What's the single worst thing that you did or didn't do that could have really went bad but didn't?Couple years ago first trip of the year. One of those spur of the moment trip-got in a hurry because getting off work late. Get home the DW already loaded most of the stuff. I jumped on the tractor and use the bucket to load and install the 5th wheel hitch. Get that done hook the rv up -do a walk around all is good and hit the road to the camp ground.Get there all is good for the weekend- pack up head home. Get home park the rv in the carport-unhook and notice on a little table I have there my 4 hitch bed rail pins! Yep pull the rv 40 mile round trip with the hitch not pined to the bed rails.

Which one of the ten or so should I pick?

several years ago we were on a narrow 2-lane country road (no shoulders) in alabama. we were rounding a right-hand curve at approx 15-20 mph. at the apex of the curve we see that the right half of our lane is not there. no typical pothole. no pavement. period. approx 3’ wide, 20’ long and 6-8” deep. i slammed on the brakes but no way was i gonna stop in time. we rocked..twice. right front wheel went down and then back up before the right rear wheels went down. all i could holler to my wife was “hold on!” i won’t go into all the damage this caused but the pucker factor was significant. flash forward about a year. i had the damage to the slides, fridge mount, etc. repaired but not for a moment did i consider the tire alignment. the parking asst at our winter quarters was guiding us into our spot in Mesa, AZ when he suggested i take a look at my front tires. each had severe rubbing and tread loss and the steel belts were starting to protrude. shocked is an overused word but i was shocked. we put a lot of mileage on those tires since the encounter...central alabama to home (Chicago burbs), a trip from home to Dayton and back and then home to Mesa. lots of miles at interstate speeds. neither of my service shops alerted me and my pre-departure check of tires was cursory at best. i’ve decided to believe that most of the damage was done on that trip from home to Mesa but i have no one to blame but me and my stupidity. i had the front tires replaced (rears were ok) and a whole body alignment done. each side was approx 3/4 inch out of alignment. and i call myself a pilot. my pre-flights ARE thorough but after 34-seasons in the MH i became complacent. that will kill you. we were lucky. i shudder to think what could’ve happened...what i got away with...on the drive from Chicago to Mesa. my pre-departure tire inspections are a lot more thorough now.

I've only been RVing for about 4 years. Fortunately, I have not yet had one of those moments. I'll have to bookmark this thread just to remind me once in a while to take my time and double check everything.Coming home and finding the pins sitting on the table would freak me out.Mike

“I've only been RVing for about 4 years. Fortunately, I have not yet had one of those moments.”IMO yes you have. That’s what is scary...you don’t always know how close you came to....

Back in my youth we were stock car racing on a budget. We towed the car on a heavy trailer designed for farm equipent behind a Chevelle, the trailer brakes if it had any weren't hooked up (no controller in car) and no safety chains. We figured if the trailer left we weren't going with it.One night we returned from a track 75 miles away at around 80 mph. The next morning looking at the car I noticed a weld broken on the hitch, The end of the ball stud and a portion of the nut were ground off from hitting the pavement, we could only imagine the light show that caused.I am amazed we didn't kill ourselves that summer.

It could have went bad! | Good Sam Community

rollexx
Explorer
Jan 11, 2020
We were about 5 miles from our destination when the TPMS alarm sounded. Rapid pressure lose. Right rear tire flat. No big deal, had room to pull over to put on spare.
Pulled tire off and noticed a deep groove around the rear sidewall of tire. It’s then I discovered the problem. The shackles holding the rear axle leaf springs to the center equalizer had broken. The tire had been rubbing up against the shock absorber bracket.
Since we were so close I put the spare on and we limped the final few miles. It was then I discovered that the shackles on the other side was broken also. So basically the only thing holding the rear axle on was the two rear leaf spring bolts. Can’t say how long it had been this way. Shudder to think what could have happened.
Lightning55
Explorer
Jan 12, 2020
I'm almost too embarrassed to share this. My FW was brand new and I was in the storage yard trying to back into a narrow space and had the FW in a tight angle to the truck. I apparently had my brake cable hooked up with not enough slack for the tight turn and it unplugged from the trailer. The rig came to an abrupt stop. I quickly jumped out of the truck to see what happened and saw the cable was disconnected. I climbed into the bed and plugged it back in. What I didn't realize was that I didn't put the truck in park when I jumped out - it was still in gear! Next thing I know is the rig is driving itself across the lot with me in the bed. I about broke my neck jumping out the bed and scrambled to the open door to slam on the brakes before it hit a building. OMG was I lucky! I could have hurt myself or got tangled up under the rear wheels of the truck when I flopped out of the bed to the ground. I beat myself up pretty good for being so careless and stupid. The RV god was watching out for me that day. Looking back I should have just unplugged the brake cable and it would have stopped the rig but I was panicked at the time and didn't think of it.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Jan 13, 2020
Years ago, When I had my first Travel Trailer it had a single axle. The door was toward the front. I unhooked it at the campground walked inside and toward the back. When I did the jack on the front of the trailer came off of the ground and the trailer started to roll down the hill toward the lake !!! I ran toward the door on the front of the trailer and the jack came back down digging into the dirt.

After I got it reset on the camping spot I drove to town and bought some wheel chocks.

It's funny now but, at the time it was scary and embarrassing.

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