What’s the worst bone-headed mistake you’ve made before pulling out in your RV

[sanda]

I think the true backup cameras only work when in reverse. Most of our RV's have observation cameras that give you a view with the park lights on so you can see whats happening behind you when going down the road.

 

[Scotttkd2]

OK, hold my beer.....

Our previous RV, coming home from a week long trip we were in heavy traffic on the 10 in Palm Desert CA area, in the left lane and I see a rather large (think basketball) size chunk of asphalt in the lane ahead of me. While trying to figure how in the world it had made its way into a traffic lane of a busy interstate I realize I can't swerve right, traffic present, its in the left tire part of the lane, so I decide the only option is to try to straddle it. I am hovering in my seat as I drive over it, no issue with the front, then BAM from the back. I look in the mirrors and the rear view camera, and my toad is still there, no issues from the RV, so I keep rolling. A few seconds later my leveler control panel starts screaming about a jack being down. A few miles down the road I notice my rear view camera is becoming fogged over, so I pull off the next available exit to investigate. Walk to the back and find the toad and rear of motor home covered in hydraulic fluid. Apparently the asphalt chunk impacted the low hanging leveler on the driver side, destroying it and causing the cylinder to empty the hydraulic tank onto the road as we went. 2 more hours to home so we limp in with no one tailgating me anymore. Took several washes and a mobile tech to replace the driver rear leveler, and then all good to go. Not a before I pull out bone headed move but learned the hard way straddling road debris is not the best option in the playbook.

 

[sanda]

I'm not sure you Didn't make the right decision. If you hit it with the front tire you probably would have been in a bad wreck.

 

[Scotttkd2]

Yeah, I know there was really no choice. We also lucked out that it was just the leveler on the RV that took the hit. The differential could have been taken out, or if it got to my toad, it would have been totaled at a lot higher cost to repair than I had to fix the leveler. Bad stuff happens sometimes.

 

[IowaRVer]

…then I searched the computer, and lo and behold. one other person had the same problem. He said you have to turn on your lights. Bingo! The manual did not mention turning on your lights.

the light helps you see your DW coming with more questions….

 

[AbdRahim]

OK, hold my beer.....

Our previous RV, coming home from a week long trip we were in heavy traffic on the 10 in Palm Desert CA area, in the left lane and I see a rather large (think basketball) size chunk of asphalt in the lane ahead of me. While trying to figure how in the world it had made its way into a traffic lane of a busy interstate I realize I can't swerve right, traffic present, its in the left tire part of the lane, so I decide the only option is to try to straddle it. I am hovering in my seat as I drive over it, no issue with the front, then BAM from the back. I look in the mirrors and the rear view camera, and my toad is still there, no issues from the RV, so I keep rolling. A few seconds later my leveler control panel starts screaming about a jack being down. A few miles down the road I notice my rear view camera is becoming fogged over, so I pull off the next available exit to investigate. Walk to the back and find the toad and rear of motor home covered in hydraulic fluid. Apparently the asphalt chunk impacted the low hanging leveler on the driver side, destroying it and causing the cylinder to empty the hydraulic tank onto the road as we went. 2 more hours to home so we limp in with no one tailgating me anymore. Took several washes and a mobile tech to replace the driver rear leveler, and then all good to go. Not a before I pull out bone headed move but learned the hard way straddling road debris is not the best option in the playbook.

Not bone headed, if there are no other options.

 

[AbdRahim]

When I had my trailer, I drove over 100 miles with a baggage compartment wide ope, before someone alerted me to it. Fortunately noting fell out.

 

[Rich W.]

In my Bay Star the jacks stowed with a noticable clunk. So I relied on this audible clue for confirmation. For some reason one jack didnt fully retract and I didnt notice the absence of clunk. Until later in the day when ground clearance was more limited in a parking area at which point the jack struck the ground and bent the mount. I was able to do the repair myself at minimal cost, but it could have been worse. Since then I always do a visual, and now with the Ventana, the jacks stow silently so all the more important.

 

[Rosy]

I did do one bone headed thing that I'd forgotten about. Changing sites in a campground one morning, I tucked the garbage can between the wall and the slide. When we got to the new site, DW didn't check for obstructions before opening the slide. Luckily, she stopped quickly so I just had to hammer dents out of a garbage can, rather than replace the slide.

 

[nomanland21]

I bought a new RV… and a new weight distribution hitch two weeks ago.

The VERY first time I hooked up the hitch I didn’t get the curved part of one of the arms (see right circle in bottom pick) seated well in the hitch before swinging it back to trailer frame and affixing it to the frame.

I drove about 400 yds and heard something loud fall (steel) and immediately pulled over.

The arm had come out of the hitch, but was still attached (luckily) at the frame. (see left circle in bottom pic). Of course… the bolts and retaining pins were all bent to heck… but I‘m glad I heard it and stopped quickly. I was just about to get on an interstate… thank goodness it didn’t happen while I was at 65 mph.

here‘s what the the eaz-lift looks like prior to installation

View attachment 14192

Here’s what it looks like attached (example picture…not my rig)

View attachment 14194

what bone-head mistakes have you made?

