Check your U-bolts

[moonshn]

Towing the Four Winns H240 down I-20 last night when I ran into a bit of a problem. Boat was towing great, running about 60 mph in the second right lane when all off a sudden I feel a thud... check the mirrors and I see nothing but smoke in them. My first thought was that I had jumped off the ball, locking up the trailer brakes.

Ease her on over to the shoulder (in 17:00 Atlanta traffic) to discover that the starbord side u-bolts on the rear axle are GONE , and the rear axle has shifted to the rear about a foot and a half, wedging the tire into the fender, shredding it instantly.

Long story short can't find any u-bolts in the ghetto part of town where I am (Fulton Industrial Blvd for those of you from Atlanta) so I stop at autozone and grab the heaviest piece of chain I can find and I lash the axle back to the spring. Had to jack the trailer up a couple of times to adjust the position of the axle, but she made it home (be it at 35 mph on back roads).

 

[LIQUID PROZAC]

Re: Check your U-bolts

glad nothing or no one hurt--very good idea to do maintenance on your trailer along with the boat

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Check your U-bolts

Good thinking with the chain. At least no major damage.
Fulton Industrial is a bad part of town..
Good thing you didn't have to leave it there after dark..

 

[moonshn]

Re: Check your U-bolts

Yeah, it was about 23:00 by the time i got it rolling again. There was no way I was leaving it there overnight, there would have been nothing but a keel left by this morning.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Check your U-bolts

Wow -- glad that turned out ok. Don't know much about Atlanta (well, did have someone try to steal a suitcase in the airport once during a layover ) but I have certainly had breakdowns in areas I would prefer not to.

Anyway, your post is timely. I was changing out the black rubber bow stop on my trailer last week for one of those non-marking clear types and for the heck of it I did a walk around with a socket set. The trailer sits all summer at the back of the property getting no use (and no attention...).

I was surprised to find a couple of fasteners were not as tight at they should be. Not only U-bolts but the bunk screws too.

All this would be caught (I'd like to think) if it got regular use but that's still no excuse. Good reminder!

 

[BLU LUNCH]

Re: Check your U-bolts

I saw the same thing happen to my buddy's car trailer with a 69 SS L-88 427 Nova drag car on it, he fished tailed in to embankment and nearly rolled everything. The front set of u bolts broke on the front axle @ about 40 MPH............
I was 2 cars behind them when it happened that was about 20 years ago but I remember like it was yesterday,scary stuff............

 

[dave11]

Re: Check your U-bolts

I used to deliver gas at night in that part of town. I never had any problems, but the company did quit delivering there at night.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Check your U-bolts

WOW! Im doing a walkaround my trailer tomorrow!

Reminds me of the time I made it home with a broken tie rod end with nothing but a spool of bailing wire and a roll of duct tape. too poor to afford a tow, out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night before the invention of the cell phone. I just lashed the tie rod end to the steering arm and drove 10MPH till I had to turn the car. stopped, relashed the tie rod end and continued on till I got home.