donmiller714
05-10-2005, 04:39 PM
First, let me say that I’ve lost all sensibility towing with this truck. I keep forgetting that I’m towing anything and therefore get into situations that are not good. Case in point: My wife and I tried to go camping this weekend at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on">Lake</st1:place> Mojave with my 23’ TT (6k lbs). I’d never been there and I got myself lost up the wrong road miles from the lake. The road was an old mining road that climbed and snaked its way into the hills west of the lake (<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nevada</st1:place></st1:State> side). Of course, I just kept going forward, ignoring any sense of future maneuverability as I climbed up and up. Btw: road was very steep so I put her in 4WD Low and powered right up that mountain with absolutely no problem. By the time I realized I was on the wrong road I was stuck (the big clue was an old rusted gate at the top of this tiny road with a sign that read “Explosives”). Gate locked, no place to turn around. So we had to back down about a quarter mile to get someplace where we could turn around. 2.5 hours later, we were able to turn around and go forward again. We won’t mention that on one side of the road was rock going straight up and on the other side was nothing going straight down with only a foot of road on either side of the tires.
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That challenge tackled and sighs of relief from the wife and dog (I kept mine inside so as not to alarm my passengers) I commented “Well! This ought to be a great trip now! What else could go wrong?”. Friends, don’t ever say “…what else could go wrong…”
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We made it to the campsite from there but found it lacking and over populated. So we went down the road to the next site (there’s several access points to the lake along the powerline road). Getting back onto the powerline road, the angle of the intersection was too narrow to make the turn with the trailer, but that didn’t stop me! I made the left turn around the corner but then the truck started sliding toward the left side. When I looked back the trailer was at a near 45 degree angle! I gassed it and pulled the trailer up over a berm it was negotiating on one side. I thought I was going to flip the trailer and us with it! However I was able keep the trailer from flipping and it was on to the next potential campsite.
We got down to the next camp site and again for some reason, I didn’t give myself any exit strategy. I pulled the trailer straight through a bunch of bushes and trees and ended up, not on the beachy cove I was expecting (with of course ample turn-around space) but at the lake’s edge with no where to go. The screeching and scratching from the bushes aside, it wasn’t too bad backing out of that spot because it was just a straight backup. Once backed up, I noticed that the sides of both the truck and the trailer are well scratched up and in the case of the trailer, dented too, but all ok. So a quick scout around revealed a small cove that would make a nice campsite and we had the place to ourselves. I pulled the trailer around a bend, through more trees and bushes causing even more screeching and scratching than before. I got kind of fed up and decided to just pull through it and deal with what came out the other end. Well, when I did that and got to the turn into the cove it turns out that I couldn’t make that turn either! So I got out of the truck to inspect the damage. I walk around the trailer and find 2 windows on the side of the trailer had been broken out by tree branches and the sides were so heavily damaged that all the panels would need replacement. So, can’t make the turn, can’t backup but have to, and did I mention? The forecast for that evening was rain. Nice!
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As you might have guessed, I backed the trailer out around the curve I’d just come through. That only took an hour and a half but screeching and scraping all the way. I get to the only point where I can make a turn and go forward again, but that turn was too tight as well. So we get out of the truck and have a look around. I walked around the front of the truck and found that the front plastic faring that covers the fog lamps and lower front end had been torn off in the move and was hanging down over the front wheel. Also found that the front quarter panel over the right wheel had a nice dent in it with a nice long dent along the entire length of the panel, caused by some other tree branch. The wife and I tore the rest of the front cowling off and threw it in the back of the truck. There, we spied the cooler and all the beer we’d planned to drink over the weekend. We decided to take a break and have a beer (or two).
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After the beer we determined that we would have to baja over some desert to get the trailer around the corner and out. We’d already decided we weren’t camping what with the rain coming, broken windows, glass god knows where inside. We dragged the trailer over some rough desert scrub and headed for home. Nine hours later, beaten, scratched, beleaguered, we ordered pizza and got drunk. We stayed home the rest of the weekend.
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<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
That challenge tackled and sighs of relief from the wife and dog (I kept mine inside so as not to alarm my passengers) I commented “Well! This ought to be a great trip now! What else could go wrong?”. Friends, don’t ever say “…what else could go wrong…”
<o:p></o:p>
We made it to the campsite from there but found it lacking and over populated. So we went down the road to the next site (there’s several access points to the lake along the powerline road). Getting back onto the powerline road, the angle of the intersection was too narrow to make the turn with the trailer, but that didn’t stop me! I made the left turn around the corner but then the truck started sliding toward the left side. When I looked back the trailer was at a near 45 degree angle! I gassed it and pulled the trailer up over a berm it was negotiating on one side. I thought I was going to flip the trailer and us with it! However I was able keep the trailer from flipping and it was on to the next potential campsite.
We got down to the next camp site and again for some reason, I didn’t give myself any exit strategy. I pulled the trailer straight through a bunch of bushes and trees and ended up, not on the beachy cove I was expecting (with of course ample turn-around space) but at the lake’s edge with no where to go. The screeching and scratching from the bushes aside, it wasn’t too bad backing out of that spot because it was just a straight backup. Once backed up, I noticed that the sides of both the truck and the trailer are well scratched up and in the case of the trailer, dented too, but all ok. So a quick scout around revealed a small cove that would make a nice campsite and we had the place to ourselves. I pulled the trailer around a bend, through more trees and bushes causing even more screeching and scratching than before. I got kind of fed up and decided to just pull through it and deal with what came out the other end. Well, when I did that and got to the turn into the cove it turns out that I couldn’t make that turn either! So I got out of the truck to inspect the damage. I walk around the trailer and find 2 windows on the side of the trailer had been broken out by tree branches and the sides were so heavily damaged that all the panels would need replacement. So, can’t make the turn, can’t backup but have to, and did I mention? The forecast for that evening was rain. Nice!
<o:p></o:p>
As you might have guessed, I backed the trailer out around the curve I’d just come through. That only took an hour and a half but screeching and scraping all the way. I get to the only point where I can make a turn and go forward again, but that turn was too tight as well. So we get out of the truck and have a look around. I walked around the front of the truck and found that the front plastic faring that covers the fog lamps and lower front end had been torn off in the move and was hanging down over the front wheel. Also found that the front quarter panel over the right wheel had a nice dent in it with a nice long dent along the entire length of the panel, caused by some other tree branch. The wife and I tore the rest of the front cowling off and threw it in the back of the truck. There, we spied the cooler and all the beer we’d planned to drink over the weekend. We decided to take a break and have a beer (or two).
<o:p></o:p>
After the beer we determined that we would have to baja over some desert to get the trailer around the corner and out. We’d already decided we weren’t camping what with the rain coming, broken windows, glass god knows where inside. We dragged the trailer over some rough desert scrub and headed for home. Nine hours later, beaten, scratched, beleaguered, we ordered pizza and got drunk. We stayed home the rest of the weekend.
<o:p></o:p>