Trailering: A Cautionary Tale
I decided last fall that if I'm going to be taking my CS to the track at least once a month it probably would be worthwhile buying (as opposed to renting) a trailer to haul it.
At my last DE at Hallett, I met a guy from Oklahoma City named Bryan, who was looking to sell the Jim-Glo Tilt Bed trailer he used to haul his Mustang. My wife and I had both been admiring it, and I thought if the price was right, I would get it. He offered it at what I thought was a pretty fair price considering it was only a couple of years old, and had new tires, so on the last Tuesday in January, my wife and I drove down to OKC to pick it up.
I drove to the garage where he kept it - it actually belonged to his father-in-law; we talked cars for a while (he's building another Mustang to race in NASA) and then it came time to hook-up the trailer and head back to Wichita. I backed up my Ford Expedition and he dropped the tongue onto the hitch ball as I got out. We hooked up the electrical and safety cables, and discussed a couple of other details; then we shook hands, and I drove off with my new, well, slightly-used trailer.
A few miles later, I was taking a connecting ramp from I-40E to I-44N at about 45 mph, when all hell broke loose (literally). I was going around a rather bumpy, left hand curve when I sensed something was wrong. I glanced in my mirror just in time to see the trailer start fishtailing. I started to slow, when, all of a sudden my Expedition's rear end broke loose, almost causing me to run into the cement barrier on my left. I vaguely remember my wife letting out a little scream as I tried to regain control and get off the highway without crashing, or taking out some other car with the wildly careening trailer behind me.
In retrospect, I believe what happened was that the trailer became unhitched while bouncing around the curve. This activated the break-away brake on the trailer (as it is supposed to), but that action of locking up the trailers brakes, while I was starting to decelerate on a curve, yanked my SUV's rear end loose - fortunately my Ford has Stability Control which probably saved the day.
Anyway, I managed to pull onto the left shoulder, on a slight downhill slope, only to have the trailer then ram into the back of my car as I came to a stop. After my wife and I finished thanking God, and our lucky stars that we had survived without causing a bigger accident, I got out to survey the damage.
The trailer has a large tool box mounted on the front, and this was caved in from where it had rammed into the hitch; miraculously, there was no damage to my Expedition. Of greater concern however, was the coupler on the trailer, which was pretty mangled. I placed a somewhat panicked call to Bryan, who drove out in his truck to meet us. Using some pliers and a wrench, we were able to get the coupler straightened out enough to fasten it to the hitch. We managed to make it back to Wichita without further problem.
I knew Bryan was feeling pretty guilty about what happened, because neither of us was sure whether we had checked to make sure that the coupler was locked with the hitch pin, before I left (obviously, it wasn't). I didn't blame him however, because I felt that ultimately it was my responsibility to make sure that the trailer was securely attached, and I didn't.
My usual protocol in the past when towing a trailer is to pull ahead 20 feet or so after I hook-up, and then get out again and make sure everything is tight, since sometimes the coupler doesn't always seat completely on the ball. This time, in my excitement, and haste to return home, I neglected to follow my own rule, and paid for it. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had been pulling my Cayman on the trailer.
The trailer is currently at the trailer repair shop, waiting on a replacement surge brake coupler ($200 + labor); after that it will be off to the body shop to repair and repaint the tool box (more $$). Then it will be as good as new, well, slightly-used, again.
I learned a scary and expensive lesson that day: always triple check your trailer connections, and don't forget the f*****g hitch pin!
UPDATE: The bill to repair the surge brake coupler came out to about $280 as expected. When I took the trailer to a local body shop recommended by the trailer place to repair and repaint the toolbox, the estimate was . . . $900 !!!
After I picked my jaw back up from the floor, the body shop guy suggested that I might just want to take a sledge hammer and 2x4, and fix and repaint it myself - so I guess that's what I'm going to have to do.
At my last DE at Hallett, I met a guy from Oklahoma City named Bryan, who was looking to sell the Jim-Glo Tilt Bed trailer he used to haul his Mustang. My wife and I had both been admiring it, and I thought if the price was right, I would get it. He offered it at what I thought was a pretty fair price considering it was only a couple of years old, and had new tires, so on the last Tuesday in January, my wife and I drove down to OKC to pick it up.