I've done the same thing with this WDH. I think I drove a bit further before I heard it. I always keep my back window open so I can hear what's going on with the hitch area and my dog likes it. Good thing I had it open that day because one of the arms wasn't seated and it popped out. Also, glad mine was hanging on.

I seem to always forget to put the door rail in, I believe because it blends in. Twice so far I've left it out only to realize it as I'm driving down the road. I may put some yellow tape on it so I see it better when doing my walk around inspection.

 

[IowaRVer]

I should probably laminate a checklist and keep it in my car and go over it and say ‘check’ line by line before I pull away… like pilots do (maybe they don’t say check… but maybe they do!)

 

[Lab00Rat]

Can't say I've done a bonehead action leaving, but mine was parking.
Learned the lesson to always have a spotter when leveling on blocks.

The long version: https://rvforums.com/threads/windshield-replacement-quest-the-long-version.11409/&tag=14394

Basically, I smashed my brand new Class A windshield and it cost me $3k and a long story to fix.

 

[Texan]

Ok, newbie here, years ago I was hitching up my 2006 Kountry Aire 5R to my 2008 F-450 at the dealership after extended service. I usually had my 12 yr old son, who was at school but was and is a “can do anything” guy hitch up the 5R. So I did it and forgot to lock the hitch…..yup, BOOM landed on the truck rails!

 

["EZ"]

At a campground just after we bought our Class A we were hooked up to the sewer at the campsite and I drained the black tank. I wanted to "rinse" the black tank out real good so I hooked the water hose up to it and began filling the black tank with fresh water. It takes a while to fill a 50 gallon tank so I was going to do a couple other things while I waited. Well...............I got distracted and forgot I was "rinsing" the black tank. When I remembered it I ran inside to look into the toilet and see how full the tank was. There was SO MUCH PRESSURE that it exploded straight up in the air. When I opened my eyes again I was covered in stinky water and it was dripping off the ceiling!!! I'll never make that mistake again!!!

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

At a campground just after we bought our Class A we were hooked up to the sewer at the campsite and I drained the black tank. I wanted to "rinse" the black tank out real good so I hooked the water hose up to it and began filling the black tank with fresh water. It takes a while to fill a 50 gallon tank so I was going to do a couple other things while I waited. Well...............I got distracted and forgot I was "rinsing" the black tank. When I remembered it I ran inside to look into the toilet and see how full the tank was. There was SO MUCH PRESSURE that it exploded straight up in the air. When I opened my eyes again I was covered in stinky water and it was dripping off the ceiling!!! I'll never make that mistake again!!!

You win!

 

[ArmandV]

The first time using the electric awning, I pulled out of the campsite without retracting it. Luckily, I only went a few yards when neighboring campers started yelling at me to stop and retract it. Whew!

 

[FloridaSon]

Bought two new sewer hose plugs but failed to get the type with lugs. I happily placed them in both ends.

Then forgot about them. After hooking up when I pulled the black dump valve, it started great then suddenly stopped. I could not figure out why until I checked the other end clear elbow and thought, hmmm what is that black thing?

So I had about a foot of sewage between the dump valve and the plugged hose. Found a kindly maintenance guy who said hell I did the same thing but filled the entire hose once. Anyway he found a flat plastic container and we caught the stuff, only spilled a bit. I cleaned that up. But if you think about it, that first surge is the nastiest. Lots of clean up with gloves, another lesson learned! (He got a good tip as well) (If anyone wants a picture I have one hahah)

 

[sparkydave]

A long time ago when the first wife and I were towing the popup, we had a friction sway control. Had it out and sitting on the picnic table as I was hitching it up. Somehow remembered everything but that. Got out of the campground and realized something didn't sound quite right. Usually we can hear a groan from the sway control going around corners. Stopped and looked, and whoops, forgot something! Went back to the campground, and fortunately it was still on the picnic table.

 

[MrsG]

Was in campgrounds in Colorado and the guy was leaving with a 5er with the slides out. I heard several people yelling and he was coming my way. So I stopped him and told him his slides were out. He said "The dealer said the only time I need to retract them is when putting it in storage" and he drove off with the slides open..

I use to laugh at stupid people that unhooked their 5er pulled away with the tailgate up and damaged their tailgate till I become one of those stupid people Opps.

I don't own one with slides, BUT even I know you don't run with the slides out. Wonder who's paying all the repair bills...

 

[A-Texan]

I drove from Corpus Christi, Texas to Dallas, Texas ( 7 hours or so ) with the roof vents open on my Travel Trailer before I realized they were open, needless to say they were missing when I got to Dallas, and I had to go by Camper World to buy some new ones before continuing my trip North. I am thankful it didn't rain that day. This happened about 10 years ago, I always make sure they are shut before hitching the trailer now.