What`s your most boneheaded RV moment?

[Subaru297]

I witnessed something this weekend that was pretty boneheaded so I thought this would be a good spot for it.

We were in our trailer having breakfast and I noticed a guy with a very little old trailer pull into a site a few down from us. He proceeded to pull out his "black tank" and head into the outhouse to dump it. No problem so far. The tank was the type of tank pop up trailers have I think. A little container that sits under the toilet that you have to remove to empty.
Then he comes out of the outhouse with his gloves on carrying his black tank and he starts walking down the road toward the public water tap. I thought no way is he going to rinse his black tank at the campground potable water supply. Sure enough he is heading right for it. I got up and opened the our trailer door and asked him what he was doing and he said he was going to rinse his tank. I asked him again..."You are going to rinse your black tank using the campground potable water supply?" He was a bit sheepish and said he'd never had a black tank before and was new to this. I directed him to the dump station up the hill and he thought that was a good idea!

I was really disgusted by this especially as the faucet was across the road from us and I saw people getting drinking water from it all weekend including some kids wrapping their lips around the faucet to get a drink. We even ran out of bottled water and had to fill up on the second to last day. I'm glad I stopped him but how many other people do you think have done this? Gross.......

[Siamese]

I haven't done anything really boneheaded with my trailer yet. And, that's what has me really worried, because I know I'm certainly capable of it. There has to be a really big one headed my way.

On a serious note, my lack of a boneheaded move is likely attributable to this site and all the information available on youtube.

[Woodworker]

Originally Posted by Siamese

I haven't done anything really boneheaded with my trailer yet. And, that's what has me really worried, because I know I'm certainly capable of it. There has to be a really big one headed my way.



On a serious note, my lack of a boneheaded move is likely attributable to this site and all the information available on youtube.

When you least expect it

[Destrtman]

New Big Giant fifthwheel, not our first rodeo. We own 4 Airstreams, 5 other fifthwheels, 3 class c motor homes, 2 class a's 1 class b, as well as several canned hams. I'm even a retired professional truck driver.

So my last BONEHEADED move topped all those that came before.

Pulling in to a rest stop on I 20 West bound, first one in Tx out of La, there's two trucks parked one in the 45* lane and one parallel on the side. Figured about 10' and I am 8.5' lots of room. Wam-bang-boom oh dirty words covered the granddaughter's ears!

Yup everything North of the 8' line is now gone. The 4 hinges protruding on the back of the semis trailer ripped 1/2" deep slits in the front cap and then promptly removed both awnings the door hardware and the outside kitchen that use to hang off the rear bumper of the Seismic 4116.

The bill to repair the damage just over 45k. Thank God for good insurance.

[RAurand]

One thing I have always done and I have caught things many times.
I do a complete walk around my trailer and also look up at the roof as I walk around just before we leave. Check levelers, look for hoses or cables, make sure lights and flashers are all working, and as I walk around I look up at the roof to make sure nothing is sticking up other than the radio antenna or the A/C Shroud. Then when I get back to the front, I double check all the TV/Trailer hitch connections and 7 prong connector.

[Pyrate]

Had my first boneheaded move this past Sunday. Been an RV owner for 10 years, so I figure I was probably long overdue.

Took my three kids and niece camping; DW had to attend to a family issue, so she couldn't join us. My oldest is three weeks shy of his 18th birthday, and was a tremendous help. Probably should have let break camp and drive us home.

We were camping with three other families. Once I got everything packed up and ready to go (or so I thought), we took a walk to our friends' sites to say "farewell". Returned to our site, got into my truck, and attempted to drive off. In all my hectic running around, I completely forgot to retract/raise the electric tongue jack, and bent the shaft. Things just got better from there. Whatever I did, caused the electric jack to fail to lower/raise the foot. Had to use the manual crank, which was miserable. Took me and my 6'2", 240 pound son a good half hour to manually crank the jack foot up enough to remove the foot and give me enough room to safely return home.

This was an expensive lesson for me. New Barker electric jack will be here tomorrow. Will definitely remember to slow down, and start triple checking everything before hopping behind the wheel.

