New method for folding trailer tongue.

thataway

There is an old sailer's adage, " never start a voyage on a Friday"--which Marie reminded me of after the accident. We were very careful to follow this adage when cruising--never thought it would mean towing a C Dory!

We were bounding along some of Mississippi's I10, and I commented on the radio to Marie (I was towing the C dory behind the RV, and Marie was following with the Yukon.) about how the C Dory seemed to be bouncing a lot. She said her car was also. About 10 miles down the road some kind lady in a small pickup truck started waving at me. I couldn't hear what she was yelling about, but asked Marie if all looked OK--Yep, looks fine. I better pull over. I pulled onto the shoulder, and all looked OK, until I came to the trailer tongue!

It was bent at a 45 degree just in front of the winch post, the front jack stand was less than a half an inch off the ground, and as was the front of the trailer frame! Call to our USAA RV towing service--and within 5 minutes she had me on a conference call with "Make" at Marine Supply in Gulf Port MS. He said he could fix the trailer, or sell me another if I wanted. Now towing was a different story!

The flat bed arrived. A lot of drama, trying to pick up the trailer high enough to skid the tongue on the flat bed truck....with my holding a 4 x 4 on end, and his picking up the trailer, we were able to lift the foot of the jack and onto a piece of teflon. As he winched the boat trailer onto the truck--it became obvious that the tailer tires were wider apart than the bed of the truck, even after he pulled the side rails off.

Lots of "plan B's" failed. Finally he brought the "stinger" out, and put a ball hitch on it. I waived any resonsibility if the boat went flying, and I said I would follow closely, and if he heard 5 blasts of the air horn to stop! It was 11.5 miles on the roughest roads Gulf Port MS had to offer, and the trailer was dragging on the bumps.

There could fix the trailer, but we all agreed hat it would be far better to have a tandem axel trailer. So, for $2100 and I also bought 5 new tires, extra bearings etc. and ended up with a 7500 lb capacity trailer, which has slicks (means an extra strap and a chain forward), and looks like it was made for a C dory--and it is aluminum, plus the tongue is much shorter, and the winch post is inside of the "V" where the aluminum side channels come together. Mike and his crew worked for 4 hours, until 7PM getting us on the road again!

Photos of the folded trailer tongue later. There was no corrosion or sign of any damage. I guess the moral is --don't leave on a Friday, and watch out for MS roads! (I cannot say too many bad things because Ms. Marie is a born and bred Mississippi girl! )

Sea Wolf · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 10:02 pm Post subject:

Bob-

What a story!

Glad it worked out, and you're both OK.

Sounds like a nice new trailer.

Any other ideas about a cause?

First thing I thought about when you described it was a backing up jackknife scenario. Easy to do with a big motorhome, of course.

Have a great trip, Friday and all!

Joe. Teeth

Pedromo · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 11:11 pm Post subject:

Bob;
Happy to hear you are safe, hopefully sleeping soundly now.
My Best to you for the rest of the trip
Pedro

Wandering Sagebrush · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 11:58 pm Post subject:

Bob, that's a heck of a way to get a new trailer! I'm glad that you and Marie are both unscathed!

Sunbeam · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:49 am Post subject:

Geez, what a day! Glad it has all worked out in the end. That cyclical up/down on I-10 (or similar) always worries me - visions of the Tacoma bridge collapse in science class videos dance through my head.

Should be a pleasure towing the rest of the way with the new trailer - you deserve it after this day.

Sunbeam

Casey · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:40 am Post subject:

Interesting, to say the least.

During our trips across country I have noticed constant thump-thump-thump of concrete Interstates in areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. Sounds like your problem was more than that!

We will (ALL) be interested to see the pictures.

I'm a little confused as to your final solution. Did you repair your existing trailer or buy a new one? I can't remember if you had a single or tandem axle to begin with. Then again, $2100 sort of sounds like you bought a 7500#, aluminum tandem axle replacement. (I haven't trailer-shopped in a long time, but $2100 sounds like a good deal.)

ON EDIT: I just reread, and sounds like you have a new trailer; good decision!

Anxious to hear more details.

Best,
Casey&Mary

AstoriaDave · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 10:52 am Post subject:

Sunbeam · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 1:33 pm Post subject:

T.R. Bauer · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 1:47 pm Post subject:

I always find it interesting that the collective "we" really worry about the left to right sway that all trailers sometimes encounter. But for me, the bigger worry is the up and down oscillations that tear up everything from hitches, frames, and the trailer. I have broken mine a number of times here and there from it. Never have I heard of what happened to Bob - wow.....I really wish I could find a tandem trailer for 2100 bucks - that's good fortune! Glad you are back on the road.

