What a day. [message #361985] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 13:01 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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I got a call from a friend. Would I please to go about 50 miles to Rural Illinois and pick up a 2 place horse trailer and bring it back. It needed to be done that afternoon because we ere due to get 8" of snow and high winds starting a 4 PM. This should 2.5 hours tops. I left at noon and should be back by 2:30. I got near my destination but the address I had was wrong. Around 6 air miles off. My GPS went nuts trying to route me to the wrong address and then on to the correct one. I ended up running on farm roads of clay with a little gravel. I probably drove 15 or so miles in this stuff. My truck is now covered in mud like it had just come back from Georgia.
I got there and checked out the trailer. Tires look OK and inflated. Since I was running empty for only about 50 miles I did not check pressures. The only light working was the right turn signal, brake, and tail combination. Who cares. I an running rural roads in the early afternoon daylight. I did notice it had one white wheel and 3 black ones. White one must be the spare. I did notice a black wheel inside with a shredded tire on it and there was an extra unmounted tire there too. Other than that, the trailer was empty. No jack or lug wrench. No nothing.
Off I went and 18 miles down the road the white wheel tire (former spare tire) threw a chunk of tread 2" by 6" and was flat. I pulled into a church parking lot and had to decide what to do. It was around 2:30 PM. No jack, no lug wrench, and no spare. I called two friends and one came out with a jack and wrench except he did have not have the handle for it. We decided to go an get the shredded spare tire removed from the wheel and mount the extra tire I had found in the trailer. Also the snow and wind was starting. We drove to multiple places trying to find anyone with a tire changer to do the simple swap. We even stopped at a Chevy dealer that was still open at 5:30 but only sales people were there. We put on about 100 miles and visiting three towns and found nothing. By this time it was snowing pretty good. We decided to call Flying J as they have a 24 hour tire center. They said "no. We only do truck tires".
We decided we are going to FlyingJ anyway and talk in person. It was about 25 miles away. I found one of the tire monkeys and he said "sure thing, bring it in. I can not balance it". I said I just need it mounted and for it to go 32 miles to my home. He did not charge us anything.
BUT..... the replacement tire had two bulges in the side wall. We had no choice. It was the only thing we had. It only had to last for 32 miles.
By now it is really snowing and we are doing about 30 mph for the 25 mile trip back on interstate and federal highways. Roads turned icy with a little rain mixed in and next to no traffic was around.
Upon arrival we discovered we could not jack up the trailer without a handle. We tried driving it on a few blocks and several other approaches. We spent over an hour in the blowing snow, before successfully getting it changed.
Off we went on secondary state highways in the blowing snow and rain mix. The road was so icy that I could not maintain traction at 30 mph so most of the 32 mile trip was done at 25 to 30 mph. Only three cars passed us during the entire trip and we got home at 12:15 AM.
So the 2.5 hour trip turned in to a 12 hour ordeal with my truck and trailer ending up blocking my iced up home driveway.
In conclusion, do not rely on aged out spare tires, even for local trips. Make sure that you have enough tools to replace any tire on your GMC yourself. AAA and other roadside companies are not always available, especially in bad weather and rural locations.
Ken B.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Re: What a day. [message #361986 is a reply to message #361985] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 14:06 |
dsmithy
Messages: 210 Registered: July 2012 Location: Lincoln Nebraska
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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What a day indeed!
Good on you.
Douglas & Virginia Smith,
dsmithy18 at gmail,
Lincoln Nebraska,
’73 “Sequoia” since ‘95: "Wanabizo";
Quadrabag/6 wheel disks/3:70 final/Paterson QuadraJet/Thorley’s/Alloy wheels/Sundry other
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Re: [GMCnet] What a day. [message #361988 is a reply to message #361987] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 14:59 |
jimk
Messages: 6734 Registered: July 2006 Location: Belmont, CA
Karma: 9
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Senior Member |
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Whenever we send out a tow truck to pick up a coach, we supply them two
tire and wheel and a 15" 4x4 to put between the rear boggie arm.
Ken, your a true friend as you never gave up.
On Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 12:45 PM Matt Colie via Gmclist <
gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:
> Ken,
>
> I hope this person is a REALLY GOOD friend.
> He should be very glad to have you as a friend.c
>
> Matt
> --
> Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL,
> GMCES
> Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum
> Brakes with Applied Control Arms
> SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
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Jim Kanomata
Applied/GMC, Newark,CA
jimk@appliedairfilters.com
http://www.gmcrvparts.com
1-800-752-7502
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Re: What a day. [message #361989 is a reply to message #361985] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 15:52 |
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Richard RV
Messages: 631 Registered: July 2012 Location: Full-timer for 12 years, ...
Karma: -17
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Senior Member |
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You're a good man, Mr. Burton. But, damn - I wish I'd made popcorn when I started reading your post. It was more entertaining and had more adventure than the movie I watched last night!
