2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bart]

Salvage the tailgate because I learned the hard way with my 5er that if you pull away and damage the gate because you didn't put it down, you'll have a pain trying to find another one relatively cheap.









Speaking of tailgates, I have a V notch vented chrome tailgate for 5th wheels from my 2nd gen Dodge for sale if anyone is interest. It won't fit my 3rd gen Dodge. Biggest problem is shipping the big awkward thing.

I now have three tailgates. Two perfect ones and one dented one. Just for Spits and grins what do you want for that "V" notch tailgate?

 

[Flinty]

Quote: This does not eliminate Grizzley's issue but I never allow myself to be interrupted from the time I start until the tractor is out fron under the apron. That way I have kept from dropping a trailer. (Knock on wood)





Good advice... While hooking my gooseneck on the job site I got hit with three or four "prior to leaving" questions from the crew. I ended up leaving with no lights, no safety chains and the hitch unlocked. I went twenty miles into town until it finally came off while pulling away from a stop light. I have a flat bed and when the neck hit the rear gate it went through like a hot knife through butter. I had to call the police to block traffic while I re-attached. Thank God for sparing me the guilt and ultimate responsibility for the lives that could've been lost that day. From then on I'll be rude. Log this story in your memory banks all you who pull trailers.

 

[ACoyle]

I will admit to being a member of the dropped my 5er club, the club that no one wants to join. I thought that I did it all right.



1) Put the wheel locks in the trailer.

2) Back straight in.

3) Visually look for the jaw behind the kingpin.

4) Saw the release lever move.

5) Pulled gently forward to see if trailer followed.



Then the right wheel lock popped out. The trailer rolled back and banged my bed.



Fortunately the bed was straightened. I could see a little dip where it hit, I put a set of diamond plate bed rail covers on and was way more careful athat.



One of those days that you want to both forget and remember.



Just one comment Bart. If the insurance totals the truck and you buy it back, is your title flagged as a total and if it is does that have insurance implications for the truck and trailer?



AC

 

[cojhl2]

Well Bart, I still don't know why it did not hook.



2)Before the 5th wheel is under the kingpin, get out and look to make sure the height is correct and the jaws are open.



Please tell me what is "the correct height"?

Thanks again

The correct height in my opinion is when the 5th wheel will very slightly lift the trailer as you back under it.



You are most welcome Bart

 

[DonTX]

Too late Bart, I already sent Grizzly a check for the chrome one, gonna look really swell on my 97 this summer.

As for "correct height" what I look for is the bed of the pickup squishing down a noticeable amount, since there is no way I can actually see if the trailer is being raised or not.

These stories are scaring me, perhaps it would help if the poster mentioned the brand and model of hitch. From the stories, it would appear that no matter how much I try, the darned thing will still come loose on me!

My problem is with advancing age, I can only concentrate on one thing at a time. When the wife comes out jabbering about a dozen other things while I am hitching or unhitching, it all goes to hell. Maybe earplugs would help.

 

[Grizzly]

I now have three tailgates. Two perfect ones and one dented one. Just for Spits and grins what do you want for that "V" notch tailgate?

I have a buyer for it. Thank you for your interest.

 

[mediccummin]

If you still have trouble let me know I have a friend in Apple Valley that owns wrecking yards in Rialto and SanBerdo, He might be able to help you out. I will be out of town from June 15 to July 4 but I will be checking my mail. Good luck.

 

[DValentine]

I watched a kid do the same thing to a dooley dodge, to a tune of $7000. I have positive locking wheel chocks. They screw out between the axles on the fiver. I also have a check list and follow it. I agree set the pin a little lower than the fifth wheel plate and the plate will slide under the trailer. I also do the brake check with the landing gear just off the ground. I am pretty anal with my trailer, but have forgotten things like the TV antenna. LOL

The learning curve on these things are steep. Don't forget you are flushing the black tank, lay down on the couch and fall asleep with the drain closed..... only to wake up wondering what that liquid noise is.

Dave

 

[Grizzly]

Thanks Bart, that is helpful, especially to me since my fifth wheel experience is limited to hooking up, bringing it home, and unhooking it so far.

Don, before you set off on your long trip this summer, I'd hook up the 5er and take it on a weekend trip to work out all the little kinks that can happen. Sort of like a shack down trip.

 

[SnoKing]

Dave, tell us more about falling asleep! SNOKING

 

[DValentine]

I was camped in a RV park, working night shift, got up in the afternoon to do some things. One of them was to drain and flush the black tank. I drained the tank then propped open my flush valve on the toilet. This allows me to fill the black tank, abet very slowly... . like 30 minutes. I laid back on the couch to watch some tv while the tank filled. My eyes closed. I soon heard water running, in my state of being 1/2 asleep I thought it must be the AC condensate running off the roof. Hummmmmm... ... then it hit me. I rise up off the couch to see water cascading down the step into the kitchen/living room.


