Well it's been kind of up and down day. Started off great, got the rest of the trim on the wagon and decided to do a short road test out to Trabuco Creek. Trailer tracked well for the 20+ miles to the creek. Headed up the trail, the trailer bounced around a lot, mostly because I didn't air down.
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Hit a couple of little hills and mud pits, had no problems.
Road down the creek bed, more bouncing, and across the creek a few times. Decided to air down the trailer at that point to see if it was any smoother. Nope! Springs are to stiff.
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Messed around for about an hour and started home.
Got to within 3 mile of the house, then disaster hit. I heard a loud thump, looked in the mirror to see the trailer tilted to one side about 45 degrees then slam to the ground. Felt something hit the back of the truck, then heard my son Randy say, "look dad, there goes a tire!" I pulled over as fast as I could and watched my 35" tire roll down Chapman Avenue through Newport Blvd intersection, thankfully it was a green light, and down the road. Without a word, Randy was out the door running down the hill after it. I got out to survey the damage.
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Thankfully the tire didn't hit anybody, that section of road is traveled heavily by motorcycles going and coming from Cooks Corner. I looked at the hub and found a couple of studs with metal shavings still attached and the outer edge of the hub rough from dragging on the asphalt. I kept looking down the road to see where Randy went but couldn't see him. After about ten minutes, I had the trailer on the jack when a car pulled up behind and out popped Randy with the tire. A nice young couple was behind us and saw the whole thing. The followed the tire for about a 1/2 mile when it finally came to a stop with in hot pursuit. Thank god he's a runner because that kind of run would have killed me. I'm really glad I decide to take my tools with me otherwise I'd been screwed without a proper socket. Got the wheel back on by taking a lug off each wheel and driving home slowly. I surveyed the damage when a got home and only found the top wrinkled a little. The whole thing must have flexed when it hit the ground and buckled the aluminum on the plywood seam. I did find some damage on the X, it looks like the tire hit the corner bumper, the friction took the bed liner right off.
What a day. Next on the list is to get softer springs and some longer shackles.
