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Old 06-14-2011, 04:32 PM   #1
forest376
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Shake Down Cruise/Mishaps

Went on my first camping adventure with the Cougar 26 SAB, x-lite last weekend. My first attempt at backing into the campsite was perfect (I was so proud!). Letting out the slide, I did not realize how close the power box and waterlines were to the camper. The powerbox lid poked a hole in the slide and I manage to burst the campsite waterlines . As if the yelling from my wife was not enough, i had to go to the Ranger station and report the damage (a steady flow of water was bubbling up from the ground). The rangers had to shut off the water to the entire campground - I can only imagine what the other campers thought? The rangers told me I needed to repark the Cougar to another site. This time it took me forever to get the Cougar backed into the campsite and not close to the powerbox - if I had knocked the powerbox over a second time, I think the Rangers and other fellow campers would have may me leave.... After the incident I was depressed over poking a hole in my fifth wheel. Actually my son-in-law and his father do fiberglass body work and will probably not charge me anything for the repair (the hole was not that bad). Later that evening, I was reading an article where an olympic gold swimmer torn off the a/c unit from the roof of his RV by hitting a low lying power line in a hotel parking lot. Also the park rangers told me, that campers are always doing goofy things to their RV (that comment really helped my feelings). Anyhow the good news is - everything worked in the fifth wheel without any problems and I did consider the trip a success. The mattress was very comfrontable and the air conditioner worked great. Has anyone else experienced anything as goofy as this on their first trip or any trip?
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Old 06-14-2011, 07:36 PM   #2
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man, that bites, but you have a great attitude. I'll have to refer my daughter to this post when I tell her "No" after she asks if they can borrow the new 5er... because ... "stuff happens" - and when it happens to me, I only have me to be upset with.
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Old 06-15-2011, 02:29 AM   #3
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WOW you do have a great attitude! Most of us would have let that ruin our weekend.

Lots of crazy things do happen when you are hauling and trying to park these things. The good news is we usually only make certain mistakes once!

Kudos to you for turning it around to have an enjoyable weekend!

Hope your next trip is easier. Happy Camping! Lauren
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Old 06-15-2011, 03:49 AM   #4
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Sorry to hear of your woes, but you are not alone! Let's see, here are some of the things we have had happen...

We were at one campground that was VERY wooded. It was a super nice place, but super tight to pull through. This was when we still had our old trailer, not sure we would make it through with the new 5ver! We were all packed up ready to leave and DH was taking the trailer down to the dump station while I walked the dog down there. When I got to the dump station I could see him staring at the side of the trailer. Then I saw it...the awning hanging off the side of the trailer. He clipped a tree and ripped the awning straight off. He was so fired up over it and I was the calm one for once saying that it was only the awning, it could be repaired, and it appeared that there was no other damage to the trailer. Then we start our journey home. Bam! Blew a tire on the trailer. No problem because we had not one, but two spares due to a tire issue we had on our previous trip. Get rolling again and another BOOM! ANOTHER tire blew! Now he was really fuming. We made it home without further incident, but it ended up being about a $1,000 in repairs trip! The tires looked like they were in fine condition, but the guy at the tire shop believed that the trailer sat for quite a while without being moved or jacked up causing weak spots in the steel (or whatever it is) belts inside since it appears those snapped causing the blows.

On another trip with that trailer we had to do some interesting maneuvering to get into the spot, and there was kind of a tight turn that had to be made while backing up. The wiring harness for the trailer got caught in the hitch and sliced it right in half. We then had to find a hardware store so we could splice all the wires back together. After that we learned to unplug before backing in!

The day we brought our brand new 5ver home we were about a half mile from our house. There is a sharp 90 degree curve in the road and there is a house that sits around that curve. They were having some work done, so there was a front loader sitting in the road that we couldn't see until we were half way around the curve. I was yelling "STOP! STOP!" but DH just kept on going. BOOM! Hit the bucket of the front loader which pierced a tire. Luckily that was all it did! We have bad luck with tires, lol!

