Adventures in Towing

Today, I went to Ga. to pick up the Mav. Sprint, a 350+ mile trip each way. It is hard enough on an old man to drive a tow vehicle 700+ miles in a day with no problems, but with some takes it over the edge.

Going up was no problem, and Mark Lee, the seller, was a great guy to deal with. We loaded the car and all the stuff, settled on the money, and I was on my merry way home. I had left Ocala at 6 am, so I gave myself plenty of time to get back home before dark with the car, that is, if no problems occurred.

Well, about 60 miles from home, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw smoke coming out of the wheels on the trailer. I immediately pulled over and flames were coming out of the back hub. I went to get the fire extinguisher and realized I had left it in the black Cougar when I took it to the last show. I could not flag anybody down on the interstate(jerks) and was beginning to panic. Fortunately, the fire went out.

It looked like the dust cap had come off and all the grease went away for the bearings and they cooked themselves. the wheel would not turn, frozen tight. I took the tire off and thought about how I was going to get home. After a bit, I took the jack and raised the axle as high as I could and got one of the 3 chains I had used to tie the car down on the trailer, in addition to tie downs.

I took the fender off the trailer. Then, I rapped the chain around the axle just behind the hub and secured it, then secured the other end to the center brace on the Mav. that the strut rods fit into under the radiator and tightened it so the the hub stayed off the ground. Thank God for tandem trailers! Then I proceeded slowly up the road on three wheels. By taking it slow and saying a lot of prayers, I made the 60 mile rest of the trip and the car is finally home, only 2 hours late! Tomorrow, when it is light, I will examine the damage. Tonight, it Mich. Time!

Anybody else have any towing stories?

Jim

 

We must be kin somehow. You have my luck! Glad you got home safely!!

 

a couple of weeks ago i was going to the track and blew out a left truck tire at 75 mph with a big rig next to me. got it stopped. when i went to get the jack i looked at the drivers side trailer tire and saw that a tread had completely blown off. thought i was lucky as i had a spare for each. went around to the other side of the trailer and another tire, same thing. wife came and went to the tire shop. took 5 hours to get to the track. normally a 1 1/2 hr. trip. went out first round. started home and blew the right rear truck tire. $4100 damage to the truck, 4 truck tires $800, 4 trailer tires $600.

 

Peace of mind from knowing you have good tires all the way around the truck AND trailer........PRICELESS !!!!

 

somehow PRICELESS is not the word i used.

 

jim,
that's what you get for sneeking up into Ga. and hauling off one of "our" cars. (and not telling us so we could have a "meet and eat")
sorry about all your troubles.
what part of Ga. did you visit?

...frank...

 

i have a "towing" story about Jamie with pics.

......

 

Glad you made it home! As i started reading all I could visualize is the Sprint in flames. But it gkad to hear it turned out well . Post some pics as you make progress! Thanks again!

 

This just adds character to the new Sprint. The chaining of an axle trick works good in a pinch.

 

Just think, in a few months you'll be laughing about this. Road trips without hazards are just boring. Glad you made it back.

 

A regular MacGyver you are.

Good thinking.

Glad you and the Maverick arrived home safely.

 

Had to laugh at this one. This morning on the way to work someone broke down in their truck on the bridge (bridge is abut 3/4 mile long) so some hooks a chain to the truck and they start to tow it off the bridge. Well we are sitting about 4 cars back from this evolution and suddenly the towed vehicle turns right and hits the bridge then left into oncoming traffic back to the right and hits the bridge and so on for about 1/2 mile. finally they get off the bridge and pull over to the right as we go by we notice there is no-one in the towed truck and 2 guys in the front truck. Yes we have some bright ones here in Oregon.

 

This one happened to me today. I was going to the dump. I went there and everything was fine. As I was coming back the truck would not hardly run. "I later found out the fuel filter was clogged up" So I got on the highway and went about a mile to the gas station and got some gas. I pulled out on the highway and everything was fine. I was in the left lane going the speed limit which is fifty. Then it gets bad and the truck would only run about 35-40. Then I get to a small hill and the truck will barely run. I was going about 20 up the hill and thought I was going to get run over. I then pull over to the turn lane. I sit there for about a minute and rev up the motor and it runs fine. Well thats my story.

 

Yea, I've got several towing storys about him.

 

not really towing...but its in the ball park

first time i ever hooked up a tractor trailer , the 5th wheel did NOT catch the kingpin(so it didnt lock) well i went to pull away and well the trailer slid off BANG! i needed new pants good thing it was just a yard truck, where the 5th wheel is hydro. and raises up and down, cause if i was in a standard rig , the landing gear would have been up and the nose of the trailer would have been on the ground
Trust me it will never happen again