Jackpine
Fri, June 26th, 2009, 07:58 PM
I had sort of mentioned we were to be off for a camping trip to Mt Graham yesterday, but things did not go as planned.
Right on time, we left with two grandkids and the trailer in tow. About 60+ miles to the east, another driver motioned for us to pull over. We did. At first, we saw nothing wrong, but suddenly, in the vicinity of the right trailer wheel, I smelled rubber. I discovered the frame of the trailer had descended onto the tire tread and was "shaving" it off. :yikes2:
I knew, of course that our trip was off and managed to slowly get to the next crossing median on the interstate and turned around, headed toward the little town of Benson we had passed about 6 miles earlier. I was hoping to find an RV repair place there and as luck would have it, the first promising place to ask about it was Lawley Ford (a truck dealership and service place there). The General Manager, Denver Caldwell, was the first person I met and asked about a place to get help. He shook his head - nothing for RV service in Benson, but he'd have his mechanic take a look at it and thought they'd be able to get us going.
The mechanic diagnosed a broken torsion bar, and, of course there was nothing he could do about it.
Denver was a perfect gentlemen though. He offered me a safe place to park the trailer on his lot till I could arrange for it to be towed. Told us were we could get lunch, and talked to a friend of his who was willing to put it on a flatbed and get it back to Tucson at a reasonable price if we didn't have towing coverage.
At lunch, looking at our breakdown insurance on the trailer, I found out we did have towing coverage, so I arranged that, the tow guy showed up right away and my trailer and we are now back in Tucson.
But thinking about all this: First, if the other driver had just ignored us (like probably many others had) would we have had a serious problem (possibly leading to an accident)? Would we have broken down on the mountain road (one way in places) and out of cell phone range? I really couldn't see anything down low on the right side while driving and any smoke was hidden behind the trailer. The tread had been worn badly and the tire is trashed.
What a super guy Denver Caldwell was to a stranger in need. He has a beautiful 2009 f150 King Ranch sitting in his showroom that I'd love to buy (but can't, of course).
There ARE good people in the world and good businesses. And, I think it's great, (and gives us hope) when we find them. :clap:
- Jack
Right on time, we left with two grandkids and the trailer in tow. About 60+ miles to the east, another driver motioned for us to pull over. We did. At first, we saw nothing wrong, but suddenly, in the vicinity of the right trailer wheel, I smelled rubber. I discovered the frame of the trailer had descended onto the tire tread and was "shaving" it off. :yikes2:
I knew, of course that our trip was off and managed to slowly get to the next crossing median on the interstate and turned around, headed toward the little town of Benson we had passed about 6 miles earlier. I was hoping to find an RV repair place there and as luck would have it, the first promising place to ask about it was Lawley Ford (a truck dealership and service place there). The General Manager, Denver Caldwell, was the first person I met and asked about a place to get help. He shook his head - nothing for RV service in Benson, but he'd have his mechanic take a look at it and thought they'd be able to get us going.
The mechanic diagnosed a broken torsion bar, and, of course there was nothing he could do about it.
Denver was a perfect gentlemen though. He offered me a safe place to park the trailer on his lot till I could arrange for it to be towed. Told us were we could get lunch, and talked to a friend of his who was willing to put it on a flatbed and get it back to Tucson at a reasonable price if we didn't have towing coverage.
At lunch, looking at our breakdown insurance on the trailer, I found out we did have towing coverage, so I arranged that, the tow guy showed up right away and my trailer and we are now back in Tucson.
But thinking about all this: First, if the other driver had just ignored us (like probably many others had) would we have had a serious problem (possibly leading to an accident)? Would we have broken down on the mountain road (one way in places) and out of cell phone range? I really couldn't see anything down low on the right side while driving and any smoke was hidden behind the trailer. The tread had been worn badly and the tire is trashed.
What a super guy Denver Caldwell was to a stranger in need. He has a beautiful 2009 f150 King Ranch sitting in his showroom that I'd love to buy (but can't, of course).
There ARE good people in the world and good businesses. And, I think it's great, (and gives us hope) when we find them. :clap:
- Jack