On our trip a few weeks ago we got to the campground only to find there was a random pickup truck parked in our site. We had 3 sites reserved since friends were coming too, so we decided to just take one of theirs so we could get set up and get some food. DH started backing out of the site, but didn't quite back out far enough before cutting the turn, and completely drove over the wooden post with the site number on it. I was on the other side of the truck, so I didn't see it until I noticed the back tire of the truck going over it. From the middle of the front passenger side door all the way back to the rear rim of the truck there was a nice streak of paint. Luckily it all buffed out and there was no real damage to our also brand new truck!

I'm sure there are more things that I can't think of right now, but you are not alone alone in the mishaps! Happens to the best of us!
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Old 06-15-2011, 07:11 AM   #5
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I nearly did the slide into the power box on one of my early trips. My new routine is to hook power up to the trailer the very first task. Before dropping the front jacks. This serves two purposes. I'm using site power for the jacks and I can double check the clearance between the box and the slide. It has saved me once or twice.

The second time I parked my trailer I nearly tipped it on it's side. It was late at night and I was in a State Park that had very narrow roads, 6 inch drop offs off the road, narrow trailer spaces and to top it all off, culverts with ditches on either side of the entrance to each trailer spot. Basically the campground from hell.

I pulled around the place and stopped at a spot that looked like maybe I could get my 5vr in. I wasn't sure but another camper came out of his tent (my first clue) and said he'd give me a hand and he could "get any camper in that spot". So we started jimmying the trailer/truck on that narrow a$$ road and after 10 minutes we had a mess. The trailer was mostly in but completely at the wrong angle, the truck had wheels off the road on the dropoff, and the bottom of the 5vr was rubbing on the truck rails because of the dropoff and angle. Looking it over I decided I was most assuredly screwed.

I had to unhitch the trailer and move the truck around and rehitch so all my wheels were on the road. By now there were two more campers helping. I looked it all over and said I wasn't going to get my trailer in this spot so I just needed to get it out. Easier said than done. When I started pulling it out it was obvious the trailer tires were going to go over the top of a metal culvert--inches from a 2-foot drop. The drop to the culvert top was a good 10 inches. I told the guys we had to put something on top of the culvert to reduce that 10 inch drop. They went around in the dark and found logs and branches to put on there. Wonderful.

I started to pull and the first tire started across the wood with lots of cracking, crunching and leaning! I saw the trailer leaning, heard all the crunching and decided I need to get the damn thing out of there NOW! I gunned it, sorta, and pulled it out fast. I figured the less time the tires were on that rotten wood the better. Made it! Whew. Of course I did notice the ladder on the side of my Toyhauler had caught in the dirt (gives you an idea of the lean) and tore the bottom foot off.

Now I don't risk it if it doesn't look like getting into a spot will be easy. I like easy.
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Old 06-15-2011, 08:05 AM   #6
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Easy in

Absolutely!! I like easy, and pull throughs.

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Old 06-15-2011, 12:01 PM   #7
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My first ever camping trip with my pop up was in the Spring of 2003. It was a bit of an adventure and a great learning experience. Since then, I have learned plenty and have mastered the art of backing up to the point where I actually received compliments from fellow campers on "getting it right the first time".

Here is a step by step list if stuff NOT to do with a pop up camper.

