Blown Tire Update

I tried installing our spare tire. It looks new, but turns out that it is very old and the seal between the tire and rim is no longer good. It will not hold air pressure. The spare is also a smaller tire on a smaller rim, so even if it had held air, it would have been the wrong size. We found a tire shop here in the little town of Fabens Texas. They do not have the tires we need in stock, so we have to spend the night here in the closed down truck stop. I took the blown tire and spare to the tire shop. They will call in the morning when the tires are mounted. Once we have them back here I will remove the other left tire and take it in to be replaced as well. If all goes well, we will be out of here by 9 or so in the morning.

Considering all of the places that the tire could have blown, we were very lucky. I talked with someone that oversees the property we're stuck on and explained our situation. They have no problem with us spending the night, so we can relax on that issue. As for the tires... Well, I am replacing both left tires and the spare with a taller tire that will match the others. The guy from the tire shop said that he could mount a taller tire on the smaller spare rim so that if we had to use the spare in the future it will at least be the correct size. By tomorrow all 4 tires and the spare will have been replaced. I don't imagine that we'll have any more tire trouble this trip.

I did some minor surgery to the trailer to see if I could put things back roughly where they belong... Nope. A big section of the trailer siding is missing and will have to be replaced with new sheeting. Thankfully most of the damage is to the black smooth metal, so I will be able to patch and paint the repairs to match. That will have to wait until we have a place where I can do some serious metal work. I managed to get the fender back in place and used some self drilling sheet metal screws to hold it until I get a chance to fix it more permanently.

It's hard to show the damage to the trailer with pictures. The last picture is of the finished repair job. I hammered and pulled all of the remaining aluminum sheeting back roughly where it belongs. There's quite a large chunk of metal missing and I doubt that I would be able to find it alongside the road if I went looking. The trailer will just have to live with the scar until I am set up somewhere where I can work on it for several days...

So, here we are. The girls are playing the Nintendo and Becky is napping on the couch. There's nothing to do now but relax and get some rest so we can be ready for whatever tomorrow brings. I'm planning to watch a movie, drink some beer and get to bed early...