What RV travel mistakes have you made? 👍 FREE RV Campsite Setup & Breakdown Checklist(s) enjoythejourney.life/newsletter ⛺ RV Life Trip Wizard enjoythejourney.life/rvtripwizard (25% off with code: ENJOY25) ✅ Click ⬇⬇⬇"READ MORE"⬇⬇⬇ for links to our favorite RV resources, gadgets, gear, & FREE stuff! ⛺ Free Camping, Trip Planner & More! (30 Day Free Trial) enjoythejourney.life/dyrt 📰 BEST RV WARRANTY enjoythejourney.life/warranty ⛽ SAVE BIG ON RV DIESEL! enjoythejourney.life/RVfuel (mention Thomas Kenemore) Our TPMS amzn.to/38Qdufc Tire Inflator That We Want amzn.to/3Mmqas2 Tire gauge amzn.to/3avXnEd RV CRUSHES TRUCK SERIES: enjoythejourney.life/crush RV Mistakes enjoythejourney.life/mistakes Complete RV Campsite Setup ua-cam.com/video/KdhcAccYprQ/v-deo.html Complete RV Campsite Breakdown ua-cam.com/video/XXyli3PCwXA/v-deo.html CHAPTERS/TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 01:31 RV Crushes Truck! Not Doing A Tug Test Mistake! 04:21 Should You Travel With Propane On In Your RV? Big Mistake? 07:16 Your RVs Tail Swing Can Cause An Accident! 10:14 Biggest RV Tire Mistakes! Not Having a TPMS system. 12:15 You Need To Know The Height Of Your RV! 12:21 Best RV Trip Planner! RV Safe GPS Directions! 13:44 How To Find RV Campsites. Make Reservations Early! 15:11 Best RV Fuel Discount Program 16:11 Traveling Overweight In Your RV 17:01 Towing RV With Too Small Of Truck 18:06 Best RV Extended Warranty 19:19 Speeding! 21:05 Safety Check! 22:45 Don’t Drive Your RV At Night! A Recipe For A Big Mistake! 24:07 What Is An RV Shakedown Trip? 26:43 Don’t Drive Too Long! 27:08 Big RV Travel Mistake! Not Moving Over For Vehicles 27:52 Don’t Travel Angry! FREE PTSD TEST forms.gle/LFSg2TyK23ev7aT78 (track your score, 20+ is PTSD) 🌞 Cheri can help traumafreedom.square.site/ Questions? FAQ: traumafreedom.square.site/frequently-asked-questions or FB Group facebook.com/groups/traumafreedom This cures depression, PTSD, ADHD, OCD, anxiety, shame, sleeping issues & more. (Money Back Guarantee) 🚲 LECTRIC EBIKES! Get the best price on the same e-bikes Tom & Cheri have enjoythejourney.life/ebikes (or mention Enjoy the Journey if you call in (602) 715-0907) Follow Logan on UA-cam - Logan Reacts! enjoythejourney.life/Logan 🔋 Save 5% OFF Enduro Power lithium batteries enjoythejourney.life/enduro ➡ JOIN US, secret videos, live streams, current location, UA-cam creator tips & MORE! enjoythejourney.life/join 🎉 LIVE UA-cam CREATOR Q & A WITH TOM & FREE PDF DOWNLOAD eepurl.com/hrNi6P Lippert (LCI) 24/7 RV tech support chat, videos & more enjoythejourney.life/LCI or call 432-LIPPERT OUR HITCH! GET YOURS enjoythejourney.life/hitch Get all your truck, towing, RV needs & more enjoythejourney.life/Etrailer SHOP OUR AMAZON STORE www.amazon.com/shop/enjoythejourney.life ***** SOCIAL: Follow us & share with your friends ***** Join the 'Journey Tribe': enjoythejourney.life/join Subscribe to our UA-cam channel: enjoythejourney.life/UA-cam Subscribe to our Podcast: anchor.fm/enjoy-the-journey-life Subscribe to our newsletter for updates: enjoythejourney.life/newsletter Join our Facebook Group: enjoythejourney.life/group Facebook Page: facebook.com/EnjoyTheJourney.Life Instagram: instagram.com/enjoythejourney.life Website: enjoythejourney.life/ ***** FAVORITE RV PARKING & CAMPSITE FINDERS! ***** Free Camping, Trip Planner & More! (30 Day Free Trial) enjoythejourney.life/dyrt Get $100 off a Thousand Trails camping pass! Contact Aaron Aaron_Massa@equitylifestyle.com or 360-489-4407 or contact Kimberly for a "used" membership enjoythejourney.life/TT or 800-272-0401 (mention Tom Kenemore if you call in) The Best RV Routes, campsites & more! enjoythejourney.life/rvtripwizard (25% off with code: ENJOY25) RV FREE at wineries, breweries, golf courses & more (save 15% off with code: HHFRIENDS15) enjoythejourney.life/HH FREE RV parking (save 15% off with code: BWFRIENDS15) enjoythejourney.life/boondockers100K Thank you so much for using our links! Tom & Cheri’ :) ***** CONTACT US ***** Email: tomandcheri@enjoythejourney.life Mail Bag: Lake Effect Media 14870 Granada Avenue 1037 Apple Valley, MN 55124 Tom & Cheri, Full-time RV travelers sharing our adventures (and challenges), advice and more from the road. Inspiring others to do it now and live life on their terms, a life of freedom and adventure. 😍 Enjoy The Journey . Life, All Rights Reserved Our channel is for entertainment purposes only. We are not RV or travel experts. We share our opinions and what has worked and not worked for us in the past. Before taking any action or making a purchase decision, you should do your own research. Some of our links are affiliate links. We may make a small commission if you use our links which helps support our channel. Thank you! #rvliving #RVmistakes #RV
How about not recording as your driving. You spend more time looking at the camera and not the road. Mirrors are those things mounted out side on each door. They are useful if your driving and especially pulling a trailer. Just trying to keep innocent drivers around your carelessness safe.
As a long haul truck driver I can tell you that you should never rely on a tug test alone. Get out and with a flash light make sure your 5th wheel jaws are fully locked around the shank and that there is no daylight between the 5th wheel and the trailer apron.
Absolutely!...I'm also an OTR driver, and I learned early on not to go by tug test alone. ALWAYS...ALWAYS VISUALLY CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT IT IS PROPERLY LOCKED.
We OTR and if we leave our tractor trailer for any reason- (go inside for bathroom, refreshments etc) ALWAYS check your pin before resuming! Sad to say, but there are those that will walk by and unpin your trailer for whatever twisted reason.
1) Safety checks often! 2) When closing up our rig, I go in a circle around and TOUCH each item, door, and slide to be sure everything is properly closed. 3) we are NAVY… we call it a “Shake Down Cruise” at the beginning of our 8 month season . 4) CHECK LIST … and then we swap the list for a second set of eyes. 5) 3-3-3 Three hours driving, less than 300 miles, and three adult drinks after we are fully parked/set up. 6) lastly, the wife needs to know how to drive it, move it etc… in case of a medical issue or heaven for bid a death. Your video is a good one Tom.
Any tips on getting the wife to try to learn? I have a better chance of getting my wife into bed with another woman than I do getting her to pull a trailer. I’m actually speaking from experience here… 😉
Tom, we stopped at a rest stop upon entering Fl on I95. Just prior to getting back on the road, I went into the trailer to change into a cooler shirt, I had to move the bed slide out to access the clothes. Got back in the truck and left the rest stop. As I’m pulling back on to the highway, I noticed the bedroom slide was out about one foot into the next lane. Immediately pulled over on a busy highway and closed the slide. That was the last time I did that.
First Step Ministry here, my husband Lewis is a former truck driver and he says always check your Hubs for heat.If the hubs are hot, then that means the wheel bearings are going bad. If they get too hot, your tires can catch on fire or wheels can lock down. We travel in our motor home and checking EVERYTHING before, during and after is very important. We enjoyed your video. Thanks for sharing. Be safe and Happy Travels
It takes a big man to admit his mistakes, thanks for sharing, 33 years as a over the road truck driver and I have made many mistakes, love your channel and content.
Once upon a time, you could be driving anywhere from El Paso to Key West and not have to stop for that Happy Hour. Florida used to have drive through liquor stores. I thiugh they just chucked booze in your trunk, so I was a bit shocked when my stepfather pulled up to the window, ordered a Cuba Libre and off we went.
We ve camped for years and we learned to leave something's in the camper like pots and pans, toaster oven can goods and my wife also washes all our towels and linens when we get home and puts them back in the RV so it's in there for the next trip.
Twice I've had a rear tire on a two axle TT blow out unnoticed and had to do some repaires to the wheel wells and more. It pays to monitor your tires constantly!! And do a walk around at every rest stop, refueling, and before every move from a park. And speed is a huge issue with me. Rarely do I pull a trailer faster than 65mph.
My best suggestion is to make sure your spouse or significant other knows how to operate all systems. Typically, he does outside things and I do the inside final pre trip stuff.. But, at least once a month I do the outside things and he does the inside things, then we check each others work. It keeps our check lists accurate and us on our toes should there be a situation arise, the other is at least familiar with how to do things. Additionally he has helped me learn how to hook and tow the unit safely....for those "just in case" circumstances.
I feel like shaking the women who say " my husband does all that. I couldn't drive that thing." LEARN. My husband andcI daydreamed about getting a conversion van and taking a couple of months to tralvel across the country. It never happened because first, self employed and second, eventually he passed away at 67. Ten years later, still struggling under a mortgage, not enough income to do repairs and barely making ends meet, I sold the house, "as is" Bought a 29 foot motorhome and basically taught myself with help from UA-cam how to drive it. Still not fond of backing up in tight spots, learning more and more about maintaining everything inside and out. Oh yeah, I am 77, peparing to head from Arizona back to Maine after my third winter in AZ.
Always check to see if your fifth wheel Jaws are still locked after every stop. I had someone pull my release while we were inside eating onetime, had I not checked it, well it would have been bad. I now have a padlock where the safety pin used to be so that can't happen anymore. But I still check it everytime we stop.
Just watched your video again. Add to your list: Do not drive sick. Your mind is not focused, your drained, drowsy if you are on meds. I did this and just south of Dallas rubbed a bollard at the diesel island against our kitchen slideout. 4 days of butt chewing from the wife and everyone learning about it. Drive healthy = happy spouse + less to no damage.
So please follow this to a trip to jail for DUI via the effects of cold and sinus medicine. Troopers explained that even Sudafed (known for stimulant effects) changes people's perception and so therefore qualifies for 'influencing' the driver IF the field test shows impairment such as arguing with the trooper...If you have a cough medicine or antihistamine or Dr. prescribed meds with a warning label you can easily be arrested and charged...probably out of state if you're RVing so PLEASE don't drive impaired in any way.
@@daviddrake806-ALSO, NOTE THAT EVEN MOST MOUTHWASHES HAVE AS MUCH AS 25% ALCOHOL AS INGREDIENT- Better to use baking soda or lemon juice w\water to rinse your mouth out after meals, AND CHECK THE FOODS YOU EACH. Ingredients may affect how you drive CARRY SALTINE CRACKERS THAT CAN ABSORB THINGS YOU EAT OR DRINK! IF YOU ARE SICK, DROWSY OR NOT SURE YOU SHOULD BE DRIVING- DO NOT DRIVE - STAY PUT ! 🙀
@7:57 your camera truck is crossing over the yellow line without being able to see if someone is coming the other way! (Your trailer is blocking the view, as you’re talking about avoiding an accident!)
