Dumb Me

[EricBu12]

Add my name to dumb people who have forgotten to lower the tailgate when unhooking the trailer... :{ . I caught it before doing too much damage. . it is bowed but it still closes and works. .



What is inside structure wise where I might be able to either push it back or whatever. . If I can get it close then I might live with it...



Also I found out the Dealer did the spray in lining when I bought it. . turns out all they did was mask it and spray. no prep . . I have a big tear by the hole for my hitch. . slide a pallet and it peeled it... grr.

 

[HBarlow]

Yup, and you are a professional driver, probably very cautious.

For those pulling a gooseneck or fifthwheel with a pickup and factory tailgate the question is not whether the driver will forget but only when. It is guaranteed.

There is nothing structural inside those tailgates. I dropped the tailgate on a Furd years ago when I had an Airstream conventional trailer. Left it down and went inside the house for an hour or so. When I returned to put the trailer in the backyard I approached the truck from the front driver's side where I couldn't see the tailgate, got in, fired it up, and swung away from the curb - and crunched the tailgate.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Amen Harvey. Reminds me of an old friend whom I helped get into his locked pickup several years ago. We were at a deer lease and some of the others were razzing him about locking his keys in the truck. He said"you know Smith, there's two kind of people, them that have locked their keys in their truck and them that lie about it". RIP Sheb. bg

 

[Newt]

Amen Harvey. Reminds me of an old friend whom I helped get into his locked pickup several years ago. We were at a deer lease and some of the others were razzing him about locking his keys in the truck. He said"you know Smith, there's two kind of people, them that have locked their keys in their truck and them that lie about it". RIP Sheb. bg

We were in Arches NP when the keys locked themselves in the truck. :-laf



I had to climb up to get a cell signal. Coach Net had a tech out from in Moab in 40 minutes.



Newt

 

[rwitt]

Been there, done it also, except I left the tailgate down after hitching up. Got distracted, started off with the 5ver and made a hard right turn... ... . Needless to say I had to replace the access door and frame on the front of the trailer.

Rich

 

[Mark31]

A bunch of years ago, my cousin unhooked his gooseneck, and then, since he was through unhooking everything, slammed the tailgate and promptly drove off and totaled his gate. We all called him several not very endearing names for a while. I would have done it several times by now if it hadn't been for that picture of his truck in my mind and hearing those names ringing in my ears every time I unhook! I guess I need to thank him for messing up. Mark

 

[AClayton]

I've only a 5th wheel for 2 yrs and almost did that... . realized it before it was too late and slammed on the brakes! Scared the crap out of my 2 girls when I stopped abruptly. Tell you what I did do though: I hooked my car to my old motorhome and then got distracted. Took off a few minutes later not realizing that I had NOT released the locked steering wheel in my tow car. Unfortunately, it was locked with the wheels turned slightly to the right! Which meant massive amounts of tire smoke at 60mph on the road. I started to notice the cloud in my rear camera and immediately pulled over to find the tires overheated and worn. Believe it or not, they were not that bad but I replaced them anyway due to the overheating they endured.

Things happen!

 

[Bill Stockard]

Yep, I destroyed a tailgate too over 40 years ago unhitching from a goose-neck equipment trailer. I never forgot the ($$$) incident either. It's why when I owned fifth wheel trailers, one of the first things I did after purchasing a new truck was remove the tailgate, store in a safe place in my shop, and install a RV type tailgate.



Bill

 

[RSamples]

Came so close to pulling away with it down on my six month old fiver that I got on E-trailer the same day and ordered a fifth wheel tailgate . Cheap insurance !

 

[Wertles]

I had my 5th wheel for 2 years with no slider. The first trip after I installed the slider, I came home, slid it back and made the sharp turn into the driveway. Didn't realize that the pinbox when turning contacted the tailgate and took off the Rhino liner, dented it up and cost a little to fix. Guess I'm in the club too.

 

[rashwor]

It happens...

I became a member of this club this past winter. I have towed for years and that only makes the humiation worse.



I got into the habit of loading round bales on my lowboy trailer with the front loader and then hooking up the truck after the trailer was loaded. This worked repeatedly well everytime except for one day that the ground was wet and the loading pressed the jack into the wet ground by about 4 inches. I failed to jack the trailer back up so it would clear the truck hooking up... I am reminded every time I look in the rearview mirror with the tailgate up!

 

[Mark31]

While we're talking about being dumm (the next step beyond dumb), I 'fess up my real "smart" one. Well, I've actually done it twice!! I forgot to lock the gn coupler onto the ball. It feels real good to start the tractor climbing onto the trailer and then seeing the hitch go up in the air!! Both times I was able to ease back and the coupler went back on the ball. Thank you, Lord, for looking after scatterbrain me! Mark

 

[AEdelheit]

I learned the hard way when you forget to unscrew the hold down on a tilt deck and try to unload a tractor it will pick the back of the truck up and start rolling down the hill, anyone hauling for long enough has done somthing!

 

[JHofmann]

My truck dosen't have the original tailgate... ... in a hurry, tailgate was down turning the truck around backed into a tree with the corner of the tailgate. Crunched it pretty good. Was able to use it for a while, just had to take the latch off that side. Finially had it replaced last spring.

 

[EricBu12]

Well it makes me feel better that I am by far not the only one. . I just saw a red dodge with a white tailgate. . hmmm. must be another member. . lol . . at least it still closes and there is only a gentle bow to it.

 

[Augustarborists]

I guess my experience falls into this category a bit. A few years ago I worked at a transport company that delivered Teton fifthwheels from the factory, and I was to hook up a brand new unit in our yard to a single screw Freightliner for delivery. I dumped the bags, started to back up, and heard a crunch. Got out, looked around, oops, I put the ball mount right through an access door!

Turns out the truck that picked it up from the factory was our V-10 Dodge, no bags, I completely went under the hitch (although it was lined up perfectly in every other aspect), and took out said door. All I could do was laugh and offer to buy a new one, it was a total rook mistake, I should have known better. Luckily, it was a plain white door, no graphics or hard to match color, so we got one minus the hardware for $100. 00. We mounted it and sent it away, arrived on schedule, and everyone got a laugh at my expense.

Well, not really my expense money-wise, the owners laughed so hard they didn't make me pay. I miss those guys.

 

[timelessconstructionllc]

Yep. Ten years ago about 5 a. m. and half asleep I ripped a tailgate off upon driving away from the horseback I had just unhooked. On the truck I have now it appeared the previous owner had done the same thing although it didn't damage the outside of the gate or the latching mechanisms. So I welded a couple pieces of chain to the inside of the gate and used a come a long and the horseback hitch to pull the inside bck out. Then just cut the chain off and ground the welds down.