[Macrosill]

Last month I pulled out of the parking spot at home and forgot to unplug the shore line. oops.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Pyrate

Had my first boneheaded move this past Sunday. Been an RV owner for 10 years, so I figure I was probably long overdue.

Took my three kids and niece camping; DW had to attend to a family issue, so she couldn't join us. My oldest is three weeks shy of his 18th birthday, and was a tremendous help. Probably should have let break camp and drive us home.

We were camping with three other families. Once I got everything packed up and ready to go (or so I thought), we took a walk to our friends' sites to say "farewell". Returned to our site, got into my truck, and attempted to drive off. In all my hectic running around, I completely forgot to retract/raise the electric tongue jack, and bent the shaft. Things just got better from there. Whatever I did, caused the electric jack to fail to lower/raise the foot. Had to use the manual crank, which was miserable. Took me and my 6'2", 240 pound son a good half hour to manually crank the jack foot up enough to remove the foot and give me enough room to safely return home.

This was an expensive lesson for me. New Barker electric jack will be here tomorrow. Will definitely remember to slow down, and start triple checking everything before hopping behind the wheel.

DW and I have both gotten in the habit of doing a final walk-around before we get behind the wheel (or hop in the co-pilot seat). We don't do them at the same time either. And it's absolutely the last thing we do before we start the motor and get going. Even if we've already done it once, we'll do it again. And we go pretty slow; it's not a quick jaunt around the rig for exercise, you should be concentrating on what you're looking at. It takes some practice to do it well.

I have earned this habit the hard way too. Luckily I haven't done (much) damage, but since I've gotten into that habit, nothing has happened (knock on wood). And I can tell you, I've caught MANY things that could have done damage.

It's pretty simple: I just take a final walk around the rig on my way to the driver's seat. Then, here's my "key"; when I get in the seat, I start the rig, adjust mirrors and whatnot, and then I sit still not touching anything for about 10 seconds running through another mental checklist. This includes a mental "replay" of the walk-around I just did.

It's kind of funny. DW used to ask me "what are you doing? Let's go." But she has long since stopped asking me that. She won't admit it, but I think she's going through her own mental checklist at the same time.

Last time I did this, I realized I hadn't released the parking brake in the Toad. I hopped out, released the brake, and hopped back in the seat knowing we were good to go. So I didn't have to write about that "bonehead" move here!!

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

DW and I have both gotten in the habit of doing a final walk-around before we get behind the wheel (or hop in the co-pilot seat). We don't do them at the same time either. And it's absolutely the last thing we do before we start the motor and get going. Even if we've already done it once, we'll do it again. And we go pretty slow; it's not a quick jaunt around the rig for exercise, you should be concentrating on what you're looking at. It takes some practice to do it well.

I have earned this habit the hard way too. Luckily I haven't done (much) damage, but since I've gotten into that habit, nothing has happened (knock on wood). And I can tell you, I've caught MANY things that could have done damage.

It's pretty simple: I just take a final walk around the rig on my way to the driver's seat. Then, here's my "key"; when I get in the seat, I start the rig, adjust mirrors and whatnot, and then I sit still not touching anything for about 10 seconds running through another mental checklist. This includes a mental "replay" of the walk-around I just did.

It's kind of funny. DW used to ask me "what are you doing? Let's go." But she has long since stopped asking me that. She won't admit it, but I think she's going through her own mental checklist at the same time.

Last time I did this, I realized I hadn't released the parking brake in the Toad. I hopped out, released the brake, and hopped back in the seat knowing we were good to go. So I didn't have to write about that "bonehead" move here!!

DW and I do virtually the same thing. Before we pull out and before I start the engine, we both do a final outside 'walk around' looking over everything. And before we get to that point, I've done an inside 'walk through' to see if water is off and everything that needs to be secured, is secured.

[Phil2008]

Our first trip out with the new fifth wheel we were getting ready to leave the campground . Everything was unhooked and properly stored and fiver was hooked up to truck. Everything going great. Mats were rolled up and in their bag and stored in front compartment. DW was raising front stabilizers when they suddenly stopped going up. Extended them again and worked fine. Tried a couple of more times and still the same thing. Figuring batteries might be weak dug out shore power cord. 50 amp so the sucker was heavy. Hooked up and tried raising them only to have same thing happen. Couldn't figure out what was wrong. Decided to open up front compartment and check motor. That's when I found the problem. The handles on the mat bag got wrapped around the shaft for the stabilizers. They would wind up until the mat came tight against it and then it would stop. Moved mats and everything was fine. ����

[bluegill1]

Trying to pull away with X chocks still on both sets of tires.