The wife and I are new to pulling a travel trailer. After purchasing our camper, and before picking it up, I watched hundreds of videos. luckily it paid off. We're avoiding lots of mistakes. However, on our last trip, we made a minor mistake. We got to our campsite, and started setting up. Camper was unhooked, level, etc. We did not realize until we got to that part, there was no water hook-up. We needed to fill our tank at the park entrance! Needless to say, we had to re-hookup the camper, and drive it back to the entrance. When I went back and checked the reservation/campsite details, the wording was "Water Available". lol!Lesson learned. I checked the other reservations we have this year, and some of them say the same thing. I'll know now.
If your rig has an absorption type fridge, you should turn propane off. We know, bc after an 8 hr drive home, an hour after unpacking, our travel trailer fridge caught fire and totaled the rig in our driveway. There are hundreds of these fires in the last couple years. Specs are crazy specs to meet while driving, or parking ; being level is THE most important safety feature w propane fridge. And, always get replacement value insurance; Good Sam’s replaced our rig in 58 days. Now we have 12VDC fridge, no propane worries.
Yup! I dropped my 5th wheel on my truck bed last year. Lesson learned. I leave the propane on while traveling so fridge stays cold. I also hooked my rear camera on trailer to the running lights so I can see what’s behind me even when traveling
We have a 5th wheel Reflection 311BHS. 1st trip out, we were leaving the campground and headed to the dump station. My husband didn't swing out far enough and went through shallow looking water only to find out it was much deeper than it appeared. Our camper almost flipped over on it's side. We had to have it towed out of the mud and lost our stabilizer pad. It was a holiday and had a terrible time getting a tow truck. Finally got someone to help us. Thank God they came to help us!
I would add to the safety check by feeling the wheel hubs including on the tow vehicle to see if any of the wheel bearings are getting hot or if the breaks are sticking.
Thank you for your suggestion! Checking the wheel hubs and brakes for any issues is definitely an important safety measure when traveling in an RV. By the way, have you heard about the Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series? It's a versatile power station that provides ample power for your devices and appliances during your RV trips. It has a massive capacity, fast recharging, and even features waterproof technology. It could be a great addition to your outdoor gear!
When you check your tires, if they are hot to the touch spray them down with water. That can keep a tire from blowing. Most truck stops have water hoses on the fuel islands.
As far as tail swing, I know people won't like it but you need to block both lanes so people won't try to pass. I did it all the time when I drove big rigs.
We use a trucker app called Hammer that allowed us to input our rigs exact dimensions and routes us based upon our weight/height. My husband drives our car and preferred RV Life GPS app. He just couldnt figure out why my app was taking a longer route. Then he updated the specs and voila, he had the same route. I prefer Hammer because I select hazardous materials (Propane) just to be extra cautious. Then again our mantra really is "its the Journey" and we try to avoid all deadline traveling. If I am worried about arriving at a certain destination certain time, I'm more likely to ignore my own well-being (tired, hangry, cranky) and not be a happy camper upon arrival.
We OTR and if we leave our tractor trailer for any reason (bathroom, refreshments, Walmart, etc ) ALWAYS heck you pin before resuming. Sad to say there are those you will pull the pin as they walk by for whatever twisted reason.
Back in 2005 when we bought our 1st RV which was a bumper pull toy hauler, I removed safety chains, weight distribution bars and 7-way plug, then I started raising the tongue of camper. As I was day dreaming the wife started screaming as the trailer slowly rolled away. Thank goodness the ground had a slight rise and the camper came to a stop. After listening to her hollering why didn’t you grab on and help I learned the hard way about wheel chocks!
One thing I recommend if you're coming out of an area after boondocking where there's rocks. Before you get out on the pavement check your dually tires and make sure you don't have a a rock stuck between your tires that might fly out later. Also it can cause flat tire. Thank you for your video. Stay well and happy.
If you are mechanically inclined, you can get a 12/120v inverter with large enough watt capacity (plus a little extra) to run your fridge while going down the road. Hook it to the batteries (with fuse protection) and run 120v line to fridge compartment. Most fridges have a 120v plug there for when you are on shore power. Just pull plug and plug into your inverter lead. Then plug it back into regular RV plug when you get to camp site. It will run on 120v or gas , which ever is needed and not run your batteries down. Get a laser temp gun from Harbor Freight (about 20.00) to check tire, hub and brake drums when stopped. With the tires and hubs you are looking for one that is higher temp than the others, indicating bearing getting hot or a tire getting ready to fail. Check the brakes for one cooler than the others to indicate not working or out of adjustment. I leave the center caps (not dust caps) off my rims to have access to wheel end to check bearing temp.
All fridge becomes a "ice chest" cooler for 24 hours if you don't open the door!!! Hurricane prep taught us this. You won't drive 24 hours non stop, so turn off the propane!!!
I've been RVing for 40 plus years. I've always left the propane on for the refrigerator. RV propane pigtails are designed with a high flow valve in them to shut off the propane in the event of a major leak.
Tailswing: use 2 lanes !! Shakedown: 1st in driveway, next a close campsite. After your first campsite setup and tare-down you know what tools to bring, you can get them from your home. Next a short drive and doing it again to practice.
Great information! We’ve been RVing for 6 years and have made our share of goofs. Fortunately nothing terrible so far. We highly recommend checklists. And one checklist item is “propane OFF.” Not sure why on vs off would ever be a question. And for UA-camrs making RV videos, a tip from us: Avoid filming videos while driving! Your mind is surely on making great content and not on great driving!
Hi folks #3 have Cheri be the pilot truck. When loads are turning the pilot truck always moves over to the right so nobody can pass on the right side! Just a thought. You folks put out GREAT videos! Thanks for listening!
After 43 years of commercial driving for a living I’ve had the pleasure of seeing more than enough on the road. You talked about driving angry,but the other side of the coin is being so happy your distracted you are a danger to yourself and others. I watched a young couple that was laughing and really enjoying their time together. They would speed up and slow down as they talked. This went on for a while, then while talking they missed a truck pulling off the shoulder back into traffic,and hit the pickup truck full speed as they drove into him. The truck had a load of firewood stacked in the back of his truck .with that much weight it was as if the car hit a wall and the reaction was bad to say the least….the girl was pinned and bleeding really bad. I held pressure on the main cut thought the open window,while waiting for help.l had the right lane blocked and people stoped and gave me some towels to use. Help came and she was cut out of the car and life flighted to a hospital. Driving is a very serious task! And having a heavy trailer behind you is a lot of responsibility. Driving is not to be taken lightly. You never know when it’s going to blowup in your face. Thank GOD I have not hurt anyone in all my years on the road. My wife and I travel in a Monaco coach now and take are time wherever we go. Be safe and we like your show and your pickup….lol. GOD BLESS
So sad. 😢 Did she live? What about the young man? You made a good point - not to be so happy you’re oblivious. I’m currently teaching our daughter how to drive and she’s repeatedly told me that she’s amazed we’re even allowed to drive as she sees vehicles as “death machines.”
Lug Nut Torque..... Swapped out a slow leaking tire with my spare and used my impact wrench to tighten the lug nuts. About an hour down the road I saw my spare bouncing down the road in the rear view mirror. Was able to pull over into a large commercial driveway and retrieve the tire from a drainage pond on the side of the road where a passerby who owned a tire company helped us with a new wheel and a repair to the leaker and the hub/drum. The rim was totally destroyed and all the studs on the drum were torn completely off as well as the wheel wobbled off at speed. Turns out I had the impact wrench set wrong and had under tightened the lug nuts 60 instead of the 90 required. ALWAYS use a real torque wrench to tighten and double check those lug nuts!!!!
I see you travel with the kayaks on the back of your RV. In many western states they have boat inspection stations near the border and the kayaks qualify as boats. If you fail to stop and they see you go by they'll send an officer after you and make you go back. I didn't think my kayak counted but as I went into Utah they had a sign saying it included kayaks. When I went into Idaho and then Montana I again stopped at the boat inspection stations but they didn't have anything saying kayaks counted.
I too had a major hiccup while traveling in GA. We arrived after dark and couldn't locate our spot. In fact we passed it twice looking for it. There were no maps of the grounds so we are pretty much meandering thru . I came to a t in the road, knowing a left will take me back to the entrance so I turned right. The sites were packed not only with campers and their vehicles but lots of guests too. The road went downhill on a curve to the left. When I got to the bottom, it was a very tight turnaround with trees on the inside of the turn and cars on the outside preventing going forward. So....I had to back up the hill around curves and other cameras at night with a truck that was too small! With the help of 2 other Samaritan campers I managed to make it back to the t but I cooked the tranny fluid and the truck refused to go any further. A 3rd camper knew where our spot was and we were able to disconnect from my truck and hook up to his. The next morning I was able to drive the truck again and finally found a transmission shop that was booked out for the week. We ended up staying 10 days on should have been an oversight stay. Happy trails!!
We did both set up in the drive way cranked up all the Appliances and then we did a shake down to a RV park 10 minutes from the house found we had a bad water pump
There is a special fitting that comes with any corrugated propane hookup hose that automatically closes the line if there is a sudden unrestricted flow of gas. That is a relatively new thing so the people who say it's safe to travel with your tanks turned on are correct, but only if that special shut-off fitting is installed. That's easy to check. Go to a big-box and see what they look like then check your rig. Of course, local laws trump everything else and are slow to adjust to new equipment, etc. (BTW, another, unmentioned mistake might be "staring into your channel video camera while driving your rig and talking to viewers.") Extremely useful video this time...refreshes old-timers and teaches newbies.
If you are new to RVing, you need to work with your spouse or travel companion on backing assistance into camping spaces or RV storage areas. Most spotters start out using non-descript terms like "you have a ways to go" or you're a "tad too close" on the right side. My wife calls me on her cell phone just before we begin the backing process. I tell her which side of the RV is invisible to me as we progress. We refer to the sides as "driver side and passenger side". She also refers to distance measurements in # of feet remaining, rather than non-descript expressions. I move her from side to side as needed as I make directional corrections. I also asked my wife to watch me move the back of the trailer to both the driver side and passenger side in a wide open area. We did this so she could understand just how long it takes the trailer to respond to one of her prompts to move the back of the RV "X" number of feet to either the passenger side or driver side. Initially, she thought these movements would take place instantly, and she now understands that it takes several feet for these corrections to take place. The more you practice together, the better the communication prompts get. I have seen a lot of new RVers just wing it with their spotter, and this usually ends in frustration for each person!!!
😂 I thought the same but I think he only talked on straightaways and saw him glance at mirrors a lot. I don’t think he talked at length to the camera as there were a lot of edits. I really appreciated the go-pro views - y’all see that huge boat pass right next to him?! I’d have been so scared. I think (as newbies) it’d be good for my husband and I to take turns following each other in a separate vehicle so we can see what it looks like from behind and to give each other that buffer from rear traffic. Ha, I just thought - why not stick “new driver” magnets to it while we’re learning?!