1) Take your time getting the camper packed so you can arrive at the camp ground when it is really dark.
2) Drive under 50mph on the PA Turnpike because you did not take the dealers advice and buy and anti-sway device. Make sure your camper slides all over the highway due to sway and the driving rain. It makes driving more challenging and adds to the excitement of your first trip. Seriously, white knuckles look cool!
3) Since this is your first trip, bring your two kids AND three hyperactive nephews - two of whom are ADD/HD poster children. Throw in a hyperactive 70lb puppy for added excitement.
4) Since you are new to trailering and backing up, do it about 50 billion times til you get the camper in just the right spot. Then unhook the camper. At this point, you are in the dark and in pouring rain.
5) Yell at the kids to stay out of the mud.
6) Hook up the camper to the truck becuase you forgot to level it side to side.
7) Unhook the now level camper. Level it front to back and pull out the power cord.
8) Remind yourself that darkness, water and electricity are a recipe for excitement. Hmmm... the cord it too short.
9) Hook up the camper and move it closer to the electrical box.
10) Level, once again, side to side and front to back. Unhook the camper and start to crank up the roof.
11) Crank down the roof and hook up the camper to the truck again. The door is on the wrong side and you are in the wrong campsite. You are also in the dark and in the rain.
12) Drive around the campground (can't turn around with this big ole box) and back up 50 billion times and FINALLY get the camper in the right spot, near the box with the door on the correct side. In the dark and in the rain.
13)Try to level the camper and realize that the level was on the roof when you drove around the campground in the dark and in the rain.
14)Thank the Good Lord that the level was STILL on the roof.
15) Now that the camper is finally set up, in the right place, level front and back and side to side, try to light the water heater. With matches. In the dark and in the rain.
16) Explain to your kids that the words daddy is yelling should not be repeated. Thank your brother in law for sharing his long stem lighter. Who, by the way, is in a tent and had his stuff set up hours ago.
17) After 30 minutes, remeber what the nice man at the RV store told you, "Ya gotta purge the gas line before you try to light the pilot - otherwise, you will be at it all day".
18) Observe the vein throbbing on your forehead as the kids run into the brand new camper, with muddy shoes and a wet, muddy dog.
19) Try to deploy the awning, only to realize that you need to stand on a 5 gal bucket to reach it becuase you forgot to unzip the bag when the roof was down.
20) Seriously contemplate the Holiday Inn and a refund on the camper that just ate up your bonus and you are making payments on for the next 5 years.
21) At 8:00 a.m. wake up to the sound of a babbling brook, your daughter snuggling next to you, birds chirping and NO RAIN. Eliminate step 20.
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Old 06-15-2011, 01:17 PM   #8
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Luckily for us our first times last year with the 17ft Jayco were issue free. It wasn't until we upgraded to the new Laredo that we ran into a few problems. Both of which were on the same trip.

The first occurred while searching for a site that wasn't underwater. While doing so I attempted to turn into a pull-thru with a number of trees around. Being the intelligent tower that I am I made sure to swing the truck out enough to clear the tree to my side... However I forgot about the back side swinging out. As I heard a loud scrapping, crunching sound I continued to pull through.. Luckily it was only the gas grill rack on the back scrapping the tree... no damage.

Now leaving the park I had everything packed and ready to go. Did a final once over and began to pull away.. Felt a little tug, then the DW asks if that yellow thing back there is ours. Yep it was my wheel chocks (only 1 luckily) that I failed to remove. Again no apparent damage.

2 Valuable lessons learned without major damages..

I'm sure there will be others...
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Old 06-16-2011, 06:38 AM   #9
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A couple of great stories here-- I was fortunate enough to get my 2010 Laredo 302LT and my Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie 6.7 L Cummins on the same weekend last Sept. My dad drove the Dodge in from Iowa City (from the dealership) and we went to the RV dealer the next day.. Everything went smooth at the dealer, got it home fine and had it parked outside the house for a while. It was now time to take it to the storage place where I am going to keep in for the 1st time with my old man sitting shotgun.. I start going thru the security gate and cut the right hand turn a little earlier than i should have and I rip a hole in the back left side of the coach, exposing the inside and taking some of the back framing off... I'VE HAD THE THING IN MY POSSESSION FOR 4 HOURS? 3 months later, I get the thing back from the dealer- winterized- to put back in storage til spring... How you doin?
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Old 06-16-2011, 07:57 AM   #10
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WOW! This is such a great thread! It shows all of us that we're not alone when it comes to mishaps and I'm sure that it feels like we are. I have to rate this thread 5 stars.
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Old 06-16-2011, 07:58 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpiderCO View Post
3 months later, I get the thing back from the dealer- winterized- to put back in storage til spring... How you doin?
Wow. That REALLY sucks. Did you get a chance to put the rig through the paces before the warranty expired?
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Old 06-16-2011, 11:15 AM   #12
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Yes I have. We've been out about 4-5 times in the past couple months or so. The dealer has been great about it
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Old 06-17-2011, 12:00 PM   #13
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After reading the posts, I feel much, much better about my mishap. The post from Sod-Father was just too funny. I did forget to mention - I am the one who used the toilet for the first time in our fifth wheel. Flushing the toilet, no problems - there must have been air pressure in the lines. I attempted to fill the bowl with water for the next person, however the lines had so much pressure, water sprayed out of the bowl and covered my legs (i had the water pressure equalizer value attached to the fifth wheel). My wife and daughter laughed so hard.........thanks for your replies - I am printing your replies for my family to read, so they will know these things do happen to other people not just me......
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Old 07-03-2011, 03:14 PM   #14
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Know your tow insurance

