Today could have been worse, a lot worse. Years of driving Italian and English cars and trucks has always led me to carry enough tools and "spares" to fix most anything that might go wrong on the road. This includes the trailer my GP sits on. I went to go sailing again today and quite literally the one part I could not even begin to fix on the side of the road broke: The suspension. I built this trailer two years ago, based on the original one Spark was on. Technically it is the original trailer, but only a few parts survived the rebuild. I was going to strip it this winter and give it a better paint job as all it had was rattle can paint that was letting surface rust form.
I am going to say that by looking at the break on the suspension, this was a crack that has been there since day one. For a trailer that regularly sees saltwater, I would have expected a lot of rust in crack, instead I see black paint and a tiny bit of surface rust.
I have more reasons to believe this part of the suspension was faulty from the very beginning. In thinking about it last night, that one wheel always seemed to have a bit of negative camber to it compared to the other side. I also recall that my last trip to Maryland, that bearing was running warmer than the passenger side. I had chalked it up to my bolting it in wrong, but everything checked out when I examined it this morning. So yes, this suspension arm must have been cracked from the very beginning when it was made and assembled.
This coming weekend would have been the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival too, This could have gone in a much worse place.
well, I am thinking that sailing is over for the year. Because I went independent suspension on my trailer, The part won't ship till around Mid-October.
On the good news front, when it is not broken, it is the quietest trailer I have ever towed. Going to be dumping the boat into the side yard soon so I can disassemble, strip, and repaint the trailer so that when the new suspension comes in, I can have it all ready to go.
Well, that is ironic. Sailing season is just now getting started here. The daytime temps are in the mid to low 80's with winds 5-10 kts on inland waters. There will be a few "cold days" here in January/February (down to the high 50's) and then March/April/May will be great. The the Fires of Hell descend on the state and we all just stay home!
