Tonight, as I usually do when we stop for the night and when we leave for the morning, I checked my tires. Much to my surprise the driver-side front axel tire on the trailer was very bald on the inside and full tread on the outside. All the rest of the tires looked normal but for that one! I was immediately depressed as I knew that probably meant the bearings were bad and there was going to be some money spent tomorrow. Went into Wal-Mart, where we were parked for the night and asked around about places to get the service I needed for tomorrow.
Rose this (the next) morning at 7:30 AM and as previously decided, we got right up and left the parking lot by 7:40 AM. We drove to a recommended place called Eli’s Trailer, arriving at 7:50 AM. It opened at 8:00 AM, but the door was unlocked, so I went in and discussed with the owner about my tire problem. He and I looked at it and he agreed with me that the camber was off and he was not the guy I wanted to have evaluate and fix it. He recommended Superior Auto, a few miles down the road. We got there about 8:30 AM and within 20 minutes or so they had figured out what the problem was. It was not the bearings, but a broken bracket that the rear driver’s side leaf spring mounted to. They were not qualified to repair it because it would take a certified welder. They told me that there was a guy in town named David that was a mobile welder and everybody used him. I called him and found out he was going to be at Eli’s Trailer later in the morning to do a job there, so I arranged to meet him there.
We got there and David pulled in about 15 minutes later. He looked at it and determined that he could fix it easily right after he finished another job he was there for. We waited and shortly after we had breakfast, David told us he was ready to work on it. I pulled it around to the side of the shop and backed it up to the garage. About an hour later, after using an electric come along, 3 hydraulic jacks and his welder we were in good shape. He charged us $100.00 cash.
We then drove to a tire store that we were told had Firestone tires, which was the kind already on the trailer and I wanted to match those. They did not have what I wanted but said they could order them here and have them by Monday. I declined and drove down the road to another dealer that handled Firestone. They had 8 of the tires I wanted! I worked a deal with them and bought two and they put them on the front axel. Charged me $318.00.
I pause here to give credit to Heavenly Father. Our daily prayers always ask for safety and that our vehicles will operate safely and keep us from harm. I do this by faith because I know Heavenly Father will watch over us as long as we live well. Well, today I saw the proof of that. This set of 4 tires on the trailer have been on there since before we went to Alaska. I check them daily for tread wear and inspect them for damage or unusual things. They have all 4 worn evenly and smoothly. I check the tire pressure about every 2,000 miles and maintain it constantly at 80 pounds.
Last night when I checked them and found the one tire worn unevenly I knew the wearing change had taken place in the last day and the last 200 miles. The other three tires looked normal, just the one was out of sorts. When the guys at Superior Auto found the broken bracket, I looked closely at it and could see that the break had taken place further back than yesterday. The breaks were not clean but had rust on them. That told me that when it broke, for some reason it had not totally sprung apart which would have probably caused a wreck and possibly totaled both rigs and might have injured us. The spring had rested on the frame of the trailer and had been there long enough to wear a groove in the frame. If that spring had not stayed rested on that frame, we definitely would have gotten in a wreck. With all the turning and such, miles and miles driven, there is no reason why that spring should not have flung off there and caused the axels to twist and wreck us. David, the welder and the mechanics at Superior Auto each commented on how there is no way the spring should have stayed resting on the frame and not have moved or sprung off. They were all puzzled as to why the bracket-less spring had stayed in place. As it was though, the springs were cock-eyed which caused the axels to be askew. The distance between the tires on one side was about 6 inches and on the other side was less than 2 inches. Those axels were all cock-eyed and yet the spring stayed in place. Each person that looked at our situation today commented on how that should not have held together and essentially did not understand why we were not somewhere on the side of the road.
Oh, another thing or two. There was a chain of events that worked in our favor today too! The fact that we were sent to all the right places at the right times was amazing. Each one told us how things had happened in their lives and schedules that worked in our favor to get done, by the right people, the things we needed done. Example: David, the welder had had several cancellations that made him available with the time to help us. The tire store was able to pretty much take us right when we got there, because there, all of a sudden, was a lull in their schedules. Too many lucky occurrences today to just be luck!
