Stupid Pop Up Tricks

[B-flat]

We were traveling down the highway and this trucker is in the left lane beside us making the drinking motion with his hands and pointing back toward the camper.  When we pulled over and stopped, a coffee cup was sitting on the bumper of the tow vechicle where hubby had left it during the hookup of the camper.  We were about 25 miles from home by that time.:rolleyes: :eek:

[MommaMia]

I have never made a mistake!!!       Ya'll believe me dont you?!?! :rolleyes:

[angelsmom10]

climbing out
Man!!!! I just hate it when I leave the vent open.

 


No this was not us, but I'm sure most have done this once or twice before.  For those who were at the GLPUC at Cedarbrook knows who left their vent open and had to raise the PU up far enough to close the vent -- and YES WE DID JUST STAND AND WATCH TILL HE HAD IT LOWERED BEFORE SAYING SOMETHING:W

[NightOwl]

TWICE, I have closed down the TrailManor and then realized, ooops, I didnt push the steps in under the floor first, and on our TM, you have to fold those steps in early on or you have to put it all back up again.  Then another time, I tried to tow it from one place to another on our property without cranking UP the wheeljack post.  NOT a happy experience at all--bent jackpost and a groove in our driveway was the result.  SOOOO STOOOPID.

But I take comfort  from my own lack of brainpower when I recall the poor soul  I saw last spring  towing a very large and FULLY  UP StarCraft on I-985 South  near Gainesville GA.  I mean, this person wasnt even trying to pull off the road to close it back up again and he was going pretty fast for someone who was towing what was virtually a huge "sail" behind him--it was totally weird.  :eek:

[B-flat]

I was so hoping that no one would see me... when I had to move from one campground to the other in the middle of my stay.   No, just kidding.:p

The stowaway storage bin door came open on the side of the popup next to the door on our first trip down the road.  Had to make use of some duct tape to keep it from coming open until we could tighten the catch and lock it.  Luckily the crank and other items didn't fall out onto the road.

[aldebnj]

I had a major one a few weeks ago.  

We have just moved up from a Flagstaff pop up to a TrailManor and I haven't quite gotten all of the changes.  We can't store it at our home, so we keep the trailer at a friend's house.  I was having trouble backing the TrailManor into its spot so I did what I would do with the Flagstaff.  I put on the wheel and had my friend help me push it into place.  What I did not notice was the downslope.  I found out that it is impossible to stop a rolling 3500# trailer just by draggin your feet.  My friend was smart and jumped out of the way.  I tried to pull the break away cable but did not pull hard enough.  Luckily it was stopped by soggy soil and a pile of leaves about 5' short of a grove of trees.  Needless to say, the TrailManor stays hooked up for positioning now.
 
Al

[Rowdy]

We parked at the end of a spur above a lake, popped up and got inside to set up the kitchen and arrange the beds. Wife and I both sat on the edge of rear bunk, and since we'd forgotten to put the rear jacks down, the hitch went up in the air, knocking us back onto the bed. The camper rolled a little as we scrambled to try and move forward, but the wheels hit the parking barrier and kept us from going for a thrilling ride and an unexpected swim. Dumb? Yeah, but we never did this again. Hope you won't, either.

[Jim in Michigan]

Our pop-up (1999 Thor Dutchman) has a two piece door.  When popped down, the upper door section swings up with a long hinge and attaches to the roof with a couple of turn knobs.  On our first camping trip, we popped up in the dark and I was having some difficulty figuring out how the door swing arrangement worked.  (I did not have any walk thrus with my lousy dealer, and there wasn't an instruction manual given to me).  I got the door detached from the roof and then yanked back removing the door from the wall by the hinges.  I put the door in place properly and it worked just fine throughout the weekend.  When we popped down, I set the door in the aisleway and we drove home.  The next time I popped up, I noticed that the door had scratched several of the storage cabinet doors severely.  I went and bought some decent sheet metal screws and reattached it to the camper.  Now my wife sets up and takes down the door thinking she has the touch not to tear the door off of the ceiling again.

Since then I have replaced all of the cabinet doors with finished grade plywood and good quality fasteners and hinges.  The factory installed hardware all broke and fell apart in a couple of years.  The doors themselves were just pressboard with wood laminate. I did this three seasons ago and everything has held up great since.

[homecrew]

OK, We've left the keys on top of the popup and tried to pop down with the door still in place. But there's one SPUT that we've kept quiet, until now.
 
Remember the rally at Townsend where we became a cult?:J
 
Remember the local TV crew coming to do a story about us?
 
If you remember that, then you'll remember that we moved after the first couple of days to a site down on the river. We were supposed to hold off on popping up until the TV crew got there to film us in action. Well, everything was going fine and I backed the popup in just right. We were starting to unhitch and get everything ready for our debut on Knoxville TV. Just then we heard that the TV crew was in the campground. They were supposed to come right over and film us setting up, so I hopped in the Pathfinder, cranked it up and pulled forward. BAM !! What the h#ll was that? I ran back to see that the jack was pulled off of the stand and now sitting on the ground. How could this happen? I looked around and found the culprit. I had left the chains connected. And the TV crew was coming!
 
Lucky for me that Don, CamperT's DH, was the only person watching us at this time. Well, we didn't want to get caught by the rest of the Rally participants and the Knoxville viewing audience with our tongue in the dirt. So Don and I picked up the front of the popup while Janett set the stand back in place, just as we saw people starting to walk toward our site.
 
Whew, we had made it. I still can't believe that Don and I lifted the popup up that high. Then again, I can't believe that I then went and cranked up the popup in less than 15 seconds.
 
It's on tape, honest.:J

[NightOwl]

Don and I picked up the front of the popup while Janett set the stand back in place, just as we saw people starting to walk toward our site.
 
Whew, we had made it. I still can't believe that Don and I lifted the popup up that high. Then again, I can't believe that I then went and cranked up the popup in less than 15 seconds.
 
[/QUOTE]


pssst--it's called adrenaline    and its the same thing that allows someone to jump a 5 foot high fence in a single bound when faced with a charging bull.    :W Let's all stop and give thanks for the neat  human  Endocrine system that lets 2 guys pick up the front of a loaded popup in the blink of an eye (and not even look winded--or guilty--when the camera crew arrives a few seconds later) :p