Someone telling on camera how to not mistakes while he is making a possible fatal mistake. Edits or not - total distraction like the truck drivers I see texting or scrolling while driving. Sad but true- it’s usually the innocent lives that are at stake here.
I would add to the shake down trip to so one at the beginning of every camping season, especially if you're like me and your rv sits during the winter. Just to make sure all systems work before you head out for a long trip
Yes, always a local shakedown before hitting the road. I'm doing mine tomorrow. It's it boring? Yeah, a bit. But to get the time to check everything out, get some maintenance work done, and know we're more ready before going on our actual big vacation trip is worth it. Can't tell you how many little things are forgotten and handy to have on a big trip, like enough phone charger cords, less or more blankets, a bathrobe, and stuff you don't want to have to go shopping for once you are on the road like spare rv tp, tissues, spoons, and paper towels.
With my previous fifth wheel, I painted the jaws white so I could easily check if they had come together. And you are right about that tail swing. We called ours Godzilla.
I made the mistake of not chocking the trailer wheels before disconnecting from the truck. Was on a slight grade (hardly noticeable). The trailer began to roll forward only being stopped by the truck. Could have been much more serious if not noticed if my leg had been between the truck and the hitch, or even if the grade was sloped in the other direction, could have rolled away until it stopped by hitting something. Lesson learned...Chocking trailer wheels is the first thing before disconnecting and un-chocking the very last thing when leaving
Woah that's scary! I had no idea that chocks were the only safety feature in place when parked. Are there any RVs that have breaks that can be engaged or are the breaks only functional while driving?
The newer propane tanks have a check valve inside the neck that will prevent a rapid release of propane. Think about when you hook a new tank up to your BBQ grill. If you open the tank to fast it stops the gas flow. that's why you hear RV'ers not being able to light the stove. Someone will chime in and say something like turn off the gas unhook propane line then reconnect it and open the valve slowly. Enjoy and safe travels.
I purchased RV Life Pro and used Trip wizard for my routes too. BE CAREFUL relying on this application. Twice now it has taken me in areas I should not have been. The worse was a trip from PA to our daughters in NJ. In a dark pouring rain in an unknown area, I went past a sign that said nothing over 30 ft. beyond this point. I was 53 feet long. If I had missed the sign, it would have been a disaster. I now use an RV 890 GPS. I hope this is better.
I haven't started traveling yet, but when I do I'm taking a page from flight school and committing the breakdown/setup into a printed check list you can tick off items with a grease pen. You've given me a couple of items to add!
@@BuzzedKitty you laminate the checklist use a grease pen to check off the items and then when you get to the next place, you can just wipe the grease marks off and use the same laminated checklist. Grease pans never dry out.
Twice I drove way too long. Both times not having enough time to get to a destination and another to get home. On our way to Alaska we only had three weeks coming from the Philly area I drove 952 miles in one day. Another driver took over the next day, I was the marathon driver. The other time almost 900 driving from Perry Ga to the Philly area to deliver a dog and home. When I was younger I always drove 8 to 10 hrs at a time with almost no stops. Now at 60 no more than 5 hrs and I still only stop minimumly.
It's always been my rule to never, EVER, get to a campground or camping area at night... I try to arrive at LEAST two hours before sunset... Good info in your video, Tom... Best wishes.
Your comment is really GREAT!! What happens when you're within 1 hour of arriving to your destination (expected arrival time 4:00PM) and find out ALL ROADS are underwater due to 100 year FLOODING! The closest RV park is 3 hours away!! You are NOT allowed to even Boondock because the surrounding ground will not support the weight of the RV, the actual Driving time was 5 hours due to road closures. You arrive at 9:00PM OOPS!
@@MrJake1851 But most people, myself included, plan ahead - call the campground and check conditions.. Log onto state travel sites that have actual road conditions, such as 'Safe Travel USA'. When we go to Sturgis, we leave here at 5 am so as to arrive at the campground around 4-4:30 their time (625 miles). All roads are checked ahead of time for road construction and/or detours so as to avoid unnecessary delays..
Back before the advent of the newer, better insulated RV fridge/freeze, We had what was referred to as a 3-way fridge. In practice, you turned the propane off and disconnected your shore tie connection, and switched the fridge/ freezer to run on 12 volt DC Now of course that would not have happened, if we had disconnected the tow rig, but you know the drill, I was in a hurry! LOL. We had no, equipment problems as far as a failure, but on one trip we e were held up for nearly 2 hours while we charged the batteries in our tow vehicle. It was just a good thing that we had a generator mounted at the rear of our RV, because both house batteries were also totally drained. And all because I failed to switch the fridge/freezer over to propane or 120 V AC. You can bet that I made that mistrake only once, but there are so many others near disasters one can make when towing their home behind them, and WE have made a lot of them. By the way, that is about the worst mistrake we have made in over 39,000 miles of towing over the past 28 years. We are not full-timers. But had we started when we were both healthy years ago, so we now contend ourselves by watching you all having a great time, AND I know that creating videos is not play time for any of you. Tom, I enjoy watching your adventures as well as your misadventures. You are both human, after all, like the rest of us.
We bought a new Hartland Pioneer just before going on a trip to Maine from North Carolina. We got to Connecticut before we found out that the 120 volt electric did not work. The inverter was bad. It only worked on the battery & drained it every day. A shakedown trip is a must.
Excellent video!!! Especially the speeding when pulling a trailer. In CA its posted 55 mph when pulling trailers, but you see people driving 70 plus. Accident waiting to happen
Good tips . Great video. Already made one mistake to big of camper too small truck. Like you was told by RV dealer truck was big enough only to find out later it was not. 😢
After many years as a truck driver, I found that every time I stop I feel ever wheel bearing by putting my hand on the center depending on your center hub. After a while you will know by feel how hot it normally runs at highway speed. If it is warmer or hot it can pre warn you of wheel bearing failure, hopefully before the wheel comes off hub and all. In 30 years this has warned me 3 times, preventing a road service, or even a wheel assembly hitting a car or a pedestrian.
Lways have more than you think you'll need of leveling squares or wood or whatever you're gonna use. First trip up to my property where I boondock, I dint level the TT completely left and right and me and my wife were inside the TT when putting out the 2 slides. And because the driver side wasn't leveled correctly, when I put out the driver side slide it bucked hard to that side as the tongue jack fell and sunk in the sand soil breaking the door know off the door separating the living area from the bathroom and bedroom. It also bent the door hinges and disconnected the slide out side lighting. More scary, then expensive thank goodness. But a lesson that I take to heart whether it's a nice concrete slab or what looks like flat dirt. My small level gets more work than almost anything I use!
As a rv traveller from overseas, here in the USA in our truck camper this is on the best videos of how to safe travel. An excellent video. Much appreciated. Thanks John
Great video, deep trouble! Backing a trailer down hill,,, in gravel with a 2WD vehicle. If the brakes are not adjusted perfectly the trailer will drive and your just along for the ride! SCARY trip! Same mistake twice, 2-$250 wrecker bills. Worse yet my own driveway!😢
What everyone gets wrong about sizing a truck Is that tow capacity almost never matters because you will max out the cargo capacity of the truck way before you hit the tow capacity limit, this is especially true of fifth wheels that put a lot of weight onto the truck. The combination of all the people and cargo in your truck plus the weight the RV puts on the truck has to be under the cargo capacity. My truck has a 22,000 pound tow capacity but we max out the cargo capacity with my family, cargo in the truck and the weight my 15,000 pound fifth wheel puts on the truck.
Couldn't agree more! Focus on the payload capacity of your truck and go the a Cat Scale to properly weigh your rig when you are fully loaded and on they way to the campground.
That is a great point that I never thought of. I have towed a trailer thousands of miles but mostly with a boat on it. I will have to check my cargo capacity for sure!
@@jeffcresswell1799 adjust the pin box for optimum weight distribution, what does that even mean? With a fifth wheel around 20% of the weight will be on your truck, you need the have the weight capacity to handle that.
On my first day pulling a 41 ft 5th wheel, I learned to always use the far right turning lane when making a left turn off an interstate freeway. The same lane the big trucks use making a left turn. I used the inside turn lane and ended up on the concrete median. I was lucky in that my jack stands had less than a inch clearance, otherwise I’m sure I would have damaged one. Lesson learned? Watch how the trucks do it…
Saw your original tug test video. know that your pain was not in vain. I tug test every single time I hitch up. I thank you. my rv thanks you. my truck thanks you. my insurance agent thanks you.
Tom I would add to make sure you put down your roof TV antenna. I know not everyone uses them with cable or satellite. But for newer RVer it a common mistake. They are also sometimes hard to see when you are doing a close to the RV check list checklist. We had a velcro tag we would put on the crank handle when it was up then took it off when we lowered it.
Your videos are hilarious.Im sorry I am sure they are very helpful for alot of people out there but I have to laugh at every mistake you talk about. I am not the person to make any negative comments however since I spent the first half of my life in the RV industry so now that I own my own I have zero issues ever. But please keep up the good work because this information is valuable to alot of people out there.👍
Great video! Here's my mistakes, that fortunately didn't end in damage. First, not closing the grab handle at the steps, next, not putting down the TV antenna. Luckily a neighboring camper, noticed that, as I was leaving.
We learned to do the “tug test” directly from this channel and that very painful video, and tug test before every trip. My “oops” to share is after unhitching the pin, forgot to disconnect the 7pin coach whip from the truck .. and pulled away.
While staying at the Morgan Hill CA Thousand Trails resort, a family pulled in next to me with their brand new truck towing their brand new travel trailer, on what I suspect was their maiden voyage. He detached the trailer, but neglected to detach the electrical connection, and then he pulled away. Doing this filleted the electrical system from the trailer. He stood there, dejected, radiating psychological pain, holding a large wad of wires still connected to his truck. His trailer was probably a total, as it would have to be cut apart to replace the wiring.
