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Old 10-08-2014, 06:31 AM   #1
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Scary moment-Have you had one????

Took my 2007 Dodge Ram in for new brakes Monday. Yesterday in to Warner Robins for new tires. Getting ready to leave for Hiawassee in the morning. As luck would have it, on the way home from Warner Robins after getting my new tires, I lost power steering and power brakes suddenly on Interstate 75 Southbound. Could hardly control the rig and was in the passing lane. Managed to get over to the right hand traffic lane shortly as there was an exit coming up. Did manage to safely exit the interstate and waited for over an hour for a wrecker. Got towed back to Vienna, Ga to my local shop and found out my water pump had seized up and thrown the serpentine belt. The Good Lord must have been looking out for me because I can only imagine what would have happened had I been on a narrow 2 lane road in the mountains tomorrow pulling our 5th wheeler! Praise the Lord!
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Old 10-08-2014, 08:19 AM   #2
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That sounds just like same Lord that watches over me every day. Many times I would have been in deep trouble if he was not watching out for me. Well I say, Praise the Lord, for his grace and his merciful hands being upon me. He's the best friend I've ever had!
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Old 10-08-2014, 08:21 AM   #3
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That sounds just like same Lord that watches over me every day. Many times I would have been in deep trouble if he was not watching out for me. Well I say, Praise the Lord, for his grace and his merciful hands being upon me. He's the best friend I've ever had!
X2
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Old 10-08-2014, 08:30 AM   #4
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Amen
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Old 10-08-2014, 10:11 AM   #5
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I just had a very similar issue to this. I was pulling our camper for a weekend outing to a goat show. For whatever reason our GPS took us kind of a weird way. As soon as I got off the freeway to make the turn I heard a funny sound. I proceeded to round the corner. I stop and get out and all of sudden it got quiet. The bearings had gone out of the water pump and kicked the belt off. Ended up having to have the truck towed and another truck brought to me to finish towing the camper to our destination. Only about a 2 1/2 hour delay.
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Old 10-08-2014, 11:10 AM   #6
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I also had the same experience years ago pulling a pop-up with my durango. The car stalled as we were coming to a stoplight and I had to literally press against the back seat standing to stop the TT/TV. Almost ploughed into the car in front. After that, I bought my Prodigy. I'll never forget the helplessness of that moment and the relief after it was over.
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Old 10-08-2014, 01:15 PM   #7
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I have had a couple issues over the years. Many many years ago, while in college, I worked for a neighborhood pharmacy delivering prescriptions. My company van broke a rear brake line. no big deal. As I am returning to the shop, I lost the front brake line. No brakes at all, in heavy traffic, behind a line of cars coming up to a stop sign. I was glad the E brake held up.

The only time with the trailer was last year in the mountains going over some mountain pass. My 23B in the morning has very touchy brakes and lock up really easy until they are warm. That particular day lime many others backed off the sensitivity of the controller for a few miles then put it back. Well, I forgot to reset it. Yhe brakes felt good, as we were climbing almost all morning. Well what goes up must come down. As we are comedown out of the pass, I was on the brakes a fair amount (I was in first or second gear too). It was just about lunch time and all of a sudden we could smell, burning rubber. Immediately I know it was the front brakes. Cranked up the controller, and pulled over at the first spot. The front brakes were smoking. Ate lunch, while the brakes cooled. The rest of the trip was just fine.
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Old 10-08-2014, 01:23 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Hitch Pin View Post
That sounds just like same Lord that watches over me every day. Many times I would have been in deep trouble if he was not watching out for me. Well I say, Praise the Lord, for his grace and his merciful hands being upon me. He's the best friend I've ever had!
WELL SAID!

OP, I was sick as a dog on a family vacation in North Carolina a couple years ago. We left and were driving back, it was a miserable hot day. As I was driving I felt a little wiggle and just assumed it was wind. The roads were pretty crowded (I95 in northern NC). I had just gotten off onto I295 to swing me around Richmond and traffic was suddenly sparse. My rear left tire blew out in my SUV and I went sliding out of control. Thankfully I have some training in aggressive driving and was able to maintain control and not flip or hit the Jersey wall. If that tire had gone 2 miles earlier it would have been horrible. I can only assume that I picked up a road hazard and quickly lost tire pressure. The wiggling sensation when I changed lanes should have alerted me to a problem... but I was sick and just wanted to get home.

