Rookie Mistakes

[Mountndream]

forgot to chock the wheels before disconnecting our Pop up on a slight grade...

it only ran away a little bit... Then we had to get our truck jack to jack the tongue high enough to get back on the hitch.

[Camperstewart]

Backed into the gutter on the house bending the latter in. Tried to tell wife I don't know how it happened but the darn security camera shows me backing slowly into it 😊

[raspivey]

Originally Posted by Mountndream

forgot to chock the wheels before disconnecting our Pop up on a slight grade...

it only ran away a little bit... Then we had to get our truck jack to jack the tongue high enough to get back on the hitch.

Same thing with out popup. I've never forgotten chocks since....

[stevensmith2859]

Got level and unhooked only to realize our slide couldn't open up from being too close to the power and water post.

[Buddymiller]

When going through the toll plaza of a bridge USE THE TRUCK LANE!! I was following my brother in his new winnebago he went through the car lane and snap off pasenger mirror with the cement pillar. Two years later following his son in his new ace motor home we crossed San Mateo bridge YES he hit the pillar too. My brother told him "son learn from my mistakes" use the truck lane!

[Stormrider151]

Originally Posted by Mountndream

forgot to chock the wheels before disconnecting our Pop up on a slight grade...

it only ran away a little bit... Then we had to get our truck jack to jack the tongue high enough to get back on the hitch.

Same thing. Chocked only one wheel and when it came off the hitch it knocked me on my back and I was holding it with my feet. My brother finally showed up from the bathroom and saved me. Had it gotten completely away it would have been the most interesting boat on the lake.

[leefl]

Similar to someone else's story, but years ago on our first real trip out in our old pop-up (now have 5er), we got all set-up and level on the campsite, got the bunk slides out, got power and water hooked up, and everything was good ... except the A/C was "broken".
The friendly campground manager came over to check if we were ok, and I mentioned that the A/C wasn't working.
He went off to get a tester to check the power levels at the power post, having already confirmed that lights were running ok from power.

It was only then that I remembered that the A/C had to be plugged in to an outlet near the dinette table !
I'd just completely forgotten to plug it in!

Just to prove that fate is an unkind mistress, 2 days later the A/C really did get fried by a power surge caused by a nearby lightning strike. (being in a pop-up in August in Florida with no A/C is NOT a fun experience)

[RSchleder]

Forgot to unlock steering wheel of our TOAD one morning and pulled it down the Interstate for 20+ miles behind our DP'er with the wheels locked and slightly turned. Truck driver finally got my attention, pulled over and the steel cords were sticking out of both front tires.
Unlocked wheel, drove very slowly 5 miles to tire dealer--new tires, $150 less in my pocket. Live and learn.

[SDPadsfan]

Well I did another one. Last weekend before hitching back up I raised the stabilizer jacks and then realized I needed something inside. I ran in and the movement must have caused the trailer to shift forward a little because it rolled forward off the Anderson Levelers. Fortunately the wheel chocks on the driver side held, but it was an interesting ride for a second. Fortunately I always pack an extra pair of pants just in case.


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[krhpee]

I have read these with the hope I learn from other mistakes. Wednesday we take off for our maiden trip in our new travel trailer. We have tented, pop-up, condo and now this new beast.

I hope not to be able to join this discussion other than read it.
Our trip is from Missouri to Montana for four months. One hook up and unhook but learning the ins and outs of the living part will be easy once I "get it".

The first part of the learning is traveling there. Fortunately we have all interstate except last three miles. Gives me lots of room at most stops - I am hoping anyway.

I am taking on this challenge only because I know there will be fellow campers willing to help this newbie.

My husband is not in great health and has had a hard year. We have talked about his for a long time since retirement. I told him in March -- we are doing this and here we are a couple of days away.

I told myself I was not going to pack a lot but being stationary for 4 months makes me - pack a lot. I hate to purchase stuff I know i have at home and since what is left at home is good, - it is coming along. Not all but a lot.

I will certainly share a few rookie mistakes maybe not all.

[timfromma]

Didn't find out that my TT had neither a jack or a lug wrench until I had a flat on the side of I95 in GA. I had to disconnect the trailer, leave it and my wife on the side of the highway while I went off to buy both.

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[Lm2b]

We had to unhook and bring the camper to a dealer for a repair. It was October, 2nd time in the new trailer and it was snowing and bitter cold. We had trouble with the hitch and we had to out the jack back down. We were stressed out and forgot to put the jack back up before we pulled out.

[C. Brown]

During spring break in Destin, Florida, backed 5ver in and got all set up. I hooked a dedicated water hose to my black water flush and turned it on to put some liquid in the black tank. You guessed it, got busy with something else and forgot about it. Then I hear DW screaming water is running out from under toilet. Now this was first trip out after winter. We knew we had winterized properly. Yep, pushed foot pedal and suddenly we had a volcano in the bathroom. She was very understanding even though I had to use a ton of clean towels to dry out bathroom. Spent the next few hours in laundry washing and drying towels.


