Please chock wheels first

[srds]

On our last trip I saw something that scared me.The couple next to us pulled in and put two tents up and then unhooked pup and it started rolling towards tents.The women was screaming get out of the tents.The husband was chasing it .My friend grabed a chunk of firewood and flew over and jammed it under wheel.It stopped just inside the front of tent.The kids in the tent where huddled against the back of tent.No one hurt,scared but not hurt.After we all got our breath back we pulled the pup back onto pad and chocked the wheels.To scary,so please chock wheels before you unhitch.

[Tom in Salem, MA]

Wow, glad no one was hurt!

[Frank P. Martin]

I assisted in a similar episode back in the late 80's. We were setting up our pop-up at a KOA in Horse Cave, KY when a guy a couple of sites away unhooked his (unchocked) pop-up. It drifted out of the site and it took four of us to chase and bring it to a halt-- just before it was about to go over the hill.

It is a scary experience... even if it's not your unit.

[Kablewizard]

I dont care what you haul, it needs to be ckocked. There was a guy in CA that as he backedf into his unchocked 5th wheel he pushed it back and it rolled down the hill. His wife was inside and killed when the trailer rolled on its side in a ditch.

[Beer Belly]

Yup....Choking the wheels is the first thing I do.....unhooking the Safety Chains is the last thing I do....just in case

[Frank P. Martin]

Not chocking the wheels can lead to an expensive accident. My son bought an old 1948 GMC pickup truck to restore. Because it wasn't driveable, he contracted with a towing service to bring it to his house on one of those tilt-bed trucks. The truck (with the pickup loaded on it) backed into his driveway which slopes down to his garage. When the driver went to tilt the bed to get the pickup off, the whole truck drifted backwards and the knife-edge of the tilt-bed took out the garage door and the concrete block wall of the garage. The pickup's cab was damaged when it slammed into the garage door header. Fortunately, the bed of the pickup passed harmlessly into the garage after the garage door had been "opened" by the tilt-bed.

It turned out to be about a $10,000 claim against the towing company's insurance, all because the driver failed to chock the wheels before attempting to tilt the bed to remove the pickup truck. My son also lost the use of his garage for about three months while the repairs were made.

We occasionally wonder whether the driver is still employed by that towing company.

[Two Bit]

Something else pop-up related but not as dangerous as a run away trailer...

On single axle pop-ups;
As you are setting up and sliding out the front and back beds, put the rear stabilizers down far enough to touch the ground before a 200 lb. person walks inside and to the rear of the pop-up unless you want the nose of the camper to point to the sky and the rear bumper to bang into the ground. Riding out a wheelie ain't fun!

Just a been there..done that stunt of many years ago .

[mamaloya]

Quote:

Originally posted by Two Bit: On single axle pop-ups; As you are setting up and sliding out the front and back beds, put the rear stabilizers down far enough to touch the ground before a 200 lb. person walks inside and to the rear of the pop-up unless you want the nose of the camper to point to the sky and the rear bumper to bang into the ground. Riding out a wheelie ain't fun! Just a been there..done that stunt of many years ago .

Sorry, but that story has me laughing so loud the kids want to know what is so funny. I always pictured that happening in ours since we had so many "helpers" setting it up that I was worried someone would get inside before they were down. Now I know I was not being paranoid. Needless to say, that is a good point.

Chock first, ask questions later. LOL

[Fairview 2001]

We watched a man unhook his trailer at Stone Mountain in Georgia once. It went down the hill, slammed into a Georgia Pine and was a total loss. Always chock your wheels!

[Kablewizard]

We never did the nose in the air thing, But I do remember one of the firsttimes we set it up, after the roof was up I started to pull out the back bed and the trailer came to me because we didnt put the chocks out. It was a scary feeling trying to keep it from coming off the pad. Thankfully Cheri was close and grabbed a chock for a wheel. We learned early chock the wheels the unhook it.

[Redbear]

An alternative I have used - I pulled the runaway cord to set the electic brakes and thus hold the trailer in position until I could get the chock blocks put in.

A mod being considered for next year is a waterproof electric junction box on the tongue to replace the original butt splices exposed to the weather. I plan to include a switch to make locking the brakes for short periods easier while working with the landing gear and hitch.