I'm a worry wart these days I guess....

[0rion]

We just got back from a long weekend over Memorial Weekend with the 5er and have a trip to Va Beach coming up June 20th. I find myself worrying more and more about things when it comes to towing the camper. We have 3 kids (10-7-7months) and I worry we'll be involved in a wreck or something like that will happen. I find myself almost dreading the trip because of the worry. I worry about tire pressures, hitch connections, and things like that. Hopefully it passes but I can see me being a bundle of nerves during the trip and it's a pretty long tow for us.

[0rion]

the bear II wrote:
If you take care of the routine maintenance items you are reducing the chance of being in a wreck. Based on what I have read in posts over the years, I'm guessing one of the most common causes of RV involved wrecks has to do with tires. Making sure you have proper tire pressures and sound tires helps to reduce the chances of a tire failure caused accident.

It's amazing once I finally got a truck that has way more towing capacity than I need plus an exhaust brake, I no longer get those butterflies in my stomach before a trip. Towing with this truck has eliminated a couple of the major things I worried about...being able to safely go down a steep grade and stop quickly if needed.

I also stay near the trailer speed limit and leave large gaps from the vehicles ahead of me as I go down the road.

I have plenty of truck....2500HD so that's covered. I don't have an exhaust brake exactly but I wrote one into the tune with efilive that uses the turbo to brake. I have a few maintenance items on the truck I want to get taken care of before we leave. I'm going to pull the rear wheels and inspect the brakes this week. The fronts were just done but I want to put an eyeball on the rears and see if they're getting close....if so I'll do pads/rotors back there. I also want to get the allison flushed. I could do it here but with all the hassle that comes with flushing it I'd rather just have a dealership do it unless they want an arm/leg to do it.

[0rion]

Camper Mama Bear wrote:
make yourself a checklist, all the things you worry about. check them all in the days leading up to departure. as a parent of 3 children it is easy to get distracted when completing tasks. with a printed list you can cross off each thing when it is completed, then you know it is done.

I would also suggest getting the 10 & 7 year olds involved in helping, however with your level of worry you may end up redoing what they did, then they will lower their confidence and deter them from helping. however do find a way that works for you and your family to get them involved and helping. our 6 year old loves helping load the bed of the truck with wood and whatever else is going into the truck and taking out the wheel chocks when we are pulling out of the driveway (done with supervision of the driver).

once you are on the road there is no harm in checking over the truck/trailer when you pull into a rest stop for someone to use the bathroom. take a look at the tires.

are there other areas of your life that you find yourself overly worried about? might be something to speak with your doctor about, see if your doctor has any concerns with your level of worry.

I'm the king of check lists. 😄 I make a master list that has EVERYTHING we need for the trip and everything that needs done. I check off things as we physically have them on hand and I personally put eyes on them....that lets me know what we need to buy. Then I cross them off as they physically get packed into the camper or suitcase so that lets me know what's on board. I have a pretty good system.....which means we only forget about a 1/3 of the stuff instead of half. 😄 As far as camper/tv prep it feels like that is never done until 5 minutes before we pull out of the driveway. In the past I never really worried about it too much. Think maybe some of it is the new baby. My other 2 have their jobs to do....although I don't give them stuff I know I'll do anyhow. Their jobs typically is getting their clothes, toys, bikes ect ect ready and loaded. My wife helps a lot too. It's really a family project and in the past we're pretty good at making it happen. This year I just find myself waiting for something to go wrong. Trailer tires probably worry me more than anything even though they're only 2 years old but I read quite frequently of people having problems with tires that aren't even that old. Hopefully once we're actually on the road and towing I'll be able to get past it a little bit. I don't want to ever be totally comfortable because I think that's when you get lax but I don't want to white knuckle it the whole time either.

[0rion]

Rescue16 wrote:
Just take your time. My wife is from Ohio so we tow that trip from Virginia Beach to the Beaver Valley exit which is 9 hours and another 15 minutes after we get off the turnpike we are home for her. I never exceed 65 and usually around 62 since that is my sweet spot towing mileage wise. Plenty of stuff to do at the beach send me a IM if you need any info about the campground you are staying at or the beach. Been here 33 years and love it!!

this will be our 3rd year in a row going out there.....we always have such a good time. Since we have the 7 month old we weren't going to go this year but as it got closer we couldn't resist. 😄 We actually stay south of va beach at north landing beach campground off princess anne rd. Probably not the greatest campground but the kids love the beach area and with the playground and water ballon slingshots they look forward to it now. We usually go to va beach for a few hours and walk around but most of our time is spent at Sandbridge or at the campground. I look forward to the vacation....it's the getting there that bothers me. 😄

[donn0128]

Judicious planning, meticulous inspection of your equipment and having the proper tools (truck) for the job are all keys to a successful trip. Stress is usually caused by poor planning and/or attempting to do a job without the proper tools and supplies at hand. This from 35 years as a field service mechanic where I entered a customers facility with two strikes against me. One, a mad customer because his equipment was broken costing him thousands of dollars an hour, and two, not knowing if I had all the parts to fix it fast enough.

[the_bear_II]

If you take care of the routine maintenance items you are reducing the chance of being in a wreck. Based on what I have read in posts over the years, I'm guessing one of the most common causes of RV involved wrecks has to do with tires. Making sure you have proper tire pressures and sound tires helps to reduce the chances of a tire failure caused accident.

It's amazing once I finally got a truck that has way more towing capacity than I need plus an exhaust brake, I no longer get those butterflies in my stomach before a trip. Towing with this truck has eliminated a couple of the major things I worried about...being able to safely go down a steep grade and stop quickly if needed.

I also stay near the trailer speed limit and leave large gaps from the vehicles ahead of me as I go down the road.

[Camper_Mama_Bea]

make yourself a checklist, all the things you worry about. check them all in the days leading up to departure. as a parent of 3 children it is easy to get distracted when completing tasks. with a printed list you can cross off each thing when it is completed, then you know it is done.

I would also suggest getting the 10 & 7 year olds involved in helping, however with your level of worry you may end up redoing what they did, then they will lower their confidence and deter them from helping. however do find a way that works for you and your family to get them involved and helping. our 6 year old loves helping load the bed of the truck with wood and whatever else is going into the truck and taking out the wheel chocks when we are pulling out of the driveway (done with supervision of the driver).

once you are on the road there is no harm in checking over the truck/trailer when you pull into a rest stop for someone to use the bathroom. take a look at the tires.

are there other areas of your life that you find yourself overly worried about? might be something to speak with your doctor about, see if your doctor has any concerns with your level of worry.

[Rescue16]

Just take your time. My wife is from Ohio so we tow that trip from Virginia Beach to the Beaver Valley exit which is 9 hours and another 15 minutes after we get off the turnpike we are home for her. I never exceed 65 and usually around 62 since that is my sweet spot towing mileage wise. Plenty of stuff to do at the beach send me a IM if you need any info about the campground you are staying at or the beach. Been here 33 years and love it!!

[workhardplayha1]

The bennifits of using the RV out weigh the risk. Do a pertrip safety inspection of your RV and TV. Keep up to date tires. Drive at a reasionable speed. Have fun with your family.

[lj2654]

Don't feel alone with these feelings. I also get overwhelmed at times. with all the maintenance issues, getting stuff ready, and trying to relax and enjoy this part of it I get stressed and wonder if I really want to go.......