Re: Comic Relief . . . DOH!
Our previous trailer, a 1978 Coachman Cadet 24 footer, was a piece of krap, but we sure had a lot of fun with it for the last 12 years!
Nothing worked in it, except the stove, furnace and electricity.
And we couldn't use the furnace as the fan squealed so loud that it woke up the whole campground!
That tanks were all busted up . . . so couldn't use the tub or toilet!
We used the tub/shower as a place to keep the coolers since the fridge would kick off the circuit breakers . . . and I never even thought to try to see if it would run off of the LP gas!
And the trailer brakes . . . they would work while driving uphill, or when you really didn't need them to work.
But coming down the mountains (we live in Colorado), they would
ALWAYS short out . . . and no brakes!
Yikes!
I had it (the trailer) rewired several times, but it would always blow out the wiring thingy on my truck, and then the outside trailer lights, including the brake and turn signals, would work all goofy, and nobody could figure it out why it kept doing this!!!!!
Anyway, a few years back on our way to Taos, New Mexico, our friends that were following us alerted me (I have a pair of Uniden 2-ways) that the lights went out (again) on the trailer, so we pulled over to get them working.
I went into the trailer to get my volt meter and other tools . . . we pretended to know what we were doing and actually did get the lights working again . . . I put the tools back inside and away we went.
A few minutes later, a call on the 2-way from behind telling me that they just saw glass flying from the side of the trailer!
DOH!
Well, as I mentioned earlier, this was an old 1978 trailer, and it had seen it's better days long before we bought it.
A previous owner had caught the door step on something and ripped the step completely off, which had actually broken the door frame, and the door would stick, which meant you had to slam it real hard to get it closed all the way.
When I would level the trailer, I set that corner of the trailer a little high as it would relieve the pressure on the door frame so the door would open and close normally.
Apparently, I hadn't slammed it hard enough before we took off, and it flew open while on the road and smashed the glass door window.
It was raining, so I had to put a garbage bag over the door to cover the broken-out window for the rest of the drive, and I spent most of the next day (Saturday of a holiday weekend) driving around Taos looking for a glass shop.
I ended up putting plexiglass in the window from the Taos Ace Hardware!
I have a few more horror stories with that old trailer . . . I'll save those for another rainy day!
Here is the old beast at the Sand Dunes National Monument in southern Colorado: