Shake Down Cruise/Mishaps

[charltons]

We have all had our issues. Mine was first itme out with new TT. Backed into spot, leveled, unhitched, hooked up power and water, went inside to out slides.........Forgot how deep the new slides are. About 10 inches to close to the power and water post and a tree on the backside......reversed all items above, 30 angry grumpy, cureses mumble under my breath minutes later and .....moved over 2 feet, re-leveled r, re-hooked up, re-unhitched....slides fully out and time for a beer or maybe 7......

[Kickin It!]

Welcome to the club! HA!

Who hasn't had issues?
Last summer comes to mind for us. We arrived at Pedernales Falls State Park and asked for the longest site. We have a 40ft Raptor toy hauler.
There are lots of trees here. While manuevering the rig to back in my husband brushed against a tree. At the time we weren't aware this was happening. Once we were set up we were lowering the bunk beds in the garage only to discover they weren't working properly. Only one side would come down.
Hmmm.... WTH? After further investigation inside and out he discovered the rip on the roof and damage to the side where it meets the roof. He walked around outside near our site and saw the damage tree. DING DING!!!
It was a bummer for sure but it didn't ruin our trip.

[Donegal Bill]

In a campground in FL, I parked in a nice shady area along the St. Johns river, a very nice campground .The start to a great spring break trip with the kids..(and the DW stayed home)..
At about 6 am we awoke to a loud explosion outside and all the power to the campground went dead....I didn't think much of it until about 5 mins later and a campground employee banged on our door , and told us to get out, the camper was on fire....
I got the kids up and we evacuated the TT in seconds..
We parked under some power wires that fed the campground, the wires were all covered with that spanish moss crap..a squirrel got tripped up and crossed the two wires and got zapped and fell on our roof, and was in flames...It didn't burn through the roof, but put a nice burnt outline of the poor rodent on the rubber roof ..This could have been a real nasty situation , but thank god the campground owner knew exactly what happened (yes, it has happened several times before he said)...And we got out and hit it with the hose..
Now I always look overhead at the assigned campsite to see if this could happen again, and I do turn down sites if the same conditions exist.

[JRTJH]

Steamboat Springs, CO, 1973 with a 2 year old girl in the midst of being potty trained. We were in the mountains near Mt Zirkle Winderness Area, on a small dirt road, headed up into what we thought was a campground pulling a 20' Jayco TT. Obvioulsy, we shouldn't have been where we were...

The road was getting really REALLY narrow, there was a very deep gorge on one side and a mountain on the other. DW was very vocal in her thoughts !!!!!! Around a curve, there was a nice plateau on the gorge side, just big enough to back into and turn around to head back down the mountain. About the time I started backing into the clearing, I realized it was a bit too steep to pull back out of in 2WD, so I shifted into 4WD. NO GO, then 4WD Low, tires spun, buried up to the axle.

About then daughter started crying that she had to potty. She refused to go anywhere but the toilet, since that's what we'd fussed about for the past few months, so, DW decided to take her into the trailer. Then all hell broke loose. The trailer was at such a step angle that she wet herself up the backside and most of the contents had shifted to the rear of the trailer.

WHAT A PREDICAMENT !!!!

I was afraid to unhitch and feared the trailer may roll down into the gorge, and the rig was too heavy to winch out. Well, to make a long story shorter, an hour or so later (after many expressly sinister vocals from DW) a couple of "tourists" in rented Ford Broncos came along the trail on their way to go "4 wheeling" They had enough beer in the back of those trucks to supply an Army company and were not really in much shape to help, but offered to sit and watch me pull myself out with their rented trucks. So, I chained one bronco to a tree and ran the winch to the tongue of the Jayco, unhitched, used my winch and the other bronco to pull the truck out, then used both broncos and my truck to winch the Jayco back up the hill (really only about 40feet, but it seemed like 10 miles). It was really fun trying to keep the tongue jack from digging in with only a bunch of 3' long 2x6's for support

Finally got it back onto the road, hitched up pointed DOWN the mountain, the "tourists" headed up the mountain, beers in hand and we headed DOWN !!!!!

Moral of this story: Don't tow a trailer where you aren't sure about where you're going and don't let your 2 YO daughter try to pee upside down

[SAD]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Steamboat Springs, CO, 1973 with a 2 year old girl in the midst of being potty trained. We were in the mountains near Mt Zirkle Winderness Area, on a small dirt road, headed up into what we thought was a campground pulling a 20' Jayco TT. Obvioulsy, we shouldn't have been where we were...

