vacation went from almost deadly to lost to saved

[tekman741]

I've been doing this rv thing for 3 years now.

1st year blew 4 tires because someone left a 3 sided hitch in the road. 2 on the drivers side, 1 on the passanger side rear and 1 on the trailer(2axles). Limped to the dealer(run flats, AAA will not tow camper even had premium. That was a $1000 plus but we did not flip over or crash plus we made it to the campground.
Lost the keys to the truck just before leaving the house for another trip. Still cannot find them or the spare. Called the local dealer and had 2 keys made= $18 Vacation saved. Not so bad the wife nagged me a for a while. Got to the campsite had to turn the rig round because of the way the site was. The wife blew her top because I did not listen to her while back up in/turning around. Well hard to hear her while she's directly behind the camper(never have spouse help back up someone said on here). I told her if i cannot see you in the mirrors it does not help. Camper next to us was on his picnic bench snickering. I sent her to get pizza and calm down, mean while the kid is screaming just adding fuel to the fire. She leave the guy next door comes over hand me a beer he tells me to sit down take a break and he'll help. 40min later site completely set up she arrive all is blissful. deep sy of relief.

This weekend everything is going well headup to eastern slopes CG in by conway/Glen, NH via rt16=very hilly(whitemountains). Approx. 15miles from CG we hear a high pitch winding noise, while on a 7% down hill. Umm steering feels like there's no power, let me tap the breaks, right to the floor= HOLY CRAP. pray pray pray. trailer breaks yes pulled off sweating shaking. Wife is now 8months pregnant 2yr with us. We are safe she asks what was going on, showed her the fluid on the ground. Called a CG they said call Camping World maybe they can tow camper to CG. Called CW in Conway, NH he gave me a local towing company MT Washington Valley Towing CO. They towed the camper to CG, took the truck fixed the truck in 2.5hr picked me up at CG. $500=vacation went fron deadly to lost to saved. It was a pump on the chevy silverado k3500 that controls both the breaks and steering= NO warning light. He said it was rusted out. I must be heart healthy no heart attack. We had a great weekend after that even though it rained the first day, then went to Storyland=awesome... We are all done for the year, she's ready to pop anytime.

[bucky]

DW gets out of the truck with the dogs while I back in, works well.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

.
"tekman741" -

have you considered changing your ID to - Joe Btfsplk 741 ?? ..:B

~

[mguay]

Glad to to hear the boys at MWV Towing got you fixed up! We use the same dispatch company and I'll send them an "at a boy". Glad everyone is ok!

[itscottw]

Wow - it sounds like you have had some interesting trips!

My TV has a key with an embedded chip that is required to start the engine. I had a generic key (without a chip) made for my TV that opens the door, but will not start the engine. I keep this key in a magnetic holder under the TV in case I ever lock my keys in it. If a thief ever finds the key underneath they will only be able to open the doors with it (but not directly start the engine), offering some measure of protection. Of course, any motivated thief will no doubt find a way to steal it regardless.

For backing into campsites my DW and I have a nice system. I primarily use the GOAL method (Get Out And Look), with her there as a backup. The only thing she needs to do is loudly yell STOP if I am about to hit something or to answer any questions I may have (such as does that look good). Of course it helps that I consider myself pretty good at it and typically get my TT backed into spots in only one go. 😉

Safe travels!

[tekman741]

thanks for all the comments. the tow driver said to me you know your crazy. Whaat your wife 8 month along your lucky she did go into labor.a week earlier a couple had tranny trouble that cost 2 $2000 she went into labar right in our shop. made me think for a bit.

[oldtrojan66]

This tale is a good example of "Even though you take every precaution you can think of - Stuff still goes wrong"!!! Its no wonder we RV drivers sometimes have permanent white knuckles. Glad you got stopped safely! and good story!

[wa8yxm]

"Must be heart healthy no attack..."

Naa. you are just so used to stuff going wrong that if you went on a trip where nothing "Exciting" happened.. THAT would trigger the coronary.

Coingrats on survival.. You must have learned a thing or fifty somewhere.

[Turbo_Diesel_Du]

I usually have my DW back up when hooking the TT for travel. Works out great as I have difficult time get her to realize that If she can't see me in the mirrors, I can't see her.

[jkbrea]

That would have made a better movie than RV with Robin Williams. Seriously, glad you're all OK.

[Homer1]

I was lucky I guess, my DW was a master at backing instructions, yet she never backed a rig in her life. We used small family radios and "right on the money" was a thump on the rear panel of the camper. Wish she was still with us. :>((

[rexlion]

Wow! Sounds like a rotten run of luck. You should have run out of bad luck by now. I hope.

First time I brought home the new Rockwood 23' in '05, DW stood behind the TT while I backed it in. She's watching. She's going to let me know if I'm getting close to anything. I'm backing up. Next thing I know, crunch! The rain gutter at the very corner of the house. She didn't think to look up. :R

We ended up getting a pair of 2 way radios, which worked well. And she always remembered from then on to look UP.

[tekman741]

Hondavalk wrote:
I put my cell phone on speaker that way I don't have to figure what DW's hand signals are suppose to mean. More often I prefer when we're camping somewhat close to home to go early in the day before my DW is home and get set up without the HELP. Seems to be a more relaxing experience that way.

Yaa tried the cell phone thing but it was a bust, total communication break down. The hand signals are tricky but banging on the camper is another way of getting me to stop. Problem is she was right behind the camper with truck measure 51feet. I have done the,"I'll meet you there(at the CG)," and it works great for both. The Cg this happened at was 20mile from home. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

[Hondavalk]

I put my cell phone on speaker that way I don't have to figure what DW's hand signals are suppose to mean. More often I prefer when we're camping somewhat close to home to go early in the day before my DW is home and get set up without the HELP. Seems to be a more relaxing experience that way.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Sorry for your trouble but great story man!! I just close my eyes and I can see it happening just like you told it!

I have something similar with a broken spring on my TT last month. Not as big of a deal as losing brakes on a TV though. :E

Thanks for the story! 🙂

[fla-gypsy]

The ol' hydroboost failure. Been there and done that! Got rid of the POS GMC with it and never had another truck failure. Kudos to the camping neighbor!