Repairs In a Pinch, What have you done?

[cbar45]

Hello, thought I'd start a new topic on those "bubble-gum and duct tape" repairs that we all do--if only to get a reel working temporarily till parts can be ordered, or out in the field where parts are scarce...Off the top of my head here are three that I've done to start with:

1. Cut and shaped a piece of stainless bail wire to replace one of the ARB anti-reverse pins in a Fin Nor Megalite 3000..

2. Shimmed the spool of an old Olympic 3/0-sized reel using material punched from a piece of discarded Teflon drag washer..

3. Successfully plugged the leaking brake line of my old Ford F150 using Propaste--a type of rodbuilding epoxy..
   (This was an emergency repair only done to limp the truck to the repair shop, definitely not a long-term fix)

Forgive me if this thread is in the wrong forum, I'm a newbie here and still learning how to navigate my way around..

Chad

[steelhead_killer]

Dumped a can of pepper in the leaking radiator to stop a leak?

[Maxed Out]

 I was following a friend who was towing a 12,000# boat on a triple axel trailer when he had a brake caliper stick and smoke started billowing out. We were on I-5 in horrific stop and go traffic, which likely caused his issues. (Exactly why I hate surge brakes).

We both pulled over and right away I find out he has no spare brake parts, but I carry extra for my trailer. Ha ha, wouldn't you know it, my caliper was the wrong model.

  So here was plan B, remove his stuck caliper and remove one of the brake pads, which allows just enough room for a small piece of 2x4 stud to slide in and zip tie around the caliper, then found a good spot where it could just hang off the frame, and zip tied it to the frame. So basically, the bad caliper is still connected to the brake line and has a piece of wood inside so when he stepped on the brakes the caliper has something to push against so it wont blow out. He still had brakes on 5 wheels and we made it safely home without issue (80+ miles).

 BTW, I do keep those parts in my truck at all times just for this reason. Never had to use it on my own trailer, ...yet !!!

[MarkT]

I was following a friend who was towing a 12,000# boat on a triple axel trailer when he had a brake caliper stick and smoke started billowing out. We were on I-5 in horrific stop and go traffic, which likely caused his issues. (Exactly why I hate surge brakes).

We both pulled over and right away I find out he has no spare brake parts, but I carry extra for my trailer. Ha ha, wouldn't you know it, my caliper was the wrong model.

  So here was plan B, remove his stuck caliper and remove one of the brake pads, which allows just enough room for a small piece of 2x4 stud to slide in and zip tie around the caliper, then found a good spot where it could just hang off the frame, and zip tied it to the frame. So basically, the bad caliper is still connected to the brake line and has a piece of wood inside so when he stepped on the brakes the caliper has something to push against so it wont blow out. He still had brakes on 5 wheels and we made it safely home without issue (80+ miles).

 BTW, I do keep those parts in my truck at all times just for this reason. Never had to use it on my own trailer, ...yet !!!

Sounds like a good Macgyver solution!

[TomT]

On a hunting trip to Wyoming (from CA) I had bought a used travel trailer to use for camping.  We had used it often and had taken it to some very remote areas.  We were on our way home and the wind was terrible.  About the time I got on I-80 I noticed the front of of the trailer was coming apart--literally!!  We had left Rock Springs about 15 miles ago and the next towns of any size were more than 15 miles.  We made an illegal u-turn on I-80 and limped back to Rock Springs where we found a hardware store.  I had a portable dc electric drill and lots of screws.  We bought a few rolls of plumbers tape and about 5 rolls of duct tape.   Using rope and ratchet tie down we went around the trailer and pulled the front end back together with those tools.  Then we started using duct tape going across the whole front of the RV and about 2' along each side.  Each length of tape we hand pressed and got as perfectly flat tape that had no air bubbles.  Then we half lapped it.  And did this across the whole front of the RV.  We tried to make sure that we had no loose ends as the wind was blowing constantly about 50 mph and with gusts up to 70-80 mph. We drove it all the way home.  Every time we stopped we checked our repairs and added more duct tape as necessary.  AND every time we stopped we got lots of attention and many people even took pictures of our repairs.  After I had been home about 3 weeks, I finally had unloaded everything off the trailer.  I hooked up to it again and hauled it about 2 hours to my daughter's place in the county.  Needless to say I received many "duct tape" tee shirts and comments from family & friends.
TomT

[cbar45]

Every time we stopped we checked our repairs and added more duct tape as necessary.  AND every time we stopped we got lots of attention and many people even took pictures of our repairs.  After I had been home about 3 weeks, I finally had unloaded everything off the trailer.  I hooked up to it again and hauled it about 2 hours to my daughter's place in the county.  Needless to say I received many "duct tape" tee shirts and comments from family & friends.
TomT

I would love to have seen a photo of the silver conestoga wagon when you pulled into the driveway..
Sounds like your story would make a great commercial for duct-tape!

Chad

[MarkT]

My neighbor has a big 30'+ Toy hauler trailer that he bought used that was coming apart. He had to reskin the front, work on the roof, weatherstripping around Windows and more. It's now in good shape for trips to the desert with his Polaris side by side and a couple of motorcycles. They can be fixed up!

[sharkman]

Duct taped a water drainage pipe on a camper.

[Alto Mare]

Joined sausage with a twig as me and my brothers would cut a chunk at a time as they would hang to dry so our dad wouldn't kill us.
At some point he did scratch his head trying to figure out why the sausage loops were getting smaller.

[sdlehr]

Fixed a leaking toilet drain pipe with a palpation sleeve. Mike's gonna love this one. While still in school our upstairs toilet drain pipe developed a leak. It was just above the kitchen and toilet drain water was dripping into the kitchen cabinets. I pulled the toilet and there was a very small hole in the lead pipe. We were poor. This was gonna cost a lot to call a plumber and tear up the kitchen ceiling or the bathroom floor. In case you don't know what a palpation sleeve is, it's basically a shoulder-length glove that veterinarians don to feel the insides of a horse or cow - so basically you can go shoulder-deep into a cow's butt, feel the internal organs (I only practice dog and cat medicine) and know something more about the patient than you did before. It's used a lot in reproductive work.  I cut off the glove at the wrist and had a long, clear plastic sleeve left over. I put the sleeve into the drain pipe as a liner, anchored at the wax ring. The sleeve collapsed when not in use, but opened up to allow water to pass past the hole in the drain pipe. That repair lasted years and was still there when we sold the house. I should win some kind of prize for that one.... it might still be there, I have no idea. I forgot about it after a few weeks with no problems.

Sid

[bluefish69]

Very Nice    Very Nice

So this is why that I had Hot Dogs in stead of Steak tonight.

[day0ne]

Had a freeze plug on a boat motor let go offshore. Hammered in an 4 oz egg sinker to get back.

[sdlehr]

Very Nice    Very Nice

So this is why that I had Hot Dogs in stead of Steak tonight.

I'm looking for a "like" button to click on....

[Dominick]

Very Nice    Very Nice

So this is why that I had Hot Dogs in stead of Steak tonight.

Yeah yeah...plumbers make a fortune over a lifetime.  Steak is cheap try Halibut.  Dominick

[bluefish69]

We don't mind getting our hands dirty either. I also worked deck for 10 years.