The road was getting really REALLY narrow, there was a very deep gorge on one side and a mountain on the other. DW was very vocal in her thoughts !!!!!! Around a curve, there was a nice plateau on the gorge side, just big enough to back into and turn around to head back down the mountain. About the time I started backing into the clearing, I realized it was a bit too steep to pull back out of in 2WD, so I shifted into 4WD. NO GO, then 4WD Low, tires spun, buried up to the axle.

About then daughter started crying that she had to potty. She refused to go anywhere but the toilet, since that's what we'd fussed about for the past few months, so, DW decided to take her into the trailer. Then all hell broke loose. The trailer was at such a step angle that she wet herself up the backside and most of the contents had shifted to the rear of the trailer.

WHAT A PREDICAMENT !!!!

I was afraid to unhitch and feared the trailer may roll down into the gorge, and the rig was too heavy to winch out. Well, to make a long story shorter, an hour or so later (after many expressly sinister vocals from DW) a couple of "tourists" in rented Ford Broncos came along the trail on their way to go "4 wheeling" They had enough beer in the back of those trucks to supply an Army company and were not really in much shape to help, but offered to sit and watch me pull myself out with their rented trucks. So, I chained one bronco to a tree and ran the winch to the tongue of the Jayco, unhitched, used my winch and the other bronco to pull the truck out, then used both broncos and my truck to winch the Jayco back up the hill (really only about 40feet, but it seemed like 10 miles). It was really fun trying to keep the tongue jack from digging in with only a bunch of 3' long 2x6's for support

Finally got it back onto the road, hitched up pointed DOWN the mountain, the "tourists" headed up the mountain, beers in hand and we headed DOWN !!!!!

Moral of this story: Don't tow a trailer where you aren't sure about where you're going and don't let your 2 YO daughter try to pee upside down

Now that's a great story!!

[LouSlugger]

The first time I ever pulled a 5th wheel was when I picked mine up from dealer in southeast Georgia and drove back to Kentucky. Atlanta: check. Chattanooga: check. Nashville: check. Stop to put diesel in my TV one last time before making it to Louisville and while trying to spot diesel pump I cut left turn too sharply and ripped all of the molding above the tires completely off the rig. Two lessons: keep an eye on your clearance until you've made it past any obstacles, and get your diesel at truck stops at the 18 wheeler pumps (it's the same fuel as you get at the passenger car pumps, which I didn't know at the time).

[michol02]

I did the same thing just last month Forest376!!! I backed into the spot, plugged in, put slide out on 1 side, was putting out slide out on other side when I heard RRRR gushhhhhhhh. I took out the water line. Luckily, I stopped before I pushed the electrical over. Eeeeevery one saw it(it was in the middle of the day), and to make things worse, when we pulled in the campground, we noticed that our new, shiny, 35' camper looked like a "FEMA" trailer compared to the other rigs we saw there. There was s shut-off valve near the ground, so the whole park didn't have to suffer for my stupidity. The next trip out(the next week), I started to take off, and felt like I was at the tractor pulls!!! Forgot to take off the X-Chock. Reading all these posts, I don't feel alone now.

[Ruffus]

Have you all ever heard fo scouting trips, that's what we do. Man I would of unhitched that trailer on the gorge and told the insurance company the hitch came loose. As far as tha daughter trying to potty train, poor baby will probably be tramatized for life. Good story though.

[allentx1]

This was very entertaining to read... Like most of the others, I too have many to share. At Inks Lake State Park, my son tested out the shower doors water holding capability. As we were sitting in the living room I noticed water creeping down the stairs... to my surpirse I see a water line on the shower door (glass). Now, any normal person would NOT open the door. Imagine a cartoon... the water instantly ran through the bedroom/kitchen/everywhere. 16 towels later we were mostly dry. Then this past month, while camping at the Guadalupe river, the "lawn mower guy" on his John Deere hit the from cap of the 5'er. Nice green stripe and a gouge out of the fiberglass. My all time favorite rookie mistake is not checking to make sure all the dump valves are CLOSED before unscrewing the caps... needless to say, you can insert "this has been a sh*&% day" comments here.

