Life Lessons: The Importance of Spare Cargo Trailer Parts

When teaching a person why something is important, it's usually better to show than tell.  Sure, we could preach to you about how helpful it is to have spare parts around, but until you're stuck on the side of the road with a busted trailer and nothing to fix it with, you might not appreciate how important they are.  Of course, we never want you to be in that position, so we thought we'd do a little "showing" with a story we recently heard.

The Story

A father and his two boys owned a collection of cars, including a 1936 Oldsmobile three-window business coupe that they showed and earned trophies with. Their father was extremely adamant about carrying spare parts when showing cars cross country and even though he always had his two sons perform regular maintenance on his trailers, he simply wasn't comfortable hitting the road without a backup plan and spare parts. He insisted that the boys load an extra hub pre-packed with grease, as well as extra straps, channel locks, and a tire iron. While the boys didn't understand the need, they usually did it without further ado.

One particular show required the father and his two boys to travel from Houston, Texas to Oklahoma City. With plans to hit the road by 3:30 am, the boys were slow to get up and had not finished packing or prepping the trailer. About three hours into the trip, they noticed a wheel wobbling violently and as fate would have it, it was caused by bearings lacking grease and the boys had failed to load the hub the one time they needed it. While it's true that you never know what can happen, you can still prepare for it.

The Moral of the Story

Whether you manufacture, repair, or maintain trailers, you should always carry a few spare parts. If you're going to use a trailer for work, you should be as familiar as possible with the basic parts so that you can perform basic repair work. This is especially important for any jobs that include transporting goods via cargo trailer. Even if you're trailering for hobbies, such as transporting a car to a show, or transporting a horse, you should always keep basic replacement parts handy in case of a minor emergency. Surprisingly, little is needed in order to perform repairs on your equipment.

Here are a few common spare cargo trailer parts to think about keeping with you:

1 Spare Wheel & Tire Assembly Ready to Mount

2 Extra Ratchet Straps

Assorted Tarp Straps or Bungee Cords

Work Gloves

Channel Locks

Tire Tool

Replacement Hub Bearings Packed

Aside from carrying these few spare parts, you should inspect your trailer regularly and replace or repair and damaged or loose parts before hitting the road to avoid a potential emergency. However, to avoid any problems on the road, it's important to maintain your trailer by getting it checked out by professional repair shops and welders every few years. NuEra Trailer Parts "goes the extra mile" to please our customers who manufacture, repair and maintain trailers. We offer a variety of different brands and parts at affordable prices. Get all your cargo trailer parts at once with a click of a mouse.