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  1. #81
    Rolling Along
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Walthourville, GA which is just outside of Hinesville, GA home of the 3rd Infantry Division
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bode View Post
    Towed it for over two years with that little reminder on it and traded it for the 303 with it still in place. And as another poster relayed, it seemed to be disaster proofed as I didn't put a single mark on it the rest of the two years.
    Not sure you've heard this, but in the dirt bike community it is said that whenever you bring home a brand new dirt bike, the break in process is this:

    - Put bike on side stand in driveway.
    - Knock the bike over.
    - The end.

    The theory is that the sooner you put a dent in it, the better. LOL

    Tom

  2. #82
    Rolling Along
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Walthourville, GA which is just outside of Hinesville, GA home of the 3rd Infantry Division
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmillsbl View Post
    Well, we are 3 days into our first cross country trip, about 1000 miles from home. I had installed JT's Strong Arms shortly before leaving. The kit comes with a nice red warning label advising to be sure the T handles are loosened before lowering or raising the jacks to avoid serious injury or damage. I had the label laminated so I could screw it to the pass thru wall right below the control panel for the jacks. Intended to do it at the first night's stop, but ended up with family coming to see us, so put it off to the second night. Was raining, so put it off one more night. Packed up early this morning to hit the road, and as soon as I hit the Retract button I realized my error, but damage was already done. Front basement floor buckled. The warning label is now firmly and prominently mounted where it should have been from day one.

    Attachment 9351 Attachment 9352
    Cringe.......second photo. The dreaded landing gear pinch bolt. (Tom gets shivers up his spine).

    Tom

  3. #83
    Rolling Along
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Walthourville, GA which is just outside of Hinesville, GA home of the 3rd Infantry Division
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    Many years ago, we borrowed the in-laws pop-up camper. The only thing we had to tow it with was a Jeep Cherokee. But, the Jeep's in-line 6 was plenty stout for the little pop-up. Now.....up until this point, I've towed boats and horse trailers and flat bed trailers for some years, so I wasn't new to towing. However, what I'd never experienced was towing with a vehicle that had a short axle to hitch ball dimension.

    There's some physics involved, but the thing you need to know is that the shorter the distance is between the rear axle center line and the hitch ball, the less stable. And if you couple this with a short receiver ball to trailer axle dimension, you're really asking for trouble. And that combination is exactly what I had.

    At the start of our trip to Atlanta, I noticed right away that the Cherokee/pop-up was a bit sensitive to steering inputs. The least amount of steering correction input resulted in the trailer reacting very quickly. "Best to keep a light hand on the wheel and no sudden inputs " I thought. So about 3 hours into our trip and I'm managing to keep a light hand. And then it happened. We're heading up I-75 and just south of Atlanta and traffic starts reacting to something. I switched lanes suddenly and then it started - the dreaded trailer sway - or as I call it - the tail wagging the dog. I tried accelerating hard to snatch the trailer back in line. NO GO. So I did a kinda hard stop to quell the induced oscillation. Another NO GO. Only thing we could do is ride it out until the laws of physics were back in equilibrium. Now.....as I'm trying my best to tame this beast that's swaying to & fro and has me occupying just about 3 lanes of I-75, my wife is assisting me by screaming, "OMG - WE'RE GONNA DIE, WE'RE GONNA DIE." Our dog, decides to follow the wife's lead and starts barking like all hell. Our speed bleeds off and the sway goes away. Now.....up to this point, all my attention was what was in front of me and the trailer. So once things settled down, I look in the rearview mirror and I see a whole bunch of cars, four lanes wide, that have all backed off from us by at least 200'. I'm sure everyone was just waiting for us to explode. We pulled off at the next exit and summarily threw up.

    Tom

  4. #84
    Seasoned Camper
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    Michigan
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    Crap... I've only had my 5th wheel for a week and I growing more paranoid reading these stories...

