recently we've had 2 trailer fires here in az. one was a gooseneck that was locked to the tow vehicle. had a golf cart inside. they went through a construction area and the batteries touched and the golf cart caught fire. the problem got worse as the keys for the lock that held the trailer to the dually towing it was also inside, along with the fire extinguishers. after they opened the trailer they couldn't get to the extinguishers so it burnt to the ground with everything still inside. to make matters worse they couldn't get the tow vehicle apart so it also went. last weekend a friend was on his way to speedworld when someone yelled that his trailer was on fire. he opened the door and grabbed his fire extinguisher, but the top part was plastic and had melted it useless. he grabbed his fuel jugs and got his super gas roadster out the back but trailer and most contents were lost.
i'll make this into 2 posts as safety is important. 1. make sure your fire extinguisher is all metal. 2. keep an extinguisher in the tow vehicle. 3. make sure any keys for the trailer or hitch are readily available. 4. make sure batteries are secure and in a battery box. even the spare for the car. i've been told about a lawn chair falling over and shorting the posts, 5. if it's a gooseneck or you need a crank handle to seperate the trailer from the tow vehicle keep a spare in the tow vehicle. also any blocks you may need should be in the bed of the truck. feel free to add anything else you can think of. thanks
I keep an extinguisher in my truck and another one just inside the trailer door. Hopefully I will never have to use them. I probably should mount the trailer one to the back of the door so when you open it, it will be right there in your face.
1-Check air pressures in tires(don't just kick them) 2-Make sure all lights are working, 3-make sure brakes are good 4- Wheelbearings are greased 5-Cross your saftey chains
6- Don't let your buddy borrow it to haul construction materials and have the forklift drag across the back and pull the the angle iron and bolts out of the trailer boards, bend the angle iron, and then tell you they are not responsible for what the fork lift drive does. 7- Don't let your buddy use fix-a-flat to inflate a tire he thinks is low.
8. Don't let your brother borrow your trailer and straps.....then "wrap" the straps around the frame of the car instead of using the built in axle straps. This will cut a $25 strap right in two after about 50 miles.
Crawl under your trailer once a year and inspect for cracks around the spring shackels and tongue attachments. Cleaver
two spare tires!!! Remember, after one flat, you have no more backup... Just towed from San Diego to Amarillo and back... and how many flats do you think I had????
i hope you waved as you went by. i'm 3 miles off I-10. first exit after you get off of I-8 in az of course.