I have another story about stopping to eat lunch, forgetting to run the slide back in, only to realize that it is out as I am getting back into traffic. --- nothing horrible happened, thank GOD. NOT to poach the thread but I'll tell that if anyone wants to hear.

Dave

 

[Bart]

DonTX, I believe in my own mind that here is where I ****** up. After I got the pin to load in the 5th wheel plate I didn't move the handle in and pin it in place. I guess I was thinking that it would/should snap into position when it was latched. I just didn't think about it.

On a side note, I heard someone mention on another RV site that some "people" think it's funny to pull the handle on unattended rigs. Then when the drive leaves off comes the 5th wheel. HaHaHa. I'd kill 'em if I could. One way to prevent this is to use a lock instead of the retaining pin.

Another education came my way this last Saturday. Long story short, I ended up with the break away wire caught under part of the 5th wheel and during a right turn it pulled the plug. I was stranded half way through a right turn onto a busy state highway. Being unfamilar with break aways I didn't know what happened for a few minutes. I could tell the trailer brakes were set, but not why. When I figured it out. It was an easy fit to get out of the way. Just food for your memory bank. Enjoy the chrome tailgate.

 

[Bart]

I was camped in a RV park, working night shift, got up in the afternoon to do some things. One of them was to drain and flush the black tank. I drained the tank then propped open my flush valve on the toilet. This allows me to fill the black tank, abet very slowly... . like 30 minutes. I laid back on the couch to watch some tv while the tank filled. My eyes closed. I soon heard water running, in my state of being 1/2 asleep I thought it must be the AC condensate running off the roof. Hummmmmm... ... then it hit me. I rise up off the couch to see water cascading down the step into the kitchen/living room.





I have another story about stopping to eat lunch, forgetting to run the slide back in, only to realize that it is out as I am getting back into traffic. --- nothing horrible happened, thank GOD. NOT to poach the thread but I'll tell that if anyone wants to hear.



Dave

Maybe we should start a thread about your RV horror stories and what you did to correct it. Might help out someone else.

 

[DonTX]

Thanks a lot Bart, I have savored your words seriously. For some reason, I have gone over and over it in my mind, but it don't seem to quite click for me yet, that is bad.

I have a padlock on the lever (Reese 16k hitch has a padlock provision on it) and hope I can slowly and deliberately do it enough to become a foolproof task for me. I am not so worried about the bed, they are everywhere, but ruining my shiny new chrome tailgate, not THAT would make me cry. Oo.

DonTX, I believe in my own mind that here is where I ****** up. After I got the pin to load in the 5th wheel plate I didn't move the handle in and pin it in place. I guess I was thinking that it would/should snap into position when it was latched. I just didn't think about it.

On a side note, I heard someone mention on another RV site that some "people" think it's funny to pull the handle on unattended rigs. Then when the drive leaves off comes the 5th wheel. HaHaHa. I'd kill 'em if I could. One way to prevent this is to use a lock instead of the retaining pin.

Another education came my way this last Saturday. Long story short, I ended up with the break away wire caught under part of the 5th wheel and during a right turn it pulled the plug. I was stranded half way through a right turn onto a busy state highway. Being unfamilar with break aways I didn't know what happened for a few minutes. I could tell the trailer brakes were set, but not why. When I figured it out. It was an easy fit to get out of the way. Just food for your memory bank. Enjoy the chrome tailgate.

 

[Bart]

You Dog!!!!:-laf

 

[Grizzly]

Maybe we should start a thread about your RV horror stories and what you did to correct it. Might help out someone else.

Maybe we should start a thread about some of our incredible stories. Here's mine.



On our way back from Alaska last summer, almost every time we'd stop for diesel, I would forget to put the fuel cap back on. Luckily it was tied with the factory plastic string. Going down the road, I'd look back on my rear view mirror to see the cap dangling. I'd pull over and put it back on. It got to where my wife would ask me if I put the cap back on every time we refuel.



Maybe we should print these stories and review them every day that we travel. I can't stress enough the idea of a check list for hitching and unhitching. I came up with the idea of a check list when I drove off from my Trailerport pulling my 5th wheel without unplugging the 110V cable from the outlet. I broke the outlet and the trailer cable. And that was one of those more expensive RV outlets. That was in 1988 when I was a young man, so it's not just old people that do these things.

 

[DValentine]

I'll start one right now in towing/Hauling.



Dave

 

[Grizzly]

I'll start one right now in towing/Hauling.

Dave

I'll bet it will be a big hit!