What`s your most boneheaded RV moment?

[Threebutchers]

Double bonehead moment.....getting a "hot water heater facial" removing the plug.....then remembering its been 2 months since you put it in storage.....

[bigbird]

Just came back from a 5 day camping trip with no bonehead moments to share but it was nice to come back to see a few on the forum. Thanks Ry-guy, looks like you started them up again.

[Jayco 228]

My worst bonehead moment was with our old Palomino S17. I park our trailer on our driveway for the summer so we can load up and go on a moments notice. One weekend after getting home I back the trailer up onto the driveway like I had 50 times before and my wife took the kids into the house while I unhooked and brought stuff in. I started unhooking everything and then started to crank the trailer up to get it off the ball on the hitch. As I cranked it up the trailer jerked ahead on the ball a bit and I realized in the split second that I had not chocked the wheels in my haste to get unloaded. The hitch was about half way up on the ball, half a crank could have spelled disaster. I quickly chocked the trailer wheels and cleaned out my shorts and proceeded finishing unhooking the trailer. I now have a routine when I get home and the very first thing I do before anything is chock the wheels. Same routine when I unhook at camp. Someone was watching out for me that day.

[Mikey72]

It is nice to know I am not the only one. We have only had our trailer for about a year, and luckily to this point have had only a few minor bonehead moments. However, we were on our way down the highway and a truck pulls up waving, and rolling down the window we find that one of my sewer hoses is dangling out the back. I have 2 ten foot hoses, and it turns out the bumper cap had come off allowing the hose to fall out. I duct taped the closure, and only needed the 10' of hose on that trip. Needless to say i bought a new cap, and forgot about the other hose. Next trip, i needed both hoses, and when i went to dump the tank, i had a unexpected surprise. Fortunately, I saw it quickly, but I will definitely inspect the hoses before use in the future.

[Bobsanchez44]

This one really made me laugh out loud

[SS Hultman]

Hi everybody! Our new used RV has been in the driveway for only 4 days and no maiden voyage just yet as we get to know her ... we are greener than green. I think any newbie should begin in this very Forum, because y'all have probably just saved us some calamities we'd surely be dealing with soon. So glad I stopped here right after my entry in the New Member Forum! We haven't had time to screw up very much yet, but I have every confidence that we'll be contributors to bonehead moments. Our minor guffaws in our 1st couple days are as follows:

- GETTING A 28'7" RIG OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY: Gosh, we brought it home and pulled straight into the driveway with no problem. Who knew that backing it out would be any different? Our trailer hitch receiver ended up cutting into our street, taking out a hitch-wide 2.5' swath of tar! Nobody explained that going at an angle would keep that from happening. Day 1 lesson learned.

- WHAT RED LIGHT? 3 days later my daughter and twin granddaughters see our new RV and get their first ride, which is just to Culver's up the road for a sundae. Skip is so excited and distracted by adorable 6 year olds that he drives us right through a red light. Danger, danger, Will Robinson!! We're alright and no ticket, thank you angels.

- DAH, WHO NEEDS ELECTRICITY ANYHOW: We've had AC power in the RV the first 2 days, sourced from our garage. NO power the next 2 days for some reason. Very handy husband can't resolve. Calls local RV dealer, who says our transfer switch is probably shot. Model ITS-30R A-30RL has been discontinued by Jayco, but there's an alternate that can work. Dang, a few weeks to ship it and $225. Local dealer will see if he can find a local dealer to get it sooner. Turns out it was just a little breaker that needed to be reset. Oh, THAT'S what that black face beneath the booth table is for! No part needed = money saved!!

- AND JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE: We've been out on a few little drives like above ... filling the gas tank, and touring our 'hood to help Skip get the feel of driving our rig (SO much longer than the big conversion van we had in the '80s, or any Home Depot rental truck we've brought stuff home with). Definitely have to get the hang of making sure the shower and other doors and cabinets are latched closed before takeoff (NOTE TO SELF: A previous poster had a great tip on attaching the departure checklist to the driver's visor!)


STAY TUNED ... pretty sure we're just getting started on these bonehead moments!

[bigbird]

Thanks for sharing a bonehead moment with us and a warm welcome to the forum. Mine was not locking the entrance door with the key(deadbolt) that threw my for a loop. It opened up on me before I reached the highway thankfully. I consider myself fortunate so far but i'll keep an eye on the boneheaded moment thread. Come on people fess up.

