was bent and on closer inspection I noticed the central beam was bent. Needless to say this threw a huge wrench into my planned trip. I changed the tire but noticed that it was rubbing against the leaf spring. Great, and I had about 35 miles to get home. I decided to give it a shot and hit the road.
Within a couple of miles I passed a state trooper thinking there was no way he would not pull me over. I was correct. We had a nice little talk and no ticket
. His concern was that the trailer was angled toward the center line and that it could track over into the on-coming traffic. I had been aware of this and had been watching the trailer closely. Dilemma was leave the trailer and boat somewhere overnight where it may be stolen or press on. His words on this were, "Damned if you do and damned if you don't." I pressed on. Within a couple of miles I could smell burning rubber. The leaf spring had been shaving off bits of the new tire bringing to mind the question of whether it would hold out or not. It did and a nice accumulation of rubber shavings piled up on the trailer.
I held my speed to < 45, constantly checking the mirror to ensure the trailer was tracking in the appropriate lane and made it back without any other real issues. Except that I completely trashed the trailer and it needs to be replaced.
A few weeks ago I set out to hit a river to do some water sampling. In tow behind my FJ60 was my 14' johnboat. It was late afternoon and I was waiting to pull into traffic. I had to cross two lanes then make a left turn into the lane I needed. A good break in the flow of traffic finally developed and I pulled straight out across the two lanes then made a left turn into the lane I needed. But I failed to note how sharply I was turning and the sign posts in the median. I heard and felt a loud noise and looked in the mirror just in time to see the left side of the trailer and boat in the air.
I immediately pulled off the road to inspect the damage. The edge of the left wheel caught the sign perfectly which peeled it back, but the tire was still holding air. The axle stub was bent and on closer inspection I noticed the central beam was bent. Needless to say this threw a huge wrench into my planned trip. I changed the tire but noticed that it was rubbing against the leaf spring. Great, and I had about 35 miles to get home. I decided to give it a shot and hit the road.
Within a couple of miles I passed a state trooper thinking there was no way he would not pull me over. I was correct. We had a nice little talk and no ticket
. His concern was that the trailer was angled toward the center line and that it could track over into the on-coming traffic. I had been aware of this and had been watching the trailer closely. Dilemma was leave the trailer and boat somewhere overnight where it may be stolen or press on. His words on this were, "Damned if you do and damned if you don't." I pressed on. Within a couple of miles I could smell burning rubber. The leaf spring had been shaving off bits of the new tire bringing to mind the question of whether it would hold out or not. It did and a nice accumulation of rubber shavings piled up on the trailer. I held my speed to < 45, constantly checking the mirror to ensure the trailer was tracking in the appropriate lane and made it back without any other real issues. Except that I completely trashed the trailer and it needs to be replaced.
I felt obliged to post 'em.
