Thehiwayman rides again...

Hey everyone,

Tims the name, and I'm a new wildcat 31thx owner... this is my first fifth wheel and am looking forward to a new start in RV'n

about a month ago we (me,wife and four kids) rolled our chevy suburban and our BRAND new (yes first time tow) Keystone passport 29bhs...

the Suburban rolled two and a half times and the camper once after breaking the coupler and saftey chains... we ended upside down on the gaurdrail in Vandaila Illinois... It was really really bad.... But! everybody walked out of the Suburban without any serious injury...I got the worst of it after being thrown out the back glass and hitting the road...I was cat napping in the back of the suburban when the wreck happened... We still dont know exactly what happened to get it to loose controll and thats what bothers me! we are not nooby rv'rs We have made a seven thousand mile trip from Maine to The four corners area and north through Utah for the last six years and have been rv'n for about 15 years now...
I spent every dollar I could making the Suburban a safe tow rig even had a Reese sway controll WD set up as well to no avail. My wife cant really say what got things going other than a bump in the road and a semi passing at the same time... why she couldn't recover I'm still not sure...I dont blame her it could have happened to me to?

So after that I said thats... it I'll never tow again...well that outlook didnt last long and I signed on the wildcat today...gonna try the fifth wheel rout this time... If you fall off the horse gotta get right back on...right!

I'd like to show you all some pics of the wreck and the camper I'll have to figure that out...If I can post them you will see the magnitude of the crash and the damage...The state troopers were in awe that no one was killed...

I guess I'm passing this along as sort of a warning to slow down alittle... even though speed really wasn't the cause here. we were doin around 60...

And oh ya PLEASE wear your seat belts ALL THE TIME....I dont want to preach cause I hate it when people do it to me but, seriously were all so so lucky...If my kids were not belted in they would have been ejected...Its bad enough I broke the rules and was layin down in the back...the side curtain air bags and some help from above saved me.

I have cheeted a few time on a long push to Colorado and let the kids unbuckle and lay down in the seats NEVER NEVER AGAIN!!! I'm a product of 1970 and I dont think we owned a vehicle with belts until my moms K car. A crash can happen anytime and like I said things would have been much differnt if the were not...

So anyways about me.... I'm a proud conservative redneck from southern Maine with red desert sand in my veins...I ride a Harley, play the banjo, bow hunt and fly a Gadsden flag right next to old glory

But most people still reckon I'm an ok guy!

Pleased to meet you all, and I'm blessed to be able to tell you my story...

to the forum. That's quite a story and very remarkable that you and your family were all okay. The first time we visited our son and his family at Camp Pendleton, we found out seatbelts were mandatory. That was about 25 years ago, and we've been using seatbelts faithfully ever since. Glad to hear most of your family had them on. to them.

Near the bottom of the first page there is a forum called “Wildcat Forum.” It has two subcategories – one of them is “How to Add Pictures and States Visited Maps. In the Announcement and Sticky section is an Announcement called Pictorial Instructions for posting photos – using servimg.com . Follow those instructions, and you’ll be posting pics in no time at all.

From Winona and Ft. Knox

Very glad you are able to be with us. Enjoy your 'Cat.

Most of us have our signatures set up to list our rigs. This helps when answering your questions. Add a signature by going to your Profile, the link is just below the photo at the top of the page.

Wow! that's quite a story. Welcome from right next door in Southern NH

Welcome! Glad you and your family are OK. Pleased that you joined us. Enjoy you new fiver and feel free to jump in any time.

John

That was quite an introduction. Talk about a rude awakening!! Glad to have you with us, literally.

Welcome to the forum. Same thing happened to us back in 2002 with our Fleetwood Mallard and K1500 Blazer, truck did a 360° and landed back on it's wheels in the median of Interstate 64 and camper flipped on it's side. Nobody got hurt (wife and 2 kids in truck). Wasn't a fun ride. The trooper at the hospital said the same thing.
You'll enjoy the difference in towing the 5er compared to the regular hitch towing.

to one of the best forums on the internet!

TC

to the forum from the U.K.
Sean

Thanks for the welcome everyone....

Shooter, I feel your pain! my suburban looked a lot like that....

There's not enough colorful 's for you and your family Tim.Very glad to hear you all made it out in relatively good shape.If you wanna hang around do some postin and ask some questions,you'll find that these are some good folks and more than willing to help.
Enjoy your stay.

Thanks tracker 16!



Before at Wolf Creek Pass



After Vandallia Illinois...







These are just a few pics...you should see the inside of the camper...but it still hurts to even look at these...I worked real hard for that set up...but oh well...I keep telling my self shut up and stop your complaining!!! your alive and more importantly so is my family!

Those pictures just makes my skin crawl.

Welcome to the forum.....

to the forum from southern Illinois. Sorry about your trouble , I live (way) south 30 miles from the southern tip . I hope you will come back and visit . Good luck with your new Wildcat , I went from tt to 5er and am not one bit sorry . Jim

I went from tt to 5er and am not one bit sorry

Same here. But I had a much easier transition. The pics sure do reinforce seatbelt use for all.

Thanks Jim and Dianne,

Our trips to illinois have always been just passin through on I70.

But I got to say...the help I recieved from the people around Vandalia was just amazing...Its a long story in many ways but it was 100 degrees or so the day of the crash and we spent three hours on the side of the road...we were dirty smelly and bleeding litterally. I cant imagine what we looked like.

The state troopers dropped us up at a hotel and that was it...we were on our own in a strange town. The girl at the holiday in express looked us up and down and I could only imagine what was goin through her mind. She asked with genuine concern if we were ok and what had happened.

We told her about the crash and she was shocked....we had just the dirty cloths on our back and that was it...Everything was in the camper that was now being towed to a scrap yard along with the totalled suburban...
She new the location of the salvage yard and she dissapeared out to the back room...returning with her personal truck keys. Here she said, go get your clothes and personal items...
I just couldn't believe it... I refused at first... I'm the guy always helping people out but have always had a hard time recieving it...I'm fiercly independent and stubborn I guess.

She said you look like good people in a tough spot... she insisted on us taking her truck and we did...
we spent three days there before we were able to get rides for six people home...

I dont want to ramble on...there is much more to the story...(I'm a strory teller if you all haven't figured that out)but we met a local church pastor and he was very instrumental in getting us home...
The point I'm making is that the mid west is a different kind of place... Generosity comes naturally....Now, I dont mean to imply that you cant find it anywhere in our great country. Its just sometimes you just have to look a little harder....

Tim,
You had a beautiful rig, so sorry that happened to you and your family.

God bless the desk person at the Holiday Inn Express. What a wonderful act of kindness. There are good people out there. You were fortunate to have met a few.

We're so glad you got through all that - and found us here. May all of your memories with the new Wildcat be good ones.

Thanks so much everyone...

I was so close to saying "I'm done....I'll never own an RV again"

But as you all know the people and friends you meet on the road is part of why we do this...

At Lake Powell we have run into the same familly from Utah three years in a row, we end up within a stones throw from each others camp sight every year....this year we were right next to them....How do you live 3000 miles from each other and keep winding on each others door step. Its kinda cool.
While in Moab this year we met a couple from Alaska on a three month trip back east to where they were originally from.... It was Like we were good neighbors for the last 20 years and they are coming to spend a week with us in Maine before they head back to Alaska...

Its the connections and friends that I make along they way that made it impossible to quit Rv'ing...I get that same feeling here so thanks for all your thoughts and concern....

I'll see you on the road!

It took us 2 years before getting another camper and we went with the 5th wheel.

Earl