We give the credit to Heavenly Father answering our prayers to keep us safe.
Rose this (the next) morning at 7:30 AM and as previously decided, we got right up and left the parking lot by 7:40 AM. We drove to a recommended place called Eli’s Trailer, arriving at 7:50 AM. It opened at 8:00 AM, but the door was unlocked, so I went in and discussed with the owner about my tire problem. He and I looked at it and he agreed with me that the camber was off and he was not the guy I wanted to have evaluate and fix it. He recommended Superior Auto, a few miles down the road. We got there about 8:30 AM and within 20 minutes or so they had figured out what the problem was. It was not the bearings, but a broken bracket that the rear driver’s side leaf spring mounted to. They were not qualified to repair it because it would take a certified welder. They told me that there was a guy in town named David that was a mobile welder and everybody used him. I called him and found out he was going to be at Eli’s Trailer later in the morning to do a job there, so I arranged to meet him there.
We got there and David pulled in about 15 minutes later. He looked at it and determined that he could fix it easily right after he finished another job he was there for. We waited and shortly after we had breakfast, David told us he was ready to work on it. I pulled it around to the side of the shop and backed it up to the garage. About an hour later, after using an electric come along, 3 hydraulic jacks and his welder we were in good shape. He charged us $100.00 cash.
We then drove to a tire store that we were told had Firestone tires, which was the kind already on the trailer and I wanted to match those. They did not have what I wanted but said they could order them here and have them by Monday. I declined and drove down the road to another dealer that handled Firestone. They had 8 of the tires I wanted! I worked a deal with them and bought two and they put them on the front axel. Charged me $318.00.
I pause here to give credit to Heavenly Father. Our daily prayers always ask for safety and that our vehicles will operate safely and keep us from harm. I do this by faith because I know Heavenly Father will watch over us as long as we live well. Well, today I saw the proof of that. This set of 4 tires on the trailer have been on there since before we went to Alaska. I check them daily for tread wear and inspect them for damage or unusual things. They have all 4 worn evenly and smoothly. I check the tire pressure about every 2,000 miles and maintain it constantly at 80 pounds.
Last night when I checked them and found the one tire worn unevenly I knew the wearing change had taken place in the last day and the last 200 miles. The other three tires looked normal, just the one was out of sorts. When the guys at Superior Auto found the broken bracket, I looked closely at it and could see that the break had taken place further back than yesterday. The breaks were not clean but had rust on them. That told me that when it broke, for some reason it had not totally sprung apart which would have probably caused a wreck and possibly totaled both rigs and might have injured us. The spring had rested on the frame of the trailer and had been there long enough to wear a groove in the frame. If that spring had not stayed rested on that frame, we definitely would have gotten in a wreck. With all the turning and such, miles and miles driven, there is no reason why that spring should not have flung off there and caused the axels to twist and wreck us. David, the welder and the mechanics at Superior Auto each commented on how there is no way the spring should have stayed resting on the frame and not have moved or sprung off. They were all puzzled as to why the bracket-less spring had stayed in place. As it was though, the springs were cock-eyed which caused the axels to be askew. The distance between the tires on one side was about 6 inches and on the other side was less than 2 inches. Those axels were all cock-eyed and yet the spring stayed in place. Each person that looked at our situation today commented on how that should not have held together and essentially did not understand why we were not somewhere on the side of the road.
Oh, another thing or two. There was a chain of events that worked in our favor today too! The fact that we were sent to all the right places at the right times was amazing. Each one told us how things had happened in their lives and schedules that worked in our favor to get done, by the right people, the things we needed done. Example: David, the welder had had several cancellations that made him available with the time to help us. The tire store was able to pretty much take us right when we got there, because there, all of a sudden, was a lull in their schedules. Too many lucky occurrences today to just be luck!
We give the credit to Heavenly Father answering our prayers to keep us safe.
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