Post by exit282 on Sept 14, 2015 10:44:40 GMT -8
So, I joined this site after I'd already purchased my trailer (broken rule #1) but I own a business that deals in other vintage goodies and my husband and I have done some pretty crazy things. We joke that everything we work on is either large or awkward. Even though this was both I still felt confident in our ability to get "her" home. After all, it meant moving her less than 30 miles. How hard could THAT be?
The plan (hahahaha) was to haul it with our Chevy 2500 HD and I would follow behind in our Jeep with the four ways on to remedy the no tail light issue. I told my husband I recalled seeing a list on this forum of what to take with you when you go pick up your trailer. We packed everything on the list (and then some) with the exception of one little teeny weeny what-the-heck-would-we-need-that-for? item, a shovel. (broken rule #2).
Setting the tone for the day was the discovery that the hinge on the Jeep driver's door was bent and the door would not shut properly. Choosing to deal with that later we roped it closed and I climbed through the passenger door, over the gear shift and into the seat to drive.
When we arrived to get her we were met by the woman selling her (who looked like a miniature Mimi from the Drew Carey show) and after I paid her the balance she gave us the fourth tire for the trailer which, up until this point, she'd had at her house. I glanced at it and, having some experience with cargo trailers, remember thinking "wow, that looks like a big tire . . . " She tossed a quick "good luck" over her shoulder as she hastily left.
First thing my hubby notices is the heavy duty air pump he brought is refusing to work. First trip to town (and we are in the Northwoods of Michigan so when I say "town" I mean a place with one traffic light) is to buy the only pump we could get our hands on. It seriously looked like a toy. Back to the trailer where we hook it up to the lighter in the jeep (climbing in and out of the passenger door) and realize we will be there 'til christmas using this thing to pump up the tires.
My husband decides to go ahead and mount the tire that she brought us. The one I said I thought looked big? Yeah, that one. He used a three ton jack and a stack of two by fours to raise her high enough to get the tire on. No luck, not happenin'. The simple answer was to dig (whaaaaaa?) out from underneath to have room to get the tire on. But for that you'd need a SHOVEL! (see paragraph 2). We improvised with a claw hammer and tin can. Although we made a pretty decent dent in the gravel and dirt and had the trailer jacked up on something that looked like Dr. Suess drew, we still couldn't get this tire (actually a truck tire) on the axle. Final solution? Let the air out of it, mount it and wait forever for the toy air compressor, currently struggling to blow up the already mounted tires, to put the air back in.
Two and a half HOURS of digging and cranking and sweating and swearing (mostly by my husband) and a great deal of hand wringing (by me) and we FINALLY have it on four tires. Filled, for the time being, with air. Needless to say I shed a few tears when we pulled out and headed down the road. To see her (whom at this point I've named Stella - large and in charge) proudly rolling down the road like she owned it just touched my heart.
The rolling part was short lived.
Stella made it about 10 miles before her one of her oversized "shoes" breathed its last. Into a roadside park (thank you God for putting it in the right spot) where we put it back up on the Dr. Suess jack again and took the blown tire off. Into town (this time to the big city) where the guy just happened to have a trailer tire sitting around that he sold us for $10. Back to the park and on the road again where, for the most part, the next 15 miles was uneventful. Occasionally a small chunk of roofing would fly off and bounce into the ditch but that was about it. We got lots of honks and stares - remember, this thing is 28 feet long and green as a pickle!
We were in the home stretch - within 5 miles of home - when I notice some black smoke coming from a tire on the opposite side of the new one. I'm out in the left lane (thank goodness for quiet country roads) honking and flashing my lights and trying to call on the cell phone (all while operating a manual transmission) to get the attention of my (I love you, Honey) oblivious husband. Finally the whole tread comes off and bounces over the hood of the Jeep. I gunned it past him and got him to stop. No quickly hopping out to talk to him because I'm roped in my vehicle but he walked back and looked at the shredded tire. All that was left was the deflated tube wrapped around the rim.
"Let's go", he said.
The last five miles we limped with the tube flip flop flopping on the rim. When we rounded the corner and made it up the quarter mile drive to the house I couldn't believe it! Sure the dog coughed up a lung barking at her, but Stella was HOME and I couldn't get the grin off my face!
