Disaster strikes

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:wave Let's try this again.

My wife and I were pulling our Trillium Jubilee in the rain through rush hour traffic in the loop around Washingtion DC. The hitch cap split open and came off of the ball. The camper went down on the jack wheel which fell apart. The jack stand dug into the road and jerked the trailer away breaking the safety chains. The trailer crossed two lanes of traffic and hit the guard rail wiping off the propane tank and smashing a hole in the camper body on the right front corner. :omy
It was a miracle that no other cars were hit and noone was hurt.

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f3d4365186b7Trillium 4 half size.jpg/>
You can see a bit of a wrinkle where I fiberglassed the corner but she pulls just fine now. :thumb
Don't try this at home!!!!!! :jester

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was there anything you could have done to prevent the jack from digging in to the pavement . Did your safty chains form a cradle?
did brake-away brakes help at all?
just wonder if anything could be done if it happens to someone else
:cheers

[Legacy Posts]

Wow Al you are really lucking you weren't on the road. We've checked out our Trilly in that spot and it seems to look fine. Ours has a bolt that goes through right there. Did yours. I wonder if the bolt creates a weak spot.

Our friends 76 Trill has metal plates welded where it curves up but they are not back that far. They do look factory though?
Hhmmmm
Nancy

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the frame to fiberglass bolts are right there. it is a weak spot in my frame as it is where it starts to curve inward and upward . I checked mine before the trip and evertthing looked good. I think we had a dicussion about frame cracks in early july! only reason i took another look. I dont want to alarm anyone but maybe older trill 1300 owners should have a professional take a closer look at the area. the pervious ower had plates welded to the bottom of the frame but for what ever reason this did not help it was a classic case of brittle fracture. Welder who welded on new plates said the metal was soild . 600 plus miles home and things look good except they need to be painted something i will do in the morning !
:cheers

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What exactly is brittle fracture?

I do recall a few years back someone on Bolerama mentioning a recall for the Trill frames. The year was not mentioned but it was assumed that it was for the oldest Trilliums whose frames were built like some of the early Bolers with pieces welded together to form a box and then the tongue bolted onto the box.

It's very rare to hear of Trillium frame problems. Your storey certainly gives the push for everyone regardless of make to get their older frames checked by a professional.

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is the rapid catastrophic failure of a materalite under stress and a preexisisting flaw like the cracking of ice on a lake . sharp shiny edges at break as opposide to ductile failure which is the streaching of a material untill it breaks like taffy ductil failure leaves a dull area at break think of bending a bread tie thing back and forth untill it breaks.
hope it makes sense
:banana

[Legacy Posts]

Orginally posted by Al V

was there anything you could have done to prevent the jack from digging in to the pavement . Did your safty chains form a cradle?
did brake-away brakes help at all?
just wonder if anything could be done if it happens to someone else
:cheers

Al
I don't think I had the safety chains short enough and they allowed the camper to go down on the jack wheel. The trailer brakes wern't much help. :sad
I am thinking of putting on a weight distributing hitch. Draw Tite makes one with one spring arm for lighter campers. I think this will keep the camper from bobbing.
Also I have a sway control bar to add.
All I know is that I don't want to ever lose another trailer on the road!!! :nope

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Use care with a weight dist hitch on small trailers like ours.

Remember that what a WDH usually does is move some of the truck's rear weight to the front axle AND to the trailer axle (I would expect that older trailers have lower capacity axles than current models). Think of it as a bridge where what weight was in the center is now on the ends when the middle support is light or missing...

BTW, for those who may be worried about the plastic wheel, they also make them in steel.

Pete in the RatHaus, whose 91S13 tongue jack is the lighter one that folds up out of the way along the frame

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but take a look at Resse and draw tight web sites seams they are makeing a WDH for light weight trailer and popups.
personally after haveing my frame split in two i dont think i would chance it ! Ill take a wait and see on those new hitches:E
http://www.reese-hitches.com/weightdist_lite.htm
http://www.drawtite-hitches.com/WD/singleb...ar_WD_hitch.htm
:E

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Sorry you had so much go wrong.

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f4442f1222fbbrokeneggAl.jpg/>

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:laugh :laugh :laugh :wave

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:banana :cheers :crazy-ii

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Orginally posted by Ron and Bernice

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f4442f1222fbbrokeneggAl.jpg/>

I don't remember posing for that!! <img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f44bfcabbffbguyegg.jpg/>

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Orginally posted by Ron and Bernice

Sorry you had so much go wrong.

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f4442f1222fbbrokeneggAl.jpg/>

I know I'm losin' my hair but this is ridiculous!!!!:reyes

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That's hilarious! Of course, I've never met Al, so I can't say if the likeness becomes him, but you sure got Suz and Jan and me pegged!

Maggie? Is that you?

:cblob

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A sense of humor!:cheers