The poster child for HOW NOT TO UNHOOK your 5th wheel

I left work last night at 2am, jumped back up at 7:45am, hooked up the camper and drove about 45min from the house up to Lake Oconee to a campground on the lake.
I was just gonna drop the unit off , set up and come back tonight after work.

I chocked the wheels down good, cause it was on a slight angle down hill toward the lake. put my wood blocks down for the landing gear, lowered my extensions,
Stepped back up to the back of the truck to throw an extra block back in,
Reached over and pulled the handle on the king pin " Anyone noticed which step I left out yet ? ",,,,, After pulling the pin, I looked back at the camper and realized I didn't lower the landing gear. Man o' Man my heart dropped. Usually I lift the pin box slightly off the 5th wheel. Lucky me it didnt' move and I didn't jump in the truck and pull out from under it. I had to sit there and think about that one for a minute. Wow that one move could have been an expensive blunder. And this is from someone that gets
48hrs of safety training beat into them every year. I still have no clue what drew my mind off of what I was doing other than being a little sleepy.

Just a moment of distraction is all it takes

Sean

Phillip: If that had been mine I would be going to the body shop for repairs.
Luck was on you side.

Makes my skin crawl just thinking about that.

Two words.....

BED SAVER

They are made for us guys who get distracted.


http://www.carparts.com/BLUE-OX-BEDSAVER-5TH-WHEEL-BED-PROTECTORS/GP_2013355_N_111+10718+600022616_10618.car?zmam=15972150&zmas=17&zmac=100&zmap=10618=2013355

I don't normally like to "trump" someone's story but I do have to tell this.
Right now we are back at the same campground we were at Memorial Day weekend. Nice place. Out sites are pitched some to the pond in back.
After a hard week and a bad day that Friday, We arrived here way later than I wanted. I too was in a hurry and very tired. Positioned the Cat, Dropped the landing gear, lifted it off the pin a little and pulled the handle.
BAD DEAL, forgot to chock the wheels. Trailer rolled back off the plate, landing gear dropped off the blocks, and as the neighbor was running to throw a piece of wood under the wheels, the pin caught the small kids bike behind it. It wedged between the box and tailgate. Little damage for what could have been.
The cat would have maybe gone all the way to the pond if we were lucky but probable would have turned and tipped at the swail.
Funny, when we left the house yesterday, one chock was stuck and I was to pull ahead an inch or two so my wife could grab it. I forgot and ran it over. So we come here one chock short. I made sure I blocked the wheel well.
Lesson for all with both of these stories.

Blame it on fatigue if you want.

Sounds more like a "senior moment" to me.

It's probably ALL down hill from here. Pretty soon, your doctor will start telling you how well you're doing for someone "your age". Next thing is, you'll be forgetting where you parked your Cat.

I feel REALLY BAD for ya buddy.

TC

TC, I'll be 49 next week. I was hoping this stuff would wait til I was past the 50 mark. At least I did'nt forget the chocks.

Yet.

I can't remember what 50 was like...