Richard
'77 Birchaven TZE...777;
'76 Palm Beach under construction;
‘76 Edgemont waiting its turn
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Re: What a day. [message #361990 is a reply to message #361985] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 15:54 |
JohnL455
Messages: 4447 Registered: October 2006 Location: Woodstock, IL
Karma: 12
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Hold on, I thought pilots check weather and don’t fly into a storm. 😯
Ya coulda played dumb and just kept going. Snow acts as a lubricant.
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
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Re: What a day. [message #361992 is a reply to message #361990] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 16:03 |
C Boyd
Messages: 2629 Registered: April 2006
Karma: 18
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Senior Member |
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Ken, thank you for picking up that Tracker engine and getting the fresh radiator throwed in on the deal for me a while back. Couldn’t remember if I ever thanked you. You have done so much stuff for me I’m sure I forgot to tell you once or twice. Thank you..
C. Boyd
76 Crestmont
East Tennessee
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Re: What a day. [message #361993 is a reply to message #361985] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 17:22 |
Dennis S
Messages: 3046 Registered: November 2005
Karma: 2
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Senior Member |
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Ken
You’re a great friend to the trailer owner - and the person who came to help you is a GREAT friend to you! Especially as I presume he drove following you all evening.
Dennis
Ken Burton wrote on Tue, 26 January 2021 13:01I got a call from a friend. Would I please to go about 50 miles to Rural Illinois and pick up a 2 place horse trailer and bring it back. It needed to be done that afternoon because we ere due to get 8" of snow and high winds starting a 4 PM. This should 2.5 hours tops. I left at noon and should be back by 2:30. I got near my destination but the address I had was wrong. Around 6 air miles off. My GPS went nuts trying to route me to the wrong address and then on to the correct one. I ended up running on farm roads of clay with a little gravel. I probably drove 15 or so miles in this stuff. My truck is now covered in mud like it had just come back from Georgia.
I got there and checked out the trailer. Tires look OK and inflated. Since I was running empty for only about 50 miles I did not check pressures. The only light working was the right turn signal, brake, and tail combination. Who cares. I an running rural roads in the early afternoon daylight. I did notice it had one white wheel and 3 black ones. White one must be the spare. I did notice a black wheel inside with a shredded tire on it and there was an extra unmounted tire there too. Other than that, the trailer was empty. No jack or lug wrench. No nothing.
Off I went and 18 miles down the road the white wheel tire (former spare tire) threw a chunk of tread 2" by 6" and was flat. I pulled into a church parking lot and had to decide what to do. It was around 2:30 PM. No jack, no lug wrench, and no spare. I called two friends and one came out with a jack and wrench except he did have not have the handle for it. We decided to go an get the shredded spare tire removed from the wheel and mount the extra tire I had found in the trailer. Also the snow and wind was starting. We drove to multiple places trying to find anyone with a tire changer to do the simple swap. We even stopped at a Chevy dealer that was still open at 5:30 but only sales people were there. We put on about 100 miles and visiting three towns and found nothing. By this time it was snowing pretty good. We decided to call Flying J as they have a 24 hour tire center. They said "no. We only do truck tires".
We decided we are going to FlyingJ anyway and talk in person. It was about 25 miles away. I found one of the tire monkeys and he said "sure thing, bring it in. I can not balance it". I said I just need it mounted and for it to go 32 miles to my home. He did not charge us anything.
BUT..... the replacement tire had two bulges in the side wall. We had no choice. It was the only thing we had. It only had to last for 32 miles.
By now it is really snowing and we are doing about 30 mph for the 25 mile trip back on interstate and federal highways. Roads turned icy with a little rain mixed in and next to no traffic was around.
Upon arrival we discovered we could not jack up the trailer without a handle. We tried driving it on a few blocks and several other approaches. We spent over an hour in the blowing snow, before successfully getting it changed.
Off we went on secondary state highways in the blowing snow and rain mix. The road was so icy that I could not maintain traction at 30 mph so most of the 32 mile trip was done at 25 to 30 mph. Only three cars passed us during the entire trip and we got home at 12:15 AM.
So the 2.5 hour trip turned in to a 12 hour ordeal with my truck and trailer ending up blocking my iced up home driveway.
In conclusion, do not rely on aged out spare tires, even for local trips. Make sure that you have enough tools to replace any tire on your GMC yourself. AAA and other roadside companies are not always available, especially in bad weather and rural locations.
Ken B.
Dennis S
73 Painted Desert 230
Memphis TN Metro
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Re: What a day. [message #361998 is a reply to message #361985] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 21:30 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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Yes, he followed me all the way home at 25 to 30 mph. We actually stopped once at an Arbys for a sandwich for about 1/2 hour along the way. I have been out on more than one occasion helping him with running out of gas and several flats. He never seemed to carry a spare tire and no matter how hard I tried he still did not do it. So it was payback time for him.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Re: What a day. [message #361999 is a reply to message #361992] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 21:33 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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Chuck,
I forgot the engine and radiator delivery. I do remember delivering the wheels from California and the trans to you for someone passing through Knoxville.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Re: What a day. [message #362000 is a reply to message #361985] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 21:38 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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Matt, Yes this is a good friend. I do not do favors for people I do not like. I will do things s for people I have not met but once they graduate to my S list they stay there.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Re: What a day. [message #362001 is a reply to message #361989] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 21:45 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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Richard RV wrote on Tue, 26 January 2021 15:52You're a good man, Mr. Burton. But, damn - I wish I'd made popcorn when I started reading your post. It was more entertaining and had more adventure than the movie I watched last night!
