Just did something really Stooooopid

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Airslide

Hey Jim,

I was just looking at your picture from your other post showing the beautiful new wheels. Maybe its just me.. being an alignment guy at work..
But, it kinda looks like the front wheel is making a left turn? Like maybe the tow setting isnt right? It might just be the photography so next time you go outside and look you can set me straight then. An easy way to check is the back up the trailer on blocks so the front wheels are off the ground. Then take a piece of white chalk in the center of the tread and spin the tire while making a perfect stripe down the center of the tire tread. Do that on both and once back on the ground a simple tape measure on the front and rear of those tires all the way across will tell ya.

Vinnie

Hi, do as Vinnie said, but after you spin the wheel to make a chalk mark all the way around the center of the tread on your tires, then spin your tires again useing a nail or scribe to make a fine line in the middle of the chalk marks. Now you have an accurrate point for making you toe-in measurements.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

"Tuff Crowd" as we used to say.

Actually, I may have an alignment problem, because I installed the axles and we all know how that can turn out.

There is indeed a little bit of a buckle in the skin around the wheel wells, but, that's because I had a problem getting the actual plastic wheel wells back in when I put the floor back in. Not much of an issue really, it just looks exagerated becuase of the flash on the camera and the angle of the picture.

I'll try and get a picture of the ramps I made to give y'all an idea of what they look like. Pretty basic stuff, but they were FREE. I like free.

Jim

Jim.

A quick, down and dirty way to measure toe in or out, is easy.

First, make sure the tires are not in a twist.

Then measure with a steel ruler, from the outside of the axle mounting plate to the widest part of the tire sidewall, both front and rear of each tire.

Keep the ruler against the axle mounting plate.

Subtract one dimension from the other, and that's the toe in, or out.

The front dimension should be slightly less, than the rear dimension, by about 1/16 of an inch.

That will get you well into the ball park and answer your questions about the toe in or out.

Andy

[gutsgolf]

The ramp I used was actually railroad ties side by side. with 3x12 s put on top for the trailer to ramp up and sit on. the railroad ties were pretty wide. all worked out and all is great now.

[jspafford]

I think a "Really Stoopid" forum is a great idea! I have lots of things to post here! For example ...

The Treacherous Right Turn

Most 'Streamers who have been on the road a bit have experienced the horror of looking in the right mirror while making a tight right turn and seeing their AS headed for disaster. This phenomenon occurs, of course, because as we turn the towed vehicle follows a tighter radius than the tow vehicle. But in moments of distraction and stress we sometimes forget. Like the time Lynn and I were bringing our new (to us) AS home from PA to CA, and decided to look for some good barbecue in Memphis. The old city in TN? With the narrow downtown streets? And so we were looking for one way signs, and street signs, and pedestrians, and it was a rainy night, and I was still new to towing, and she said "turn right here!" and there was a bus on the corner and the street was narrow so I swung right around the bus and glanced in the right mirror and slammed on the brakes just before all the blood drained from my brain - our new shiny Silvia's curvy right shoulder was about to slam into the bus!

I thought that the lesson was learned. "I'll never do that again! Sheesh!" Oh, if only...

We were camping way up Bishop Creek last week, 16 miles west and 5,000 feet above Bishop, CA, in the beautiful eastern Sierras. We were maneuvering through the narrow road in Bishop Park Campground and came to the loop at the end of the road. The steep uphill turn to the right was around a copse of bushes, and the turn kept getting tighter and steeper. I was focused on following the turn and keeping my speed up and WHAM!

You can guess how we felt as we looked at each other after the shock of a dead stop. Silvia's right front wheel had found a rock.

Now you should know that the tire marks on these rocks aren't only Silvia's. This nasty little gang of granites had hijacked many other dimwits like me. But that's no excuse! I had just damaged our darling and felt like a child abuser.

We gingerly backed into a luckily open campsite nearby, and took stock. Torn tire and busted aluminum wheel. Using good technique learned right here on the forum I loosened the lug nuts and then backed the rear wheel up onto leveler blocks to lift the front wheel off the ground. Here's how the injured wheel looked:

I pulled the spare out - not that easy! I had to unhitch in order to raise the front of the trailer high enough to clear the spare tire from the holder. After bolting on the spare, here's what we saw:

This photo was taken later after we had rearranged the leveling blocks. But as you can see, the front wheel is bent out at the bottom, and aiming off to the right. By the way, after pulling out your spare tire, don't forget to raise and latch the spare tire holder like I did! I dragged it a ways when repositioning the trailer. Sheesh again!

