MountainTop
Active Member
Thought I'd post about our experience last year with a broken axle mount. It happened as we were heading northward on I-85 in South Carolina. We had heard some clanking noises as we left our home in GA but couldn't see anything obvious when we did a walk around inspection. The trailer handled normally until we saw smoke coming off the left side wheel. Luckily we were in the far right lane and could pull off quickly. That's when it was obvious that the whole axle had shifted toward the right side of the trailer, causing the left tire to rub against the frame and get hot enough to smoke. The cause of the shift was a complete failure of the right side axle mount, likely the source of those clanking noises when we started out.
We really lucked out when it came to repairs. Good Sam sent us to a truck repair shop -a place that repairs big rigs. They claimed they couldn't do anything with our trailer and the only other place we could find nearby had a 10 day wait. Not good since we were obligated to judge an international whitewater competition in MD in just 2 days! Lucky for us, the tow truck came from a small custom auto shop (specializing in turning ordinary cars into muscle cars) in a nearby town. The tow driver called his boss and told of our dilemma. The boss immediately told us to have the trailer brought to his shop. We spent the night in the small town and later the next day picked up a trailer that had 2 totally rebuilt axle mounts. The entire crew at that shop dedicated a day to rebuilding the axle mounts, which they all agreed were flimsy and inadequate. We are immensely grateful to that crew for getting us back on the road and to our competition in time. The truly deserve the title of Good Guys!
The lesson we want to pass on is to pay attention to your axle mounts. In addition to all the other things that need inspection before hitting the road, check those mounts. We had not driven over bad roads or had any incidents that might have caused this metal failure. We've always kept the tires properly inflated and done all the usual routine maintenance and have had no accidents that might have damaged the axle, so it seems the cause of this problem is most likely inferior or faulty material. We feel lucky we were able to pull off quickly, but if we'd been in a different lane or on a different type of road, or had any number of other factors thrown in, we might have had or caused a very serious accident.
We really lucked out when it came to repairs. Good Sam sent us to a truck repair shop -a place that repairs big rigs. They claimed they couldn't do anything with our trailer and the only other place we could find nearby had a 10 day wait. Not good since we were obligated to judge an international whitewater competition in MD in just 2 days! Lucky for us, the tow truck came from a small custom auto shop (specializing in turning ordinary cars into muscle cars) in a nearby town. The tow driver called his boss and told of our dilemma. The boss immediately told us to have the trailer brought to his shop. We spent the night in the small town and later the next day picked up a trailer that had 2 totally rebuilt axle mounts. The entire crew at that shop dedicated a day to rebuilding the axle mounts, which they all agreed were flimsy and inadequate. We are immensely grateful to that crew for getting us back on the road and to our competition in time. The truly deserve the title of Good Guys!
The lesson we want to pass on is to pay attention to your axle mounts. In addition to all the other things that need inspection before hitting the road, check those mounts. We had not driven over bad roads or had any incidents that might have caused this metal failure. We've always kept the tires properly inflated and done all the usual routine maintenance and have had no accidents that might have damaged the axle, so it seems the cause of this problem is most likely inferior or faulty material. We feel lucky we were able to pull off quickly, but if we'd been in a different lane or on a different type of road, or had any number of other factors thrown in, we might have had or caused a very serious accident.