Good advice sir. We bought our first ever travel trailer about 6 years ago. We were so happy to finally have a camper to sleep in instead of sleeping in tents on the ground. My wife always accommodated me in the past by going, but she actually hated camping. I’ve been an outdoorsman my entire life so it never bothered me being hot or buggy etc. To me it was just part of the experience, to her it was hell on earth. Eventually she had 2 spinal fusions which didn’t exactly turn out well for her. So the camping came to a dead stop as she couldn’t tolerate it anymore. I bought the camper. She took to that camper like a duck in water. She was actually happy and wanted to go. So I made the best of it. I did any and all mods she wanted. Made it HER home away from home and just paid for it lol. Addressing the video, The shake down trips. We are lucky enough to have a really nice fishing and camping lake within 40 miles of home. I used that spot as our shakedown trip. Far enough away for everything to stretch their legs so to speak, and close enough to home that if we needed to we could easily run home and grab anything we needed or could call for help if needed. We really learned a lot on those trips, so much so that we could set up and break camp in less than a half hour. We finally became a team. She even learned how to help me launch and load our boat ! For years I did everything by myself AND tried to make our camping “Glamping” for her sake. Now I have that stress evenly spread out and it has become a joy to go. Safety checks; Last year we finally made our first ever several hundreds of miles trip to visit a “resort”. We camped at this reservoir for 3 months, well over 300 miles away from home. To prepare for that trip I did several jobs. I replaced brakes, but not just brake shoes, I replace all 4 backing plates to include bearings, seals, added bearing buddies, and brand new tires all around including brand new spare. I even found that from the day we bought that camper the electric brakes NEVER worked ! The wiring at each wheel had broken, which I repaired to ensure the brakes worked when applied. I also found that the camper was so heavy I needed to turn the brake controller up higher than I previously thought. Would run at 4 and 5 when it really needed to be up around 8-9. I was literally able to use the camper brakes to help slow the tow vehicle down, and you could tell. We stopped at 3 rest stops on our way to the camping resort, and at each stop I used a digital tire inflation gauge to check tires, used a Milwaukee tire inflation air pump AND used a Milwaukee cordless grease gun to grease the wheel bearings I had just installed. Laying my hands on each wheel hub to check for overheating as well. Making that trip was eye opening. We had drivers passing us that had to be doing 90 mph at least, including state patrol NOT responding to anything. Our new tires were rated to go 65 mph and that is what we set our cruise control to. We waited to “stock up” on groceries until we got to our destination , Walmart being just 10 miles away. Lastly, any trip we made, being short or long, we made sure to turn our fridge on 2 days before leaving, and placing 1 frozen 2 liter bottle of water in the freezer and 1 in the fridge to help cool things down. We stocked up with condiments and such (except for the long haul trip) and let them cool down. Before leaving, we shut the fridge off and didn’t open it until we had set up camp and it had run for at least 2 hours. Lastly, we NEVER traveled with our propane bottles on/open. While our fridge and water heater both worked perfectly on gas, we rarely had to use that system. And ALWAYS the fridge remained cold , even after forgetting g to turn it on (twice) after setting up camp. Sadly, we just lost that camper to a major hail storm in June of this year. Even though it was a fiberglass sided camper, we had 3” and 3.5” hail in that storm, which not only tore up our beloved camper, but also tore up our house and pickup truck, a 2019 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax L5P. Insurance sure took care of us though, and we are now looking to upgrade to our first ever 5th wheel, hopefully one that is 4 season capable and within the weight limits of our pickup. Or it’ll give me an excuse to upgrade to a 1 ton. God Bless and safe travels. Sorry for being so long winded lol.
You both are the reason we began full tIme RVing and we have been loving it! You were the first You Tube show I ever watched! Love you both and thank you for all your lessons!! Jim & Vicki in Washington State…. Yuma in the winter.
The Wife and I are new RV’ers this year so I am hesitant to offer a possible correction. Just like you suggested, we did a shakedown trip. It was 90 minutes from home, so we were not far away…but two things we also did was first spend a night in the RV in the driveway. You seemed to nix this idea but a test night at home and a shakedown trip are not mutually exclusive; I’d opine doing both is a good idea.. And the other thing we did involved planning. We made sure our campground was only a short drive to a Walmart. I’m not a Walmart fan but I knew if we forgot something important, Walmart would probably have it. As it turned out, we didn’t need to buy anything but we did add a few things to our packing list for future trips. The rest of your advice seems spot on….just not sure the folks who need to hear it are listening.
Appreciated your safety tips. I have made a few of them. I was very fortunate to have avoided a catastrophe while driving tired. I also has a tire blow out (cheap Chinese tires) and no TPS. I strongly agree about speed and driving distracted. Disaster is a blink of an eye away. Experience is very important as well. Familiarity with your equipment is very important. Mountains, weather, road conditions, and so many more. Tks
On my third camping trip I backed up to my camper and was a little off and thought it was close enough to drop on the the ball took the tire chunks out and had my camper roll backwards and not to land on the ball like I thought it would
The wife and I were on a long distance trip using our slide-in pop up truck camper. We stopped for lunch at a rest area that we made in the camper with the top up. When we got going again I could here this were clinking. I found when I put the top back down that I only latched it on one side on the camper. Luckily it didn't hurt it to much. This was also our first long trip with this camper.
Tires are my big issue and I have a TPMS. You check and service your tires COLD, if I do this the tire temp and pressures are always HIGH when driving to include a blow out. Yes I know weight and pressures and settings in TPMS. I service with the compressor and check with a gauge and when tires are at temp, adjust down so TPMS reads 5 lbs over pressure. Sometimes I hate knowing pressure and temperature of the tires. At home in Las Vegas the street temperature can be well over 125 and that with tire pressure is well over both in readings.
I would add that I towed different weights of 5th wheels across the country and some states in the north west require you to stop ion the weigh stations. Too many accidents and too little understanding of what is going on. I would also say that many times the truck is capable but the suspension still sags, then I recommend using airbags as a good supplement. It will improve your handling of the truck, improve, your fuel mileage, save your suspension from wearing out to fast, save your tires from wearing too fast and generally improves the ride quality. Tires should always be of high quality and load rating should be where you can drive a decent speed but you forgot to mention the axles. Sometimes the axles can’t handle the speed either and just have ink the correct speed rated tire isn’t enough. Max I would ever tow was 70 mph but I usually towed at 65mph. Enjoy the ride and smell the roses.
Had a tire blow on a 36' 5th wheel camper, had to cut it apart as it got wrapped up in the other axle.. luckily we had a portaband and other tools in the truck.. ah, traveling for work..
New 5th wheel 25 foot week old. Not remembering that the tail does not always follow the dog. pulled into a breakfast stop and saw an 18 wheeler parked and figured I could swing behind and park on the other side of him. Hit the back end of the empty flat bed rubber bumper with the water heater area. almost made me cry the damage to the side of my trailer. The real thing on this is I did have room to swing wide to make the turn just didn't. Very dumb mistake on my part.....
I came across a wreck involving an RV trailer; the propane tanks had their valves left open, and that resulted in a couple of tanks lying in the roadway spewing propane. The remedy was a fire fighter closing the valves. As for keeping the stuff in the fridge cold when traveling, try some dry ice.
I live in Texas, we weekend camp, 2-4hr trips, we travel with the propane on, did it when I was a kid also, in 2 hours in this texas heat the fridge will go from 32 to 80 plus, but I do have gas stops on both tanks, only have one turned on while traveling. My next camper will hopefully have one of those 12v refrigerators.
If at all possible get to know a campground ahead of time. My ex and I went to a campground and it wasn't clearly marked, one road looked like an exit and the other said passenger vehicle parking/campground. We took the passenger vehicle/campground and the only way out was the tightest hair pin turn I've ever seen. Zero turn around options. We had to go off the road to swing wide and it was a steep incline as well. I'm yelling Punch it, Don't stop... as I watch our rear leveling jacks dig into the asphalt. We left some grooves in the road and the rv was intact but it wasn't a pleasant experience.
My mistake was not looking up towards the back. I had to have keys made I lost them. When I left I hit the edge of the roof of the key shop with, the back end of my awning. I had great insurance they paid for the shops damaged and my awning too😊. Then a year later I did it again 🙄 this time it was a tree branch that toerd up my roof vent. I had to replace it. The good/bad part was... I got a much needed new vent, asked the person to take pictures. Saw the roof😱 that badly needed a coat of roof sealer, so he did that too just in time for winter and the rain.
First trip out with our 2019 Passport Travel Trailer. Forgot to raise the tongue jack!!! Rushing causes mistakes. Literally had to borrow a Sawzall to cut it off. The nice thing was that we had an electric jack installed! Of course, if I make the same mistake again, it is gonna cost a lot more.
Use the button hook maneuver when making turns with a large trailer. I drive tractor trailers and use this all the time to make tight turns. Prevents fools from passing you while making your turn.
Wow thanks for this awesome recap. New rv’re here. Man I thought I was the honer role scout camper. Bought my first fithwheel cougar 30rls. Says 1/2 ton but had a F250 diesel temporary until my 3500 gm Dudley arrived. Now everything went right until I was waved down on the highway, SIR YOUR GENERATOR IS BOUNCING BACK THERE. Damn stop to see whats going on back there. Well it came loose.. remember things on the back hitch, bike rack or like I have a small platform rack with a gen strapped to it. THINGS BOUNCE X 2 back there. Damaged done dent in brand new rv.. grr Second.. I but the gen in the pick up bed. Always remember when turning the goose neck is large.. second damage, generator again and a bent side pick up bed.. not bad for the first trip. Sean
Always be aware of the weather especially in cold climates your tanks can freeze, pipes can break, Keep your fresh water tank full and warm and have some bottled water or draw some water into a large pot so you have some incase your lines freeze up. You might be snowbound for days with no water.
Dot cops in utah been pulling over rv and making sure the truck can pull that trailer and sometimes a couple of miles before a weigh station and taking them there to weigh them to
Understand I drove tractor trailer for many years , one day I had to go and pick up a trailer and had hooked up thousands of time. I always did a tug test , this day I did that as well and started my return trip Two miles down the road , thank god I was at a stop light . I started out from the light the trailer came loose and dropped to the ground. It can happen.
My lesson learned, I was going to air up tires after I got turned around and more room but I had been sitting for a long time and rolling off the cement pad caused the tire to loose the bead and had a tire pop off the rim. I have a 38 ft Class A with large tires. Good thing I was 5 miles from a truck stop.
1) Used to be propane on when going to camp because were trying to get fridge cold B4 arrival. Now with 12 volt fridge it's not necessary. 2) Knock on wood, no black tank disaster yet. 3) Still need TPMS 4) Had a couple scary drives because unsure of height of overpass, turn around on tight spot because got to a place I couldn't fit under. Need to set up RV GPS. 5) Trying to remember, did you buy a used Thousand Trails? If so, where did you go through and was it a good experience?
@@EnjoyTheJourneyLife My pleasure! Thank you for all your videos! This would be the type of discussion that would be fun to do around the campfire 🔥 hearing people's stories about each of these.
@@waynekern8471 On the TT question, yes, we bought used and it was a great experience. Here is the contact info for both new and used though: Get $100 off a Thousand Trails camping pass! Contact Aaron Aaron_Massa@equitylifestyle.com or 360-489-4407 or contact Kimberly for a "used" membership enjoythejourney.life/TT or 800-272-0401 (mention Tom Kenemore if you call in)
@@EnjoyTheJourneyLife Thanks for the info. We have a TT Zone pass but once we retire in a year and can travel farther would like to book further in advance.
Great Advice! Like the tip on Tail Swing. I guess I have always tried to take the wide turn, but didn't think about how that could affect other drivers if it's a sharp turn. THANK YOU!!!
I did a crazy thing, I read the owners manual! Made a checklist from from that and using the same flow technique I used while in the military inspecting aircraft. Prior to my first trip I found the inner tire was flat. I can only imagine how ugly that could have been down the road.
Thinking I was hooking the city water to my RV, filled the black take beyond full via the tank sprayers. Water was pouring out of the vent on the roof, it was brand new so no poo. Did find out it would have voided the manufacturer warranty. Nubbie mistake.
If at all possible make sure both your tow vehicle and the trailer are on level ground when hitching. Nailed the underside of my tongue because my Jeep was on a little bit of a hill and had to give it a little gas to hitch. Pushed the tongue jack off the leveling blocks, but thankfully no damage. Also, bring a ball jack in case you need to get yourself out of that situation. If someone hadn’t come along with one to help us, we would’ve been in trouble.