Our predicament: Friday afternoon, no cell phone connection, at the top of a 16 mile downhill slope which was 7 degrees in some places, unknown damage to the brakes, a Sierra thunderstorm had started and we were heartbroken. So we decided to relax. All of Silvia's other wonderful features were fine, we were 50' from a babbling creek and a thrilling storm was about to give us a show. We had a lovely, though solemn evening.

Over the weekend we made contact with our good friend Abe Hernandez, San Diego's mobile AS expert, who provided excellent advice and reminded us that we are insured! How had we forgotten that? I took some photos for Abe and sent them to him when we were down in Bishop. They show the bent torsion arm (note how the arm on the left is not perpendicular to the axle on the right, and the gap that formed between the axle plate and the frame near the attaching bolt):

and the misalignment between the shock strut and the frame mounting stud:

We called AAA, our insurance provider, and my goodness were they nice, helpful, and didn't rub my nose in my stoopid mistake.

We discussed lots of options for recovery and repair, and they chose to pull the trigger on the most expensive (for them) option to put Silvia on an 18 wheeler tractor and lowboy trailer and have her shipped home from the High Sierras to San Diego, about 350 miles! Here's how she looked when we said goodbye:

Now the estimating and parts ordering and waiting have begun. And the regretting. And the remembering that awful moment ... WHAM!

Please take your time on right turns, and keep your eye on that right mirror. Parking lots, narrow streets, and campground roads are the trickiest places! Just ask me, and poor sweet Silvia.

[Larry C]

These little things are known as "Character building experiences".....No other way to look at it...

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by Larry C

These little things are known as "Character building experiences".....No other way to look at it...

Thank you Larry C. Now I understand. I will look forward with gusto to my next experience.

[idroba]

My really stupid one was this: I was in a National Forest Service campground with a loop at the end of the road. It was an old NFS one with the low concrete 6x6 posts set in the ground demarking the road and so you cannot get off and park there. It was a tight loop and going left. All of the sudden I was yanked to a total stop. When I got out to look one of those damn concrete posts was solidly wedged between the tandem wheels on the Airstream I had at that time. I had run over it with my first tire, then it was between the tires and I could neither go forward or back.

In a panic, I got every block of wood I had with me out and started to jack the rear wheel up enough to ramp it over the concrete post. I was able to do that after about a half hour of screwing around and pulled the rear wheel up and over and back down more blocks. No damage done but my ego. No one came up behind me, so I didn't have to explain.

But, I then realized that all I had really needed to do was to jack the trailer up enough to remove the rear tire, pull forward a little, and re install the tire. No blocks, no ramps, nothing difficult. Now, that was stooopid of me. The easy solution escaped me in my panic to "do something".

We probably all have some story...LOL.

[Lumatic]

Stoopid thing #1
I pulled into a campsite with a slight pitch with one of those stoopid metal wheel thingys on the jack post. I unhitched the trailer before chocking the wheels.

Stoopid thing #2
Chasing said trailer and trying to stop it by grabbing onto the tongue while skiing through the dirt, causing a severe blow to my knee.

Stella ended up in the bar ditch requiring several hours of creative problem solving.

[hhendrix]

[QUOTE=jspafford;1335246]I think a "Really Stoopid" forum is a great idea! I have lots of things to post here! For example ...

The Treacherous Right Turn

Most 'Streamers who have been on the road a bit have experienced the horror of looking in the right mirror while making a tight right turn and seeing their AS headed for disaster. This phenomenon occurs, of course, because as we turn the towed vehicle follows a tighter radius than the tow vehicle. But in moments of distraction and stress we sometimes forget. Like the time Lynn and I were bringing our new (to us) AS home from PA to CA, and decided to look for some good barbecue in Memphis. The old city in TN? With the narrow downtown streets? And so we were looking for one way signs, and street signs, and pedestrians, and it was a rainy night, and I was still new to towing, and she said "turn right here!" and there was a bus on the corner and the street was narrow so I swung right around the bus and glanced in the right mirror and slammed on the brakes just before all the blood drained from my brain - our new shiny Silvia's curvy right shoulder was about to slam into the bus!

Exact same story for me, instead not a bus but an poorly parked pick up truck with a huge chunk of steel rear bumper. I caught it just in time to stop with only about 1/2" of clearance. I had to have my wife get out and stop traffic on very busy street in Seattle. It's been about 2 years ago and when I dream about it, I still wake up screaming.

[Valacidor]

Had a SOB 5th wheel with the steps hanging down behind the wheels. On our 3rd trip out west I ran the wheels down into culverts on left turns, bending the whole step assembly. Not once, not twice, but THREE times. Never had done it before, haven't done it since, but stooopid times three?
TomJ