When unhooking, leave the safety chains and breakaway cable on until last. This way if the wheel chocks were forgotten or slip, the trailer can't go too far. This saved the family camper once!!
Amen! Been there, should have done that. Got lucky the TT only rolled a foot or so backwards.
Yup, in our case it was the family's 29' trailer that would have rolled down the driveway into the highway!
Here too!
I parked my first TT in a CG site that was all on pavement. Didn't realize I was 'slightly up hill', AND uphill from a brand new Prevost! Of course I unhooked, no chocks. I was hanging on to that TT for dear life thinking what it was going to cost me if it rolled into that Prevost. I managed to hang on until a fellow camper came to my aid....laughing his butt off the entire time he helped me!
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us".
RoyB wrote: In the real world your wife wont have to lift a finger. Just drive up and get out of the truck and just stand there. There will be ten guys there in a heart beat offering their help...
ROL That's MY solution!!!!!!
Last weekend my family and I were walking through a campground and came across a truck & trailer parked in the road. We stopped to wait for them, and the lady driving said "Go ahead, I'm going to be here for awhile!" I asked if she'd like some help backing it in, and she jumped out of that truck like it was on fire! I think I made her day by backing it into the site.
rockhillmanor wrote: ... AND uphill from a brand new Prevost! Of course I unhooked, no chocks. I was hanging on to that TT for dear life thinking what it was going to cost me if it rolled into that Prevost. I managed to hang on until a fellow camper came to my aid....laughing his butt off the entire time he helped me!
Oh Sheet, that would be terrifying!!
Todd
1993 Ford E-350 pushed by a 1988 Wilderness 24' TT
I would like to take all these suggestions and make them into one list. Also like the idea of a picture book. Is anything like this avaliable on-line? lizzie
I have hooked and unhooked our TT tons of times w/ DH there and yet my first time without him there, we were both nervous. I did fine. Of course, I always do the driving and hitched and unhitched horse trailers for years. I was more nervous about setting up the campsite and taking down the campsite without his help. He ended up getting out of work early and meeting me at the campsite for set up but I took it down on my own. I recommend a take down list. DO NOT forget to put antenna down on that list!!!!!! That is the easiest thing to forget. Make sure you have double checking everything is unplugged, unhooked etc before pulling out. Dh's standard take down list was very helpful to me. I didn't know where everything went so he had a treasure hunt on the next trip out but I got everything put away safely. I even dumped the tanks by myself. I recommend going out and practicing letting her hitch and unhitch in front of you with you staying quiet until she is entirely done and then telling her what is not correct with the final product. ie chains not on right link, forgot emergency brake cable or whatever it may be. If she got it wrong, help her and then practice again until she can do it correctly on her own. When finished with everything, she gets a glass of wine for a job well done!
Just going from your confidence in your wife that she has driven your rig before. Is the campground just down the road or a bit farther? Fill the truck with gas for her if she is new to it and the location is close. One less thing to worry about with her pulling it alone and maneuvering in and around gas stations.
Wow
Is there really that much work to setting up? I guess once you get your routine down it doesn't seem like so much.
make sure to check off each itemAFTER you have completed that task
Take care Good Luck
TJ
Wow
Is there really that much work to setting up? I guess once you get your routine down it doesn't seem like so much.
make sure to check off each item AFTER you have completed that task
Take care Good Luck
TJ
RoyB wrote: In the real world your wife wont have to lift a finger. Just drive up and get out of the truck and just stand there. There will be ten guys there in a heart beat offering their help...
Haha, this is awesome. I'll tell her to make sure she does her hair before she leaves.
Where is she camping next weekend? Mount Kidd by chance?
anaro wrote: I have hooked and unhooked our TT tons of times w/ DH there and yet my first time without him there, we were both nervous. I did fine. Of course, I always do the driving and hitched and unhitched horse trailers for years. I was more nervous about setting up the campsite and taking down the campsite without his help. He ended up getting out of work early and meeting me at the campsite for set up but I took it down on my own. I recommend a take down list. DO NOT forget to put antenna down on that list!!!!!! That is the easiest thing to forget. Make sure you have double checking everything is unplugged, unhooked etc before pulling out. Dh's standard take down list was very helpful to me. I didn't know where everything went so he had a treasure hunt on the next trip out but I got everything put away safely. I even dumped the tanks by myself. I recommend going out and practicing letting her hitch and unhitch in front of you with you staying quiet until she is entirely done and then telling her what is not correct with the final product. ie chains not on right link, forgot emergency brake cable or whatever it may be. If she got it wrong, help her and then practice again until she can do it correctly on her own. When finished with everything, she gets a glass of wine for a job well done!
Yes Even I have pulled away from my parking spot while still plugged into 120 volt power. I was trying to get more than 20' from that tree that was about to fall over! Lucky me, the power cord came out on it's own, only bending the power post cover a little bit.
The owner of the tree, on the other side of a fence did come by with his tractor, attached a chain to it, moved the tractor back about a foot, and the tree fell over away from the fence. Lucky it did not fall on one of his horses.
So a checklist is helpful. Many buy a blank key to put into the ignition, and has a hook to hang form the antenna handle. So if the key is hanging from the antenna, it is down, if in the ignition (it will not turn on, it is uncut) then you need to put down the antenna and hang the key there. I used a hair clip, it is large enough to clip to the gearshifter.
You can make your own list, just highlight a sample text, CTRL C, and then go to a Word program, CRTL V to paste it there. You will soon have a great list to print out.
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