Bonehead Blunder, I'm an idiot!

[BobsYourUncle]

I have done some stupid things in my time, made some serious mistakes, but this one is really a major screw up on my part.

Went to grab the TT from storage, the gate broke, I couldn't get in, called the owner, they came in and got the gate open. said they would wait and make sure I could get out.

Now I am in a hurry to hitch up and get out of there.

Grabbed the TT and away I go. Got home, usual pre-trip loading etc and the next morning we are off for a few days at a lake. Cool! :C

230K, 143 miles of highway later we get to our destination. I got out, walked by by hitch and saw this:



My heart nearly stopped dead, I literally broke out in a panic sweat when I realized that I DID NOT put the pin in the hitch.

How could I have done such an idiotic thing? Where was my head? I have a process, a method I follow for this and I failed, big time.

Unbelievable that I drove that far, towing about 7500 - 8000 pounds and the thing didn't fall out of the receiver. I am astounded beyond words at my stupidity and the fact it stayed there all the way.

Wow, just wow.

I know we all do some dumb things, but this takes the cake for me.

[PastorCharlie]

Have you ever found yourself sitting in your car in your driveway wondering to yourself if you just got home or was fixing to go somewhere?

Or found yourself in the bedroom holding your pants in your hands wondering if you had just removed them or was fixing to put them on?

Or be standing in the bathroom wondering why you came in there?

I have a friend who's MD prescribed memory pill for him but he forgets to take them.

Life becomes a challenge as we mature.

[Campinfan]

Isn't it funny how we all tell on ourselves? Sometimes I wish I would keep my mouth shut, but no, I have to tell someone what a big mistake I made.

[Grit_dog]

pianotuna wrote:
Then there was the time a phone call came as I was getting ready to leave. It was important. After the call, I merrily towed 100 feet of #12 extension cord for about 2 miles. Finally some one got my attention and I rolled it up. No plug ends committed suicide, either.

Last phone call, help a kid fix something, multitask multiple maint items at the same time, wife asking if we wanted to go to friends house that night, etc combination left one of 2 oil drain plugs on my snowbike apparently only hand tight. Which apparently is good enough for about 20 minutes of run time or 10 miles form the trailer, uphill in 3' of powder at 11,000rpms before the drain plug falls out!

Fortunately, the piston squirter is the first thing to run out of oil when the oil gets low and at said rpms apparently heats up much faster than the cylinder causing a very hot "cold seize" or "4 point stick" condition, which only resulted in damage to the piston and cylinder, killing the engine before valvetrain or bottom end damage occured.

[pianotuna]

Then there was the time a phone call came as I was getting ready to leave. It was important. After the call, I merrily towed 100 feet of #12 extension cord for about 2 miles. Finally some one got my attention and I rolled it up. No plug ends committed suicide, either.

[BobsYourUncle]

Grit dog wrote:
Found myself thinking about this when I went to grab the truck and boat trailer from the parking lot last night to load the boat back up and checked, probably for the first time ever, that someone didn’t remove any of the cotter pins, clips or locking pins on the hitch connection!

I guess if we all remind each other of our mistakes we make, we can collectively become better at checking things!

[allen8106]

I once towed a dual ski jet ski trailer with two jet ski's loaded to the lake about 35 miles from the house and forgot to latch the hitch ball lock. I understand your panic.

[Grit_dog]

Found myself thinking about this when I went to grab the truck and boat trailer from the parking lot last night to load the boat back up and checked, probably for the first time ever, that someone didn’t remove any of the cotter pins, clips or locking pins on the hitch connection!

[Campinfan]

I made a checklist for my FW when I hook up and disconnect. Then I laminated it and keep it in the center console of my truck. Why? Because I was not immune to doing something stupid. In fact, I have done it on other things so much that I decided to make this sheet before I hooked up the first time. Even now I force myself to review the list. We have all done it so join the club.

[Cummins12V98]

Final inspection is a MUST.

[noteven]

Thinking about my routine -

I hold the receiver pin in a hand while I install the hitch. On my more absent minded days I’ll stand there looking at it after I slide the hitch in and say “oh ya, this holds the hitch on the truck…”

I do have the walk around and look over the outfit habit from learning to fly a airplane, riding motorbikes, running ag machines, driving commercial trucks but absolutely mostly from what can find it’s way to falling off an RV in motion…

[Devo_the_dog]

BobsYourUncle wrote:
I have done some stupid things in my time, made some serious mistakes, but this one is really a major screw up on my part.
...

How could I have done such an idiotic thing?

How?
You answered your question in the first sentence: "I have done some stupid things in my time, made some serious mistakes"

It's just what you do.

[richclover]

philh wrote:
Something I learned from flying, always use a checklist and ALWAYS do activities in the same order. If something gets out of order, START OVER and do it again. Even that's not perfect. Friend was a 747 check pilot and watched an experienced crew got things out of order, and they missed a major check item, landing gear down and locked. He told them to run the checklist again, and sat there in amazement when they "mouthed" the words and missed it again. They went back for recurrent training.

I've tried to maintain the same walk around discipline, what am I supposed to be checking here, and actually touch the item to confirm it's correct.

I've never done complete mental walk around when stopped for a short period of time, but given the example above that someone took the clip off, maybe I should change that up.

Right, the checklists were mandatory. Using the instrument panel, or camper/hitch, as the checklist works, too.

Five items to check when hooking up my 5’er. Then an unhurried walk around, twice, looking for extended jacks, open windows, unlatched doors, slides and awning fully retracted, lights and rear camera working.

When the inevitable campground neighbor comes by to chat (distraction), the process starts from the beginning.

I do the same checks during every stop along the way.

Happy Trails and Safe Travels!

[BobsYourUncle]

WNYBob wrote:
You didn't even cross the safety chains! You need to do this to cradle the hitch if it does come loose!

If only I could....
Both chains come off the same welded steel loop. Crossing them does nothing, they hang crossed at the back connection point. No cradle.
I've tried several ways of hooking them.

[MFL]

Hey Bob...don't be so hard on yourself!!

You are a very capable person! Many on these forums could not take a great pic of the problem, and get it posted properly.

I will suggest that you stick with TTs, as a FW not hitched properly, can get very expensive! 🙂

Jerry