Community Forums

MarkusW · 07-02-2015, 03:53 PM

Today I was browsing the forums and getting some ideas for mine when all of a sudden a massive storm just came through with wind gusts hitting my east sidewall at full force. I'm almost sure they were close to 40mph gusts. I thought my MH was going to roll over! I ran outside to pull my new 410w inverter off the battery and I was completely soaked before I even took a step out the door! That was intense! It scared the crap out of me.

What was your first scary moment in your motorhome/coach/rv. Whichever you prefer to call it.

brian-nicola · 07-02-2015, 03:59 PM

When DW saw ours on the lot, viewed, turned to me and said "I want it, sign the cheque"!

MarkusW · 07-02-2015, 04:01 PM

Haha that's funny. I wasn't expecting to see that. Thanks for the laugh.

mikebreeze · 07-02-2015, 04:21 PM

The first time I took my rig camping I hit a residential mailbox on a post on the side of the road a few blocks from my house. I was not yet aware of how wide these RV's were. The person that owned this mailbox must have gotten tired of replacing it so they fashioned one with an an iron post and a heavy duty mailbox attached to it. So when I hit it my side view mirror shattered and was hanging by a wire from the side view mirror arm. I was both scared and mad that I did that. So I got a new side mirror, I learned that I have a vehicle that is 8 feet wide, 13 feet high and 24 feet long and now all is good.

MarkusW · 07-02-2015, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebreeze

The first time I took my rig camping I hit a residential mailbox on a post on the side of the road a few blocks from my house. I was not yet aware of how wide these RV's were. The person that owned this mailbox must have gotten tired of replacing it so they fashioned one with an an iron post and a heavy duty mailbox attached to it. So when I hit it my side view mirror shattered and was hanging by a wire from the side view mirror arm. I was both scared and mad that I did that. So I got a new side mirror, I learned that I have a vehicle that is 8 feet wide, 13 feet high and 24 feet long and now all is good.

I haven't hit anything but I did have a difficult time trying to keep mine going in a straight line on city roads. My side mirrors are a bit deceiving that's for sure. Every time I thought I was staying steady in the lane I looked in one of my side mirrors looking at the lines of the road and either one side was always hanging to the left or right of the lines. I'll get better as I drive it more frequently. I'm not too worried about it on the freeway since the lanes are much wider.

UFO Pilot · 07-02-2015, 04:40 PM

First "big" trip out I pulled off the road to fill up at COSTCO gas station. I couldn't make the right hand turn so I had to drive thru a Walmart parking lot. At 37' plus the toad it scared the crap out of me but I managed. Same trip we started home from Astoria, OR on the coastal highway and I drove white knuckled for miles and miles. Every turn seemed like being on a roller coaster where the front of the vehicle seems to be going over the edge. Add to that the logging trucks coming at you, seeming to take up all of both lanes.

Wryly Blithe · 07-02-2015, 04:45 PM

The hawk flying up and shattering my windshield springs immediately to mind, but I think the scariest time was when the overheat alarm started screaming at me and there was no way to pull off to let her cool down.

Longest 4 minutes of my life

MarkusW · 07-02-2015, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UFO Pilot

First "big" trip out I pulled off the road to fill up at COSTCO gas station. I couldn't make the right hand turn so I had to drive thru a Walmart parking lot. At 37' plus the toad it scared the crap out of me but I managed. Same trip we started home from Astoria, OR on the coastal highway and I drove white knuckled for miles and miles. Every turn seemed like being on a roller coaster where the front of the vehicle seems to be going over the edge. Add to that the logging trucks coming at you, seeming to take up all of both lanes.

I don't think I would have been able to deal with that. If I had to do that, I probably would have found somewhere to pull off at and wait until later in the day when there was less traffic. That seems like a really scary situation for sure.

MarkusW · 07-02-2015, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wryly Blithe

The hawk flying up and shattering my windshield springs immediately to mind, but I think the scariest time was when the overheat alarm started screaming at me and there was no way to pull off to let her cool down.

Longest 4 minutes of my life

Yeah I could imagine just how expensive that could have gotten if you couldn't find anywhere to pull off at. Glad you made it somewhere safe to pull over.

Lifemember · 07-02-2015, 05:20 PM

When I filled the gas tank. Thought the pump would never stop.

TheArnolds · 07-02-2015, 05:42 PM

Driving North out of Charleston WV on US35 @65MPH and a deer jumped out in my path. $12,000 dollars and 3 months later we were back on the road.

Mody n Domy · 07-02-2015, 06:12 PM

In our first month of fulltiming a van with a fiberglass body used as a buss was getting on the freeway in front of me they decided to come to a complete stop. I jammed on the breaks and got the MH and Toad stopped about 3 feet from the rear of the van. They pulled around a bale of straw that was laying about 1/4 in our lane. I had even slowed down so they could get on. There was traffic in the left lane so I could not move over. I never saw the bale on the road before the van pulled on to the freeway. I was glad that I had a breaking system on my Toad. I did wreck 1 good pair of underwear.

mgscott4 · 07-02-2015, 06:26 PM

First scariest moment was in a Delaware state park, 12:30 am, sudden storm, and a 8" X 12 foot tree branch fell through my awning, shook the RV and threw me out of bed. Could not get out of the door because the awning was blocking the door. I had to take a knife and cut a slit until the door could open enough to get out. The awning, roller and arms were twisted and trashed. I was stupid for leaving the awning out and I was lucky the branch didn't fall 3 feet over and would have put a hole in the the roof of the RV.

LarrytheBear · 07-02-2015, 06:43 PM

First major trip out in the MH from north Georgia to Oshkosh, took a wrong turn around Chicago. Turned on what looked like a major street and it quickly turned into a narrow residential street with no place to turn around. I could see on my GPS that the street eventually led out to the highway so I carefully continued. I could see the highway intersection about a quarter mile ahead, but there was a 4 ton limit bridge right head. A quick calculation of my W22 chassis told me that this could be a problem... It was a short bridge so only one set of wheels at the time on the bridge, so... I quickly crossed the bridge and didn't fall in. I certainly hope the cars that came after haven't fallen in either.