[Tim&Patty]

Threads like this really make a person feel good, I try to keep my misshaps to one person, to which RHDW looks and says "Tell me how that works out for ya"

Keep em coming

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Ruffus

Have you all ever heard fo scouting trips, that's what we do. Man I would of unhitched that trailer on the gorge and told the insurance company the hitch came loose. As far as tha daughter trying to potty train, poor baby will probably be tramatized for life. Good story though.

Yeah, heard of scouting trips, but the map looked sooooooo clear about where that campground was. And as for the baby, she grew up to be a wonderful mother and now is having the same problems we had with her at 18 with her own 18 year old daughter. My DW gets a call at least once weekly that starts, "Mom, what would you do?" or "Grandma, my mother said..." Oh the joys of being a grandfather, I just have to smile and show support for all of them by "NOT SAYING ANYTHING!!!!!"

Originally Posted by SAD

Now that's a great story!!

SAD, The best part of the story is that we made it out safely, I'm not real sure about those guys in the rented Broncos though. 4 of them, at least 6 or 8 cases of beer, a very happy mood (I guess they were happy) and they just sat there applauding as my DW and I chained trucks to trees and pulled 2x6's out from under the tongue jack. As we headed down the hill in a very strangely quiet truck cab, they were heading up the switchbacks blowing their horns and hooting and hollering. I sometimes wonder if they ever made it off that mountain, but I was NOT turning around for anything! If I'd have even slowed down, I am positive that quiet cab would have been filled with vocals I have only heard a couple times in 46 years of marriage

[allentx1]

I wonder if later when they were trying to tell the story (how they remembered it anyway) if their friends were like ... suuuurreee.. you pulled a trailer off the side of the mountain. Keep partyin'... That has to be an equally funny story for them.

[mapleman3]

I just did a quick scouting trip fri night with DW....it was only 45 mins from the house. Sooo glad we did...the so called offseason group sites were in deep and mostly very small very hilly and crater filled dirt roads...not to mention the drop off along the side of the exit road...I just can see the TT not fitting and sliding off the road in a tumble.... we are NOT going there next weekend as thought.

Now back to square one looking for a spot to camp offseason next weekend
Jim and Charlene

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by allentx1

I wonder if later when they were trying to tell the story (how they remembered it anyway) if their friends were like ... suuuurreee.. you pulled a trailer off the side of the mountain. Keep partyin'... That has to be an equally funny story for them.

ROFLMAO Allentx, I never have thought about that "venture" from their perspective. Like you, I bet their "Bud-clouded" perspective is somewhat different than ours. I am sure thankful that a local Steamboat Springs outfitter used to rent Bronco's and Jeeps as a part of their business. That was back when Steamboat only had 1 hotel and 2 ski slopes... Note: Ski slopes, not "Ski Resorts" Total population of the entire city back in the early 70's was less than the occupancy rate of just one of the resorts around the area by today's standards. We used to watch elk graze on the back side of town out from the only "open late" resturant, which closed at 9PM. After that, it was Stewart sandwiches and cheese pizza at the bar on main street. AHHHHH Those were the "good ole days"

[DJ85]

The first time out with our brand new jayco bunkhouse it rained so much the only thing above the water was our camper. The second time out it rained again this time the water was a inch up to the tires. We started watching the weather a little closer. The third time out it rained two out of the four days we were there, but no flooding this time. The only problem was beacuse it did rain the snakes came out and we would have to walk around the camp site to check for snakes before we let the daughters out to play. Of couse the wife was okay with me going out to check while she contained the girls in the camper. Then on the way home we ran into road construction where they were oiling and sanding the road. (NO ROAD CONSTRUCTION SIGNS SAYING WHAT THEY WERE DOING) YEP DROVE RIGHT THROUGH IT 12 HOURS OF CLEANING THE TRUCK AND CAMPER. My wife was so mad she called IDOT, they were ever so helpful said just send a bill!!!! Two weeks after the warranty expired the refiguator went out. I put the wife on a mission and the dealer replace the unit at the cost of labor!! From there on it was smooth sailing! Now for the brand new Cougar RES 327. Brought the new camper first time out yep it rained. No problems. The second time out just this past weekend. Yep it rained. The dvd player skips and freezes, had a cabinet door come apart at the seams and found a water leak that flooded the floor (Not too bad) caugfh it it early. Then found the free standing table had pulled up from the floor. I guesss we got what we wanted a free floating table. I look at it as just working out the bugs. It has been a good ride so far!!!!! No matter how bad it gets there is someone out there that has got it worse. Just think it could be you! Happy trails.