    Some are quite funny, although I'm sure in the moment, that sentiment was very different.
    Iraq/Afghanistan Veteran - UMICH BBA, M.B.A.
    2018 GMC Sierra 2500 HD Denali 6.0
    2018 Grand Design 150 series Reflection 290 BH
    Bride - Anna, Son - Robert, and Gracie "the dog"
    Flint, Michigan

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  5. #85
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Cedaredge, CO
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    Pulled into a fuel station outside Delta, Colorado. Fuelled up and pulled out - a very sharp turn needed. Started to get back onto the highway and noticed our bikes where hanging funny off the side on the back of the 5er (not a GD - thank God). Seems I had removed most of the rear of the 5er and a small aux. fuel pump that I could not see. That was $7.000. Awhile before that we had arrived home in the mountains of Colorado with a bit of snow on the driveway. Our drive way is a big circle around our house and the patio is 50ft long with full hook-ups. I slid along a tree and damaged the side and top of same trailer. Got mad, pulled the 5er along the tree and up and around - hitting another tree! Another $7,000. I have learned many lessons by being stupid and losing my temper. Also,I have leaned the value of insurance. And not to ever drive in snow.

  6. #86
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Cedaredge, CO
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    I forgot - both trees are now firewood!

  7. #87
    Site Sponsor JCR GD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Central Cal
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    ^^^^ and your lucky number is 7
    Jim (& Sharon)
    2015 GD Momentum 385TH - SOLD
    For Sale - 2015 Ford F-350 DRW 4x4 Lariat w/ AirLift bags, Titan 65 gal. OEM replacement fuel tank.
    The toy:
    2017 RZR XP 1000 EPS SE

  8. #88
    Rolling Along
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Walthourville, GA which is just outside of Hinesville, GA home of the 3rd Infantry Division
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    Sorry.....but in a sick way, I think this thread is awesome!

    C'mon you bystanders.....you know you wanna bare your soul. It's good therapy to confess.

    HAHAHAHAHA..........

    Tom

  9. #89
    Seasoned Camper
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Houma, LA
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    Ok, I'll play. Got our first TT back in 2012, an Open Range. First trip out the following weekend. Brother in law got facing spot next to me. Everything went well until we were ready to leave. Got it on hitch all is good, start to pull out and hear this wrenching metal crunching sound. Apparently, the fold out steps are not pine tree proof. Bent them back at almost a 90 degree angle. A sledge hammer and some rope and I was able to at least get it home. Had several other minor mishaps with that one. Put a hitch on back bumper for bike rack. Didn't know the square bumper was only tack welded. Found that out at 55mph. The real fun started when we traded that one for an Open Range Toy Hauler. First time with a fifth wheel..To be continued......................................... .................
    John and Denise; Houma, LA
    2017 Momentum 395M
    2016 Chevrolet K3500 DRW Diesel

  10. #90
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Austin, Tx
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    These are all great post. On most you say Yep nearly happened to me, Yep happened to me. Mine didn't involve any trailer damage but it was real embarrassing. We had gone to San Antonio for a family function and as usual were running late. Pulled in, leveled the TT, hooked up the sewer, power and water. Turned the water on the have hot water when we got back. Took off for the family thing. Got a call from the campground little later saying that water was running out of the trailer and they turned off the water! Flew back to the campground along with most of the family members (luckily it wasn't as bad as I imagined). No broken water hoses, not bad connections, no faucets on in the camper. Opened the black and grey water to drain the tanks. Slowly turned on the water, nothing inside of the TT was on. What was going on? Walked around and stopped when we heard water running in the outdoor kitchen sink. Oops, left the faucet open and it had filled up the grey water and back filled into the bath tub and out the outside bathroom door and out the outdoor kitchen cover. Thank goodness we had an entrance for the bath, so the water ran out there instead of all through the trailer. Now when we hook up the water, first thing we check is all of the faucets (indoor and outdoor).
    Les and Sharon Bevil
    Austin, Tx

    Reflection 311BHS purchased March 2017
    Jayco 32BHDS sold March 2017
    2012 Chevrolet 2500HD 6.6 Diesel (until May 2018)
    2015 Chevrolet 3500HD 6.6 Diesel

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