Sunbeam · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:07 pm Post subject:

thataway · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 11:20 pm Post subject:

The $2100 plus the broken trailer, was for a used trailer, which had some repairs done on it--It appears to be in fairly good condition--bearings are running cool, but I want to double check the grease (was told it just had the bearings re greased.)

I have nothing but good things to say about the USAA road service. Progressive adjuster in Panama City was a bit puzzled why he was assigned the case, since the trailer was in Gulfport MS. He did call me this am, and said it had been turned over to an adjuster in Gulfport, who would probably call me on Monday. I have not idea what Progressive's take will be on the old trailer. It will be what it is..and If they re-imburse me some, that is all to the good. There was not rust, or corrosion. As the tow truck raised the tongue up and down a few times the metal was breaking along the top and sides. I think the metal was thinner than what I saw in the repair 3 x 4" Galvanized square tubing at the trailer shop.. My trailer seemed to be about 1/8" thick--the replacement and what is on the new trailer is closer to 3/16 to 1/4" wall thickness The old tailer was a "Load Rite". The new one is a Sport Trail, which got some good reviews on The Hull Truth.

I towed it with the Yukon to the RV park last night, and since we were going to get the RV serviced at Speedco, I towed it about 100 miles on the freeway. The Yukon got 11.8 mpg along the 100 mile or so tow. The RV got about 7.5 mpg for the next 200 miles we ran today. There were a lot of up and downs, on the concrete sections of I 10., and the trailer rode well. Ot our 3rd stop, I noted that one of the side bunk boards was loose, and 2 lag bolts had vibrated out. I unbolted the side boards, and put them in the truck. This evening I found a Home Depot, and got some SS bolts, some epoxy filler which we used to put new 3/8 x 1.5" lag screws The epoxy will have set up by tomorrow, and we should have resolved that problem. One think I like about the guide ons is that the aft one is a a piece of 2" PVC pipe slipped over the square tubing which holds the side bunk boards in place. Other guide-ons have been just the PVC pipe, or over aluminum tubing which bent easily. These will roll, if the boat pushes against them. (we found this out, as the "new" trailer was pushed under the boat. Is it turns out, the max beam of the C Dory was had about 2" clearance from the bunk standoffs--the bunk boards are down further on the hull, where the beam is less, and there is about 3" on each side clearance. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some photos.

colbysmith · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 12:47 am Post subject:

I can't help but ask, what kind of brakes on that new used trailer? Smile

Glad it all turned out well in the end. Sometime I'll have to share my story with you about USAA Insurance. The short of it was, they not only refused to pay out on a claim, but reneged paying a engineer that they hired. In the end I took my business elsewhere and have no problem badmouthing them any chance I get! (The rest of the story involved a ceiling collapse in my home, and the engineer they finally agreed to hire provided them with a report indicating that some coverage should have been provided. They decided to accuse him of not doing the work, confusing his work with their own 3rd party adjuster that simply came out, measured outside square footage of the house and took a few pictures inside of the damage, which was hidden behind a tarp that I had placed to keep the cold December air and insulation out of the house...) Colby

JamesTXSD · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:44 am Post subject:

It makes my hind-end pucker, thinking about what could have happened had that bent tongue busted loose! Shocked

So glad to hear that you two are OK, and you were able to get a pretty quick resolution with the trailer.

Wishing you safe travels,
Jim

Foggy · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 11:43 am Post subject:

"Never start a voyage on a Friday" brings to mind another adage: Never have
surgery on a friday or just after a holiday.

I don't want to explain this one...

Aye.

thataway · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:43 pm Post subject:

I had to get to a place with good wi fi, and mail the photos on the i phone so I could post them.

Here is a side view of the rig:

Front view:

Detail of the tongue bend--note that at the top there is some metal broken. Good point, jim, if that had sheared, the safety chains would be of no value--I think I will run cables or chains from the frame, and attach to the hitch also on the new trailer:

Finally the boat hoisted up to transfer the new trailer under after the old is pulled out. I would have used something more substantial than the two jack stands, but they were doing the job, and I had checked to be sure they had insurance before they did this!

I'll grab a photo of the new trailer for comparison, and get it up sometime later this PM or in the AM--before we leave.

Colby, I am answering your question in a PM. As for USAA, I have always had excellent service--been a member since 1967, when I was on active duty in the Army. I had called USAA the day Ivan hit, and arranged for an adjuster to come to my home ASAP--got on the list early! He arrived within a couple of days, and cut me a check for $20,000 on the spot--there were some later adjustments, and I got that check in a week. Several RV robberies and again, cut checks on the spot--a hand gun was stolen, and within a week my local fire arms dealer had a replacement sent.

On the other hand, one of my neighbors who had been a JAG Navy Captain, had the same adjustor and got basically nothing on his house, but did collect full damage on the content. The house as a total loss, BUT, the Jag officer did not have flood insurance. The storm surge filled the house--vs a tree fell on it. So you never know.