I said ''SHUX'', real loud.....

Seajay · 09-03-2010, 04:56 AM

We got home yesterday evening from a few days of ''tubing'' on the New River and I decided I should remove the ''tow bar'' from the ''box hitch'' so I could back the coach up my drive way without scraping the pavement on the driveway so I parked the coach in front of the house and went back and un hitched the ''truck'' from the tow bar and pulled the truck beside the coach so I could put the ''tow bar'' on the tail gate of the truck because it was heavy to carry. (the tow bar, not the truck) ..... As I knelt down to ''pull the safety pin'' from the end of the the large pin that holds the tow bar in the ''box hitch'' I managed to put my left knee on a small stone on the pavement that felt like some one had driven a large nail into my knee cap and I said ''SHUX'' real loud. I managed to move my knee off of the small stone and to ''get down'' far enough to almost see the "safety pin'' that goes thru the end of the large pin that holds the tow bar in the box hitch. Since the box hitch is kinda low on my motor home I found it easier to simply turn my head kinda of ''up side down'' and look at the ''safety pin'' .. The great porblem with this was that I wear bi-focal s and when I looked under the coach I was looking thur the tops of the glasses and everything was a blurr and I said ''SHUX'' again.... My coach has one of those Rock Hard Mud flaps thingies on the back and that makes things twice as hard to see and to work with because the mud flap is in the way. Anyhow, I went and got my trusty pliers and proceeded to grope around between the mud flap and the box hitch using the ''touch and guess'' method of trying to get hold of the ''safety pin''and remove it so I could remove the ''large pin'' so I could remove the tow bar from the box hitch so I would not scrape the pavement on my driveway when I backed the coach up the driveway to park it beside the house.
After some swearing and cursing and much fumbling I finally got hold of the ''safety pin'' thingie and yanked it out of the end of the ''large pin'' and managed to scrape my hand on the mud flap and while doing so I managed to drop the ''safety pin'' under the coach and it slid to an area about 20 feet from the back of the coach and I said SHUX real loud again. I removed the tow bar and laid it on the tail gate of the truck so I could carry it to the basement for stowage and inspection. I took the truck to the lower drive way and I backed the coach up my upper driveway to its regular parking spot and plugged it into ''shore power'' so Willa could get our ''stuff'' out of it. I walked down the driveway and spotted the bloody safety pin laying in the road and I scooped it up and headed for the basement. As I walked along dobbing the blood from the back of my hand I was thinking that there has to be a ''better way'' of dealing with this safety pin and when I entered the basement with the tow bar I had a ''brain storm''.. I started looking around and I found a ''Hang your heavy picture kit'' that I had bought for Willa so I could hang heavy stuff on the walls of the house. The ''KIT'' contained about ten feet of small braided cable about 1/16 inch in diameter and a hand full of ''crush clamps''....... I took the cable and cut off a piece about 12 inches long and ran one end of it around the 'round part' of the safety pin. I put a ''crush clamp'' on the end and clamped it in the vise. I crushed the ''crush clamp'' to hold the cable to the safety pin thingie. I picked up the ''large pin'' and took it over to the drill press and bored a small hole thru the ''handle portion'' of the pin and ran the other end of the cable thru the hole and used a ''crush clamp'' to hold the cable on the ''large pin''.........
I admired my work while my hand dripped blood on the floor. Here is what I now have.......
I have a ''safety pin'' that is virtually 'LOSE PROOF'. I have a safety Pin that is easy to find because it will have a ''hangie down'' cable attached to it and all I have to do is grab that little cable with my trusty pliers and give it a ''yank'' and the safety pin will pull out of the ''large pin'' so I can remove the tow bar from the box hitch. The safety pin and the large pin are now inseparable and I am happy. Now if I can only get Willa to remove the tow bar next time I will be even happier.....

REMEMBER THIS..... If you use this valuable information you must pay me ten cents the next time you see me because good engineering aint cheap................ On the other hand..... If this dont work for you ..... I NEVER KNEW YOU.......

Wayne M · 09-03-2010, 07:58 PM

You need to patent that "thingy!"

twoclaws · 09-06-2010, 05:41 PM

Enjoyed your experiece. "SHUX"...many years ago I gave up using the #*&@ words

...I converted to words such as your "SHUX" and they include Dag Nab-it, Geez Zow, Sugar and a few others. Use these and you'll have a variety to use if your new-fangled contraption does work. But I hope it does the trick!