Boler was rear ended - can it be fixed?

[Brenda M]

Hi Everyone,

I was on my way to the Prairie Egg Gathering in Macklin Saskatchewan when my Boler was rear ended.

I was stopped waiting in line for a light to change when a large cargo truck hit the car behind me which then slammed into the back of my Boler.

I think that the insurance company (SGI) will write off the Boler, but I could buy it back if I decided that it is repairable.

The car hit the bumper on the Boler and then jumped up and pushed in the fiberglass at the back about a foot or less. The tail lights survived. On the inside, both side benches are pushed up and each has a nearly identical corner piece broken off at the bottom where the car pushed in. The rest of the interior looks undamaged.

The impact caused the trailer to bend the receiver on the hitch and in fact popped the trailer hitch off the ball. I think the hitch will need to be replaced. The propane bottles jumped off, but are fine.

I took photos at the towing compound and have posted them at http://halbr2.sasktelwebsite.net/boler/

I have other photos as well as full sized versions of the ones I have already posted. I can post links to the full-sized photos on the net or send them if anyone would like to see them. (All photos are now posted.)

My question is whether the Boler can possibly be repaired for a reasonable price, or whether it is sadly time to let it go to the salvage yard where the parts can be used for other Bolers.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Brenda

[Ian-Vicki]

Not sure about the trailer but I assume you're OK, which is the main thing. Sad to see the Boler though. If the frame is all right, my guess would be that it's repairable, but it depends how much work you want to get into.
Good lick whatever you decide.
cheers
Ian

[Doug Mager]

Brenda, I sure hope no one suffered any personal injury(s).

IMHO: Look for (be prepared for) the insurance company to write off the trailer. Unless you have some sort of replacement coverage (we have 'agreed value' coverage available here on the coast) they might look at the 'age' of the trailer, not to mention its size and tell you the damage exceeds the cost (value) of the trailer.

Fiberglass is very forgiving, repair wise, and repairs could be accomplished by a qualified bodyman. Unless you don't want the trailer any more, let it go but it does look fixable and the receiver hitch should be at least looked at but probably replaced. The bottom line is how much money is going to be involved in the trailer's restoration.

An accident like this SURE takes the edge off attending any event.

[Brenda M]

Thanks Ian,

I am fine. Just heartbroken.

In my original post I didn't mention how much I enjoy this Forum and all of the fabulous advice and friendly people. I didn't think my first post would be this particular topic.

Brenda

[Brenda M]

The truck driver was fine and the woman driving the car was very shaken up, but her son was up and out of the car. If anyone is injured it may be the woman the car - maybe whiplash.

I expect that they will write the Boler off. I am going to contact a body shop to see what they think. I suspect that it will be too much for me to tackle fixing the Boler, but there might be someone out there who is interested in buying it and fixing or using it for parts?

Brenda

[floyd]

Hi Everyone,

I was on my way to the Prairie Egg Gathering in Macklin Saskatchewan when my Boler was rear ended.

I was stopped waiting in line for a light to change when a large cargo truck hit the car behind me which then slammed into the back of my Boler.

I think that the insurance company (SGI) will write off the Boler, but I could buy it back if I decided that it is repairable.

The car hit the bumper on the Boler and then jumped up and pushed in the fiberglass at the back about a foot or less. The tail lights survived. On the inside, both side benches are pushed up and each has a nearly identical corner piece broken off at the bottom where the car pushed in. The rest of the interior looks undamaged.

The impact caused the trailer to bend the receiver on the hitch and in fact popped the trailer hitch off the ball. I think the hitch will need to be replaced. The propane bottles jumped off, but are fine.

I took photos at the towing compound and have posted them at http://halbr2.sasktelwebsite.net/boler/

I have other photos as well as full sized versions of the ones I have already posted. I can post links to the full-sized photos on the net or send them if anyone would like to see them. (All photos are now posted.)

My question is whether the Boler can possibly be repaired for a reasonable price, or whether it is sadly time to let it go to the salvage yard where the parts can be used for other Bolers.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Brenda

Heck yeah it can be fixed, once you push all that back in place you could have lots of options!
Not the least of which would be a larger bumber to cover the repair at the bottom![lol]
Also a great opportunity to devise a trunk,permanently attached to the new bumper and further disguising the repair work.
Of course it could be repaired .To paraphrase from an old TV series... A Boler is barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic trailer. The Boler will be that Trailer. Better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster."
And for at LOT less than "Six Million Dollars"Maybe it could become "Kit"
"The Six Hundred Dollar Trailer" [if you do all the work yourself!]
I am not making light of your plight, I would be devastated if it happened to "Eggy-Sue"!
Just hoping a little levity and some encouragement might help.

