Always Learning
 

Since the weather here in the midwest has been so nice I decided to pull the rig out of storage and use it for a dog show in Cleveland for 5 days a week and half ago.
Weather forecast was good as far as no snow so let go..........
Forgot about about lake effect snow...ok not much, about two inches. Steps had snow now so I cleared off. Later at night I went out and darn... that little snow left on steps turned to ice....ya I have black and blue areas on my rib area and butt and elbow. Darn it hurt!!!! Ok, now I know if I use the rig and it snows hit the switch that retracts the steps when the door closes if it is snowing.

Rig back in storage until April............... :(

Tooo bad about the fall. Hope it didn't interfere with the show. Good advice about retracting the steps, I wouldn't have thought about that. Now you made me sad my rig is sitting in my storage place. Our roads are pretty clear around here too. They did dump about a million pounds of salt back when we got some snow so I worry it would start mine rusting.

Didn't notice any salt on the road around Cleveland but the rig got plenty dirty on the trip down with rain all the way. Roads must real dirty in IL, or IN, or OH. Took the rig to a truck wash, three guys worked on it, did a real nice job for $45.00. Makes me think about not washing it myself as much.
In storage until the end of March. Now I can save money for next years fuel costs.

I took mine to a truck wash once a couple years ago. They had 4-5 guys with high pressure wands spray the heck out of it. Kinda worried me with all that pressure and possibility of water getting into places I didn't want it. And those things looked like they could peel paint they were so powerful. It looked nice when they were done and I was surprised how cheap it was. But I'm sticking with the low pressure and soft brush on the end of the long handle.

We are in northern Ohio, and they always have oversalted the roads, and the new liquid de-icer they started using is even harder on vehicles than the old stuff. The salt worries me on the rig as well. My gooseneck/living quarters trailer does not go out in the winter, I have a smaller older trailer we use for our few winter shows that I really don't care about. A few years back when that trailer was a little nicer than it is now, I did a show in Birmingham in February and had basically blizzard all the way from the AL line to home in Youngstown, OH, and then the trailer was parked outside until we thawed out in the spring before I had a chance to get it a good wash. The damage to the aluminum and trim was unbelievable from the salt sitting on itm as well as some of the painted steel frame etc.. Now my habit on the good trailer is that when we get back in from the road for the last trip of the year, it gets a good wash at the truck wash before it gets put away. I go to the local joint around midnite when they are all sitting around bored and throw the crew an extra $20 up front and tell them I need every nook and cranny, underneath and on top blasted off and a good brush, brightener and wash. The cool thing is they are usually so happy about the upfront $20 tip they have always charged me less at the cash register and I usually get out cheaper with a better wash. Truckers must be pretty cheap on the tips, because my $20 has always got the crew cracking. I do the same thing in mid-summer and the trailer still looks brand new for 10 years old. Other guys say to never let them use the brightener, but the trick is to make sure they are rinsing immediately so it does not sit and whiten the aluminum. I've never had any damage, but I do worry a little when they are blasting around the openings like the refrigerator. Always worked good for me.