Tragedy on I-77 Virginia

[MtnGuy]

Originally Posted by Ray

This happens to me often on the road. You know, it seems to me that these people think they are "showing" you something when they pass, like, "see, I can out pull you, my rig's better than yours." I may be wrong, but it sure seems like that is the case at times, and many of those times, it is people that have a marginal setup that I could probably out run. It really makes me feel bad for them, because they apparently do not know the meaning of the words "safety first." They are also people that will, probably never read about a story such as that in this thread.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had the same feeling about some of those cowboys on the road.

Oh, all of the time. Sometimes, they even pass me again during a trip, because they have to stop for fuel more than I do.

[rockwood06]

Sometimes one would have to see who is behind the wheel that passes us at a high rate speed "if you can" It seems to me that once an inexperienced person first learns how to tow they become over confident and do not think of the dangers ahead and how to handle them. Some of us have had some hair raising experiences or seen them on the opposit side of the road while traveling, It makes me think twice. A Newbi behind the wheel of a TV is just like a teenager who just leaned how to drive, this is a different ball game now.

A while ago I posted a thread on " WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY WHILE TOWING " Examble: Bearing failure, tires catch fire and camper begains to burn, what do you do?....Carry a fire extinguisher in the cab of the TV and try to put it out or remove the tow chains and pull the hitch pin and pull away and let the camper drop to the ground and save the TV and get away from a possible explosion. I think about things like this all the time when I tow. One thing that sticks in my head from Drivers Ed back in the day when I started driving " Once I Am Behind The Wheel And On The Road, I Have Everyones Life In My Hands " and this is the first thing I said to my Son and Daughter when they started driving.

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by Ray

This happens to me often on the road. You know, it seems to me that these people think they are "showing" you something when they pass, like, "see, I can out pull you, my rig's better than yours." I may be wrong, but it sure seems like that is the case at times, and many of those times, it is people that have a marginal setup that I could probably out run. It really makes me feel bad for them, because they apparently do not know the meaning of the words "safety first." They are also people that will, probably never read about a story such as that in this thread.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had the same feeling about some of those cowboys on the road.

I know exactly what you're talking about. When we travel for, what I would call a long distance, more than 150 miles I know I'll be on the road at least 3 hours plus. I generally leave early and take my time. We've been going to Myrtle Beach for the past two years. It takes about 10 hours with a couple stops to get out and stretch our legs. I leave around 10:00 PM and have very little problems with other drivers at night time. As soon as the sun comes up though it's a different world. I'm traveling between 60 to 65 MPH and get paased by vehicles towing everything under the sun at scarely rates of speed. They're back and forth from lane to lane. The real horror is the children in the back seats that could lose their lives because their parent is playing Mario Andretti on I-95. To me the trip is as much a part of my vacation as the time we have after we arrive.

[NWJeeper]

It always astounds me to see the number of inapropriate tow setups going down the road. I would have to guess that the number of unsafe combinations going down the road outnumbers those that take the time (and money) to do it right.

Time and again we see trucks with their rear bumpers nearly on the ground and the front end pointed towards the sky in front of humungous 5ers. Some folks here at work own a Ford Super Duty F350 diesel, quad cab, long bed pickup and pull a 35' 3-axle beheamouth toyhauler 5er. The pictures I have seen of this setup make thier truck look like a tinker toy in front of this trailer! My god I would not want to drive that. Although the trailer does come in under the "towing capacity" of that truck it still does not speak to stopping power. After just a few trips my friend said he was struggling with this F350 to even get 35mph up mountain passes let alone the exhaust brake barely keeping things under control coming down the other side. He was looking for a used Kenworth truck which in many cases can be had for less money than a F350 or similar truck.

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

It always astounds me to see the number of inapropriate tow setups going down the road. I would have to guess that the number of unsafe combinations going down the road outnumbers those that take the time (and money) to do it right.

Time and again we see trucks with their rear bumpers nearly on the ground and the front end pointed towards the sky in front of humungous 5ers. Some folks here at work own a Ford Super Duty F350 diesel, quad cab, long bed pickup and pull a 35' 3-axle beheamouth toyhauler 5er. The pictures I have seen of this setup make thier truck look like a tinker toy in front of this trailer! My god I would not want to drive that. Although the trailer does come in under the "towing capacity" of that truck it still does not speak to stopping power. After just a few trips my friend said he was struggling with this F350 to even get 35mph up mountain passes let alone the exhaust brake barely keeping things under control coming down the other side. He was looking for a used Kenworth truck which in many cases can be had for less money than a F350 or similar truck.

