Another situation that occurred this past weekend was that one mh coming into the campground sort of missed the pad and ended up sinking in some loose sand up to the exhaust system. Several of us neighbors grabbed our fox hole shovels and proceeded to did out in front of the rear wheel. Only one side was stuck. Once we cleared the loose sand, we laid down the plastic jack stand pads as the guy had a set with him. We made sort of a short road surface with them. One try and he made it out with ease. I ordered me a set of pads today just for standby after seeing how easy he came out of a bad situation. Just passing it along.

I should order me a set too or two.

Thanks for helping him out. I decided to buy an RV when I rented one 30 years ago and discovered that no matter what stupid thing I did I always had plenty of nice people ready/willing to help me out.

Was it a DP with air brakes or a gas rig with regular brakes? If it had regular brakes and a spring loaded parking brake, and only one side is stuck, if you start applying the parking brake while accelerating, it will add resistance to the spinning wheels and the differential will transfer power to the other side. At least it works on 2wd cars and pickups. I've never tried it in a motorhome but it should work. If it has air brakes then get the shovels out.

lower air presser to 7 lbs and drive it out very easy. Been there done that a number of times in Mexico on the beach.

msmith1199 wrote:Was it a DP with air brakes or a gas rig with regular brakes? If it had regular brakes and a spring loaded parking brake, and only one side is stuck, if you start applying the parking brake while accelerating, it will add resistance to the spinning wheels and the differential will transfer power to the other side. At least it works on 2wd cars and pickups. I've never tried it in a motorhome but it should work. If it has air brakes then get the shovels out.Many gas motorhomes (and I suppose maybe some diesels without air brakes, though those are pretty rare) have the parking brake mounted on the driveshaft rather than on the wheels. In that case, it would obviously not help the situation one bit.It also is critically important to chock such units before jacking up one of the rear wheels, since the differential will let the other wheel turn freely once the one is clear of the ground.

RV stuck in sand bad... | Good Sam Community

Naio
Explorer II
Nov 15, 2017
She'd have to be a strong wench indeed, to pull an rv out of the sand!

This thread makes me want to get one of those busty wooden ladies for the front bumper of my van, like the old sailing shops had.
NEHOG
Explorer
Nov 15, 2017
Dennis12 wrote:
... a wench for the front of my motor home...

I don't think my DW would approve of me getting a wench on the front of our rig...
Rick_Jay
Explorer II
Nov 15, 2017
Dennis12 said: "...a wench for the front of my motor home..."

I really liked your list and ran it by wifey for her approval. She was on board up until this point. I think it's a good addition, but I'll be danged if I can convince her of it! LOL

~Rick
Dennis12
Explorer
Nov 15, 2017
I'm thinking about buying 9 fox hole shovels for everyone to help me, Maybe an excavator, a cord of wood, a wench for the front of my motor home, upping my insurance, pick up 10 yards of old carpet. No never mind, I'll use a spotter next time.
Blackdiamond
Explorer
Nov 15, 2017
I was buried pretty bad in a 39' DP, took about 6 hours to get it out. We would dig, put wood under the jacks, dig more, put wood under and in front of the rear tires, go about 5-10 ft and then start all over again until we got free. This was out in the desert dry camping at a new spot.
falconbrother
Explorer II
Nov 15, 2017
Reminds me to put my little foxhole shovel in the RV.
Playtime_II
Explorer
Nov 15, 2017

Been there, done that, didn't work for us.

With both sides in the same predicament; a winch out from a medium-sized tow truck was needed. At least the frame/hitch was accessible and a solid anchor point for the winch operation. My insurance covered it (and 0 deductible).
JoeH
Explorer III
Nov 15, 2017
A large piece of cardboard or section of old carpet under the tire will help in driving out of sand also.
DrewE
Explorer II
Nov 15, 2017
msmith1199 wrote:
Was it a DP with air brakes or a gas rig with regular brakes? If it had regular brakes and a spring loaded parking brake, and only one side is stuck, if you start applying the parking brake while accelerating, it will add resistance to the spinning wheels and the differential will transfer power to the other side. At least it works on 2wd cars and pickups. I've never tried it in a motorhome but it should work. If it has air brakes then get the shovels out.

Many gas motorhomes (and I suppose maybe some diesels without air brakes, though those are pretty rare) have the parking brake mounted on the driveshaft rather than on the wheels. In that case, it would obviously not help the situation one bit.

It also is critically important to chock such units before jacking up one of the rear wheels, since the differential will let the other wheel turn freely once the one is clear of the ground.
Supercharged
Explorer
Nov 15, 2017
lower air presser to 7 lbs and drive it out very easy. Been there done that a number of times in Mexico on the beach.

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