201 replies to this topic

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Done something really stupid......................................

 

Brace yourselves, this will not be a pretty one. I'll make it quick and to the point. I started this thread years ago with the story about leaving something on top a tire, forgetting about it, and then running it over. I still have not learned this lesson. Starting out on a hike from the truck recently, the morning call to duty had me hurriedly grabbing a WAG bag. You can put together the rest of the story.

Oh oh...

[pvstoy]

OH - CRAP!!!!  That's where I left it.....

[Kolockum]

One of the many things I miss about my Wrangler was the flat fenders. Still lost stuff but at least my tire survived.

 

For stupid things:

 

Lifted my roof with one latch still attached. I am amazed at how easily the roofs bend especially with struts. Took about 2 hours to fix...

[Smokecreek1]

Not sure if I  shouldn't have just left this comment in the "greezer " thread because both are probably due to the same cause !!!! Anyway, for the second time in two years and the second time in the 15 years, I have owned my pop-up,  i broke camp and took happily off down the road without latching the exterior roof latches (but did latch the interior one).  To add insult to injury, I drove well over 100 miles before a friendly ag inspector  at the California Ag inspection station said "Hey -your roof latches are unhooked"-followed by a quick glance up from me that was followed by a cuss word!  Luckily for me, most of the trip before was over dusty dirt/gravel toads where I just tooled along at 20-45 mph and only hit paved road outside of Cederville,Ca and most of the rest of the trip was up hill  until I hit the station-with no apparent damage. Thank God for the toughness of these rigs and that they stood up even to the stupidity of some drivers. I should note that as usual  I stopped several times and checked things and I  STILL missed the unlatched hinges!!!

 

Okay, I had been camped for the last week up at Catnip Spring CG on the Sheldon NWR in Nevada and went through all my usual steps that I went through when I broke camp. I was in no hurry,  everything was so mellow and beautiful up there as I did my walk a-rounds and usual checks and off I drove. The only thing I remember I did unusual and out of sequence was I dropped the front and instead of dropping the rear next and latching it,  I loaded my new cooler  in next because it was slightly larger than my old one and I had to fiddle with it---then I dropped the rear, walked around it (apparently without locking the latches) and climbed inside & latched it. All it took was a slight change in my routine  and bang-almost a disaster. I guess we just can't become to complacent and set in our ways in what we do-even if experience had taught us what to do and not do---and I still did something stupid!  I will try to post  the TR  later-even saw 3 Big Horns that came down for water.

 

Smoke

Edited by Smokecreek1, 10 October 2020 - 10:26 PM.

[ski3pin]

Hey Smoke, do us a Trip Report and story of the bighorns and we'll forget all about this here not latching incident. It will be as if it never happened and we'll never mention it again.

[buckland]

I'm real close behind you Smoke... I look three times before ... can't even trust the short term!

[craig333]

Never let your routine get interrupted!

[Vic Harder]

Having a second set of eyes really helps.  Every time she walks around the camper ... counting each latch out loud... I want to say "I did that already".  I keep my mouth shut, knowing that last year I drove 60miles at 70mph with the top UP (never mind not latched).  

 

Doh!

[ntsqd]

On our old camper the latches had loops for a small safety clip of some sort. I bought small steel "carabieners" from a hardware store in Durango and I soon got in the habit of clipping them to the ignition key ring as they came off the camper in order to pop the top. As a bonus, when unlatched the driver's front latch would hang down far enough that it was visible if I looked out and up at the lower edge of the cab-over portion.

 

New to us camper doesn't have those loops in it's latches, but then it has a power roof so I'm not convinced that the latches are an absolute necessity. I see them as more of secondary means of holding the roof down. And I have forgotten them once that I'll admit to......

[buckland]

Yes ... Yes I have.  Getting older is real odd in that it seems to be presented daily to you that you can't do 100% of what you did in your green years. No matter how hard I try not to make the little dumb mistakes (at least I do still laugh at myself)... I still do... it seems I "drift" in concentration... or am so focused on the goal I forget to ask as I always did "what am I missing?" It is especially hard for a type A math and science teacher who has had a solid structure.... 

I think i better embrace this new me or I'll get ornery .... gotta laugh 

 

So as I live in New England the camper has had to come on and off to be stored for the winters (still trying to figure out how to raise the opening of the garage door by 4"!!!). But if it is true the Mrs is retiring ....I won't take that camper off... I'll just head south with the birds. 

So I put may camper on a few days ago. It is stored in the barn on a trailer which I pull out and move up to the dooryard which is flat...lift it off the trailer and back the truck in. ( oh yeah..,.as my truck was aligned for the weight of the camper I load a 600 pound slab of cement in the bed of the truck pre winter and remove in summer ... keeps the alignment and also good for traction in knee deep snow. I have my list of steps and do them religiously. Then once on...I test drive and return to retighten or sometimes readjust the camper  in the bed. 
 

Well  my test drive scared the bejesus out of me as a god-awful banging occurred on bumps. Back home on my belly in the camper to readjust the turnbuckles which are of the type with barrel pins and cotter pins with locknuts. Laying on your back on a hot day on the floor of the camper with your arm through the flap door to the turnbuckles is always fun...banging knees, head  and knuckles. The turnbuckles were all tight..... huh. after two more trials it was still banging..... 

 

Yup... I had turned the two front buckles to expand and not shorten.... they were tight .... but not on a bump when the camper jumped the height of the open buckle.... 

 

Never did that before.... I will now no longer trust my mind's eye.... hand and mind's eye used to work perfect without the visual.... 

now I have to visually double check my by feel previous method that always worked. Everything takes longer but hey ..... I guess this is just the start!!. I better start wearing a hemet.

Edited by buckland, 20 June 2021 - 11:14 PM.