We went on our shakedown trip probably a little farther than we should have, 10 hr. Drive. I knew enough to get to a CrackerBarrel for a stop. We were good till we just got to the site when we couldn’t get any hot water. We weren’t told where the hot water tank was or the access panel. Had to call a tech and he found the access panel. Simple fix since it turned out to be a kinked tube. Expensive tho cause it cost $140.
I completely understand the traveling with propane on, only if you have a gas/electric fridge if your trying to save the contents inside. But for my wife and I, propane off. We have the residential momentum and so there’s nothing to gain but much to loose leaving them on.
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CHAPTERS/TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:31 RV Crushes Truck! Not Doing A Tug Test Mistake!
04:21 Should You Travel With Propane On In Your RV? Big Mistake?
07:16 Your RVs Tail Swing Can Cause An Accident!
10:14 Biggest RV Tire Mistakes! Not Having a TPMS system.
12:15 You Need To Know The Height Of Your RV!
12:21 Best RV Trip Planner! RV Safe GPS Directions!
13:44 How To Find RV Campsites. Make Reservations Early!
15:11 Best RV Fuel Discount Program
16:11 Traveling Overweight In Your RV
17:01 Towing RV With Too Small Of Truck
18:06 Best RV Extended Warranty
19:19 Speeding!
21:05 Safety Check!
22:45 Don’t Drive Your RV At Night! A Recipe For A Big Mistake!
24:07 What Is An RV Shakedown Trip?
26:43 Don’t Drive Too Long!
27:08 Big RV Travel Mistake! Not Moving Over For Vehicles
27:52 Don’t Travel Angry!
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#rvliving #RVmistakes #RV
You are great . telling us how to be safe while watching the camera and towing a huge rig . Thank you MR. SAFETY
How about not recording as your driving. You spend more time looking at the camera and not the road. Mirrors are those things mounted out side on each door. They are useful if your driving and especially pulling a trailer. Just trying to keep innocent drivers around your carelessness safe.
As a long haul truck driver I can tell you that you should never rely on a tug test alone. Get out and with a flash light make sure your 5th wheel jaws are fully locked around the shank and that there is no daylight between the 5th wheel and the trailer apron.
100%
I also push the 5th handle to make sure it's in. After my tug test
That tug test is ESSENTIAL, and every 5th-wheel RVer should know how to perform a proper tugjob.
Absolutely!...I'm also an OTR driver, and I learned early on not to go by tug test alone. ALWAYS...ALWAYS VISUALLY CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT IT IS PROPERLY LOCKED.
We OTR and if we leave our tractor trailer for any reason- (go inside for bathroom, refreshments etc) ALWAYS check your pin before resuming! Sad to say, but there are those that will walk by and unpin your trailer for whatever twisted reason.
1) Safety checks often!
2) When closing up our rig, I go in a circle around and TOUCH each item, door, and slide to be sure everything is properly closed.
3) we are NAVY… we call it a “Shake Down Cruise” at the beginning of our 8 month season .
4) CHECK LIST … and then we swap the list for a second set of eyes.
5) 3-3-3 Three hours driving, less than 300 miles, and three adult drinks after we are fully parked/set up.
6) lastly, the wife needs to know how to drive it, move it etc… in case of a medical issue or heaven for bid a death.
Your video is a good one Tom.
Any tips on getting the wife to try to learn? I have a better chance of getting my wife into bed with another woman than I do getting her to pull a trailer. I’m actually speaking from experience here… 😉
Tom, we stopped at a rest stop upon entering Fl on I95. Just prior to getting back on the road, I went into the trailer to change into a cooler shirt, I had to move the bed slide out to access the clothes. Got back in the truck and left the rest stop. As I’m pulling back on to the highway, I noticed the bedroom slide was out about one foot into the next lane. Immediately pulled over on a busy highway and closed the slide. That was the last time I did that.
Wow! Thanks for sharing!
HOLY COW!! That's a oh my goodness moment for sure
First Step Ministry here, my husband Lewis is a former truck driver and he says always check your Hubs for heat.If the hubs are hot, then that means the wheel bearings are going bad. If they get too hot, your tires can catch on fire or wheels can lock down. We travel in our motor home and checking EVERYTHING before, during and after is very important. We enjoyed your video. Thanks for sharing. Be safe and Happy Travels
Here's a RV towing tip.. Keep your eyes on the road instead of looking at a camera. You can still talk without taking eyes off the road. 😁👍
It takes a big man to admit his mistakes, thanks for sharing, 33 years as a over the road truck driver and I have made many mistakes, love your channel and content.
We always stop travelling around 3:00pm for HAPPY HOUR & always travel a little under the speed limit so we're relaxed at the end of the day!
Thx I have a new plan!
Once upon a time, you could be driving anywhere from El Paso to Key West and not have to stop for that Happy Hour.
Florida used to have drive through liquor stores.
I thiugh they just chucked booze in your trunk, so I was a bit shocked when my stepfather pulled up to the window, ordered a Cuba Libre and off we went.
Trailer tires are rated for 60-65 MPH MAX.
Highway speeds are as high as 80 where I live and I keep it at 60 when towing.
More comfortable drive!
We ve camped for years and we learned to leave something's in the camper like pots and pans, toaster oven can goods and my wife also washes all our towels and linens when we get home and puts them back in the RV so it's in there for the next trip.
Twice I've had a rear tire on a two axle TT blow out unnoticed and had to do some repaires to the wheel wells and more. It pays to monitor your tires constantly!! And do a walk around at every rest stop, refueling, and before every move from a park.
And speed is a huge issue with me. Rarely do I pull a trailer faster than 65mph.
My best suggestion is to make sure your spouse or significant other knows how to operate all systems. Typically, he does outside things and I do the inside final pre trip stuff.. But, at least once a month I do the outside things and he does the inside things, then we check each others work. It keeps our check lists accurate and us on our toes should there be a situation arise, the other is at least familiar with how to do things. Additionally he has helped me learn how to hook and tow the unit safely....for those "just in case" circumstances.
I feel like shaking the women who say " my husband does all that. I couldn't drive that thing." LEARN.
My husband andcI daydreamed about getting a conversion van and taking a couple of months to tralvel across the country. It never happened because first, self employed and second, eventually he passed away at 67. Ten years later, still struggling under a mortgage, not enough income to do repairs and barely making ends meet, I sold the house, "as is"
Bought a 29 foot motorhome and basically taught myself with help from UA-cam how to drive it. Still not fond of backing up in tight spots, learning more and more about maintaining everything inside and out. Oh yeah, I am 77, peparing to head from Arizona back to Maine after my third winter in AZ.
Always check to see if your fifth wheel Jaws are still locked after every stop. I had someone pull my release while we were inside eating onetime, had I not checked it, well it would have been bad. I now have a padlock where the safety pin used to be so that can't happen anymore. But I still check it everytime we stop.
Just watched your video again.
Add to your list:
Do not drive sick. Your mind is not focused, your drained, drowsy if you are on meds.
I did this and just south of Dallas rubbed a bollard at the diesel island against our kitchen slideout. 4 days of butt chewing from the wife and everyone learning about it.
Drive healthy = happy spouse + less to no damage.
So please follow this to a trip to jail for DUI via the effects of cold and sinus medicine. Troopers explained that even Sudafed (known for stimulant effects) changes people's perception and so therefore qualifies for 'influencing' the driver IF the field test shows impairment such as arguing with the trooper...If you have a cough medicine or antihistamine or Dr. prescribed meds with a warning label you can easily be arrested and charged...probably out of state if you're RVing so PLEASE don't drive impaired in any way.
Yes! I have learned as a pilot to never fly if you are not feeling up to yourself. It will make a difference.
@@daviddrake806-ALSO, NOTE THAT EVEN MOST MOUTHWASHES HAVE AS MUCH AS 25% ALCOHOL AS INGREDIENT- Better to use baking soda or lemon juice w\water to rinse your mouth out after meals, AND CHECK THE FOODS YOU EACH. Ingredients may affect how you drive CARRY SALTINE CRACKERS THAT CAN ABSORB THINGS YOU EAT OR DRINK!
IF YOU ARE SICK, DROWSY OR NOT SURE YOU SHOULD BE DRIVING- DO NOT DRIVE - STAY PUT ! 🙀
@7:57 your camera truck is crossing over the yellow line without being able to see if someone is coming the other way! (Your trailer is blocking the view, as you’re talking about avoiding an accident!)
The wife and I are new to pulling a travel trailer. After purchasing our camper, and before picking it up, I watched hundreds of videos. luckily it paid off. We're avoiding lots of mistakes. However, on our last trip, we made a minor mistake. We got to our campsite, and started setting up. Camper was unhooked, level, etc. We did not realize until we got to that part, there was no water hook-up. We needed to fill our tank at the park entrance! Needless to say, we had to re-hookup the camper, and drive it back to the entrance. When I went back and checked the reservation/campsite details, the wording was "Water Available". lol!Lesson learned. I checked the other reservations we have this year, and some of them say the same thing. I'll know now.
Thank you! I would have thought the same thing, water available at the site.
A large water bladder and small pump would have prevented the need to hook up the trailer.
@@libbyt5869just wait for it to rain.
If your rig has an absorption type fridge, you should turn propane off. We know, bc after an 8 hr drive home, an hour after unpacking, our travel trailer fridge caught fire and totaled the rig in our driveway. There are hundreds of these fires in the last couple years. Specs are crazy specs to meet while driving, or parking ; being level is THE most important safety feature w propane fridge.
And, always get replacement value insurance; Good Sam’s replaced our rig in 58 days. Now we have 12VDC fridge, no propane worries.
Yup! I dropped my 5th wheel on my truck bed last year. Lesson learned. I leave the propane on while traveling so fridge stays cold. I also hooked my rear camera on trailer to the running lights so I can see what’s behind me even when traveling
We have a 5th wheel Reflection 311BHS. 1st trip out, we were leaving the campground and headed to the dump station. My husband didn't swing out far enough and went through shallow looking water only to find out it was much deeper than it appeared. Our camper almost flipped over on it's side. We had to have it towed out of the mud and lost our stabilizer pad.
It was a holiday and had a terrible time getting a tow truck. Finally got someone to help us. Thank God they came to help us!
I would add to the safety check by feeling the wheel hubs including on the tow vehicle to see if any of the wheel bearings are getting hot or if the breaks are sticking.
Thank you for your suggestion! Checking the wheel hubs and brakes for any issues is definitely an important safety measure when traveling in an RV. By the way, have you heard about the Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series? It's a versatile power station that provides ample power for your devices and appliances during your RV trips. It has a massive capacity, fast recharging, and even features waterproof technology. It could be a great addition to your outdoor gear!
When you check your tires, if they are hot to the touch spray them down with water. That can keep a tire from blowing. Most truck stops have water hoses on the fuel islands.
As far as tail swing, I know people won't like it but you need to block both lanes so people won't try to pass. I did it all the time when I drove big rigs.
That's right!
They might prefer the delay over a collision. Passing on the right shoulder of the road is never a good idea.
Getting a randy McNally motor carrier road atlas will help with planning a trip with height, also help if you lose cell phone coverage.
