Hello all,

Well, my day has not gone well at all. I arrived at the residence in Ridgecrest which was an adventure in itself since the last 3 streets to get to him were dirt. (Think Hinckley) and when I tried to enter the driveway, the son did not open the gate all the way, and my trailer damaged it. The owner wants $80 for a new gate, and I told him to contact the guy he bought the truck from to get it as I barely have enough money for the gas back up. So I picked up the f-250 and started back to Fresno. And I called the guy who is paying me to haul it up to Chico and told him to just take it out of the $300 he was going to pay me

I get to Tehachapi and decide to pull off for gas since my second tank gauge is showing empty (I know it isn't as I have only driven 72 miles, and it does not take 18 gallons to go 72 miles not even in this gas hog. Anyway, I get out to put the gas in, and notice the driver side front wheel on the trailer is missing! And looking closer, I see there are only 3 of the 6 studs left. I know the wheel was on it when I left the residence with the truck, and it was on it when I stopped at a Mc Donald's in Ridgecrest. So, somewhere between there and here the wheel left the trailer. I did not hear it or see it leave, so I have no clue when it left. As luck would have it, there is no spare on this trailer.

So I called Allstate's roadside service first, since I have already used my 200 mile AAA service. And they tell me I have a $250 limit and it will cost $1,342 to tow me from here to Fresno. So, I call AAA and see what they can do. Since I have already used my 200 mile service, I am limited to 100 miles. And I am estimating I am 142 miles from home. So they cannot help me.

So, I am going to wait until it gets dark, (and hopefully stops raining) and then I am going to try and limp home on 3 wheels. The broken one is not touching the ground, so it should be ok. I just really don't want to get a ticket by the CHP, or worse, an accident. However, I see no other choice. Once I get to Fresno, I will take it to Les Schwab to find out how much a tire, wheel, and 6 studs will cost (might as well replace all of them at once)

I have already run out of minutes once on my prepaid cell phone with all the hold times of both companies, and am now at a Mc Donald's so I added more minutes to my phone. If I can get within 100 miles of Fresno, I can call AAA again and use my last tow. I am worried about getting over the pass though. I am not sure the trailer brakes are working correctly (if at all) but I was able to stop the truck and trailer to get in here for gas. However, it was very hard. My laptop battery is getting low and my cell phone battery is almost dead. So if anyone has any pull with the Man upstairs I would appreciate a good word.

Jim

 

Jim-

Take the 100 mile tow you have, then limp the last 42 miles. At least you'll be that much closer . And you'll be on flat land.

 

Got home about 10-15 minutes ago. Ended up driving the whole way myself. Aired up the remaining tire on the driver's side first, then when it was dark enough, I drove home at 50-52 mph most the way. Saw three accidents, which was bitter sweet. Bitter in that all three of them looked like they had injuries, and sweet, knowing that the CHP would be busy with them and not sneaking up on me. One was on the eastbound 58, and one on the westbound 58 about a mile or two east of the 99 interchange. The last one was on the southbound 99 north of Bakersfield, that one had a big rig laying on the center divider. The one on the 58 by the 99 interchange had somewhere around 6-7 vehicles involved, and some were off the embankment. Anyway, I only heard the hub strike the ground once during the whole trip, and that was about 10 miles from my home.

It was white knuckle time going through the Tehachapi pass with high winds, and blinding rain, and again on the downhill side hoping the brakes would work. However, the flat lands from Bakersfield to Fresno was a piece of cake, relatively speaking, as there were the slowdowns for the above mentioned accidents. Tomorrow, I will find someone who can drive a stick shift, and get the 93 F250 off the trailer, so I can tow it to Les Schwab's and see what it will cost to fix. Needless to say, I did not get any photos or videos of the trains running the loop.

Jim

 

Glad you made it back safely Jim. Would be good for you to assemble a 'be prepared' list of things/tools to have on hand for your next job.

 

Thanks. Yes indeed. Already bought two new tires, and wheels from Les Schwab, and am now looking for the correct lug nuts. Going to be using the original hub as it is not damaged. Driving all over California with no spare is not smart, and I kept putting it off and putting it off. Well, no more. If I can win some bids on U-Ship.com, I'll be driving a lot more, and a spare would be a wise choice.

Jim

 

Wow! Not much more to say, except, are you sure you really want to do more of this?

Your trailer hit a gate, the wheel left the trailer, you drive over the summit with 3 wheels, no spare tire, and probably no brakes.

Thank goodness for 3 accidents, only one hub bottom out, 3 lugs missing, and a Mc Donald's that sells, cell minutes besides burgers and shakes.

High winds, blinding rain, night time driving, and a pretty good downhill!

Sounds like just another day. No need for help from Above.

Just someone who can drive a stick.

Alrighty then.

 

The Mc Donald's doesn't sell cell minutes, they had free WiFi, so I logged onto Virgin Mobile's site, and added minutes. Trivial I know. I will have to say it was help from Above. I could see no other option at the time. The hub was not dragging on the ground, which is why I attempted it. Had it been sparking, I could not have done it. I kept the speed down, and just prayed I would make it.



That is what it looks like at the moment. Some of the studs that were left have been removed so I could take them to the various auto parts stores to try and find a matching set. No luck, so I will wait until tomorrow and go to a trailer supply store.



