Swing Wide and use your mirrors!

[Mike Goad]

I guess the title of this post gives a hint that I didn?t swing wide enough and wasn?t watching my trailer in my mirrors.

We were a couple of hundred miles down the road from home and had just left the Texas Travel Welcome Center at Texarkana, planning to get off I30 soon to get fuel. On the first exit, I spotted a station I thought I could get into. However it was on the wrong side of the road and the lanes, combined with traffic were such that I could not get into the turning lane at the light. So, I turned into the right hand lane and, seeing some parking lots where I could turn around down the road to the right, I turned right at the light - and then left, less than a block away, into the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant. I thought I had plenty of room, but?

I guess I felt it in the way the truck and trailer were moving. I really didn?t hear anything. I turned way too short and the side of the trailer just forward of the living room slide came in contact with a 1995 Pontiac - fortunately the only car on that side of the camper. The car was pushed forward over the curb, breaking off a water line and sending a fountain of water into the air.

The trailer wasn?t damaged severely, though it doesn't look pretty. There?s some metal from the corner of the slide that is pulled up and away, exposing some wood underneath, and the plastic doorway to the waste tanks? slide valves doesn?t stay closed (slide valves not damaged). Looks like a job for duct tape. We plan on continuing on with this trip and, before we get into any wet weather, I will have that area protected to keep the wet out!

Lesson learned the hard way! - Swing Wide and use your mirrors!

 

[Tinner]

Yes sir, sorry you messed up your rig.  One time years ago I was pulling a 32 foot gooseneck stock trailer and something told me to look back.  Another couple of feet forward and I would have made contact with a brand new Olds 98.  I have never forgotten.  Hope it all turns out OK for you.

 

[Mike Goad]

I think the worst damage was to my wife's nerves.  We're on down the road aways from where we stopped last night, sitting at a Texas rest area, checking all of our e-mail, forums and other on-line stuff.  We''ll be going just a few more miles and we'll be stopping there for at least two nights.  Maybe by then she won't be so nervous.

I was able to push the metal in a little bit so that it doesn't look so bad.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Sorry to hear about the damage, Mike, but rest assured you are not the first or the last. Most of us have had a scrape or two, from a moment of inattention. I recall when a tree jumped into my path while backing out of a site in British Columbia a few years ago. Never did figure out where that sucker came from, but it gave my driver side mirror a whap! I was watching the rig on the other side, making sure I was well away from it as I backed around, when I heard this creaking noise and was shocked to find a tree trunk about 6 inches outside my window, trying to rip the side view mirror off the coach!    I was lucky - could have been the  whole side of the rig.

 

[edjunior]

I read and heed.  I had a pretty close call just a couple of weeks ago.  The new house I have has a rather narrow driveway entrance, and the ditch that the driveway goes over is about 5 feet deep.  Well believe it or not, I have gotten pretty good at backing the trailer in there by myself (my wife will be here in a few months...can't wait!).  However, while leaving to take the trailer for some warranty work, I almost got in too much of a hurry going forward out of the driveway.  I actually tried to go the other way this time, and just didn't really have enough room to get out of the driveway and into the street.  I decided to stop and look at where my tires were, and they were just about 3 inches from going over the culvert into the ditch!  Yikes!  I never tried to go out the driveway that way again, and always get out and look before the trailer crosses over the ditch!

 

[WILDinTHEwoods]

Don't feel too bad.  Have you ever noticed a pickup truck with a fold in the side of the bed of the truck just ahead of the rear wheel?  That's from people not turning wide enough to go around the gas pump pole at the gas station.  Imagine how much damage that guy could cause pulling a trailer when he does that, and it's only a few feet past his butt.