HOWEVER....the past 5 months that I’ve owned my Tiny House on Wheels have been especially precarious, and have thrown more than a fair share of curve balls my way. I am still a HUGE fan of my Tiny Home. Make no mistake, I love my house, I love the design, I love the functionality of it....but the actual mobility of my home, well, that has left much to be desired. I purchased a THOW because I’m retired and I love to travel. So the idea of traveling in my home was very appealing. But from the time I picked up my THOW in Oregon last May it has been one issue after another. Granted, the majority of the issues have come from the structural integrity of the Iron Eagle trailer that my house was built on. I had 2 snapped spring leaf welds in under 3,000 miles. The second of which resulted in a blown tire and damage to my wheel well. Both of which resulted in days of down time and being stranded in places I did not want to be - in the midst of road trips that were meant to embrace the fun and carefree lifestyle of a retiree yearning for life “away from it all.” The sad fact is, that while you may escape the hassle of city life, life on the road comes with a whole new set of problems.
Today, in the middle of Texas in the pouring rain, I discovered my trailer tongue was severely bent at the seems, causing my house to slant dangerously downward at the hitch. An issue that I’m certain resulted from the “reinforced” welding that was done on the trailer last month at the Iron Eagle manufacturer in Oregon. After having snapped two welds I took it to them and they assured me they had reinforced every weld on the trailer and it was basically a “light armored vehicle” that was impervious to any future issues. Well, here we are 2,000 miles later and the trailer tongue is bending and bowing where they reinforced it, clearly a result of their weakening of the structural integrity of the trailer. Am I pissed? You better believe it. Do I blame my THOW manufacturer Tru Form Tiny? No, I don’t. I have weighed my home and it is not overweight for the rating of the trailer. The fact that is is heavy on the tongue side should not make such a huge difference....yet apparently it does.
The owners over at Tru Form are of course mortified at the situation. They build beautiful Tiny Houses and have been helpful and assumed responsibility every time I have had a problem. They certainly don’t need or want a Tiny House Travel blogger illuminating every little issue to a public audience on the worldwide web. I understand their frustration and I know they understand mine. The difference is, this is my HOME now, so I can only suck up so many setbacks before I’m screaming WHAT THE FUCK an am ready to lose my everlovin mind (I’m in Texas currently...so I’m pickin up the lingo y’all). I strongly believe the welding done at Iron Eagle Trailers is what weakened the tongue where it is now bending. That certainly isn’t the fault of Tru Form Tiny, and I do not place the blame on them. There were other issues with the house that they remedied under warranty (the TPO membrane on my roof tore loose after the first 800 miles, minor issues with my heater, etc,), and they have been attentive and helpful when issues have arised. There are a few cosmetic things that I will need to maintain more than I expected - such as the exterior paint and the cedar siding and deck. But that is the case with any house you purchase....you have growing pains. I expected the unexpected.....and here it is.
Speaking with the fabricator here in Texas, it’s going to cost $2400 to remove the tongue and replace it with a heavier Gage steel. My tongue weight is 2200 lbs, which is a heavy load for the tubing that is currently on there. I’m glad it’s being upgraded with a heavier steel, I just wish Iron Eagle would have caught that last month when they worked on it all day! Fortunately the fabricator is going to be able to salvage most of the moving parts on the tongue and just reuse them on the new setup. It’s going to take 2-3 days to complete and they only take cash or check. Guess who doesn’t have $2400 in her bank account right now? (currently I'm $136 overdrawn. YAY). Fortunately I have a few “bank checks” from a credit card that I can use to pay the initial 50% deposit. Then I will be left to figure out where the rest of the money is coming from, either .Iron Eagle or Tru Form. Somebody is paying for this mess...and it certainly isn’t going to be me.
Thank god I have friends here in Texas that I can stay with - and I’m not broken down in the middle of nowhere. Or even worse if this had happened when I had Kaila with me! I have to pick her up in Mandeville, LA next week. I was supposed to pick her up at the airport in NOLA on Saturday....but that is impossible now. Hopefully they will get the Tiny fixed and road-ready by Saturday and I’ll make the 2 day drive to Louisiana to pick up my favorite 9 year old by Monday. Again, LUCKILY - Kaila has friends in Mandeville since that’s where her Mama is from, so she will get picked up by John & Ginesse Barrett and get to spend a few days playing with their daughter, Cassidy. I’m pretty disappointed that I will miss picking her up at the airport...as this is her first time as a solo “unattended minor" flyer. I bet she’s gonna be so excited when she comes off that plane! I expect I’ll hear all about it....sadly, not firsthand. Oh well....she and I will still have a fun 3 day road trip from NOLA to Nashville where we can do silly stuff and she can tell me all about rocks and minerals, American History and various other factoids. I can’t wait to see her!
I would like to sincerely thank everyone for your calls, texts, messages and comments these past few days. It’s been hard to answer all of you with so much going on. Not to mention the broken iPhone that I am hopefully going to replace today. I swear, having a phone that doesn’t work properly is annoying and super frustrating! But seriously friends, THANK YOU. I appreciate the support - and I’m getting to the point where I’ve weeded out most of the wackos and freaks on this public Facebook page, and have mostly normal (relatively speaking), kind and considerate Facebook friends. Make no mistake, I still enjoy the shit talking and the crazy Shannanigins - but sometimes ya just gotta deal with real life for a bit. Here’s to hoping next week is better than this one was!
Stay safe, keep laughing, and be kind to each other....life’s too short to be an asshole. :)