[Camper_bob]

Alright, had a new one last weekend.

Went to the coast for a quick, impromptu getaway. At the end of it, we packed up and got on our way. As is my habit, I did a final walk-around checking to make sure everything was ship-shape. All checked out, so off we went.

During the majority of the drive, I was thinking about ways to reduce sound up front. I would lean this way and that to see if I could isolate specific problem areas. I thought perhaps it sounded a little louder than normal, but it could've been me.

We stopped for fuel, and again as is my habit, I was walking around the rig checking things out. And what do ya know? The bunk window was open!! Not wide open, but open!

I popped in the rig and climbed all over my son for leaving his window open. Tossed him up there to close it. I'm just glad it was still there!

As we got up to speed leaving the fuel stop, I noted the cab was much quieter...

[shrpshtr]

Originally Posted by bluegill1

Trying to pull away with X chocks still on both sets of tires.

How'd that end up? I use them also and have often thought that would be a costly mistake.

shrp

[MontanaRick]

Not my most, but just had a new one.

Winterizing this weekend, pumping air into the lines, building up pressure, decided that this would be a good time to pull the plug on the hot water heater. Hadn't turned the bypass valves. Completely soaked me in 30 degree air temperatures. The water that didn't hit me (most of it did) shot about 15 feet across the driveway.

[Chet & Marie]

I love reading this site aloud to my DW nearly every chance I get. She thinks of me now as just being a guy rather than a village idiot as after 40 years of camping we have made (I have made) nearly every bone head mistake recounted here.

[homer1959]

Originally Posted by shrpshtr

How'd that end up? I use them also and have often thought that would be a costly mistake.

shrp

In my case I had only one xchocks. I pulled out with it, at the end no damage to tire or trailer but the xchocks was bent like a noodle .



I managed to fix it at home with a vice and hammer , was like new when done

[Bluesky46]

I know this is not the right place to ask this question but maybe someone can point me in the right direction. How do I start a new thread? I go to the HELP screen and it says I need to click on the "new thread" button but I can't find a button that says that. I've been a member here for a long time but just never tried to start a new thread before. Any suggestions??

[norty1]

Originally Posted by shrpshtr

How'd that end up? I use them also and have often thought that would be a costly mistake.

shrp

We saw a camper 2 sites down making ready to leave, there was another rig between us so we could not see the first one clearly. We were inside and when he pulled away, we heard a strange POP and the x-chock went airborne and landed in the site between us that had just been vacated. The rig drove off not even knowing it was flying away on it's own.

The owner was in our camping club and we picked it up and brought it to him at the next camp out.

[MichaelO]

Originally Posted by norty1

We saw a camper 2 sites down making ready to leave, there was another rig between us so we could not see the first one clearly. We were inside and when he pulled away, we heard a strange POP and the x-chock went airborne and landed in the site between us that had just been vacated. The rig drove off not even knowing it was flying away on it's own.

The owner was in our camping club and we picked it up and brought it to him at the next camp out.

That sounds like something I might do.
Camping club? I’ve never heard from f them before. Do you frequently go camping together?

[norty1]

Originally Posted by MichaelO

That sounds like something I might do.
Camping club? I’ve never heard from f them before. Do you frequently go camping together?

I belong to a camping club called Palmetto SunnyTravelers. We used to be exclusively a SunnyBrook affiliated club. At one time back in 2001, We had a membership limit of 35 rigs and we had a waiting list. Now days with old age, bad health and no inflow of younger couples we are down to 12 rigs, We camp somewhere in SC,NC or Georgia 7 scheduled times a year, skipping Jan., Feb. July and Aug.. We go those months also on a unofficial basis.

All of the remaining members live in SC and are good friends, we have all been camping together for close to 20 years. We are lucky to have 6-7 rigs now at a campout.