We use a trucker app called Hammer that allowed us to input our rigs exact dimensions and routes us based upon our weight/height. My husband drives our car and preferred RV Life GPS app. He just couldnt figure out why my app was taking a longer route. Then he updated the specs and voila, he had the same route. I prefer Hammer because I select hazardous materials (Propane) just to be extra cautious. Then again our mantra really is "its the Journey" and we try to avoid all deadline traveling. If I am worried about arriving at a certain destination certain time, I'm more likely to ignore my own well-being (tired, hangry, cranky) and not be a happy camper upon arrival.
We OTR and if we leave our tractor trailer for any reason (bathroom, refreshments, Walmart, etc ) ALWAYS heck you pin before resuming. Sad to say there are those you will pull the pin as they walk by for whatever twisted reason.
Whats the pin?
Back in 2005 when we bought our 1st RV which was a bumper pull toy hauler, I removed safety chains, weight distribution bars and 7-way plug, then I started raising the tongue of camper. As I was day dreaming the wife started screaming as the trailer slowly rolled away. Thank goodness the ground had a slight rise and the camper came to a stop. After listening to her hollering why didn’t you grab on and help I learned the hard way about wheel chocks!
One thing I recommend if you're coming out of an area after boondocking where there's rocks. Before you get out on the pavement check your dually tires and make sure you don't have a a rock stuck between your tires that might fly out later. Also it can cause flat tire. Thank you for your video. Stay well and happy.
If you are mechanically inclined, you can get a 12/120v inverter with large enough watt capacity (plus a little extra) to run your fridge while going down the road. Hook it to the batteries (with fuse protection) and run 120v line to fridge compartment. Most fridges have a 120v plug there for when you are on shore power. Just pull plug and plug into your inverter lead. Then plug it back into regular RV plug when you get to camp site. It will run on 120v or gas , which ever is needed and not run your batteries down.
Get a laser temp gun from Harbor Freight (about 20.00) to check tire, hub and brake drums when stopped. With the tires and hubs you are looking for one that is higher temp than the others, indicating bearing getting hot or a tire getting ready to fail. Check the brakes for one cooler than the others to indicate not working or out of adjustment. I leave the center caps (not dust caps) off my rims to have access to wheel end to check bearing temp.
All fridge becomes a "ice chest" cooler for 24 hours if you don't open the door!!! Hurricane prep taught us this. You won't drive 24 hours non stop, so turn off the propane!!!
I've been RVing for 40 plus years. I've always left the propane on for the refrigerator. RV propane pigtails are designed with a high flow valve in them to shut off the propane in the event of a major leak.
What about a small leak that will slowly fill the rv.
19. Talking to a camera, or any other "Distracted Driving" activity, especially while towing...js
🤣👍
I was just saying that to my husband
I was thinking the same thing 😮
Indeed
Agree. Love their videos but man that makes me nervous. Pull over and take a break while filming. We want you safe and sound.
Tailswing: use 2 lanes !!
Shakedown: 1st in driveway, next a close campsite. After your first campsite setup and tare-down you know what tools to bring, you can get them from your home. Next a short drive and doing it again to practice.
Great information! We’ve been RVing for 6 years and have made our share of goofs. Fortunately nothing terrible so far. We highly recommend checklists. And one checklist item is “propane OFF.” Not sure why on vs off would ever be a question. And for UA-camrs making RV videos, a tip from us: Avoid filming videos while driving! Your mind is surely on making great content and not on great driving!
Amen Bill.
Hi folks
#3 have Cheri be the pilot truck. When loads are turning the pilot truck always moves over to the right so nobody can pass on the right side!
Just a thought.
You folks put out GREAT videos!
Thanks for listening!
Pilot car for changing lanes in town, so nice
After 43 years of commercial driving for a living I’ve had the pleasure of seeing more than enough on the road. You talked about driving angry,but the other side of the coin is being so happy your distracted you are a danger to yourself and others. I watched a young couple that was laughing and really enjoying their time together. They would speed up and slow down as they talked. This went on for a while, then while talking they missed a truck pulling off the shoulder back into traffic,and hit the pickup truck full speed as they drove into him. The truck had a load of firewood stacked in the back of his truck .with that much weight it was as if the car hit a wall and the reaction was bad to say the least….the girl was pinned and bleeding really bad. I held pressure on the main cut thought the open window,while waiting for help.l had the right lane blocked and people stoped and gave me some towels to use. Help came and she was cut out of the car and life flighted to a hospital. Driving is a very serious task! And having a heavy trailer behind you is a lot of responsibility. Driving is not to be taken lightly. You never know when it’s going to blowup in your face. Thank GOD I have not hurt anyone in all my years on the road. My wife and I travel in a Monaco coach now and take are time wherever we go. Be safe and we like your show and your pickup….lol. GOD BLESS
So sad. 😢
Did she live? What about the young man?
You made a good point - not to be so happy you’re oblivious. I’m currently teaching our daughter how to drive and she’s repeatedly told me that she’s amazed we’re even allowed to drive as she sees vehicles as “death machines.”
Lug Nut Torque..... Swapped out a slow leaking tire with my spare and used my impact wrench to tighten the lug nuts. About an hour down the road I saw my spare bouncing down the road in the rear view mirror. Was able to pull over into a large commercial driveway and retrieve the tire from a drainage pond on the side of the road where a passerby who owned a tire company helped us with a new wheel and a repair to the leaker and the hub/drum. The rim was totally destroyed and all the studs on the drum were torn completely off as well as the wheel wobbled off at speed. Turns out I had the impact wrench set wrong and had under tightened the lug nuts 60 instead of the 90 required. ALWAYS use a real torque wrench to tighten and double check those lug nuts!!!!
I see you travel with the kayaks on the back of your RV. In many western states they have boat inspection stations near the border and the kayaks qualify as boats. If you fail to stop and they see you go by they'll send an officer after you and make you go back. I didn't think my kayak counted but as I went into Utah they had a sign saying it included kayaks. When I went into Idaho and then Montana I again stopped at the boat inspection stations but they didn't have anything saying kayaks counted.
I too had a major hiccup while traveling in GA. We arrived after dark and couldn't locate our spot. In fact we passed it twice looking for it. There were no maps of the grounds so we are pretty much meandering thru . I came to a t in the road, knowing a left will take me back to the entrance so I turned right. The sites were packed not only with campers and their vehicles but lots of guests too. The road went downhill on a curve to the left. When I got to the bottom, it was a very tight turnaround with trees on the inside of the turn and cars on the outside preventing going forward. So....I had to back up the hill around curves and other cameras at night with a truck that was too small! With the help of 2 other Samaritan campers I managed to make it back to the t but I cooked the tranny fluid and the truck refused to go any further. A 3rd camper knew where our spot was and we were able to disconnect from my truck and hook up to his. The next morning I was able to drive the truck again and finally found a transmission shop that was booked out for the week. We ended up staying 10 days on should have been an oversight stay. Happy trails!!
We did both set up in the drive way cranked up all the Appliances and then we did a shake down to a RV park 10 minutes from the house found we had a bad water pump
There is a special fitting that comes with any corrugated propane hookup hose that automatically closes the line if there is a sudden unrestricted flow of gas. That is a relatively new thing so the people who say it's safe to travel with your tanks turned on are correct, but only if that special shut-off fitting is installed. That's easy to check. Go to a big-box and see what they look like then check your rig. Of course, local laws trump everything else and are slow to adjust to new equipment, etc. (BTW, another, unmentioned mistake might be "staring into your channel video camera while driving your rig and talking to viewers.") Extremely useful video this time...refreshes old-timers and teaches newbies.
If you are new to RVing, you need to work with your spouse or travel companion on backing assistance into camping spaces or RV storage areas. Most spotters start out using non-descript terms like "you have a ways to go" or you're a "tad too close" on the right side. My wife calls me on her cell phone just before we begin the backing process. I tell her which side of the RV is invisible to me as we progress. We refer to the sides as "driver side and passenger side". She also refers to distance measurements in # of feet remaining, rather than non-descript expressions. I move her from side to side as needed as I make directional corrections. I also asked my wife to watch me move the back of the trailer to both the driver side and passenger side in a wide open area. We did this so she could understand just how long it takes the trailer to respond to one of her prompts to move the back of the RV "X" number of feet to either the passenger side or driver side. Initially, she thought these movements would take place instantly, and she now understands that it takes several feet for these corrections to take place. The more you practice together, the better the communication prompts get. I have seen a lot of new RVers just wing it with their spotter, and this usually ends in frustration for each person!!!
My biggest mistake was making a YT video about RV safety *while driving*. 🤣🤣
😂 I thought the same but I think he only talked on straightaways and saw him glance at mirrors a lot. I don’t think he talked at length to the camera as there were a lot of edits. I really appreciated the go-pro views - y’all see that huge boat pass right next to him?! I’d have been so scared. I think (as newbies) it’d be good for my husband and I to take turns following each other in a separate vehicle so we can see what it looks like from behind and to give each other that buffer from rear traffic. Ha, I just thought - why not stick “new driver” magnets to it while we’re learning?!
Yup if he ends up in a accident they will be sure to check the camera.
Someone telling on camera how to not mistakes while he is making a possible fatal mistake. Edits or not - total distraction like the truck drivers I see texting or scrolling while driving. Sad but true- it’s usually the innocent lives that are at stake here.
I would add to the shake down trip to so one at the beginning of every camping season, especially if you're like me and your rv sits during the winter. Just to make sure all systems work before you head out for a long trip
Yes, always a local shakedown before hitting the road. I'm doing mine tomorrow. It's it boring? Yeah, a bit. But to get the time to check everything out, get some maintenance work done, and know we're more ready before going on our actual big vacation trip is worth it. Can't tell you how many little things are forgotten and handy to have on a big trip, like enough phone charger cords, less or more blankets, a bathrobe, and stuff you don't want to have to go shopping for once you are on the road like spare rv tp, tissues, spoons, and paper towels.
With my previous fifth wheel, I painted the jaws white so I could easily check if they had come together. And you are right about that tail swing. We called ours Godzilla.
I made the mistake of not chocking the trailer wheels before disconnecting from
the truck. Was on a slight grade (hardly noticeable). The trailer began to roll forward
only being stopped by the truck. Could have been much more serious if not noticed
if my leg had been between the truck and the hitch, or even if the grade was sloped
in the other direction, could have rolled away until it stopped by hitting something.
Lesson learned...Chocking trailer wheels is the first thing before disconnecting and
un-chocking the very last thing when leaving
Woah that's scary! I had no idea that chocks were the only safety feature in place when parked. Are there any RVs that have breaks that can be engaged or are the breaks only functional while driving?
The newer propane tanks have a check valve inside the neck that will prevent a rapid release of propane. Think about when you hook a new tank up to your BBQ grill. If you open the tank to fast it stops the gas flow. that's why you hear RV'ers not being able to light the stove. Someone will chime in and say something like turn off the gas unhook propane line then reconnect it and open the valve slowly. Enjoy and safe travels.
I purchased RV Life Pro and used Trip wizard for my routes too. BE CAREFUL relying on this application. Twice now it has taken me in areas I should not have been. The worse was a trip from PA to our daughters in NJ. In a dark pouring rain in an unknown area, I went past a sign that said nothing over 30 ft. beyond this point. I was 53 feet long. If I had missed the sign, it would have been a disaster. I now use an RV 890 GPS. I hope this is better.
