Creative ways to fix things on trailers

zip ties work great for holding up airlines or holding on license plates

 

If it needs to be fastened - Duct Tape
If it needs to be unfastened - WD 40

Tool Box Compartment Items
Various size Cable (Zip) Ties
A Screwdriver with Flat and Phillips Head Medium size tip.
Channel Locking Plyers
One Large Cresent Wrench
Allen Wrench set
Star Wrench Set
Soldering Iron w/Lead
Electrical Tape
Volt Meter
Buck Knife
Small flash light
Gal Water
Gal Oil

Have a Safe Trip!

 

The afore mentioned zip ties are a must, I use them frequently. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is caulk. Some customers will reject a trailer if daylight shows through anywhere, even just a tiny bit. Much easier to just pull out a tube of caulk and fill the hole, than to mess with Onroad. An additional tip, if the hole is up near the roof, snitch a garbage can and flip it upside down. That should get you up high enough. Swift trailers are often bashed in up front, and the shop's caulk job isn't always up to par. I've saved many trailers from rejection this way.

 

You can stick a paper clip in the power plug if your lights are not working and sometimes that may fix it. You have to straighten it out the stick one end in the main port hole then bend it back around the plug and stick it in. Some times you can also use a knife or flat head screw driver to open the prongs up a bit.

 

"Fixed" a mudflap that had been torn off by a blown tire with a utility knife and a couple of hose clamps. The tire repair guy didn't bring a mud flap. Cut a hole in each side of the mud flap, run the hose clamps through as you hang it where it's supposed to be. It will get you legally to the terminal for a "real" repair.

Also, when only one end was hanging, I used my vise-grips to hold it on until I got to the shop.

A rattle-can of white paint for hazmat placards that can"t be scraped off.

Wire strippers (or a pocket knife) and black tape for shorted wiring.

Vise grips for the tandem handles that won't stay pulled. Also, if you have stubborn pins, pull the handle as far as it will go, clamp the vise grip on it to hold it, wiggle the trailer back and forth with the tractor, pull it as far as it will go again, clamp....etc. Or, get impatient like I do and bang on the pins with a 4~pound hammer.

For door latches that won't close. Either move the trailer to level ground or tap upward on the bottom of the latch (the vertical bar with the hooks on it) while you seat the handle part.

Never pull a nail, bolt or other object from a tire. Let the tire guy do that. That embedded object might be what's holding the air in.

 

The one thing they didn't mention was red tags - the reason that trailer's like that is because previous drivers got a case of the lazy ###, and didn't report damage and deficiencies on the trailer to the shop like they should have. This is why you're running down the road with jacked up equipment. Get a tire thumper - you see a driver dropping a trailer in that sort of shape without putting a red tag on it, use it to pop them one on the head*


*Disclaimer: This sentence was typed half jokingly. I accept no legal responsibility for sorry ##### getting bopped on the head because they dropped a deficient trailer without reporting it.

 

Get the air line that hooks to your red glad hand. I can't count how many trailer tires I've had to air up to get it down the road. I also carry some wire and butt connectors to replace crappy wiring.

 

I've used those stick-on LED lights as marker lights when they are located on the bottom and they are burned out.

The license plate light only has to be 4 CP. A little clip-on hat light puts that out and with some creative taping, will get you to a terminal.