While you may be able to get your car or truck under cover during a hail storm, horse trailers aren't always so lucky. Your trailer may be sturdy, but it is still vulnerable to hail damage, and a heavy storm could lead to serious dents and broken parts. If you have recently experienced a serious hail storm and your trailer came out worse for the wear, you should have it looked over by hail damage repair experts to ensure that it is still both functional and protected from leaks or future rust.
Testing the Hitch and Wiring
The primary concern after a horse trailer has been damaged is whether or not it can still be used to safely haul your animals. While you likely won't need to worry about your floors or tires, the wiring and hitch that connect your truck and trailer often get hit by hail during a storm. An experienced automotive technician should be able to examine your systems and components to be sure that they are still working as intended.
Checking for Leaks
Once you are certain that your trailer is still usable, you can move on to assessing the integrity of its body. Although broken windows and doors have been known to occur in a hail storm, it's more common to see horse trailers with punctured roofs. These can lead to leaks, which encourage rust, electrical shorts, rotting floorboards, and uncomfortable horses. If your roof has been breached in more than a few spots, it will likely need to be replaced entirely.
Insulating Instead of Replacing Your Roof
When you have no other option but replacing your horse trailer's roof, you may want to consider having insulation installed at the same time. Insulation will not only help absorb the shock of hail impacts in the future, but it will also improve the temperatures inside your trailer while traveling. Insulating a trailer roof is usually a simple and relatively inexpensive procedure, and most technicians familiar with trailers should be able to complete the work.
Repairing Cosmetic Dents and Blemishes
If, on the other hand, you are lucky enough to have dents but no holes, you may have the luxury of choosing whether or not to have your roof repaired. At the very least, you should paint over any metal exposed by the hail to prevent rust from forming and spreading. It may be possible to simply pop any divots on your trailer back into place, depending on your trailer's materials. Rather than letting a sudden quirk of nature put you in the market for a new horse trailer, contact your local hail repair service like Blue Ribbon Auto Body to begin making the repairs you need.
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