We have a TT with a small door on the back left corner.I opened this door to get the hose out so I could dump the grey water.Once I attached the hose I stood up really quick.Well I forgot that the door was open.My head found the corner of the door.About knocked me out!Once I did that I thought this isn't good.Blood was pouring down across my face.I then had to stumble around too the front of the TT and call for my wife.Had to take a trip to the urgent care for some stitches!Once we got home I did take a file and rounded the corner of the door off.Ofcourse it wasn't the doors fault!Long story but the truth is to Don't get in a hurry.Things will happen if you do.
2006 Dodge Quad-Cab 2500 CTD,4;10 gears,pulling a Forestriver Flaggstaff 831qbss
ok where to begin. 1 year of camping and already way to many stories of stupidity and luck that we haven't destroyed our TT yet!
When dewinterizing, do not try to loosen drain plug from a waterheater to see if it is filling up or not, you will not get it tight and then it will fly across the campsite w/ firehose like water spray.... sent our camp chairs flying, soaked DH and had our neighbor sprinting to turn off the city water. This years mistake when dewinterizing, make sure you have ALL of your hot water bypass valves turned correctly BEFORE turning on the electric water heater. We got lucky, after it being on all night w/ an empty tank, we did not burn out the filament.
Yes, one must hook the battery up correctly or fuses blow and things don't work properly in the TT (ie fridge and AC don't work and half of your outlets will not work). Make sure you have back ups of all size fuses in your TT or you will spend all day finding that one store in town that might have the one you need (if you are lucky).
Bleach and black tank treatments do not mix! (Don't ask about this one).
Make sure you keep your hand on the awning strap when rolling it up.... trying to unroll the awning by hand is possible but not fun!
RV learning experiences require a sense of humor as you will have neighbors laughing at you but they will help you to fix them if they can.
Bought one of those fancy locking pins so no one walks away with your trailer hitch( it came w/ the camper and its heavy, so I don't disconnect it )..left keys on top of rear bumper... 70 miles down the road "hmmm, now where did those keys go to?" no not in pockets, Dw? have you see them? nope!.hmmm? still on bumper. All I can say is WOW!. Spare now resides IN camper.
When camping with friends, do not set the TT door keys on top of a tire so they can go in to use the bathroom if you are not around. Not only the door key was on that ring, but keys for the hatch doors and various pad locks that were used around the TT.
Would you believe that was the only mistake I ever made while camping?
Bob
2001 2500 Silverado LS 4x4 6.0, 4.10
2007 Jayco Eagle 288RLS
Cocktails for 6, Dinner for 4, Sleeps 2
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End of dirt road, no signs in sight, sun going down: I am not lost, just getting ready to go camping.
When your wife's "Perfect" camping spot puts the door on the wrong side, it's easier to just pull in forward and try and explain it to the Ranger, than it is to argue with your wife, who wants the lake out the door where she can see it sitting under the awning. However, dealing with a mad and confused ranger is ALMOST as bad as dealing with a disapointed wife. Maybe flip a coin on that one.
And also, when parking, never...NEVER park with the campsite water spigot pipe in front of your truck. You will NOT remember it, and you will NOT see it. Until you hear it...under your truck. Then, you INSTANTLY know what it is. Hindsight, and all that....
I owe that Ranger a beer or 3.....
2011 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab, 5.7L Hemi 4x4. 2010 KZ Coyote CL232SS. Perfect for our Mountain Bike and Kayak adventures!
My work tow vehicle is a group of 16 cylinder General Motors diesels rated to tow around 14,000 TONS. I don't need no weight police!
Chock BOTH sides before jacking the nose on a TT. On a wet and rainy evening thought to "save some time" had the nose up to almost level (nasty downslope at the front) when the tower of levelers decided to pivot towards the chocked side. Spent the next several hours borrowing a low scissor jack to get the tongue high enough to slip a pad back under after retracting the jack from the mud.
Once I got hooked back up and realigned, chocked the TT on BOTH sides and proceeded to level and set up. Very frustrating evening to say the least with no one but myself to kick over the foolish decision. Luckily the stabilizer jacks weren't down yet or they would have been destroyed. Never made that choice again.
Rae & Mark
Bountiful, UT
1999 Fleetwood American Tradition 40
Just got it and learning about it as we go!
We used to own a popup, and we popped it up in the driveway when we brought it home after buying it. When I cranked the roof down, I cranked it too much and had too much slack out on the lift cable, causing it to jump off the pulley. So, the following weekend, we took it out on it's maiden voyage to a local campground. It cranked up just fine, but when we were packing up to come home, noticed that it would not crank down. That's when I noticed the bird's nest of a mess with the lift cable as it was a tangled mess. Luckily the owner of the campground let me keep it there while I tried to figure out what to do with it. Luckily there was an RV place a few miles up the road, so I came back the following Monday, hooked it up to the TV, and towed it, with it still popped up, to the RV repair center, where they were (somehow) able to untangle the mess. Live and learn!
Andy
2012 Keystone Outback 280RS
2003 Chevy Silverado 1500HD
passport2590bh wrote: Have to keep trailer at storage lot. So I remove the battery so it does not walk away. Family is so excited to go on our first trip with new trailer we decide to leave on a friday night after work. Connect battery to front of trailer, connect trailer to truck and FLASH huge spark. Learned that the black wire is the possitive on a travel trailer. Fried the brake control and about 4 fuses on the trailer.
Worst part was having to explain to the kids that we could not go camping.
is that th ecase with all trailers? Black being positive or just the way yours was wired? I never really looked at mine yet.
five'er wrote: 1) Backed into site, leveled, jacks down, chairs out and beverage open.. Goto put out awning and... Uh oh.. That tree I swear wasn't there before?!? Must have the awning! undo it all.. hook up.. move over a foot.. note to self.. Awning needs room!
I managed to do this one before. I had the jacks down with power and water hooked up. I only had to pull up a foot or two and all was good. Not a major mistake but it's something that should be caught ahead of time.
2007 F-150
2006 Sun Valley RoadRunner 240BH
Prodigy P2 / EAZ-Lift WDH
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