Tag Archives: spring

photo of trailer tire and fender - completed repair

Leaf Spring Repairs

Teardrop Trail Log: June 21 and early August, 2017

photo of the Fender nearly touching the tire

Fender nearly touching the tire

Stopping in Cleburne, Texas for gas, I noticed that the left trailer fender was dragging on the tire. Not good. It didn’t look like any real damage had been done to the tire, but I needed to separate them before it got any worse. Perhaps someone had backed into our trailer and bent the fender. That’s when I saw that one side of the trailer was lower than the other. Ahh — broken spring. The Ambassador was equipped with 500-pound springs on each side, but one had clearly broken. We had probably exceeded the rated weight. Sizing up the situation, I thought we could get home — only about 200 miles — but first I had to bend the fender away from the tire. Fortunately, I was able to borrow a pry bar, and bend it just enough. We got home safely later that afternoon.

photo of The old, 500-pound springs

The old, 500-pound springs

We had a trip to Inks Lake scheduled for early August, but I figured I had plenty of time. Late July was cutting it close, so I got online and learned that the spring was a standard model, ordered one from the local parts house, and expected to have it in a couple of days. Except when I went to pick it up on the appointed day, they didn’t have it. Somehow they had spaced the order. Now we were really short on time.

Marilyn and I spent most of that day visiting every parts house we could find in Dripping Springs, Southwest Austin and finally along I-35 towards San Antonio. Between Austin and San Antonio, there are several RV dealers and although they all agreed it was a standard (and therefore common) leaf spring, none of them stocked it. Finally, one of them recommended Magnum Trailers in San Marcos and we finally had a pair. It was going to make us a day late, but we would be able to meet our friends at Inks Lake.

photo of New shackle bolts and springs

New shackle bolts and springs

The installation was pretty simple. Leaf springs should always be replaced in pairs, and so should the shackle bolts that attach them to the trailer. The drill-powered scissors jack made it easy to jack up the trailer and the replacement didn’t take long. I even checked the wheel bearings and repacked them with grease. I think the whole operation took about 2 hours.

photo of the Powered scissors jack

Powered scissors jack

All things considered, it could have been much worse. We were close to home when the spring broke, and we made it home with no incident. The replacement springs, once found, were very inexpensive. And, it wasn’t hard to swap them out. All repairs should be this easy!

photo of The Pool at Balmorhea

Balmorhea, A Cool Oasis in the High Desert

Teardrop Trail Log: March 28, 2016

We headed north from Fort Davis to Balmorhea State Park. The park’s name comes from four men’s surnames: E.D. Balcom, H.R. Morrow, Joe Rhea and John Rhea – Bal-mor-hea. They formed an irrigation company in the early 20th century.

The park is located on the San Solomon Springs. In 1849, the springs were known as Mescalero Springs for the Mescalero Apache who watered their horses here. The 1.75-acre pool with 3.5-million gallons of crystal-clear freshwater was built around the springs, one of the largest artesian, spring-fed pools in the world. It’s now considered one of the best swimming holes in Texas. The water is 72 to 76 degrees year-round and the constant flow of water means no chlorination is required.

photo of Spanish Revival Archecture

Spanish Revival Architecture

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the pool during FDR’s New Deal between 1936 and 1941. In addition to the pool, they built barracks, a concession building, two bath houses and San Solomon Courts using local limestone. They also made adobe bricks for the construction.

photo of Our campsite

Our campsite

I’d spoken with several folks from the park while we traveled and it was nice to put names and faces with the voices. They were very welcoming. The campground is a small jewel with only 34 sites. We backed the Ambassador into our site and began to settle into the magic that is Balmorhea. We took a stroll around the pool. There’s a high diving board and the shallow end has a concrete floor. We forgot to bring bathing suits on this trip so we will be coming back to Balmorhea.

photo of a Camp Inn Teardrop

Camp Inn Teardrop

The next day we headed off to the McDonald Observatory, another must-do on anyone’s West Texas visit. Our return to Balmorhea was like coming home. It’s always fun to check out the other campers and trailers in the campground. There was another teardrop, a Camp Inn.  We also caught up with another couple we’d met in the campground outside Big Bend. We noticed their distinctive Scamp trailer with its unusual aerodynamic design near the showers. On our last day, Moth Man and his wife, the couple we met in Seminole Canyon, stopped by to Balmorhea for a short visit. We have made many good friends on the Teardrop Trail.

photo of sunset over Balmorhea campground

The magic …