The blinding rain and high winds was the white knuckle part, no doubt about it. However, once I got to flat land, I felt pretty safe even with only three wheels on the trailer. I had some brakes, but the pedal was hard to push. The wheel that came off was not one the axle with the brake drums on it.

Normally I don't drive through the middle of nowhere to pick up a vehicle, until Friday that is. I should have stopped the truck, got out, and checked both sides before trying to enter. Hindsight is 20/20.

I will have a spare when I head out on Tuesday to Chico to deliver the truck, and will also have extra studs, and lug nuts. I have been out of work since Sept 2010, and my attempt at car flipping cost me $5k (losing $1,600 on one Jag, and on the Jetta, and losing $1,800 on the white Jag), I need some way of getting a steady income. And since I have the truck and trailer already, I see this as the only option available to me at the moment. I can only sell so many vehicle before I run out of money and end up back on the street.

Jim

 

A possible traveling checklist...

Torque wrench for trailer studs. Check!

Dust cap for bearings. Check!

Extra cell phone battery. Check!

7 pin trailer connector vs 4 pin for brakes. Check!

Spare tire with retreads. Rim too. Check!

Big towing mirrors. Check!

Buying and selling Jags for profit. No check!

Big Bible! Check.

Sounds like we're ready to go.

Jim, you know we have to have some fun after that story. That's crazy!

Just hope that loose tire ended up somewhere without incident.


Have a safe trip Tuesday.

 

dont froget a jack!!! and a hammer and drift punch to drive out old studs and hammer in new studs!

question..... have you owned the trailer for some time or just get it? im intrigued by all the fresh rust marks and cutoff wheel marks on the hub flange......im assuming that was pre existing prior to the lost wheel?

 

Yes indeed, I can laugh about it now, but it was interesting to say the least when I was going through it.

I have owned the trailer for about 6 months now. I have never had any of the wheels off, but since the hub was exposed to driving rain, during 50+ miles of the trip, I just assumed it was caused by that. What I don't understand is how it could have left the trailer without me hearing/seeing it. I didn't feel any vibrations that one would expect from a wobbly trailer wheel.

Jim

 

Thanks, hopefully it will be uneventful.

Jim

 

cant come to a logical reason why you didn't see or hear or feel the wheel jettison..... then again i have not had an issue with looseing my trailer parts.... and hope to never experience that.


looking at the picture of the flange more, it looks like the missing stud may have been missing for some time..... of course its possible it flew out when things started going bad. when you got the trailer did you happen to notice if any lug studs or nuts were missing?

none the less glad ya got back ok..... worse come to worse i bet we could of rustled up a FTE roadside repair crew.

 

on 2nd though jim..... you said you got this trailer 6 month's ago? have you done any inspecting on this trailer?

me personally for whats its worth i highly recommend pulling all the wheels off and looking around. you have had one wheel go MIA, likley due to overtighting of the lug studs, or possible sabotage with a grinder from the previous owner or mechanic. the last thing you need is another wheel coming loose. i would recommend pulling each wheel off one by one and checking the lug studs for obvious stretching or cracking.....

also to make sure the breaks are at least trying to work, take the empty trailer to a dirt field or road and manually apply the trailer brakes via your brake controller and pull the trailer at the same time, they should lock up in the dirt.


my recommendations are all projects you should be able to take care of on your own. and i think you should try to do before heading to Chico. if you cant check the lug studs you should take at least 6 spare studs and nuts with you and the tools to replace them with.

 

Jim,

I usually only reservedly offer unsolicited advice, but this time I feel like I can do nothing else. I am not trying to be unkind, but only trying to save you from having the pants sued off you IF and (more likely) WHEN a major mishap of your own making occurs.

You are not prepared to do this kind of work! It became clear to me when you told us you have owned the trailer for six months and never had the wheels off.

In the first week of owning it, you SHOULD have had it up on stands with all the wheels off for a complete inspection of everything having to do with the integrity of the trailer. That would have included a complete inspection of the hitch, frame, wiring and brakes, and then cleaning, inspecting, and re-packing the wheel bearings! Any tire date-coded over three years would have been replaced.

You mention taking it to be repaired. If you don't know how, or otherwise can't do this ALL yourself, you shouldn't be in this business, and are only going to lose more and more money as time goes on.

Justin offered you some advice about hammering in new studs, but he had to assume you already knew that the hub HAS to be off the spindle when hammering on a hub. That kind of shock loading on a hub that's still on its bearings will absolutely KILL the bearings, and you won't be down the road a hundred miles before bearing failure. Since I'm now betting you DON'T know this, it goes further to show that you don't belong in the vehicle moving or hot-shot business.

If you can't re-pack your own wheel bearings, how can you change a flat tire on the side of the road? If you are to depend on Triple-A for roadside maintenance, you'll go broke in no-time.

Since one tire has now been doing the job of two, it's been grossly overloaded for at least a hundred miles. It, too, should be replaced, the sooner the better!

I'm sorry to be so pessimistic, but this seriously does not portend well at all!

Pop Curmudgeon

 

(just to clarify on my past statement)

hamming studs in is usually only reserved for emergency roadside repair or when the hub is off the axle and your installing them...... normally when i replace studs i use a different method.