Live and learn!

[Filbert V.]

Please notice the jack stands which were place in the wrong place last night on our "get the bugs out" overnight camping adventure. We had filled up the coffee maker for this morning, had one of those glass religious candles burning inside the trailer for Easter eve, and we're enjoying watching a movie on our portable DVD player when our weight shifted, the trailer tongue went up in the air, and we were tossed towards the back window. Made quite a boom second only to the boom I made when I walked towards the door and the tongue fell back to earth. Neeless to say, the DVD player is toast, as it was coated in water, coffee grounds, and hot wax! We couldn't stop laughing long enough to worry about anything, and learned a very valuable lesson. On a good note, my el cheapo awning held up nicely in the evening breeze.

[Dennis Clinton]

Gotta be able to laugh at life!!! Most of us have done something similar.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Dennis Clinton

Gotta be able to laugh at life!!! Most of us have done something similar.

oh yea! Or at least I will admit that I have... but..... correct me if I am wrong but were you not the party who asked just a couple a days ago about whether or not you should use rear stabilizers..... didn't some of us share with you some similar stories to yours above as a way of suggesting it was a good idea to use them and why ...... SORRY can't help myself.... giggling to hard.....just to funny

[Gina D.]

well, putting them in the back was going to be your second choice, right?

[carlkeigley]

Be sure to check out your tongue and frame now
for bends and cracks.

Glad everyone is alright and everyone got a memory
laugh to think on............LOL

[deryk]

heh don't feel too bad, I also put stands up fron so the tongue wasn't bearing all the weight....guess I need to lower my rear ones so I don't join the tipsy club lol...or just stay connected lol

[Borrego Dave]

Well Filbert you can add that one to your "lifes learning expiriences" list now. Note to self; jacks 9' to the rear.
I did kind of the same thing 15 years ago. Getting ready for a desert trip I hooked up the car trailer to the M/H and parked it on the street and then drove the buggy up on it. Wellllll, I had everything connected to the motorhome correctly. With the exception of locking the hitch ball down. Things went fine until the rear tires hit the ramp. The tounge came off the ball till all I could see was blue sky through the windshield. Now what? All I could think of was if I back up the coupler will be in the bedroom when the trailer drops. If there was one more link in the safety chains it would have ripped out the electrical. It all worked out OK with the exception of a number of neighbors seeing it. Hey, we all had a good laugh about it. I pass this on to all the FGRV members as we all have the learning list going, just hopefully not adding much as we get older .
Just one other FYI for you. Have no idea of how many of you may towbar a car but... A friend of mine stopped for lunch while towing his buggy with a towbar. Some yahoo thought it would be funny to put his car in gear. He finished lunch and drove away. Never heard or felt it behind a large class A and trashed the tranny in no time. If I ever stop I always check mine before driving away.

[Raz]

Adding rear stabilizers will help you remember to crank them down. And you do have to remember to crank them back up before you drive away. Oops Raz

[Filbert V.]

Yes, it was I who asked if they were necessary, but someone here said that he never used them, so we thought we'd take a chance. Living in earthquake territory, our first thought was that the "big one" had hit, never dreaming that our tongue was up in the air up front! Comical to say the least. We may be getting older, but hardly wiser.

[Timber Wolf]

Ah, so that is what the rear stabilizers are for. And here I thought they were for side-to-side shaking.

[RogerDat]

As they say "stuff happens" and then we get to add it to our life wisdom list of "well that don't work". If I could recall where I put that list I would be both older and wiser, having to settle for 50/50 split for now. :-)

[Jack L]

Knowledge gained is directly proportionate to the amount of equipment ruined.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Some yahoo thought it would be funny to put his car in gear. He finished lunch and drove away. Never heard or felt it behind a large class A and trashed the tranny in no time. If I ever stop I always check mine before driving away.

I have a suspect in this case, and it's not some random person.

[Filbert V.]

Misadventures today, make for great stories tomorrow. Reading the posts here make me feel a bit less dumb!

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Filbert V.

Misadventures today, make for great stories tomorrow. Reading the posts here make me feel a bit less dumb!

Well thats only the stuff we are willing to share on a public forum! Trust me you are in good company. You will have to share a campfire and some beverages to get the low down on the really good stories of things we have done!

[Chillywilly]

Way too funny! I can just picture it! It had to be hysterical. Great story, thanks for sharing. Going to add this one to the learning list.

[Filbert V.]

My parents and I had many adventures in that little trailer. All around Alaska, the Alaska Highway where the tongue broke in half from the wavy road, and all the way down to Acapulco, Mexico. Dad had it chocked full of supplies, and now I know why! It hadn't been on the road in nearly 20 years, so this was our test run. I had been staying in hotels/motels since then, but have rediscovered the joys of "camping" again! Part of the fun is realizing how little you need to be comfortable and have fun, not to mention how creative we can be when we have to make something work with what little we have on hand. And even the worst canned foods can taste gourmet when you're out in the boonies. I'm sure my dear dad was looking down and laughing at us as we popped our wheelie that night.

[Barrett family]

Hahaha. Similar incident northern Washington state deception pass park. Rear stabilizers were down... But because of the incline I had places 2x4 wood between stabilizers and ground. Well I was in my early 20s in a new relationship.... Somehow the camper rocked and shifted during the evening 😉 and the whole trailer dropped backwards and tongue in the air!! (The trailer tongue) a stabilizer broke and we woke up the neighbors laughing. Lesson: I don't stack wood like a jenga game under the stabilizers cause they are only as stable as the base they are on!!