Last year in Myrtle Beach at Pirateland I saw a Chevy 1500 converion van towing a 38' TT with 3 slide-outs and it was equipt with a WD&S system, the TT was not an ulta lite and the van was full of passengers. The back tires were so over loaded they look like they were going to come right off of the rims, the front tires had no weight pressure on them at all. The front of the van looked like a airplane ready to take off while the front of the TT looked like it was going to dig into the pavement, I could not believe my eyes. I don't understand why people take chances like that, I guess they don't value life.

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by rockwood06

Last year in Myrtle Beach at Pirateland I saw a Chevy 1500 converion van towing a 38' TT with 3 slide-outs and it was equipt with a WD&S system, the TT was not an ulta lite and the van was full of passengers. The back tires were so over loaded they look like they were going to come right off of the rims, the front tires had no weight pressure on them at all. The front of the van looked like a airplane ready to take off while the front of the TT looked like it was going to dig into the pavement, I could not believe my eyes. I don't understand why people take chances like that, I guess they don't value life.

A good reason why I give these types a very wide bearth when I see them, I figure it's not a matter of if they will crash but when and I don't want to be wrapped up in it with them when they do. The ones I feel really sorry for is the inocent people they will hurt when it does happen.

P.S. Had to look up "Pirateland". Had never heard of it being on the west coast but looks like the kind of place my wife would love.....

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

A good reason why I give these types a very wide bearth when I see them, I figure it's not a matter of if they will crash but when and I don't want to be wrapped up in it with them when they do. The ones I feel really sorry for is the inocent people they will hurt when it does happen.

P.S. Had to look up "Pirateland". Had never heard of it being on the west coast but looks like the kind of place my wife would love.....

I posted pic this Summer and one of the biggest events they have on the 4the of July, we were about 44 steps from the site we were on to the beach. I toke pic from the roof of my camper. We have the same site for next year. the pic are under the thread posted "Myrtle Beach #1 and #2 if you care to see.

[cfsoistman]

Just got home from traveling to Montgomery County MD, my son-in-law is in the Fire Academy and they had an exercise for their families to watch. While driving up 695 which is the Baltimore Beltway I was behind a trailer being pulled by a pick-up truck. The trailer was about 30ft and the truck was a 3/4 ton Ford. I could have drove my Grand Am almost completely under the rear of that trailer. The nose was inches above the pavement and the tail was facing the sky. I switched lanes quickly and got around him. There looked to be 3 children with him. It's scarey to think that people will risk their lives and others rather than spend the money for the right equipment and getting the knowledge to set it up before driving on the Interstate Highways at 65 mph plus.

[rockwood06]

And 695 is 55 mph!

[dufchick]

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

It always astounds me to see the number of inapropriate tow setups going down the road. I would have to guess that the number of unsafe combinations going down the road outnumbers those that take the time (and money) to do it right.

Hello-

I have been reading these forums for a while but this is my first post. We originally purchased a smaller camper to be towed by my 2007 VW Touareg. We had not yet taken possession of the camper but the dealer was installing the tow hitch to my VW Touareg and told us that he went into the glovebox, got the manual and determined that although the Touareg is supposed to be able to tow significantly more than the camper weighed, the weight distribution hitch would cause damage to the Touareg and not safely tow the RV. Even though the dealer was going to lose a sale, they would NOT install the hitch! We ended up purchasing a Dodge Ram and came back to the dealer to purchase the slightly larger 831KRSS. After reading this tragic story, I think I owe the dealer another thank you phone call!
On another note, the car dealer we purchased the Touareg from would not allow us to trade in the Touareg without a price gouging deal (no longer needed, since it could not tow anything safely) but we found a VW dealer in West Palm Beach that was happy to help and traded in the Touareg for a Passat.

[rockwood06]

to FRF, so you have been peeking in the windows to see how much fun we all are having, Great to have you!

[Bama Rambler]

Originally Posted by dufchick

We had not yet taken possession of the camper but the dealer was installing the tow hitch to my VW Touareg and told us that he went into the glovebox, got the manual and determined that although the Touareg is supposed to be able to tow significantly more than the camper weighed, the weight distribution hitch would cause damage to the Touareg and not safely tow the RV. Even though the dealer was going to lose a sale, they would NOT install the hitch!

Kudo's to that dealer. That was a wise move on their part. They didn't actually lose a sale they made a bigger sale by being conscientious and most likely gained a loyal customer.

[dufchick]

I agree Bama Rambler, we are now loyal customers and they certainly did make a bigger sale, their kindness paid off!

Thanks for the welcome Rockwood06!

[rockwood06]

That's good, a Dealer that has a conscience, that's rare.