This post is loosely inspired by the "Upgrading Brakes" post in Tow Vehicles section.
Admit it, we’ve all been there. That time you stepped on the brake pedal and thought “expletive, there’s there no way I’m going to make this”. Yet somehow you managed and the crisis was averted. We’ve probably all been there, I’m sure the events are indelibly engraved in our memories. So bring it out, tell us the story I know I’m not alone in this.
Please keep posts camping or RV related. Yes things happen in our daily commutes, but this is a camping/RV forum after all.
Also only posts where the crisis, accident, etc was averted or avoided and it ended well.
Post as many stories as you can remember.
Here’s a few of mine, they both occurred in and around San Diego mountains and deserts.
I was probably 18 at the time. I was way overloaded driving my lifted Ford Ranger with a three wheeler and camping gear in the back and a sandrail dune buggy on a trailer with no brakes. My friend and I were taking different routes out to the desert camp spot and wanted to see which route was faster. His, the RV route that all the motorhomes and trailers take. Or what I thought was more direct car route.
I drove on the S2 and turned onto Montezuma Valley Rd (The Montezuma grade) toward Borrego Springs. This is steep two lane road with many sharp turns that drops from the surrounding mountains into the town of Borrego Springs. It’s a beautiful route with many panoramic views down to the valley floor below. But with those views comes some steep and most definitely fatal drop-offs on the right side of the road.
Did I mention I was only 18 at the time? Well I thought I was a race car driver, what 18 year old guy doesn’t? I’m writing this as that 18 year old trying to give you a feel for the situation from his eyes as I remember it.
So here I am driving hard into the grade from the top, headed down and things are going well. I’m braking hard for the corners and then slamming hard through the gears coming out. I remember seeing the corner coming up, a fairly tight left hand turn with a small pull out spot that is kind of white in color on the right and then a dropoff. I stepped on the brake pedal and….. nothing! I mean the pedal was firm, but there was no indication that I was asking for brakes. With the corner coming up fast I dropped two gears into second (5 speed stick) and with that little V6 screaming in protest I stood both feet on the brake pedal and pushed with all I had. There was no stopping this train in the allotted distance. But thankfully I managed to slow enough that I made the corner albeit it with the front tires howling as they tried to keep traction on the road. The rest of the descent and trip was quite a bit slower as I kept it to lower gears and stayed off the brakes to let them cool. Oh, and I lost by 2 minutes to my friend. But I gained the knowledge that the flatter more sweeping turns route that the RV’s take was just as fast and a heck of a lot easier.
This next story is not as dramatic, but it still qualifies.
It was a Sunday and I was in the mountains driving home from a great camping trip. I was in my old 70’s Ford Bronco and towing my popup trailer. The trailer only weighs maybe 900 lbs. and of course the trailer again has no brakes. By no brakes I don’t mean failed or broken brakes. In both stories the trailers were never equipped with brakes from the manufacturer.
Anyways, I was following another car and we were maybe going 35 or 40 mph, as we were on twisty mountain roads. There was not another car in sight except for an occasional car in the opposite direction. It was an awesome spring day, about 11 am with clear blue skies and dry roads. We were coming up on a left hand sweeping turn at the bottom of a small hill that I know opens into a peaceful grassy meadow. It’s peaceful, it’s serene, and I’m happy and relaxed. Yes it’s coming up, you know it is.
As we round the turn the car in front of me immediately slams on their brakes. Now normally I would have had enough stopping distance, I really wasn’t that close. No, it wouldn’t have been a pleasant stop, but it also would not have been a panic stop. Unfortunately these old Bronco’s just don’t have the best brakes. And to top it off I had almost a thousand pounds behind me.
Again I slammed hard on the brake pedal. To this day I don’t know what caused me to do it. Maybe it was because I was now in my 30’s and had a lot more mountain and general overall driving experience. Or maybe I got lucky or I remembered the Montezuma grade from years ago. But as I was slamming on the brakes I also grabbed the shifter and pulled the automatic transmission down into second gear. Yes to this day I remember looking at the needle moving to the 2.
Time seemed to slow down and for what seemed like an eternity (it was probably really only a half a second but you know the feeling) and nothing happened. Yes the old Bronco was trying to slow down. But my stomach was already in my throat and my mind had already calculated that “Oh ****, there’s no way I’m going to stop in time, there’s just not enough room” calculation. Right about that time second gear kicked in and I went from “not going to make it” to “Oh yeah, I got this”.
So as I come to a safe stop I can finally focus on what in the heck caused the car in front of me to stop so abruptly. There, right smack dab in the middle of a 50 mph road, was a car stopped looking at a little forked buck deer in that grassy meadow. To make matters worse there was a nice wide shoulder that the person could have safely pulled onto. But instead of doing the smart thing, they decided to just come to a complete stop in the middle of the road.
Okay there you have my two stories, how about one of yours? Remember try to keep it RV or camping related if you can.
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2001 Suburban 4x4. 6.0L, 4.10 3/4 ton **** 2005 Jayco Jay Flight 27BH **** 1986 Coleman Columbia Popup