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[Exlimey]

Not the first trip out with our new TT but definitely a rookie mistake. I left the handle used to lock the WDH chains laying on the A frame in front of the propane tanks. I got all the way to the CG and backed in before I found that I didn't have it to disconnect. No big deal, I'll find someone to borrow one from. I look around but there's nothing but motor homes and 5ers! Fortunately, I found a long box end wrench that worked. I go and set up then go back home and pick up DW after she gets off work. I drive home and watch the side of the road but no,luck. I pulled in the driveway and there it is, laying on the ground, right where the TT was when I hooked it up. Mill be picking up a spare, that's for sure!

[dannyabear]

Originally Posted by Exlimey

Not the first trip out with our new TT but definitely a rookie mistake. I left the handle used to lock the WDH chains laying on the A frame in front of the propane tanks. I got all the way to the CG and backed in before I found that I didn't have it to disconnect. No big deal, I'll find someone to borrow one from. I look around but there's nothing but motor homes and 5ers! Fortunately, I found a long box end wrench that worked. I go and set up then go back home and pick up DW after she gets off work. I drive home and watch the side of the road but no,luck. I pulled in the driveway and there it is, laying on the ground, right where the TT was when I hooked it up. Mill be picking up a spare, that's for sure!

I've done the same thing, went back and rode my motorcycle slow for 5 miles from the house looking for it on the side of the road, never did find it.

[Stetay]

Hooked up the trailer to take it in for the hopefull final warranty repairs. Guess I wasn't paying enough attention when I hooked the emergency brake cable too tight. The second right turn, going about 5 mph there was a loud pop and I came to an imediate stop. I knew what it was so dragged the trailer to the side of the road kinda out of traffic. Got out not knowing if you can just plug it back in. You can but I would advise putting the truck in park first. Luckily was able to make it back to the truck and stop it before it hit anything. Just plain dumb

[Cindimac]

Oh do I have a good one, laughing now but at the time thought my husband was going to have a heart attack!. We were in Calif at a RV resort, three day weekend, lots of kids, people and music. We were parked next to a basketball court.. Go figure...well my husband was not too happy with all the noise. So as a good wife I went to the office to see if we could change sites. They really weren't to understand, but they did move us. So the honey (husband) in about 5 minutes had us ready to move the rig, helping him I was standing on the driver side helping guiding him out of the site.
Now the trouble starts.....he starts down the road, me in my car behind him and I notice "we" forgot to retract the awnIng, oh yea...you guess it. I starting hitting my horn, after he clipped a new Class A..he jumps out of the truck, leaving the motor on, and is just a tad upset (omg, well a little more than a tad). He is trying to pull the awning in, no electrical working, a really nice gentleman brought us an extension cord and plug it into his site, that dang awing would not retract..Now there is a crowd of people, the guy who owns the new Class A, VERY upset, the manager of the park trying to see how we can get this awning to retract and move our rig..we were blocking traffic ! We can't move cause we would either pull the awning off and scratch about 20 RVS., we are pulling out manuals trying to figure this out..well.........come to find out, no electrical works when the dang truck is running...
Moral of the story...do a walk around three times and turn the stupid truck off.
Cindi Mac
PS we are still married...lol

[MainelyUS]

If being in your fist year as an RVer would qualify as a rookie here what just happened....We finished sitting up the TT ...leveled yup...utilities hooked up yup...checked out the surge protector, all lights indicated a go....now time for a cold adult beverage out of the cooler while waiting for the ref to kick in ( pre-cooled ref a day before we left)...BUT the temp keep going up...Got out the manual but nothing fit the trouble shooting portion....and then I noticed the Inline Voltage meter read ZERO.....I forgot to flip the circuit breaker on at the post....
Now I have cold beverages.

[Chpusmc]

Originally Posted by dmdomokos

Did this last weekend. Did a poor back in job the first time (slide hit pedestal), so only partially pulled up the electric tongue jack, frustrated, in a hurray. Plenty of room right? oops, no WDH hitch, had already taken that off. Big curb, bam.

Haha. I took my 2702ws in for a minor warranty item shortly after I bought it. When I picked it up (just prior to our first trip) I was hooking it up at the dealer. Saw a friend and got distracted. Ended up driving off with the tounge jack still down. $350 later I left with a new jack. Great news is they only took 10 minutes from screw up to me driving off time.

[ToniandSal]

We drove our newish 22' FR Class C from So. CA to NY and back this summer to visit family. We do not have a toad. We stayed at a very nice cg in Lancaster, PA overlooking a beautiful Amish farm. After a couple of days it did get a little boring, and since we may never drive that distance again in the near future, we decided to pack up and drive around sightseeing one day. It is a little challenging because DH has mile dementia, so I do all the driving, hook-ups, etc. I must have been distracted and in a bit of a hurry to pack it all up because as we were rolling through the campground almost to the exit one of the workers started flailing his arms at us. Turns out our awning was still fully extended! I am so grateful that he saw us and let us know. Odd though, we had just driven past a guy sitting in his camp chair outside his rig watching us drive by, and he never said a thing.