Mistakes we don't want to repeat!

Dog Folks wrote:
I replied that I would set up the outside and unhook. Take safety chains off, Unhook the electrical plug. Jack up tongue to relive pressure on WD bars, and remove. Lower tongue, release latch and raise tongue to dis engage off the ball.

That was when the trouble started. The tongue came off the ball and the trailer started rolling away from the truck, at a pretty good clip, towards the back of the site and a 20 foot drop off.

Know what? You can’t stop an 8,000 pound trailer from rolling by grabbing the tongue and hanging on. The trailer just drags you! Wife is screaming, over and over, from inside: “STOP!” Well, I tried; after all I grabbed the jack didn’t I?

After about ten feet the jack dug into the soft dirt enough to stop the trailer. Wife come out of the trailer and we had a discussion about why this happened.

Today, when we enter a campsite, I drive and my wife guides me. When the trailer is in position, I am not allowed out of the truck until my wife sets the chocks. I also have to put the truck in neutral first to prove nothing is going to roll.

Oh yeah, the wife now sets up the outside. I do the inside.

I had similar experience when I was moving trailers at my work many years ago. Not TT's, but big expensive trailer mounted equipment. Our facility at the time had no flat / level space except inside the building. As soon as I got the trailer where I wanted it, I pulled the safety chains off and clicked loose the latch on the ball,and went to jacking up the tongue, intending to get chocks in place as a last precaution. As soon as I shifted the weight a little with the jack, the tongue popped up off the ball and the whole works started rolling away. Luckily, the weight shifted just right for the jack to hit the ground and skid to a halt before any real damage was done.....too bad the boss saw the whole thing....from then on, it has always been set chocks first, and remove chains LAST on every trailer.