Rookie Mistake - need advice

smashed head on frame of open window
drive away with shore power plugged in
hook garbage on rear of trailer to drop at dump station on way out..... get home its still there (impressive since its not like the hefty bag was at all secured for the highway)
oh the list goes on.

in 10 years we've learned a few lessons the hard way and seen others doing similar mistakes!
hook up hoses or electrical cable still attached, slide out still extended, awning still extended etc etc. saw one guy drie off with all 4 stab jacks lowered, all four were ruined at the first speed bump.
it pays to relax and do a thorough walk around!! never rush it!
there was a recent news item about a trailer coming unhooked on the highway near our home, you can never be too careful, its almost imposible for a tt to become unhooked if its coupled properly

Thanks all!

Yup, nothing new here. When it happened to me, I used the car jack to hold the tongue while I reset the tongue jack block.

Nothing rookie about it. It can happen to anyone.

Good luck

rbpru wrote:
Yup, nothing new here. When it happened to me, I used the car jack to hold the tongue while I reset the tongue jack block.

Nothing rookie about it. It can happen to anyone.

Good luck

Yep - we've all done our things. My personal favorite was when I forgot to put the chocks in before unhooking the trailer on a small slope. As the trailer began to roll back, what did I do? I grabbed the jack and started pulling as though Mighty-Me was somehow going to be able to stop the 8,000 pound trailer from going wherever it wanted to go!! :h

Luckily, it only went about a foot and then stopped, but I learned my lesson in a hurry.

As for your issue - others are right that you could probably just use the stab jacks (especially with a smaller trailer). That said, I'm more conservative and, since the stab jacks aren't meant to hold that much weight, I would probably use my truck jack closer to the tongue just to make sure that I don't risk any warping on the frame. Again, I fully admit that would be my hyper-vigilance and would likely be overkill, but I wouldn't personally see the reason to take the risk.

When in panic mode I have raised the tongue as far as possible with the jack then blocked the tongue, retracted the jack and put another piece of wood under it. It worked but I wouldn't want to make a habit of it.

Have everybody within 200 feet of you move from their sites. If there is not a 40x40 pad within 20 ft of your trailer you will have to bring a bulldozer in to level a pad. Then call a crane company and set up the lift. I would recommend having the crane set the trailer on better solid ground. Hook to your truck and it's done, that easy. I don't know why your worrying. I was the same as you with worrying. Now that I can drink a fifth of Crown Royal I don't worry near as much. Try it, don't except to be good at it right away. You will have to give it 100%. Hope this put a smile on your face for your birthday.

Happy Birthday:B

If you can't get the camper high enough lower the truck. (If possible)

If you are close but, not quite, having a few people set in the very back of the box of the truck might be enough weight to lower the truck so that it will now slide under the hitch.

Sometimes backing up to the camper from a different angle with make a difference in the height of the truck.

we had our tt fall off the two blocks I placed under the tongue jack, that wasn't pretty!! it rolled back as it came off the truck
I carry a 1 ton bottle jack for tyre changes, so I used that to lift the tt