[VAL] FW: highway help

["Peter Ryner" <pryner@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,
We are in the middle of our second trip in our renovated '68 Ambassador.  No
problems until we left Virginia heading for Kentucky.  Left Williamsburg in
the rain and had a lot of traffic for a while.  WV roads were really rough.
Stopped for a break about 150 miles out of Williamsburg and found the back
door missing along with the our license plate!  I also noticed that the door
frame was starting to crack on both sides and the back was starting to
droop.  I had fixed the rotten floor a  couple of years ago and replaced all
of the bolts making a good solid and waterproof rear connection.  There was
a gap because of the rotten floor, but none of the dreaded rear sag.  Made a
trip from Salt Lake to Tampa with absolutely no problems so I thought we had
it made.

It is now several days later in Indiana and things are getting worse.  The
cracks are getting larger, we are shearing rivits along the rear trim and we
have probably sagged a 1/2' now.  I contacted airstream and we are dropping
the trailer off for repair on Monday.  They didn't know if they could help
or not but will check the trailer out sometime in July.  After looking at
the archives, it appears that our frame is bending and we will need a beef
up plate.  Hopefully it won't bend too far on the trip over to Ohio so a
repair can be made.

If anyone happens to see a trailer door with Florida plates on I-64 WB
between Williamsburg and WV please contact me off list.  I'll be glad to pay
for its return.

If you any good words of encouragement we would love to hear from you.
Pete