But for the grace of God, it happened where it did and we didn't flip. I now have TPMS in all my vehicles!
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Old 10-08-2014, 01:53 PM   #9
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I had an alternator go out on a trip out west. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but this was in Utah, on I70, on Sunday, on Memorial Day weekend. Ever try to find a parts shop open in southern Utah on a Sunday? Ain't happening. I made it to Richfield and found a shop open, unbelievable. He had the keys to the parts stores in town. Only lost an hour and a half. I thought we were going to be stuck in Utah for a couple of days.

We were coming home from another trip and it was pouring rain. I was almost home, only doing about 45 when the back wheels of my Trailblazer let loose and slid sideways. The trailer went bananas. I thought for sure it was going to dump. Scariest 10 minutes of my life. It seemed like 10 minutes. The entire thing only lasted about 30 seconds.
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Old 10-08-2014, 02:04 PM   #10
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I posted this in the bonehead thread, but I think this is a better place.

2 weekends ago we went to a camp site about 40 miles away. After backing in and getting ready to pull the TT off of the hitch I noticed my emergency brake cord was lying on the ground. (No big deal of course unless the TT got loose from the TV.) I hook up the cable to the lock pin that holds my hitch pin in. Well I guess I didn't push the lock pin all the way in because it was gone and my hitch pin was just barely sticking into the slot that holds the entire hitch to my vehicle.. I can only guess that the pressure of the camper kept the pin from fully sliding out.. The next morning we found a u-haul and purchased a new hitch pin lock and a d-ring to attach my emergency brake cable to the vehicle.. No more hooking to the lock pin for me.. I was pretty scared knowing that at any moment I could have lost the entire camper at 60mph and no emergency brakes to stop it... I felt like a complete idiot for not checking that as well as I should have, I usually try and do a thorough walk around before we head out.. At least this wake up call didn't injure anyone.. I was almost to embarrassed to post this close call here on the forum, but I figured my almost major screwup might help someone in the future to always check their hitch connections.
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Old 10-12-2014, 06:56 PM   #11
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Thanks to all for posting your scary moments. I think we all can learn a little bit from all of these stories. We will all be better drivers, and possibly more prepared when the unexpected happens.
Thanks again.
Joe, safely up in the mountains around Blairsville, Ga. Getting ready for the stormy weather tomorrow. Maybe I can post some pictures tomorrow.
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Old 10-12-2014, 07:32 PM   #12
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I had one night I was coming home from Louisville to fort wayne and I was hauling a 67 corvette on the back ... I came out from under an overpass north of indy and all of a sudden black ice... started sliding knew not to hit brakes or trailer would go around me so I steered into skid .... then the right rear tire of my Yukon hit dry pavement and threw me totally the opposite direction still steering into skid my anti roll control kicked in and started auto working my brakes and somehow straightened me up ... I looked back and car and trailer were still behind me in one piece but the rest of the trip home was long and white knuckles ... the next morning I looked and the car and trailer really took a ride ... trailer wiring was torn out and pins for ramps were bent in a u shape .. that night I thanked the lord for watching over me
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Old 10-19-2014, 08:43 PM   #13
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As a greenhorn many years ago, I headed down the "grapevine" into LA- We had just traded for our first diesel, a 95 Ford F350 crew cab dually which did not have an exhaust brake- When smoke came rolling out from under the front wheels, we pulled off the road as soon as possible to cool off the brakes- The next day, we replaced the front brake pads and had an exhaust brake and related accessories installed- Now we keep abreast of all safety items- JMHO- DD
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Old 10-21-2014, 12:35 AM   #14
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I was traveling through Texas pulling a 28' TT. There was strong cross wind on this two lane highway we were on. We passed by two large silos that were close together and close to the road. The sudden changes in wind velocities as we passed the silos thru our vehicles across the road all the way over to the oncoming traffics shoulder. If traffic had been coming at us at that moment we would have hit them. We had pulled that trailer several thousand miles and had never come across that situation before. I now treat strong cross winds with a lot more respect.
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Old 10-21-2014, 04:26 AM   #15
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It would be nice if none of those things ever happened to the posters in this thread, but I can see the silver lining - you're all still here.
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Old 10-23-2014, 05:38 PM   #16
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It would be nice if none of those things ever happened to the posters in this thread, but I can see the silver lining - you're all still here.
Well said


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Old 10-23-2014, 06:47 PM   #17
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Before I bought my equalizer hitch I was towing with a weight distribution hitch that used the chains. I was crossing the bridge at Beaumont and a cross wind hit me. Fortunately my Ford Expedition has an anti-sway control that took over. Scared me to death. I got home purchased an Equalizer hitch on Craig's list for about $300 and problem solved. Just went 5100 miles with no issues.
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Old 10-24-2014, 07:28 AM   #18
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Me too

Allow me to introduce my stupidity - last year after a camping trip I was parking our HiLo. I unhitched it and jacked it clear, pulled the electrical, put the stab feet down then attempted to drive away.