I haven't started traveling yet, but when I do I'm taking a page from flight school and committing the breakdown/setup into a printed check list you can tick off items with a grease pen. You've given me a couple of items to add!
I'm curious why you would need a grease pen for a checklist. I had to look up what it was and just wondering what its use would be
@@BuzzedKitty you laminate the checklist use a grease pen to check off the items and then when you get to the next place, you can just wipe the grease marks off and use the same laminated checklist. Grease pans never dry out.
@kevinm7731 I get that but what material are you needing a grease pen? I just don't see the need for it
You gotta watch that old movie..The long long trailer 😅😂...trailer breaks..trailer breaks
Twice I drove way too long. Both times not having enough time to get to a destination and another to get home. On our way to Alaska we only had three weeks coming from the Philly area I drove 952 miles in one day. Another driver took over the next day, I was the marathon driver. The other time almost 900 driving from Perry Ga to the Philly area to deliver a dog and home. When I was younger I always drove 8 to 10 hrs at a time with almost no stops. Now at 60 no more than 5 hrs and I still only stop minimumly.
It's always been my rule to never, EVER, get to a campground or camping area at night... I try to arrive at LEAST two hours before sunset... Good info in your video, Tom... Best wishes.
Great tip! Thanks Lee!
Your comment is really GREAT!!
What happens when you're within 1 hour of arriving to your destination (expected arrival time 4:00PM) and find out ALL ROADS are underwater due to 100 year FLOODING! The closest RV park is 3 hours away!! You are NOT allowed to even Boondock because the surrounding ground will not support the weight of the RV, the actual Driving time was 5 hours due to road closures.
You arrive at 9:00PM OOPS!
@@MrJake1851 Stuff can happen, but 99% of the time I arrive when I plan to. YMMV... Best wishes..
@@MrJake1851 But most people, myself included, plan ahead - call the campground and check conditions.. Log onto state travel sites that have actual road conditions, such as 'Safe Travel USA'. When we go to Sturgis, we leave here at 5 am so as to arrive at the campground around 4-4:30 their time (625 miles). All roads are checked ahead of time for road construction and/or detours so as to avoid unnecessary delays..
Back before the advent of the newer, better insulated RV fridge/freeze, We had what was referred to as a 3-way fridge. In practice, you turned the propane off and disconnected your shore tie connection, and switched the fridge/ freezer to run on 12 volt DC Now of course that would not have happened, if we had disconnected the tow rig, but you know the drill, I was in a hurry! LOL.
We had no, equipment problems as far as a failure, but on one trip we e were held up for nearly 2 hours while we charged the batteries in our tow vehicle. It was just a good thing that we had a generator mounted at the rear of our RV, because both house batteries were also totally drained. And all because I failed to switch the fridge/freezer over to propane or 120 V AC. You can bet that I made that mistrake only once, but there are so many others near disasters one can make when towing their home behind them, and WE have made a lot of them. By the way, that is about the worst mistrake we have made in over 39,000 miles of towing over the past 28 years. We are not full-timers. But had we started when we were both healthy years ago, so we now contend ourselves by watching you all having a great time, AND I know that creating videos is not play time for any of you. Tom, I enjoy watching your adventures as well as your misadventures. You are both human, after all, like the rest of us.
We bought a new Hartland Pioneer just before going on a trip to Maine from North Carolina. We got to Connecticut before we found out that the 120 volt electric did not work. The inverter was bad. It only worked on the battery & drained it every day. A shakedown trip is a must.
Excellent video!!! Especially the speeding when pulling a trailer. In CA its posted 55 mph when pulling trailers, but you see people driving 70 plus. Accident waiting to happen
Good tips . Great video. Already made one mistake to big of camper too small truck. Like you was told by RV dealer truck was big enough only to find out later it was not. 😢
After many years as a truck driver, I found that every time I stop I feel ever wheel bearing by putting my hand on the center depending on your center hub. After a while you will know by feel how hot it normally runs at highway speed. If it is warmer or hot it can pre warn you of wheel bearing failure, hopefully before the wheel comes off hub and all. In 30 years this has warned me 3 times, preventing a road service, or even a wheel assembly hitting a car or a pedestrian.
Lways have more than you think you'll need of leveling squares or wood or whatever you're gonna use. First trip up to my property where I boondock, I dint level the TT completely left and right and me and my wife were inside the TT when putting out the 2 slides. And because the driver side wasn't leveled correctly, when I put out the driver side slide it bucked hard to that side as the tongue jack fell and sunk in the sand soil breaking the door know off the door separating the living area from the bathroom and bedroom. It also bent the door hinges and disconnected the slide out side lighting. More scary, then expensive thank goodness. But a lesson that I take to heart whether it's a nice concrete slab or what looks like flat dirt. My small level gets more work than almost anything I use!
As a rv traveller from overseas, here in the USA in our truck camper this is on the best videos of how to safe travel. An excellent video. Much appreciated. Thanks John
Great video, deep trouble! Backing a trailer down hill,,, in gravel with a 2WD vehicle. If the brakes are not adjusted perfectly the trailer will drive and your just along for the ride! SCARY trip! Same mistake twice, 2-$250 wrecker bills. Worse yet my own driveway!😢
What everyone gets wrong about sizing a truck Is that tow capacity almost never matters because you will max out the cargo capacity of the truck way before you hit the tow capacity limit, this is especially true of fifth wheels that put a lot of weight onto the truck. The combination of all the people and cargo in your truck plus the weight the RV puts on the truck has to be under the cargo capacity. My truck has a 22,000 pound tow capacity but we max out the cargo capacity with my family, cargo in the truck and the weight my 15,000 pound fifth wheel puts on the truck.
Thanks again, another great tip!
Couldn't agree more! Focus on the payload capacity of your truck and go the a Cat Scale to properly weigh your rig when you are fully loaded and on they way to the campground.
That is a great point that I never thought of. I have towed a trailer thousands of miles but mostly with a boat on it. I will have to check my cargo capacity for sure!
Go to a Cat Scale weigh and adjust your pin box or goose neck for optimum weight distribution, weigh again.
@@jeffcresswell1799 adjust the pin box for optimum weight distribution, what does that even mean? With a fifth wheel around 20% of the weight will be on your truck, you need the have the weight capacity to handle that.
On my first day pulling a 41 ft 5th wheel, I learned to always use the far right turning lane when making a left turn off an interstate freeway. The same lane the big trucks use making a left turn. I used the inside turn lane and ended up on the concrete median. I was lucky in that my jack stands had less than a inch clearance, otherwise I’m sure I would have damaged one.
Lesson learned? Watch how the trucks do it…
Saw your original tug test video. know that your pain was not in vain. I tug test every single time I hitch up. I thank you. my rv thanks you. my truck thanks you. my insurance agent thanks you.
Tom I would add to make sure you put down your roof TV antenna. I know not everyone uses them with cable or satellite. But for newer RVer it a common mistake. They are also sometimes hard to see when you are doing a close to the RV check list checklist. We had a velcro tag we would put on the crank handle when it was up then took it off when we lowered it.
Your videos are hilarious.Im sorry I am sure they are very helpful for alot of people out there but I have to laugh at every mistake you talk about. I am not the person to make any negative comments however since I spent the first half of my life in the RV industry so now that I own my own I have zero issues ever. But please keep up the good work because this information is valuable to alot of people out there.👍
Great video! Here's my mistakes, that fortunately didn't end in damage. First, not closing the grab handle at the steps, next, not putting down the TV antenna. Luckily a neighboring camper, noticed that, as I was leaving.
I use a tractor-trailer Garmin GPS and I put in the height in the weight in the length
We learned to do the “tug test” directly from this channel and that very painful video, and tug test before every trip. My “oops” to share is after unhitching the pin, forgot to disconnect the 7pin coach whip from the truck .. and pulled away.
Ouch! Thanks for sharing Michael!
While staying at the Morgan Hill CA Thousand Trails resort, a family pulled in next to me with their brand new truck towing their brand new travel trailer, on what I suspect was their maiden voyage. He detached the trailer, but neglected to detach the electrical connection, and then he pulled away. Doing this filleted the electrical system from the trailer. He stood there, dejected, radiating psychological pain, holding a large wad of wires still connected to his truck. His trailer was probably a total, as it would have to be cut apart to replace the wiring.
Good advice sir.
We bought our first ever travel trailer about 6 years ago. We were so happy to finally have a camper to sleep in instead of sleeping in tents on the ground. My wife always accommodated me in the past by going, but she actually hated camping. I’ve been an outdoorsman my entire life so it never bothered me being hot or buggy etc. To me it was just part of the experience, to her it was hell on earth. Eventually she had 2 spinal fusions which didn’t exactly turn out well for her. So the camping came to a dead stop as she couldn’t tolerate it anymore.
I bought the camper.
She took to that camper like a duck in water. She was actually happy and wanted to go. So I made the best of it. I did any and all mods she wanted. Made it HER home away from home and just paid for it lol.
Addressing the video,
The shake down trips.
We are lucky enough to have a really nice fishing and camping lake within 40 miles of home.
I used that spot as our shakedown trip. Far enough away for everything to stretch their legs so to speak, and close enough to home that if we needed to we could easily run home and grab anything we needed or could call for help if needed. We really learned a lot on those trips, so much so that we could set up and break camp in less than a half hour. We finally became a team. She even learned how to help me launch and load our boat ! For years I did everything by myself AND tried to make our camping “Glamping” for her sake. Now I have that stress evenly spread out and it has become a joy to go.
Safety checks;
Last year we finally made our first ever several hundreds of miles trip to visit a “resort”.
We camped at this reservoir for 3 months, well over 300 miles away from home.
To prepare for that trip I did several jobs.
I replaced brakes, but not just brake shoes, I replace all 4 backing plates to include bearings, seals, added bearing buddies, and brand new tires all around including brand new spare. I even found that from the day we bought that camper the electric brakes NEVER worked ! The wiring at each wheel had broken, which I repaired to ensure the brakes worked when applied. I also found that the camper was so heavy I needed to turn the brake controller up higher than I previously thought. Would run at 4 and 5 when it really needed to be up around 8-9. I was literally able to use the camper brakes to help slow the tow vehicle down, and you could tell.
We stopped at 3 rest stops on our way to the camping resort, and at each stop I used a digital tire inflation gauge to check tires, used a Milwaukee tire inflation air pump AND used a Milwaukee cordless grease gun to grease the wheel bearings I had just installed. Laying my hands on each wheel hub to check for overheating as well.
Making that trip was eye opening. We had drivers passing us that had to be doing 90 mph at least, including state patrol NOT responding to anything.
Our new tires were rated to go 65 mph and that is what we set our cruise control to. We waited to “stock up” on groceries until we got to our destination , Walmart being just 10 miles away.
Lastly, any trip we made, being short or long, we made sure to turn our fridge on 2 days before leaving, and placing 1 frozen 2 liter bottle of water in the freezer and 1 in the fridge to help cool things down. We stocked up with condiments and such (except for the long haul trip) and let them cool down. Before leaving, we shut the fridge off and didn’t open it until we had set up camp and it had run for at least 2 hours.