It was a beautiful May day and my wife and I were taking our grand daughter and her parents to Medicino California to do some abalone diving. We were to meet my other two sons at the campground. While on a rural highway in between Highway 101 and the Paccific ocean we had the misfortune of hitting a deer. The damage took out the radiator, the trans cooler and the air conditioning condensor. Along with some moderate body damage. Now what? No cel service! we were able to walk to a winery and call for a tow. The nearest tow was one hour away. The campground was one hour away, the nearest repair facility was, you guessed it, one hour away and they were all in diferent directions. So to make a lonfg story longer, we had the truck towed to the repair facility, the 5ver towed to the campground and my insurance refused to pay for the 5ver tow. They said it was not damaged and therefore did not need to be towed. I know what your thinking, that without a tow vehicle the best or worst shape 5ver is not moving off the road, but the insurance company was firm. All in all our grandaughter had a fine time on her first campping trip and we had some nice abalone. I have since changed my tow service to one that is RV friendly.
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Old 07-03-2011, 05:02 PM   #15
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Wow - I was stopped at "abalone diving" ... I used to dive off San Diego for abs back in the 80s. I heard after I got out of the Navy and moved away, that there was a long term moratorium on abs, but apparently it's been lifted?

Sorry to hear about the run-in with the deer, tho.
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Old 07-04-2011, 04:56 AM   #16
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Ab diving

Ab diving is legal north of San Francisco. April-June, Aug-Nov. There are lots of restrictions and fish and game along with local ab watchers help in keeping poaching and undersized Abs from being taken.
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Old 07-04-2011, 05:59 AM   #17
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Mishaps and adventure

Well, I have to say that though I found all of this amusing I know how all of you felt! Have had the back over posts and use the chain saw to cut between two tires on the 5vr., clipped trees, ripped off awnings, etc. While one gets very upset it is all part of the experience? REALLY! NOT! Well, enough said. Happy motoring to all!
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Old 03-15-2012, 01:37 AM   #18
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Hhhhhmmmmmm? Not sure what to say!!! Just bought our first 5r this winter and we are wanting to take it out in a couple of days and now I am to scared to hook onto it lol. Just kidding we are going to go camping and with the Good Lord above we will hopefully survive and have a good time. These stories are sad but funny and VERY educational. We will let everyone know how this goes.


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Old 03-15-2012, 05:22 AM   #19
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Well..... not quite my shakedown but yesterday I had a horrible mishap with the new TT...I just picked it up from the dealer after a new converter installed that died on our first night in it....then driving home after "I" hooked it up to the TV myself.....I have done this with so many trailers in the past and neverhad an issue.... I was about 10 miles down the road and hit a bump that made the TT and TV bob up and down....I thought I wasn't very fast and damn did it not pop off .....the darn TT poped off the ball....I couldn't believe it...the trailer breakaway switch worked...the chains should have been shorter and crossed though....it dragged on the front crank up.....then as I slowed it came into the back of the truck......I pushed the propane tanks back enough to put a small dime sized dent in the front of the tt behind the tanks......I pulled it off the side of the road into a parkong lot and worked about 45 minutes getting the tanks secured back in place and the trailer on the hitch. I was so P.O. that I didn't seat the hitch correctly...I even had the pin in the safety catch.

I don't have a weight dist.hitch yet. Its coming this week.....if I had that would it have made it less likely to pop off like that? I do have the right 2 5/16 ball and hitch....I just can't believe I didn't do any more damage then a small dent.....why did it come off?

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Old 03-15-2012, 07:41 AM   #20
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Wow great tails of adventure! I never had any issues... wait Poppa Gepetto why is my nose getting so long? lol There is not enough space or time to tell the things that have happened But camping is still alot of fun.and everything can be fixed!
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