Not the way to fuel up

[emjayuu]

[charles_cincy]

Ouch...

[Dagwood]

That's not good. 3.8M clearly marked.

[bluie5]

That's gonna leave a mark...

[troutslayer]

Probably wouldn't hurt to have a meters-to-feet conversion chart somewhere, easy to reach, in the truck .

[havnfun]

Oops.....that's painful.
My DW directed me under an overhang and it was fine until I hit the metal height sign hanging down...shattered the AC cover. Of course it was my fault cause I was driving. LOL

[GrayHawk51]

No, No , No....forget meters! forget charts! It's common sense!! Jeez Louezz! Am I the only one who looks (before going in) at the height of a Gas station ? OMG ! And even as I'm driving to my destination I look for possible refill stations that will accommodate my rig.

When I had my Airstream TT and Dodge diesel and I noticed there was only a small gas station and I really really needed to fuel up, prior to connecting, I would take my truck and fuel up! Worst case, disconnect in a Walmart and go fuel up!.

Sorry guys, Started going off the deep end... Stupidity is real irritating!

[Cosmik Debris]

Originally Posted by troutslayer

Probably wouldn't hurt to have a meters-to-feet conversion chart somewhere, easy to reach, in the truck .

I put a sticker on the dash of RV height in feet, meters and even inches, with trailer length and truck/trailer combined length.
A friend was entering the US from Canada and tried to text her husband to see if he would tell her how tall their fifth wheel was and didn't reply in time and she hit the overhead hanging metal pole at the border. Lost solar panels on that deal.

[oldmanAZ]

Drove the TV into the city and parked in a parking ramp for the first time. I was nervous, but the height was clearly posted with a metal bar across the entrance. No problem. Drove in and took the ticket from the machine.

Drove slowly and watched carefully going under everything. All good. Very close, but OK.

When we left, we continued to check carefully and found that THE EXIT RAMP CLEARANCE WAS LESS THAN THE ENTRANCE!! There was NO warning or anything... it was just LOWER!

Then, in traffic, we had to stop cars behind us, and maneuver our very long, very tall, TV back to the entrance to exit. At the entrance, we had to make a 90* turn around the ticket booth to the exit side of the entrance by 'wiggle waggling' back and forth to make the corner.

But wait, there's more! Arriving at the entrance from the side, floor of the ramp was a bit higher. So now the end of the metal bar we passed under when driving straight in, was going to hit the roof of the truck! Visualize this; the DW in the bed of the truck, leaning over the cab, pushing the metal bar while I 'wiggle waggled' the truck back and forth to gain enough to make the corner. Wish we had that in YouTube!

We get a chuckle thinking about it now, but at the time, not so much. Now we NEVER park the TV in ramps, regardless of the height.

[emjayuu]

I would be afraid to take my pop up in an indoor garage/parkade!

[Lifespalette]

One of the good things that has been a leftover from being on the road for almost 2 years driving a tractor trailer rig is checking clearances.....it's just automatic when I'm towing anything. Doesn't matter if it's a Pup, boat trailer or utility trailer, I'm aware that I'm nowhere near the height restriction and yet I'm still making a mental note of it and thinking to myself, I'm okay. Coming back from our last campout (Memorial Day Weekend), I pulled off to gas up, had the Pup behind me so no height problems for me. Noticed a really nice 5th wheel rig parked in the overnight parking area they had and the man and his wife were getting ready to head out for the day's stretch. I walked into the store to get a cold drink and coming out saw the driver of the rig just starting to make his way under the pump island awning.....older station with a lower awning for passenger station. Plenty of clearance for the 5th wheel, but not the extended TV antenna. I ran over and started pounding on the guys truck hood holding my hand up in the universal "STOP" sign. He rolled his window down and said "I've got clearance."....to which I replied "your trailer does..........your extended TV antenna doesn't." HIs wife jumps out with a look of terror on her face, "OMG, I forgot to lower it....thank you, thank you...." It only takes a moment to wreck your whole outing plans.

The other thing that has stuck with me from the time over the road is a pre-trip inspection of the TV and the trailer. I can still recite the inspection list just about step by step for each item to be inspected and what a driver is looking for. I could do my pre-trip inspection (DOT required and logged in your time record) in under 15 minutes from front to back, side to side and top to bottom. I know, some consider it not all that necessary, but you would be surprised how many times some "fellow" trucker decided to "borrow" a trailer side clearance lamp, tall lamp....one time, even a mud flap. Tickets for missing equipment or, horrors, a red tag (out of service) are expensive and hell to explain to a dispatcher. Not to mention a big crimp in an already usually tight drive time schedule. Do yourself a big favor, befor you move your rigs, even if you've just stopped in the Walmart parking lot for night....do a walk-around inspection of your TV and your trailer. Start in the front with your engine compartment, work your way down the driver side, across the rear and back up the passenger side, ending back at the front. Do it the same way every time checking the same items and looking for any change from the day before.....things happen while driving and watching the siding of your trailer peeling back as you tool down the highway at 65 isn't going to make your day any better. It happens. You could do it in under 10 minutes and it will be the best ten minutes you spend. One, even if nothing is wrong, it will give you a peace of mind driving down the road. Two, you'll be surprised just what you might catch, avoiding damaging or ruin your whole trip..........trust me, there are sick individuals out there who think pulling your King Pin lock is funny, or disconnecting your utility lines to your trailer and then just barely sticking it back into the receptor. Pranks, but potentially costly and or deadly pranks. They don't think about it.

I know, I'm preaching to the choir with most of you, but there maybe some new to the whole process who haven't thought of it yet. After something happens it's too late.

Just sayin...........be safe folks.

[edatlanta]

I had a brake fluid reservoir cap stolen one time from a boat trailer with surge brakes. When parked the night before it was there and first thing the next morning it was gone. Fortunately for me I found it across the parking lot where the idiot threw it. That cap would be hard to find in the middle of nowhere when traveling.

[bumbles75]

Here's an idea. Anybody ever mount a backup camera on the roof? I would think one on top of the air conditioner would work.

[Hattie]

Originally Posted by troutslayer

Probably wouldn't hurt to have a meters-to-feet conversion chart somewhere, easy to reach, in the truck .

Hmmmm, need to get an app for that! (I just put UNITS PLUS on the tablet).