Let's See Your Frankenstein Repairs

[tj548]

Here's a picture of a field repair I had to make to my fender skirt in a hurry. Pulled it off on a steel pole leaving a gas station and had no way to replace it and didn't want to go too far without at least something there. In the end, I'm not sure if this is better looking or if I should have just left the plastic off, lol.

[Papa_Steve]

Love the "water line fix with a AA battery and clamp"!

[Durb]

Good looking repair. Sometimes you do what you have to do. I've plugged a water line that had a broken fitting with a AA battery and clamp. I've used vaseline in place of pipe joint compound, worked great. Had to bypass a faulty main disconnect breaker so I could charge the battery and get the slides in. When you are a long ways out you need to work with what you have.

[Hannibal]

Looks good to me! My cousin lost a tire on the interstate and it tore out everything including the shelf under the sink. We were busy for a while fixing that up just so he could get back on the road. We even took the wheel off to get steel cord out of the bearings and brakes. I notice what looks like bias ply tires on your rig. I ponder the thought of going back to bias ply tires for that reason. When they go, they just go to pieces. No belts to tear out the side of the trailer. Gotta watch those poles too!

[CavemanCharlie]

Your repair is great ! My whole TT is one giant hack repair. Why do you think I call myself Caveman Charlie !!

In defense of myself I will point out that my TT was manufactured in 1993 by a company that is now out of business. It's value is not worth much and therefore I can't justify spending a lot of money in repairs. So, I just patch it back together and try to keep it looking kinda / sorta / OK.

I wish I could find a cheap way to get rid of the many stone bruises that are on the front of it.

[Huntindog]

The fender looks good.
My most challenging road fix: I had been camping in Northern AZ, And was to meet my brother at another camp about 80 miles away.
Upon arriving I was having trouble backing the TT into position. It was like I didn't know how to do it. My brother stopped me saying "you need to see this". The rear axle had broken both of its rear spring hangers and one of the center ones was part way broken as well.
It towed fine on the highway as it just rested on the frame, and followed the 1st axle. Backing up it was all over the place.
We were boondocking pretty deep in the woods. So I sent my wife and brother home to get all of my welding stuff, jacks, grinders, and stands, while I stayed preparing for the field repair.
It went really well (no pics) and got me home fine. I then cutoff all of the factory hangers and installed much thicker ones.

[westend]

It lives!!



Your skirt repair looks really good. Big 'attaboy for getting it done on short time.

FWIW, when I bought my Starcraft, I opened the kitchen cabinet and could see the tires and ground, along with 3 lbs of mud on a switch box and in the cabinet. I went with the M1 Abram's repair on that, fully cladded with .125 303 steel. I don't fear radial tires blowing out. Can't say it will protect me from a gas island bollard or a pole I don't see.

[tj548]

This is a funny thread fellas, thanks. One of the first things I did when I got the trailer in 2011 was make a trip to Harbor Freight. Walked in with $100 and out with 300 lbs of tools. lol. Seriously though, it seems like there's always something that needs attention and you can't always rely on the nearest Home Depot.

On a different trip we were coming out of the desert and I did a walk around before getting on the freeway. I found the center axle spring completely broken and the tire was kind of bouncing back and forth between the front and rear tire. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd tried to get on the freeway.

As it was, I was able to source a new spring 90 miles away in Grand Junction, CO and used a combination of the fifth wheel landing legs and my truck's bottle jack to teeter-totter the trailer weight and replaced the spring on the side of the road. Four and a half hours later we were back on the road.

[profdant139]

Most of my on-the-road hack repairs involve mass quantities of duct tape. One time I had a blowout that destroyed the wheel well -- replaced it on the road with lots of cardboard and tape. So your work does, indeed, look pretty darn good to me.

I carry a very large toolbox in my truck, with all sorts of repair options -- baling wire, self-curing fiberglass tape, steel rods, you name it. So far, I have rarely lugged it out of the cargo bay, but it is only a matter of time.

[Passin_Thru]

HACK REPAIR! My Good Fellow, You don't recognize Pure Ingenuity.

[BizmarksMom]

When I did something similar in Death Valley, I just left the fender skirt off. Your repair looks great!

[tj548]

Funny you guys are all complimenting the work. I really thought it was just a hack repair and was wondering if others would admit to the same. The skirt was broken in half and cracked almost all the way through on another. I had a small metal strap that fit the inside the plastic moulding and reinforced the floppy part of the flare. I literally broke it gassing up the day of departure on a 5,100 mile trip so I didn't have time to wait for the OEM part to come in. Thought about painting it but ran out of time.

I will say that it held up just fine and held on tight while I removed it. The trailer is in storage in the snow. No way I'm tromping out there to take a picture for the "after" shot, lol.

[valhalla360]

OK so you showed us the before picture....where's the after picture?

Seriously, that looks fine. My problem would be it's good enough that I might never bother doing anything else with it.

[bobndot]

profdant139 wrote:
Hmmm . . . your roadside improvisation looks better than my best efforts at home. Very disturbing. 😉

I was thinking the same thing.
The OP should should do some painted artwork on that repair and call them custom wheel skirts. I'll bet he couldn't keep up with the orders . :B

[ksg5000]

Nice -works fine and can be improved later if you think it's necessary. Been there - done that - long b4 digital.