Richard
I could have used the popcorn as I had eaten nothing all day and some fresh hot popcorn would have helped. It was really cold in that wind with blowing snow and light rain after 4 PM until the end at midnight.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Re: What a day. [message #362002 is a reply to message #361985] |
Tue, 26 January 2021 21:57 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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Jim,
What kept me there was a sign I parked next to in the church lot that said "no overnight parking cars will be towed". Also this was out in the country with nothing else around. If I left it there, there was a good chance it would be stolen or be towed by morning. Also the trailer was registered to someone who sold it in Illinois and if the police got involved the seller had no idea who I was or how to contact me. I was just the delivery guy. It had his Illinois plate on it. I am from Indiana and the trailer was now in Indiana. I had to stay with it or possibly loose it by morning. I had a full tank of gas (21 gallons) and was prepared to stay the night if necessary.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Re: [GMCnet] What a day. [message #362005 is a reply to message #362004] |
Wed, 27 January 2021 00:47 |
Ken Henderson
Messages: 8726 Registered: March 2004 Location: Americus, GA
Karma: 9
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Ken,
I HOPE I was being facetious when I said I'd have abandoned that junk, but
in those temperatures, who knows? :-)
Ken H.
On Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 11:19 PM Ken Burton via Gmclist <
gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:
> Ken Henderson wrote on Tue, 26 January 2021 15:58
>> I'd probably have been almost as good a "friend" as you were: I'd have
>> told him where I left his pile of junk! :)
>>
>> Ken H.
>
> Colonel Ken,
> I think I know you better than that. I believe you would have worked out
> some kind of solution to the problem just like me. It may have been a
> different solution. The trailer is not bad but the tires were the issue.
>
> I told the owner it is not leaving my place without new tires. I will
> drop if off tomorrow or Thursday for 5 new shoes before it goes any
> farther. I
> also found a spare jack and lug wrench in my hangar that will go along
> with it. I also need to fix all of the lights before it hits the road
> again.
> The owner is another 95 miles away from me. The trailer needs to be at a
> farm between Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin around Feb 3 to move a horse
> 80
> miles to the University of Wisconsin. Then a few days later to move the
> horse again to a stable 40 miles west of Chicago.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
>
> _______________________________________________
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Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
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Re: What a day. [message #362007 is a reply to message #361985] |
Wed, 27 January 2021 07:43 |
jhbridges
Messages: 8412 Registered: May 2011 Location: Braselton ga
Karma: -74
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Your friend owes you an excellent steak dinner or a bottle of real good whiskey, your choice.
--johnny
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
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Re: [GMCnet] What a day. [message #362013 is a reply to message #362011] |
Wed, 27 January 2021 11:07 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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Matt,
I was not going to, but I guess I will give you the whole story.
This trailer is going to be used by, but not owned by, me to transport a just under 2 year old horse that was rescued from a kill pen at an auction in north central Wisconsin. The horse was scheduled to be sold for slaughter. What he needs is left rear hoof joint surgery (not cheap) which will be done at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. My contribution to the effort is transporting the horse to Madison and later from Madison to Batavia, IL. Madison is 200 miles one way from here and it will take at least 2 trips. That is why this trailer needs good tires. These tires just added $500 to my contribution.
The end result we hope for is a healthy horse and his trailer to end up at a stable near Batavia, IL. One other thing I agreed to is to haul my John Deere up there in the spring (95 miles one way) to cut and level out a new field for horses at the stable in return for reduced stable rent. The stable has room for 8 horses and the new owner has 3 there now so this one will be #4. The new stable owner is a male nurse at a local hospital.
I might add that I know nothing about and have never transported a horse.
I am just glad that the horse was not in the trailer while I went through all of this mess a few days ago.
Now if the weather will just cooperate (no ice or snow) for the days I am on the road we should be OK.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Re: What a day. [message #362014 is a reply to message #361985] |
Wed, 27 January 2021 13:58 |
Larry
Messages: 2875 Registered: January 2004 Location: Menomonie, WI
Karma: 10
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Ken,
As you no doubt know, there are three big things with trailers, two of which you have addressed....lighting and tires. The other is wheel bearings. Anytime you see a trailer on the side of the road, it is always because of tires or wheel bearings. If the tires are that bad, I would be wondering when the last time the bearings were checked. If you have the time and a warm place to do it, maybe check and repack them. Just a suggestion...seems you've spent enough time already on the side of the road. Doing it again with a horse....well.....
I'm in NW Wisconsin. If you need help, please call me.
Larry
78 Royale w/500 Caddy
Menomonie, WI.
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