Lastly, we NEVER traveled with our propane bottles on/open. While our fridge and water heater both worked perfectly on gas, we rarely had to use that system. And ALWAYS the fridge remained cold , even after forgetting g to turn it on (twice) after setting up camp.
Sadly, we just lost that camper to a major hail storm in June of this year. Even though it was a fiberglass sided camper, we had 3” and 3.5” hail in that storm, which not only tore up our beloved camper, but also tore up our house and pickup truck, a 2019 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax L5P.
Insurance sure took care of us though, and we are now looking to upgrade to our first ever 5th wheel, hopefully one that is 4 season capable and within the weight limits of our pickup.
Or it’ll give me an excuse to upgrade to a 1 ton.
God Bless and safe travels.
Sorry for being so long winded lol.
You both are the reason we began full tIme RVing and we have been loving it! You were the first You Tube show I ever watched! Love you both and thank you for all your lessons!! Jim & Vicki in Washington State…. Yuma in the winter.
The Wife and I are new RV’ers this year so I am hesitant to offer a possible correction. Just like you suggested, we did a shakedown trip. It was 90 minutes from home, so we were not far away…but two things we also did was first spend a night in the RV in the driveway. You seemed to nix this idea but a test night at home and a shakedown trip are not mutually exclusive; I’d opine doing both is a good idea.. And the other thing we did involved planning. We made sure our campground was only a short drive to a Walmart. I’m not a Walmart fan but I knew if we forgot something important, Walmart would probably have it. As it turned out, we didn’t need to buy anything but we did add a few things to our packing list for future trips. The rest of your advice seems spot on….just not sure the folks who need to hear it are listening.
Did they mention chatting to camera while driving down the road on this list?
Appreciated your safety tips. I have made a few of them. I was very fortunate to have avoided a catastrophe while driving tired. I also has a tire blow out (cheap Chinese tires) and no TPS. I strongly agree about speed and driving distracted. Disaster is a blink of an eye away. Experience is very important as well. Familiarity with your equipment is very important. Mountains, weather, road conditions, and so many more. Tks
On my third camping trip I backed up to my camper and was a little off and thought it was close enough to drop on the the ball took the tire chunks out and had my camper roll backwards and not to land on the ball like I thought it would
When parking use the GOAL method. (Get Out And Look) also I’ve seen folks go down the road that forgot to put their TV antenna down.
Great tips Dan! Yes, we've seen that too lol!
Ive forgotten to put the steps up. More than once...
The wife and I were on a long distance trip using our slide-in pop up truck camper. We stopped for lunch at a rest area that we made in the camper with the top up. When we got going again I could here this were clinking. I found when I put the top back down that I only latched it on one side on the camper. Luckily it didn't hurt it to much. This was also our first long trip with this camper.
I watched RVing Videos for 6 months before buying mine. Still very good to have a Checklist. Love the Channel.
Tires are my big issue and I have a TPMS. You check and service your tires COLD, if I do this the tire temp and pressures are always HIGH when driving to include a blow out. Yes I know weight and pressures and settings in TPMS. I service with the compressor and check with a gauge and when tires are at temp, adjust down so TPMS reads 5 lbs over pressure. Sometimes I hate knowing pressure and temperature of the tires. At home in Las Vegas the street temperature can be well over 125 and that with tire pressure is well over both in readings.
I would add that I towed different weights of 5th wheels across the country and some states in the north west require you to stop ion the weigh stations. Too many accidents and too little understanding of what is going on. I would also say that many times the truck is capable but the suspension still sags, then I recommend using airbags as a good supplement. It will improve your handling of the truck, improve, your fuel mileage, save your suspension from wearing out to fast, save your tires from wearing too fast and generally improves the ride quality. Tires should always be of high quality and load rating should be where you can drive a decent speed but you forgot to mention the axles. Sometimes the axles can’t handle the speed either and just have ink the correct speed rated tire isn’t enough. Max I would ever tow was 70 mph but I usually towed at 65mph. Enjoy the ride and smell the roses.
Had a tire blow on a 36' 5th wheel camper, had to cut it apart as it got wrapped up in the other axle.. luckily we had a portaband and other tools in the truck.. ah, traveling for work..
New 5th wheel 25 foot week old. Not remembering that the tail does not always follow the dog. pulled into a breakfast stop and saw an 18 wheeler parked and figured I could swing behind and park on the other side of him. Hit the back end of the empty flat bed rubber bumper with the water heater area. almost made me cry the damage to the side of my trailer. The real thing on this is I did have room to swing wide to make the turn just didn't. Very dumb mistake on my part.....
I came across a wreck involving an RV trailer; the propane tanks had their valves left open, and that resulted in a couple of tanks lying in the roadway spewing propane. The remedy was a fire fighter closing the valves. As for keeping the stuff in the fridge cold when traveling, try some dry ice.
How does leaving the valves Open results and the propane tank laying on the roadway?
I live in Texas, we weekend camp, 2-4hr trips, we travel with the propane on, did it when I was a kid also, in 2 hours in this texas heat the fridge will go from 32 to 80 plus, but I do have gas stops on both tanks, only have one turned on while traveling. My next camper will hopefully have one of those 12v refrigerators.
If at all possible get to know a campground ahead of time. My ex and I went to a campground and it wasn't clearly marked, one road looked like an exit and the other said passenger vehicle parking/campground. We took the passenger vehicle/campground and the only way out was the tightest hair pin turn I've ever seen. Zero turn around options. We had to go off the road to swing wide and it was a steep incline as well. I'm yelling Punch it, Don't stop... as I watch our rear leveling jacks dig into the asphalt. We left some grooves in the road and the rv was intact but it wasn't a pleasant experience.
My mistake was not looking up towards the back. I had to have keys made I lost them. When I left I hit the edge of the roof of the key shop with, the back end of my awning.
I had great insurance they paid for the shops damaged and my awning too😊. Then a year later I did it again 🙄 this time it was a tree branch that toerd up my roof vent. I had to replace it. The good/bad part was... I got a much needed new vent, asked the person to take pictures. Saw the roof😱 that badly needed a coat of roof sealer, so he did that too just in time for winter and the rain.
First trip out with our 2019 Passport Travel Trailer. Forgot to raise the tongue jack!!! Rushing causes mistakes. Literally had to borrow a Sawzall to cut it off. The nice thing was that we had an electric jack installed! Of course, if I make the same mistake again, it is gonna cost a lot more.
I've done that....
Use the button hook maneuver when making turns with a large trailer. I drive tractor trailers and use this all the time to make tight turns. Prevents fools from passing you while making your turn.
Wow thanks for this awesome recap. New rv’re here. Man I thought I was the honer role scout camper. Bought my first fithwheel cougar 30rls. Says 1/2 ton but had a F250 diesel temporary until my 3500 gm Dudley arrived.
Now everything went right until I was waved down on the highway, SIR YOUR GENERATOR IS BOUNCING BACK THERE. Damn stop to see whats going on back there. Well it came loose.. remember things on the back hitch, bike rack or like I have a small platform rack with a gen strapped to it. THINGS BOUNCE X 2 back there.
Damaged done dent in brand new rv.. grr
Second.. I but the gen in the pick up bed. Always remember when turning the goose neck is large.. second damage, generator again and a bent side pick up bed.. not bad for the first trip. Sean
Always be aware of the weather especially in cold climates your tanks can freeze, pipes can break, Keep your fresh water tank full and warm and have some bottled water or draw some water into a large pot so you have some incase your lines freeze up. You might be snowbound for days with no water.
Dot cops in utah been pulling over rv and making sure the truck can pull that trailer and sometimes a couple of miles before a weigh station and taking them there to weigh them to
Understand I drove tractor trailer for many years , one day I had to go and pick up a trailer and had hooked up thousands of time. I always did a tug test , this day I did that as well and started my return trip Two miles down the road , thank god I was at a stop light . I started out from the light the trailer came loose and dropped to the ground. It can happen.
I've heard try to arrive to your destination no later than 3pm. It gives you time to set up and unwind before dinner.
I like to use a inferred temp Gun on my hubs when I do a rest stop inspection you sometimes catch a bad bearings on a wheel before it goes out.
My lesson learned, I was going to air up tires after I got turned around and more room but I had been sitting for a long time and rolling off the cement pad caused the tire to loose the bead and had a tire pop off the rim. I have a 38 ft Class A with large tires. Good thing I was 5 miles from a truck stop.
1) Used to be propane on when going to camp because were trying to get fridge cold B4 arrival. Now with 12 volt fridge it's not necessary. 2) Knock on wood, no black tank disaster yet. 3) Still need TPMS 4) Had a couple scary drives because unsure of height of overpass, turn around on tight spot because got to a place I couldn't fit under. Need to set up RV GPS. 5) Trying to remember, did you buy a used Thousand Trails? If so, where did you go through and was it a good experience?
Thanks for sharing!
@@EnjoyTheJourneyLife My pleasure! Thank you for all your videos! This would be the type of discussion that would be fun to do around the campfire 🔥 hearing people's stories about each of these.
@@waynekern8471 Yes, for sure!
@@waynekern8471 On the TT question, yes, we bought used and it was a great experience. Here is the contact info for both new and used though: Get $100 off a Thousand Trails camping pass! Contact Aaron Aaron_Massa@equitylifestyle.com
or 360-489-4407 or contact Kimberly for a "used" membership enjoythejourney.life/TT
or 800-272-0401 (mention Tom Kenemore if you call in)
@@EnjoyTheJourneyLife Thanks for the info. We have a TT Zone pass but once we retire in a year and can travel farther would like to book further in advance.
Great Advice! Like the tip on Tail Swing. I guess I have always tried to take the wide turn, but didn't think about how that could affect other drivers if it's a sharp turn. THANK YOU!!!
I did a crazy thing, I read the owners manual! Made a checklist from from that and using the same flow technique I used while in the military inspecting aircraft. Prior to my first trip I found the inner tire was flat. I can only imagine how ugly that could have been down the road.
Thinking I was hooking the city water to my RV, filled the black take beyond full via the tank sprayers. Water was pouring out of the vent on the roof, it was brand new so no poo. Did find out it would have voided the manufacturer warranty. Nubbie mistake.
Just be glad you didn't flush the toilet. Wouldn't have had to go to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful.
If at all possible make sure both your tow vehicle and the trailer are on level ground when hitching. Nailed the underside of my tongue because my Jeep was on a little bit of a hill and had to give it a little gas to hitch. Pushed the tongue jack off the leveling blocks, but thankfully no damage. Also, bring a ball jack in case you need to get yourself out of that situation. If someone hadn’t come along with one to help us, we would’ve been in trouble.
You can use an inverter. Turn ur battery power into electric power and plug in. Turn the propane off. It's a whole lot safer.
We went on our shakedown trip probably a little farther than we should have, 10 hr. Drive. I knew enough to get to a CrackerBarrel for a stop. We were good till we just got to the site when we couldn’t get any hot water. We weren’t told where the hot water tank was or the access panel. Had to call a tech and he found the access panel. Simple fix since it turned out to be a kinked tube. Expensive tho cause it cost $140.
I completely understand the traveling with propane on, only if you have a gas/electric fridge if your trying to save the contents inside. But for my wife and I, propane off. We have the residential momentum and so there’s nothing to gain but much to loose leaving them on.