I drove to the garage where he kept it - it actually belonged to his father-in-law; we talked cars for a while (he's building another Mustang to race in NASA) and then it came time to hook-up the trailer and head back to Wichita. I backed up my Ford Expedition and he dropped the tongue onto the hitch ball as I got out. We hooked up the electrical and safety cables, and discussed a couple of other details; then we shook hands, and I drove off with my new, well, slightly-used trailer.
A few miles later, I was taking a connecting ramp from I-40E to I-44N at about 45 mph, when all hell broke loose (literally). I was going around a rather bumpy, left hand curve when I sensed something was wrong. I glanced in my mirror just in time to see the trailer start fishtailing. I started to slow, when, all of a sudden my Expedition's rear end broke loose, almost causing me to run into the cement barrier on my left. I vaguely remember my wife letting out a little scream as I tried to regain control and get off the highway without crashing, or taking out some other car with the wildly careening trailer behind me.
In retrospect, I believe what happened was that the trailer became unhitched while bouncing around the curve. This activated the break-away brake on the trailer (as it is supposed to), but that action of locking up the trailers brakes, while I was starting to decelerate on a curve, yanked my SUV's rear end loose - fortunately my Ford has Stability Control which probably saved the day.
Anyway, I managed to pull onto the left shoulder, on a slight downhill slope, only to have the trailer then ram into the back of my car as I came to a stop. After my wife and I finished thanking God, and our lucky stars that we had survived without causing a bigger accident, I got out to survey the damage.
The trailer has a large tool box mounted on the front, and this was caved in from where it had rammed into the hitch; miraculously, there was no damage to my Expedition. Of greater concern however, was the coupler on the trailer, which was pretty mangled. I placed a somewhat panicked call to Bryan, who drove out in his truck to meet us. Using some pliers and a wrench, we were able to get the coupler straightened out enough to fasten it to the hitch. We managed to make it back to Wichita without further problem.
I knew Bryan was feeling pretty guilty about what happened, because neither of us was sure whether we had checked to make sure that the coupler was locked with the hitch pin, before I left (obviously, it wasn't). I didn't blame him however, because I felt that ultimately it was my responsibility to make sure that the trailer was securely attached, and I didn't.
My usual protocol in the past when towing a trailer is to pull ahead 20 feet or so after I hook-up, and then get out again and make sure everything is tight, since sometimes the coupler doesn't always seat completely on the ball. This time, in my excitement, and haste to return home, I neglected to follow my own rule, and paid for it. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had been pulling my Cayman on the trailer.
The trailer is currently at the trailer repair shop, waiting on a replacement surge brake coupler ($200 + labor); after that it will be off to the body shop to repair and repaint the tool box (more $$). Then it will be as good as new, well, slightly-used, again.
I learned a scary and expensive lesson that day: always triple check your trailer connections, and don't forget the f*****g hitch pin!
UPDATE: The bill to repair the surge brake coupler came out to about $280 as expected. When I took the trailer to a local body shop recommended by the trailer place to repair and repaint the toolbox, the estimate was . . . $900 !!!
After I picked my jaw back up from the floor, the body shop guy suggested that I might just want to take a sledge hammer and 2x4, and fix and repaint it myself - so I guess that's what I'm going to have to do.
Total Comments 3
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You know you can drive your Cayman to the track right?
 Speaking of which are you going to Heartland Park in April? |
 
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You know you can drive your Cayman to the track right? Speaking of which are you going to Heartland Park in April?
(and I haven't been doing this long enough to get signed-off as advanced).To answer the 1st question: There's no doubt that one of the great things about the Cayman is that you can drive it to the track, have a great time, and drive it home (assuming you don't blow out a tire or break something in the drive train, hit an elk  , etc.).I am trailering mine for a number of reasons: first I live about 120 miles from both the tracks (HPT and Hallett) that are closest to me, so I worry about how I would get home if I did have a mechanical issue. Also, it will be nice to take my street tires along as extras, for rain or if I happen to cord my track tires. Finally, since I will usually go for the whole week-end and take my family with me - I don't think my 13 yr old daughter would take too kindly to being stuffed in one of the trunks.  |
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what a great post - ! not sure if i will ever trailer the Cayman, but if i do i'll think about checking that pin! thanks!
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