September 4th, 2024
Back on August 26th, I was hitching up the trailer in preparation for my next day’s trip to Craters of the Moon. As I was raising the tongue jack, I noticed an odd tiny bit of movement. Upon inspection I noticed that one of the two main bolts holding the head to the shank of the hitch was missing. This was a shock for 2 reasons. It meant that pulling the trailer would be very unsafe. You might have the experience of watching your trailer rolling down the highway in one direction, while you are going another. Or, worse, you could end up with a trailer swaying on its safety chains and possibly throwing you and your truck into the ditch or oncoming traffic. The second problem, is that you are stranded at a campground, unable to leave until you procure the parts needed to fix the hitch.
I saw the campground host talking to another camper, so I walked over to ask them if they knew of any place in the small town of Mackay, that might sell the rather large nut and bolt needed for a repair. Luckily, the host had the exact same model and brand of hitch that I had, so I was able to point out the exact missing bolt. They sent me into town to the lumber store. First I had to disconnect the trailer and stabilize it so that I could drive the truck.
In town, I entered the lumber store and started looking for an uncommon 3/4 inch by 4 1/2 inch bolt. I was not surprised when the proprietor informed me that they had no bolts bigger that 1/2 inch in diameter. Of course, that would not work. But, she recommended that I go down another block and check the Napa Auto Parts Store. Who would think a town of 1000 would have an auto parts store. I guess, because it is an agricultural area, with lots of trucks and tractors, it makes sense.
Napa Auto Parts had 3/4 inch bolts. Unfortunately, they had none that were 4 1/2 inches long. The length was kind of important as the threads on these bolts don’t go the full length. Either the bolt would be to short, or there would not be enough threads to tighten it down. The clerk, however, pointed out that they did have a bolt that would work. It just was only a grade 5 bolt and not a grade 8. In other words, not as strong (hard). Also, they did not have a replacement for the large missing washers (required for this application). I would have to hope that the bolt, nuts, and lock washers they did have would be sufficient to hold the load until I got to a larger town, where I could order the specific parts from Amazon, or purchase them at a store with a large variety of components. Napa charged me only $6 for the bolt, nut and 2 lock washers.
I put everything together back at the campground and re-hitched. I pretty nearly crushed the 2 washers as they didn’t exactly cover the holes. I also did not have a wrench capable of placing the needed 260 foot pounds of torque on the nut and bolt. This appeared to me to be about enough pressure to hold up an elephant and 1/2 of a rhinoceros. I would have to take it easy pulling the trailer until I could get to the city of Idaho Falls, about 1 1/2 hours away. The good thing, is that I had planned on stopping part way at Craters of the moon, and the roads were relatively flat and smooth.
I made it to Craters without issue, but on the drive, found myself wondering just exactly when I might have lost the original bolt. How many times and how far had I pulled the trailer with only 1 bolt? It obviously had loosened and vibrated out somewhere along my loop through Idaho and Montana. Why was I so stupid as to not inspect the hitch occasionally as I traveled?
Even with lots of years of experience, you don’t think of everything. I added a bullet point to my checklist for hitching up, to inspect bolts and parts before I move each time. The bolt could have loosened at anytime, but I think it was probably in my recent loop around the Lost River Range that it must have vibrated enough to completely fall out. Cruising the gravel and dirt roads caused a lot of vibration.
I saw that there was an Amazon Pick Up location in Idaho Falls. I would be passing through there when I headed for Wyoming. But, to get back to the pick up would take about 1 1/2 hours each way. I decided to wait on placing the order until I checked at the large Napa store there, and also stopping by the Bish’s RV dealership to see if they could get me in on an “emergency” basis, as they might have the exact parts I needed, and would have a wrench capable of 260 foot pounds. There is a zoo in Idaho Falls, so they probably had the animals needed to test the load.
I gingerly started my drive from Craters to the city. It is always good to have friends. In a conversation about my options, one had suggested that I stop at the Napa store first and get some Blue Loctite to put on the nut and bolt. This could help keeping my predicament from occurring again. It just happened that Napa was only about 1/2 mile from Bish’s.
Now, if you are acquainted with RVing, you might know that a lot of people started camping when the COVID pandemic lock down was instituted. As a result, RV service departments have more work than they can handle. There are plenty of stories about repairs that take many days and even weeks to get scheduled and completed. So it was with trepidation that I approached the service counter at Bish RV.
There was a young man at the counter named Rhett. I asked if he could possibly perform a quick repair (5 – 10 minutes) and described my problem. He said “lets go take a look”. He left the counter and we walked out to my trailer. He told me to wait there and he’d be back. He returned in a couple of minutes with a bolt kit, including the conical 2 1/2 inch washers and an impact driver. He said if I bought the kit, there would be no labor charge and he’d be done in 5 minutes. I just needed to give him a good review on the Bish’s website. The kit was a little pricey, but it gave me an extra bolt, nuts, washers, and miscellaneous hardware.
Five minutes later, I was back on the road for Wyoming, and this time with peace of mind.
All this goes to show, stuff can happen. And, stuff can get fixed, even where it is least expected. There are also still a few nice guys in service departments at good companies. You don’t always have to rely on Amazon.
So, now we have another quote…
Adventures are not all pony-rides in May sunshine. – J.R.R. Tolkien
Starting All Over 