Recently I brought Peanut to get her roof sealed and have the tires checked out at Deejay’s Trailers. This past Friday the store called and said she was ready to be picked up and asked if I knew that the trailer frame was cracked? You can imagine my surprise as I said “no” (M if you told me I could have just forgotten) Since I was only about 30 minutes away from the store I asked if I could swing by so they could show me the crack. Just behind the passenger side tire is an aluminum piece holding the steal frame together. Making the trailer not roadworthy. The crack is a complete break and would need to be welded back together.
After sending pictures to my cousin Travis in the East coast to get his view on the damage he stated that it should be fixable by a welder. Here is a look at the damage:
Just this morning I spoke to a local welder named Dwayne and asked if he could assess the damage and let me know if it could be fixed. My fingers are crossed it won’t cost an absolute fortune. There is absolutely nothing that I have wanted more for over 5 years than to have a vintage trailer and take her on a trip to the east coast – the idea that I might not get to SUCKS. He said it could be fixed and agreed to do the work so this coming Saturday July 17 after I take wee man J to the vets for some tests I will be taking Peanut to the welding shop 20 minutes out of town.
Road trip in t-minus 34 days and counting.
On a positive note – I had the chance to work on backing Peanut down the driveway and getting her on her parking pad. It took me about 30 minutes to get her down the driveway and placed as I am just learning the angles. And another 10 minutes to try and get her unhooked. Unfortunately the driveway slopes and made it impossible to remove the hitch normally so I simply levelled out the car and trailer, removed the pin from the hitches arm and slowly drove forward removing the entire hitch arm from the rear of the car (if that makes any sense). It worked perfectly. Here she is in her own spot:
It’s is hard to imagine not being able to take my road trip in my camper so I’ve been checking out other options like trailer rentals, purchasing a newer trailer, Airbnb and hotels just in case it comes out bad news. The upside to having my own trailer is besides the cost of site rentals everything is free. Have you seen the price to rent a trailer by night??? I can stay in a 5 star hotel in most cases. For 3 weeks one person wanted $5500. I don’t know about you but that is astronomical. I’m sure there are pet friendly hotels and airbnbs but I hate knowing that if there were accidents (and there will be – the dogs are basically 100 years old in human years) that it would be an additional cost and that we’ve potentially damaged someone else’s property.
For now I will stay positive. Peanut will get welded back together and she will be mobile once again. I will then spend every weekend until my trip practicing backing in to spots so I am more comfortable steering with a trailer.
In another couple of weeks there will hopefully be another Peanut update (one that reads – Peanut is roadworthy).
🙂
My Country Farmhouse 
Oh no! I had no idea myself, I feel so bad. I took her camping a few times luckily without incident. I am so sorry I didn’t know this. I just trusted the person I picked it up from. Lesson learned for sure
LikeLike
Don’t feel bad – it is what it is. I’m glad it was caught and no one got hurt.
LikeLike
Good luck! Maybe it will all turn out better than you expect. At least you have the welding appointment made. And the good thing is you found out before you took the trip, not while on the trip!
LikeLike
Hry Betty! That is my hope. This is exactly why I brought it to the professionals – there is no way I could have known exactly what to look for. Everything happens for a reason 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person