Either way, accept the money, and ask to keep the trailer with the title left clean.
There are plenty of us out there with the required skills looking for another project if you decide to sell.
Repeat , see if you can keep it with a CLEAN title, many places won't allow it to be registered once it has a salvage title. Otherwise beware!
Of course I know nothing about Canadian Rules.

[Brenda M]

LOL Thanks Floyd!
Might be a nice place to put a new access door or even full length French doors or a picture window!

[Kevin K]

This can be fixed

at least I would give it a try.

[Larry&Carrie]

Brenda-- when I first looked at the photos, I thought "OMG"... Then, after a second (and third look), I thought "shucks, that ain't too bad". Your belly band looks ok (metal is a lot harder to fix than fiberglass), so damage is low, taillite housings look ok, hmmm. I couldn't see any tongue damage other than receiver where it looks like it hit your bumper. (any stress marks in the paint?)
I would bet that if you were to remove the bench cabinents, the pushed in back would pop out and be real close to original contour. Then it would be just a matter of mat and resin to make as strong (prob stronger) than new. The cabinents would be an easy fix. Ah, if it was just closer, my new shop is almost finished and another trailer project would be fun.... (and if you think it is insurmountable, take a look at my Corvette- it was a total- the only original part is the cowl-dash area and the windshield- it has parts of 13 other Corvettes fiberglassed to it) Larry

[Lizbeth]

I think it could be fixed too. Most of that should pop back into place.

The question for me would be the amount of money the insurance company will be willing to settle for. They might try to give you way less than the amount the trailer is actually worth due to it's age. I guess that might not be such an issue in Canada where fiberglass trailer are more common.

[Rick M]

Hi Brenda Your Boler looks great except for a little dent in the back. As long as everybody in your accident is OK then who cares what your insurance company is going to do. How long have you owned your Boler,it looks in great shape and you know they will probably right it off and if you don't buy it back then someone is going to get a beautiful trailer/your trailer for a great price and if they are good with fiberglass as it wont take much to repair the back and as for your hitch it can be replaced with not to much trouble and the rest of your trailer looks great as per your pics.
I think you should go and get your little trailer out of that bad place as it will probably get squashed or something else, I sold my Boler 3 months ago,miss had it for 20 years, bought a Bigfoot but they are not the same,anyway good luck on what ever you decide to do.
Rick...

[Brenda M]

Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone. My spirits are lifting. Does anyone know a body shop or RV repair place in Saskatoon that might be able to tackle this project?

I've had the trailer for about ten years, but didn't use it much for a few years. It is in quite good shape, given its age. All the appliances work and the wiring has not been tampered with. I was just getting back into working on it and traveling with it when this happened. All polished up for the Bolerama, but never got there!

[james kent]

Hi Brenda
Sorry about your experience. Glad everyone is OK.
On the whole, your trailer looks to be not too bad. Don't let them take it out of your sight or it might just dissapear. Others have repaired some trailers that have been in worse shape. [See the tree growing through the roof of 'Roy in TO's' trailer.] Your frame appears to be good as are the compartments inside. Maybe it'e time to do a complete overhaul and a new facelift of the interior as well as repairing the outside.
As for the replacement value, look at the for sale adds. A Boler in good condition is selling at around $5000. Tell them to find a decent replacement. Don't let them Blue book you. Those values are too low. With the recession that we've been seeing a lot more people are taking interest in these little units and they aren't that easy to locate a good one any more.

[pjanits]

I would try to fix it myself or take it to a boat guy. It doesn't look that bad, I have seen worse trailers here with rot damage.

[Leo H]

Brenda M
get a hold of Brenda Novakoski , she is a member here and she lives in Saskatoon, SK. Canada with her husban, Nolen and they have done a lot of work on fiberglass trailers and will beable to tell you were to go for help.

[Brenda M]

Thanks Leo,

I sent a message to Brenda Novakoski.

Brenda M

[Leo H]

Brenda M,
here is Brenda Novakoski's webb site, they use to rent out little fiberglass trailers, their is a phone number so you may can give them a call. good luck.

http://www.members.shaw.ca/brendanova/

[Brenda Novakovski]

Hi all,

I did email Brenda and I've asked her keep in touch with the outcome.

NOT the way to start a weekend that was meant for fun.

Brenda Novakovski
Saskatoon, SK

[Marc]

I would think a place that dealt with boats or perhaps commercial vehicles (a lot of medium -large trucks like Internationals, Freightliners, and Peterbilts have fibreglass cowlings over the engine, and more than a few cube vans are made with a fibreglas shell.) There are lots of products available as well...fibreglass matting, epoxy, two part bonding epoxy and so on. Supposing the frame is not badly damaged the shell could be fixed easily I would think.

[Brenda M]

I guess I will wait to see what SGI says. I will let you all know what the final verdict is once I get the information.