I found out that the safety chains work; fortunately I didn't damage the feet.

Hey y'all, lower Alabama (LA) here.
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Old 10-24-2014, 08:35 AM   #19
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Probably 25 years ago: winter night, temps in the low 20s, snowed during the daytime, roads had slush on them. Leaving KC MO headed to Goodland, KS........relay driver for Yellow Freight...now retired.
I passed through the KS turnpike toll gate after the attendant handed me the toll gate card.........still had live people operating things. I pulled onto the shoulder of the road to clear the slush that had been thrown on my side windows and mirrors.........took maybe 5 minutes. Back in my seat and prepping to engage the transmission, the toll booth supervisor approached and advised me that less than 2 miles ahead, 2 tankers had crashed possibly due to black ice. I sat there for almost 3 hours until the wreckage was cleared.
Lessons emphasized........1) God is my co-pilot.....trust in Him, listen to Him. 2) take the TIME to make things right.............even though it was night time, I wanted to have as much visibility as possible. 3) do the check list hands on........not just a quick mental run down. 4) appreciate those who assist you along life's journey.
Ya'all be safe out there now, ya hear?
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Old 10-24-2014, 09:09 AM   #20
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Last Friday night... Scared the heck out of myself.
Normally I get backing guidance from DW and we are perfect after a couple of adjustments.
This trip was after a bit of a camping hiatus so DW was feeling less than confident; not her fault, I should have realized.
CG had us at the back of a cul-de-sac spot which would have been fine and easy in daylight. As luck had it, I needed to work later than anticipated so we got the the campground at 7 pm and started to set up about 7:15, at which point it is getting pretty dark.
Since we had to do some maneuvering to get in, two gents came over to help out... (what do they say about best intentions?)
With helpful comments like "just keep going outward" and "keep going" as DW is saying Stop!" was not helpful either. One finally said "well that sobered me right up!"... So we wound up too close to the trees on the slide side of the trailer.
It looked like the slide would just fit between the trees so I started to try moving back and forth to just the right spot. (I now think the space was actually about 1 inch too narrow.)
Needing to use three layers on legos on the curb side the trailer did not help with squeezing it in, especially as they kept moving!
After 15 minutes of finagling, DW calls for help from the CG owner.
I, at that point (BP about 200 over 190) pull the slide all the way in, pull forward, back in the full three feet from the trees so there is no slide issue. We are now further back in the spot too so the awning will now miss the tree in the front. Yay! Now to get the legos back in place and chock the driver side wheel.
As soon as the trailer is level, the CG owner arrives to help. I say "we got it, you can go." He and DW start to talk as I am unhitching.
I should point out now that I have started to put two 4x6x8 blocks under the jack to save a little time lifting the trailer as well as to allow it to go a little higher when putting the WDH bars on.
I had everything disconnected, and started raising the hitch. Because of the slope I knew the hitch-ball might catch a little in the hitch since the truck was rolled a little forward agant the Park gear. Just as the hitch was high enough to clear the ball I wiggled the truck a little hoping I would not have to back up. I thought "boy tyhat was lucky" as the ball popped lose.

Then IT happened...

A combination of poor planning and distraction finally caught up with me. As soon as the truck came loose, the curb side wheels rolled backward off the legos (I had been distracted and did not check that the wheels were fully on the legos). The two blocks under the jack may have been out of level as well since they immediately fell over towards the curb side. Basically the trailer rotated about 30 inches to the left, where the CG owner was standing!
He put both hands on it and tried to stop the movement. Since the opposite wheels were chocked, it was not going anywhere, but it is a heck of a surprise when a whole 26 foot TT starts to move by itself.

As soon as I stopped swearing, the wife calmed down a bit, the kids stopped yelling "what happened?!?" and the dogs stopped barking I checked and found that everything was OK, just no longer level. The jack did not even get bent.
I looked at the CG owner and pointed out that nice as it was of him to help, I doubted he was going to stop the trailer once it started to move (he was about 170 lbs, the TT is much more).

I am almost to the point that I can laugh now, but the experience had a pucker factor close to 11 on a 1-10 scale.
I now have Andersen Levellers for our next trip. Next time someone tries to "help" I will ask them to just watch or kids while we work it out. Wish I could plan to get to the CG earlier everytime but that is... well not likely. Also, now I only put one block under the jack.

I took a course in aviation accidents a long time ago. Every accident is the result of several poor decisions. I certainly learned a lesson and luckily I got it for free this time!

It turned out to be a great trip but that was a rough start.
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