Several weeks ago we purchased a 31' 1971 Airstream Landyacht which we plan to live in next year after we return from Hawaii. Our attemps to bring it home from where the previous owner stored it have taught us several lessons.
Such as...
Don't rent a truck from a hardware store to pull your new trailer home. Even if it has a hitch, the hitch will be unusable. Check for the bolt welded inside it before you pay the $25 and drive 40mn to the trailer location.
{Don't ask how we know this.}
Don't purchase a cheap towing vehicle sight-unseen 800 miles away unless you have a lot of extra time in your schedule to do the needed repairs when you arrive to pick it up.
Best to call into work ahead of time and just let them know you'll still be on the road Monday morning (or sleeping off an all-night drive home).
Even after you get it home, whatever can go wrong with your pulling vehicle, will. Like a busted gear-shifting cable. If you're lucky, it will break before you leave your own driveway.
{We were lucky}
When you remove the driver's seat to replace the cable, be careful you don't pinch the cable when you put the seat back in and clamp it down. If you make this mistake, the vehicle will not shift out of Park.
It's really best to get the 7-wire electrical hookup completed before you leave to go pick up your trailer, vs. trying to do this in the field when you arrive.
When you can't get the electrical jack to work on the trailer, remember the front feet of the trailer, which can be used as a jack to lift the nose of the trailer up in a pinch.
A 31' trailer will require a very wide turning radius. Things will pull loose under the trailer if you cut a corner too short and end up scraping the trailer tail across the ditch.
Electrical tape is almost as useful as duct tape when you need to keep things from dragging behind the trailer.
There is nothing sweeter than seeing your silver bullet streaking down the highway past fields of golden corn.
Except perhaps for enjoying the sunset glinting off its silver sides after you get it safely home.
2 comments:
Oh dear. Glad you finally got it safely home!
Now it has electric hookup to the GMC but some of the tail lights are out! Ack!
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