Here are my Harlan pics...
Back to the trailer after finding the wheel on the 3rd trip along US52...
Close up of the wheel, think its salvageable...
Close up of the hub, note how nicely shaved down the studs are, must be a weight saving thing...
Now for the story.
Truth be told, I'm a friggin idiot and lucky to not have had a big problem. My trip was reliant upon someone standing in for me on Friday at Durham Academy. The guy who agreed to do it got "the junk" and was sick Mon-Wed. Never made contact with him until after mid-day Thur, he was well enough to do the duty which put the trip back on.
Getting home ~7:30 Thur, I started packing and getting everything ready to leave at 2am Friday. Since I already had everything laid out, all I had to do was load the trailer/FJC, fill the water tank and do a check of all things. Checked lights, wiring, coupling, tire pressures, ARB fridge functioning filled with a double batch of chili, plenty of beer, rain gear, extra towels, tarp, camera, batteries. All was good but something kept me from sleeping well, something I missed.
Leave a little after 2am after making a thermos full of espresso, grabbed the dog and pulled out. Only trips with the trailer had been quick shake-down trips around Green Level Rd, around Jordan and it towed great. Same Friday morning. Heading through the streets to Hwy 55, gradually increasing road speeds to Hwy 40 and all is great at 65 mph.
Making my way through Greensboro heading north, planning on taking the "fast" way through Bristol. Heading past W-S, I feel a little wobble going over an overpass, didn't think much of it since it was one that was kind of off-camber. Somewhere around the Hwy 8 exit, I feel another "thump", thought I hit a pot hole or something. All is driving fine, look in the mirrors and don't not anything odd.
Bare in mind that the trailer is the same width as the FJC, if not a bit more narrow and thats at the outside of the fender. In the darkness of 4:30 in the morning or so, all I could see is the glow of the marker lights unless I passed under a street light. Going under an underpass, I hear something like is dragging. Look around again, nothing odd that I can see. Hell, I've got to make time, no need to slow down and check things out, right?
Go under another underpass, sound is still there, intelligence finally kicks in and I decide to take the next off-ramp and check things out. Pull over, get out and find I'm missing a wheel. Dang, I hate it when that happens. Realizing I'm nearly in Mt. Pilot, I figure I'd best find help back in W-S or G-boro. Being 3 hours until anything opens, I decide to drive over the route to see if I could find the wheel. The tire only had under 200 miles on it and I didn't want to have to pony up for a new tire also. Couldn't find it. figured it bounced off the guardrail and was wedged in someone's grill/windshield/front porch.
Found a Northern Tool and across Hwy 40 was a trailer supply/repair business in Colfax. Figured one or the other would be able help me out with either a new hub or replace the studs in the existing hub but neither opened until 8am. The guys at Colfax Trailer & Repair were very helpful and had what I needed. So, with a new hub in hand, it was back to the trailer to pull the old hub, install the new hub, put the spare on and get back on the road.
On the way back to the trailer, while talking to Greg on the phone, I spy my wheel laying agains the center guard rail. I pull over, jump out and recover it.
The hub swap was a piece of cake, 10 min max. Then came jacking up the trailer, that became a new issue. Having not jacked it up loaded before, it took me a few tries to find the right place to put the Hi-Lift so it would stand up, not tip over. Then, I had to find a way to bend/re-shape the fender so I could get the wheel back on. This part of the task took some time.
The amazing part was how many people stopped to offer help. If this happened in Cary, I'd probably been run over by all the commuters. I was not on the highway, I parked it at the end of the off-ramp at the widest place I could find, having it completely off the road on the shoulder. I had 4 different people stop to offer help. Either I looked like an accident ready to happen or the people of King NC were very friendly. Couple guys stopped to shoot the sh!t for a while to check out the FJC and the trailer.
Moral of the story, one I'll never forget again...check your lug nuts. I'd like to place blame somewhere else but it can't be anything other than what it was, lack of planning on my part, rushing and not paying attention to the details. This could have been much worse than the cost of a new hub, the time I burned replacing it and missing a day of wheeling with my buds.
So sorry I missed out on Friday's wheeling and hanging with everyone. Yet, I'm also glad to have put my trailer through this ridiculous test. No issues other than the hub, no broken welds, twisting of anything else, just a well abused hub. Yet, all things happen for a reason. I cheaped out with the fenders on the trailer and this motivated me to get rid of them and do the tube fenders I originally planned on.
I deserve any abuse, ridicule, flogging or just plain laughing at for being stupid. Hopefully, this incident will help remind anyone else how important the little things are in our ventures into the great outdoors...
That sucks! Glad you got out with minimal damage. I have a couple more of those wheels if you want them.
R
). My only other regret is that we could not show you guys more of the park, what you saw was just the tip of the iceberg!