So - fellow trailer lovers - everything they say about it not being easy is absolutely TRUE. But absolutely worth all the energy and effort. The love of all things vintage is something that's hard to explain. If you got it, you get it! I sincerely look forward to benefiting from all the wisdom provided here even though I'm off to a poor start following it!
The plan (hahahaha) was to haul it with our Chevy 2500 HD and I would follow behind in our Jeep with the four ways on to remedy the no tail light issue. I told my husband I recalled seeing a list on this forum of what to take with you when you go pick up your trailer. We packed everything on the list (and then some) with the exception of one little teeny weeny what-the-heck-would-we-need-that-for? item, a shovel. (broken rule #2).
Setting the tone for the day was the discovery that the hinge on the Jeep driver's door was bent and the door would not shut properly. Choosing to deal with that later we roped it closed and I climbed through the passenger door, over the gear shift and into the seat to drive.
When we arrived to get her we were met by the woman selling her (who looked like a miniature Mimi from the Drew Carey show) and after I paid her the balance she gave us the fourth tire for the trailer which, up until this point, she'd had at her house. I glanced at it and, having some experience with cargo trailers, remember thinking "wow, that looks like a big tire . . . " She tossed a quick "good luck" over her shoulder as she hastily left.
First thing my hubby notices is the heavy duty air pump he brought is refusing to work. First trip to town (and we are in the Northwoods of Michigan so when I say "town" I mean a place with one traffic light) is to buy the only pump we could get our hands on. It seriously looked like a toy. Back to the trailer where we hook it up to the lighter in the jeep (climbing in and out of the passenger door) and realize we will be there 'til christmas using this thing to pump up the tires.
My husband decides to go ahead and mount the tire that she brought us. The one I said I thought looked big? Yeah, that one. He used a three ton jack and a stack of two by fours to raise her high enough to get the tire on. No luck, not happenin'. The simple answer was to dig (whaaaaaa?) out from underneath to have room to get the tire on. But for that you'd need a SHOVEL! (see paragraph 2). We improvised with a claw hammer and tin can. Although we made a pretty decent dent in the gravel and dirt and had the trailer jacked up on something that looked like Dr. Suess drew, we still couldn't get this tire (actually a truck tire) on the axle. Final solution? Let the air out of it, mount it and wait forever for the toy air compressor, currently struggling to blow up the already mounted tires, to put the air back in.
Two and a half HOURS of digging and cranking and sweating and swearing (mostly by my husband) and a great deal of hand wringing (by me) and we FINALLY have it on four tires. Filled, for the time being, with air. Needless to say I shed a few tears when we pulled out and headed down the road. To see her (whom at this point I've named Stella - large and in charge) proudly rolling down the road like she owned it just touched my heart.
The rolling part was short lived.
Stella made it about 10 miles before her one of her oversized "shoes" breathed its last. Into a roadside park (thank you God for putting it in the right spot) where we put it back up on the Dr. Suess jack again and took the blown tire off. Into town (this time to the big city) where the guy just happened to have a trailer tire sitting around that he sold us for $10. Back to the park and on the road again where, for the most part, the next 15 miles was uneventful. Occasionally a small chunk of roofing would fly off and bounce into the ditch but that was about it. We got lots of honks and stares - remember, this thing is 28 feet long and green as a pickle!
We were in the home stretch - within 5 miles of home - when I notice some black smoke coming from a tire on the opposite side of the new one. I'm out in the left lane (thank goodness for quiet country roads) honking and flashing my lights and trying to call on the cell phone (all while operating a manual transmission) to get the attention of my (I love you, Honey) oblivious husband. Finally the whole tread comes off and bounces over the hood of the Jeep. I gunned it past him and got him to stop. No quickly hopping out to talk to him because I'm roped in my vehicle but he walked back and looked at the shredded tire. All that was left was the deflated tube wrapped around the rim.
"Let's go", he said.
The last five miles we limped with the tube flip flop flopping on the rim. When we rounded the corner and made it up the quarter mile drive to the house I couldn't believe it! Sure the dog coughed up a lung barking at her, but Stella was HOME and I couldn't get the grin off my face!
So - fellow trailer lovers - everything they say about it not being easy is absolutely TRUE. But absolutely worth all the energy and effort. The love of all things vintage is something that's hard to explain. If you got it, you get it! I sincerely look forward to benefiting from all the wisdom provided here even though I'm off to a poor start following it!