[grayco]

Been doing this a long time and one trip to a state park last year I forgot to fill up the fresh tank. Yep right after I cracked a cold one sitting in my favorite chair....DW says I turned the pump on but there isn't water coming out! S%$& !!!

Marty

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by grayco

Been doing this a long time and one trip to a state park last year I forgot to fill up the fresh tank. Yep right after I cracked a cold one sitting in my favorite chair....DW says I turned the pump on but there isn't water coming out! S%$& !!!

Marty

I did the very same thing in a Md State park a few years ago. Got all unhitched and setup and realized there was no water hookups in the sites and my tank was empty. And I had been there several times before! (Bonehead moment) Well between my two hoses and borrowing a few from other nearby campers I strung enough hose to the nearest faucet, about 100' away, and filled my tank so I did not have to move.

[pm1stnau]

Another boneheaded moment for me happened last week. For the first time ever, we reserved a campsite that had full hook-ups, because having them isn't a big deal to me. Well, I pull into the site, unhook the hitch, level it, attach the fresh water hose, plug in the electrical cord and voila; we're camping. On the 4th day, it was finally time to empty the black tank, so I go get my sewer hose, connect it to the discharge and stretch it to the sewer connection in the ground......only to discover I was 3 feet too far for my 15' hose. Ugggggg!! Being that we had a full hook-up site, I left my Barker blue tote at home. Uggggggg! Next time I'll make sure I am within 15' of the sewer connection!!! It was still Happy Camping!!

[edatlanta]

At my first host position I set up and all was well until the first good rain. My site was in a slight hole that filled with water up to about 4" deep. It drained off quickly after the rain quit, but while it was still 4" deep I needed to go somewhere. I went down my steps and stepped on my new ground mat. It was a new mat and I didn't know that it floated. I didn't fall, but came darn close to it. Falling in that "lake" would have not made my day.

[billycuth]

I am relatively new to the camper thing. Only been on 1 trip with our new camper so far. Second trip this weekend...

Anyway the first trip went without incident. But when we got home, I cleaned it for the first time. Let the tent ends dry (I have a hybrid) for a couple of days and went to put her away.

Well, as I was folding up the tent end closest to the hitch, I wasn't paying attention to where the pole was I was taking out and SLAM! Right into my brand new ceiling - a nice 2-3 in puncture. Sucks.

[eldermike]

Mine goes back about 25 years. We left a dog show in Va and did not plug in the trailer. We never unhooked at fairgrounds when showing dogs but always pulled the plug to save the truck battery. Next thing I saw on the road was a sign for trucks to use lower gear next 7 miles. Long story short: I have never pulled a trailer that fast since. We made it to the bottom and pulled over for a prayer of thanks, and then plugged the trailer electric and went home.

[MedicineMan]

One evening I was in "full TT MOD mode" and had a really GREAT idea.....

I fabricated a replacement for my water heater drain plug that included a valve and extension hose for "quick drains".
I used a plastic flexible tubing about 10" long with valve on the end.

First trip out was a boondock and we left water heater on propane all night, ....... and the plastic tubing melted.
DW woke me up saying she heard water running.
Had to reverse my mod back to the plug at 1am ..... in the dark..... and barely had enough water to make it til we left.

[jeffrey]

Thanks for sharing. I never gave gravity much thought. This could easily happen. I will remember this

[billycuth]

two for two. This trip I broke one of my stabilizer jacks by forgetting to retract them before I started cranking the tongue jack. It is extremely bent up.

[Crabman]

Keep the boneheads coming!

[Donr827]

We have a fifth wheel trailer with a automatic sat dish on top. Pulled out of a campground site and someone motioned to me that the sat dish was still up. No damage just a red face. Had to return to our site, plug the a/c cord in and lower the sat dish. Now on our check list.
Don

[NHcamper]

Hooked up a clear 45* elbow to the sewer pipe pointing to the left. When I went to drain the black tank the weight of the waste caused the elbow to rotate OFF! Not only did I not get out of the way in time, I had to get back to close the valve. Now I make sure the elbow is always pointing to the right or down! ( I just threw up in my mouth thinking about it again)

[ktbarrentine]

I'm laughing while my mind attempts to visualize this event! One of those "look around to make sure no one saw you" moments!

(I will definitely remember to make sure I hook up my 45* clear flushing elbow "correctly"!!!)