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RE: [oletrucks] Trailer safety

To: MarkNoakes@aol.com, oletrucks@autox.team.net,
Subject: RE: [oletrucks] Trailer safety
From: "Schorn, Tim" <SchornT@ci.fort-worth.tx.us>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 11:29:06 -0500
My favorite "hauling" memory is of a guy I used to work with a Bell
Helicopter who used his car to move a house . Yes, the 3-bedroom 2-bath
type!! He jacked the house up and lined up some beams under it for support
and drove under it, lowered the jacks and drove about 3 miles to a lot he
had purchased across town. Got there safely!!
> ----------
> From:         Kevin Lake[SMTP:lakek@oit.edu]
> Reply To:     Kevin Lake
> Sent:         Tuesday, May 04, 1999 1:20 AM
> To:   MarkNoakes@aol.com; oletrucks@autox.team.net
> Subject:      Re: [oletrucks] Trailer safety
> 
> My favorite trailer stories are the ones that involve people towing
> trailers that are WAY to BIG for the tow vehicle.
> 
> I ended up towing a 12,000# (rated load) triple-axle low-boy with a F*&d
> Bronco that my boss owned.  I did try to tell him that I thought it was
> too
> much trailer, but he said "just take it slow".  I luckily never ended up
> in
> the ditch, but it was by pure luck that I didn't.  The trailer was way too
> heavy and way too long to be pulling with that Bronco.  There was more
> than
> one or two very tense moments on that trip.
> 
> I was headed up through Northern Arizona about three years ago where we
> spent three hours in a traffic jam.  A guy in a Geo Tracker (or whatever
> they call the 4-door version) had been attempting to tow a 20+ foot long
> camper trailer.  The trailer easily outweighed the tow vehicle (probably
> by
> at least a ton).  To make a long story short,  on the way down a mildly
> steep canyon road, the trailer decided not to follow the tow vehicle and
> proceeded to push the tow vehicle into the oncoming lane of traffic where
> it met an oncoming semi-truck which drove it back into the trailer it was
> towing and pushed the whole mess over a 90 foot embankment into the stream
> below.  Not much left.  You could only tell it was a Tracker because the
> trailer had partially disintegrated on the trip down the hill.
>  
> Kevin Lake
> 56 GMC Suburban/napco
> 
> ----------
> > From: MarkNoakes@aol.com
> > To: oletrucks@autox.team.net
> > Subject: [oletrucks] Trailer safety
> > Date: Monday, May 03, 1999 6:25 PM
> > 
> > I was talking to someone from the list about hauling trucks on trailers
> and 
> > thought that this story from years ago might help calibrate you guys to
> be as 
> > careful as possilbe.
> > 
> > Brian and my youngest brother Scott were moving a trailer load of junk
> for 
> > their employer, who I consider to be a real nut, as well as rather
> careless.  
> > Brian and Scott were young and wouldn't oppose their boss even though
> they 
> > knew they were overloaded.  The trailer was loaded with a big old car
> stuffed 
> > with a bunch of other junk and being pulled behind a van that was also
> loaded 
> > down.  They were driving through the hills in Alabama on their way from
> GA to 
> > MS.  To make a long story shorter, on the way down the road the trailer
> axle 
> > broke, the wheel flew off, the stub dug in, and the van and loaded
> trailer 
> > got jerked off the road and did a barrel roll off of a cliff (if a 45
> degree 
> > bank counts as a cliff).  It was about 60-ft down to water, but after
> the
> 
> > first complete roll and about 30-ft down, they hung on the only tree on
> the 
> > whole bank just between the van and the loaded trailer (the car stayed
> on
> the 
> > trailer for the whole ride; it was strapped down tight); the trailer
> hitch 
> > snapped but the chains held and they came to a stop with minor injuries
> from 
> > junk flying around inside.  It took them quite a while to climb out to
> the 
> > top.  Brian got to a phone and called my parents and in a typical 
> > understatement said something about running off the road and having a
> little 
> > accident and would they please come get them.  My mom literally got sick
> when 
> > she saw the "little accident" and what would have happened if the tree
> hadn't 
> > been there and if it hadn't caught on the trailer chains.
> > 
> > Definitely don't overload your car trailer!  Our old trucks are heavy
> and
> car 
> > trailers these days are pretty light duty; please be careful out there.
> > 
> > Mark Noakes
> > 58/56 Suburban
> > Knoxville, TN
> > oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
> 

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