"I Don't Know What He Calls This... But It Ain't Welding"

That's what our Colorado Welder said after the intitial; "Oh My God!" when he looked under the trailer.

Knowing that the work done in West Yellowstone was NOT gonna hold together for any length of time, I'd decided we should bail out of our Fall in Yellowstone, and get somewhere safe, if we could, to make permanent repairs.

I knew of a competent welder in our old stompin' grounds so we headed out, bound for Nunn.

Now... I gotta tell you, Wyoming is WIDE open spaces... but, they seem a lot wider... when you cross the state at 45 mph with a busted trailer.

We made it, as you read before, and are now in the process of doing a proper repair... Here are a few pics of what was left by the previous "Pro" welder up north...

 As always you can click to see those pics bigger.

For those of you who know what welding is, I'm purty sure you'll agree with my True Pro in Colorado... "I don't know what he calls this... but it AIN'T welding!"

Kind of leaves a guy with a sick feeling in his stomach when he's stuck with the only game in town, and the deed is done.

You can get all screaming mad and raging, or just pick up your marbles and leave... and TRY to leave that anger behind.

I've spent so much of my life angry, I really try to abandon it when I can...

So... I'm now in the process, as I wait for him to break out the time in his schedule to correct this mess, of doing the prep work, so he can do the job proper.

I'll grind off all those nasty bits of peanut butter... clean up all the areas where the cracks occurred and have everything ready so he can do his job with the least difficulty.

Bottom line? Beware if you're in a "foreign" place getting welding done... If you're in West Yellowstone... I'd suggest hauling over into Idaho...

Now... to go over something again. Ted made the comment on the last post that the damage could have been caused by the "Rotational" force and not the "Vertical" force or load...

So... one more time... the Tears and Rips you see in the pictures of the Last post? Were, Indeed, Caused by the ROTATIONAL force of the Hitch Trying to turn upward, when the trailer slammed to a halt as the breakaway locked up. 

It's when the trailer wheels are stuck to the ground that a hitch can REALLY apply those Rotational Forces, as the truck tries to keep on going... and BAM! Busted hitch.

To that I agree 100%. But, one of my points is; IF, the frame was built to a more proper standard, those cracks wouldn't have appeared in the first place... and knowing those break aways can lock up... they should have built with that in mind. With the frame built of proper weight, it's my belief most of the failures we see, wouldn't happen.

Sort of like being a chair builder. If you build your chair to support the average 150 lb person. sitting down gently... and all that sits in the chair is one of those... you got no worries.

But... let a 295'er come galompin' in... and kerwhump! Plunk their butts down like they jumped off the roof... and keerunch! You got a busted chair....

A proper builder, in my estimation should allow for a lil' bit wider spectrum of possibilities.

Now, the difference in cost? To build one that will do the WHOLE JOB? Minimal, in the whole scheme of things, and maybe that's my real gripe here. To have done the job right, and built the trailers that match their advertising boasts... would have been a fraction of a percentage added to the cost of constructing the trailers...

He thought I should go lighter on Jayco and the manufacturers on that. So one more time, here's my points.

1. Geometry; (the fifth wheel vs. gooseneck argument) Whether the space between the king pin and the truck deck is spanned by a Fifth wheel hitch or a gooseneck conversion, the distance of that space, that length, is the same. That lever is the same length. To exert more force, you have to lengthen the lever. Simple geometry... or whatever the particular math is. The only difference is that it has less available movement in a fifth wheel (ie. the fifth wheel locks up sooner than a goose and, locked up, then exerts greater torque). Bottom line, working correctly, they are going to exert very similar force. *and let's face it the gooseneck conversions were designed by engineers too! :) * and... then, when you lay in the "Long Style" pin box they put on... THAT is the main lever, having nothing to do with fiver or gooseneck... and is why I'm considering adding an air ride hitch, to reduce and moderate the impacts and leverage against the frame...

2. I've said it previous, and say it again now, another poorly done job, (The axle flip) basically had me, unknowingly, hauling with a suspension travel of maybe a 1/2 inch... the shocks were completely compressed ( now corrected) leaving an effectively rigid suspension. That compounded the concussion against the hitch structure a lot, and I believe, started the failure with metal fatigue, vertical load, stress cracks in the too light, sheet metal, box beams. THAT, was my fault. Failure on my part, to do a proper inspection of the work. My Bad.

So... I accept responsibility for a portion of this failure. Work I had done contributed to it. No gettin' around that. But, if the trailers were not built, to the lowest, minimum standard possible, such failures would not be the common thing they seem to be. That is another my points I guess.

Though they promote their trailers and RV's as the best money can buy... uh... they often... are not... Just Sayin'.

So... Like Ted said, there's more than one side to a story. Jayco has a great responsibility here, I do, the bozos that did my axle work played a part... and that guy doin' a poor imitation of a welder back up north... well... he didn't contribute, not one little bit, to the failure... but... he didn't contribute much to a repair either! :)

Where does all this leave me? Same as always, puttin' one foot in front of the other until this ride is over.

I could get all mad and run around with my liver all inflamed... or just deal with this difficulty, and get back to the road.

I choose to get back to the road, and to the greatest degree possible, leave the anger at some "Pro's" less than stellar performances... behind.

... and one last thing... I read the other day where Rosanne Barr made some sort of caustic? remarks concerning punishment for "Guilty" Bankers... someone called her to task on that and she came back that she had said pretty clearly that her punishment was meant for the "Guilty" not the UN-Guilty...

That's pretty much my thought on any of this. Are all bankers Guilty? Nope. Are all corporations guilty? Nope. Are all engineers guilty? Not even. You just about can't say ALL about anyone or any thing...

But at some point in life, you have to make a conscious decision; "Do I go with the flow and turn out substandard, unsafe work? Do I participate in what effectively is Cheating, Or do I refuse and take what comes?"

I can brag that I've walked, more than once, 'cause I couldn't endure the thought of having to look in the mirror at a guy who did it wrong. Who dishonored a craft, a commitment, or the folks I worked with.

Am I running a perfect score on that? Nope, remember what I said about ALL? :) But I'm workin' on it. :)

Now... an end to who done what to who, when and why... and Just get the work done... and get back down the road...

Grinding and Preppin' in Colorado
Brian

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