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overlander63 · 12-03-2003, 09:02 PM

Okay, I have touched on this on another thread, but I will elaborate here, for your amusement...
Back in 1985, I and a couple of buddies, decided to rent an RV and take a vacation, see the fall colors, and quaff a few beers.
All went well into West Virginia, and we were going to head home the next morning. As you know, late fall can be quite cold in them there parts, and we had had a couple of days and nights that were unseasonably cold, with lows in the single digits, and highs in the mid 30's. We pulled up to the dump station, and discovered the black water tank had frozen. I innocently thought it was only frozen a little, near the drain, and we would dump the tank that evening, and all would be well. Not so. It had frozen hard enough to crack the bottom of the black water tank completely apart near the drain, and the only thing holding that part of the tank in, was the frozen contents...
We made it to Macon Georgia that night, I tried to once again drain the black water tank, to no avail. It was a little warmer here, maybe low 40's, but it froze again that night.
Off we went next morning to sunny Florida, where it was a balmy 75.
Somewhere south of Ocala, on the Interstate, I noticed a kind of blue fog coming from behind the SOB, and stopped to investigate.What I found was no drain valve for the black water tank, and of course the contents were all over the road, other cars, the back of the motor home, etc. I can only imagine how other drivers felt to be driving through the blue showers behind the MH...A few of them let me know in no uncertain terms what they thought of the situation...
Why the SOB manufacturer didn't put that tank where it wouldn't be so prone to freezing, I will never know. It was sure embarassing.

Terry

AV8 · 12-03-2003, 09:55 PM

>It is an acronym for Some Other Brand.

And I thought SOB stood for “Square Old Box”…

The only reason I am currently exempt from bone head moves, I don't have my trailer yet ;-)

fundave · 12-04-2003, 11:43 AM

redneck oops

When we got our 61 Safari, it had a few windows that needed replacing(thankfully not the dreded Corning glass). So after measuring and remeasuring, I was able to install the new glass.
Then I decided to install window film on ALL the windows, figuring that the silver tint w/ the Airstream would not only accent the trailer but would provide some cooling to the trailer. As I own and operate a glass tinting company, I used 6ml safety film which would retain the glass fragments incase of breakage...wouldnt want more broken glass on the floor.
So... when we finally got our new gem ready for its first adventure w/ my wife and I we packed up the trailer and locked the door from the outside(so it wouldnt blow open). I decided to go back in the house for another beer while the van cooled down.
Finally, after a restroom break for the wife, we set out to Vortex Springs near PonceDeleon FL. After the 2 hr trip... we got there only to relize that I had left the Safari keys on the coffee table.
First I figured ah hell I'll just unhitch the Safari and drive back, while my wife and kids enjoyed the springs only to find out that I had also locked the hitch to the ball( in case some one would attempt to steal our new gem I guess?) sooooo...
I then set about to break one of the windows...damn that tint sure works....

Thankfully, the deadbolt has a knob on the inside, or we would have been crawling thru the window all weekend.

wildcat455 · 12-04-2003, 11:54 AM

I had a similar lockout to FunDave. On my 2nd camping trip last month, my cousin and I had left sunny Mustang Island State park (temp in the 80's) wearing our bathing shorts and t shirts. We traveled NW 250 miles to Lost Maples State Park in Texas to check out the fall color. During the drive a blue norther came in, temps dropped to 42 degrees. We stopped for lunch and to to get some jeans and sweat shirts on only to discover the ##### door knob just spun around without engaging. No problem I think, just have to quit shivering and take a screw driver and pliers and pry a jalousie window pane out, reach in and unlatch. Only problem was all the tools were in the trailer too. Only solution was to jog over to the Walmart, but the tools, and jog back. At least the jog warmed us up some. Note to self... carry tools in truck, not trailer. Mike

dmreilly10000 · 12-04-2003, 11:54 AM

Several summers ago, I had just finished polishing my 1963 Overlander (days and days spent in the hot Mississippi sun). The awning was shot so I cut the material off of the roller an the gutter on the trailer. Since there was no cloth to roll up and keep the awning frame against the trailer, I took some electrical cord and tied the awning frame to itself so it wouldn't fold out.

I deceided to bring it about 5 miles to show it off to my parents. On its maiden newly shiney voyage, I looked back in the truck mirror and saw part of the belly pan trim flagging back and forth in the wind. I pulled over, got out, and discovered that the whole awning frame was gone!!!

Apparently, the electrical wire I used to tie it back was "slippery" and the knots slipped. I found what was left of the frame in a ditch on the side of the road several miles back.

bswaslien@aol.com · 12-04-2003, 11:57 AM

I also ride HD motorcycles, and early on one learns not to follow behind an RV, because of the funny tasting blue spray that comes from the back.

dmreilly10000 · 12-04-2003, 12:01 PM

Here is another tale of woe I posted last year:

http://www.airforums.com/forum...&threadid=2641

53flyingcloud · 12-04-2003, 09:32 PM

YUCK...

Quote:

I also ride HD motorcycles, and early on one learns not to follow behind an RV, because of the funny tasting blue spray that comes from the back.

I always THOUGHT that HD "flew" thru the clouds..More to the truth, that "funny tasting blue stuff" should've been frozen..lmao

Another excellent reason why not to be travel'in at night...

ciao

Silvertwinkie · 12-05-2003, 01:07 PM

Same as Roger...forgot to take the shore powerline and caught it just as I was moving it....lucky for me the plug came undone from the wall and saved the outer connector from damage.....

Eric

Swingking · 12-05-2003, 05:41 PM

two weeks ago while rushing to get on the road I walked into the corner of the back window and put a 5 inch gash in my forehead.

ooops.

Moonshot · 12-05-2003, 06:12 PM

My wife and I bought our 1963 Airstream and set out for our "shakedown" trip to (of all places) a flea market with RV parking in Columbia, SC. It was raining when we arrived, so we looked forward to stretching out in our new-to-us trailer.

We sat down on the gaucho and saw water on the floor, then felt water hitting our faces. We both looked up at the same time to see the escape hatch (about 24"X14") was gone and rain was pouring in. So, we got back in the truck and went home!

Scott

dmreilly10000 · 12-08-2003, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 63wind
We sat down on the gaucho and saw water on the floor, then felt water hitting our faces. We both looked up at the same time to see the escape hatch (about 24"X14") was gone and rain was pouring in. So, we got back in the truck and went home!

Scott

You shoulda just gotten a piece of plywood and a couple of bricks and fixed that problem real fast. I wouldn't have let a little problem like that send me home.

Before I got into Airstreaming, I had a SOB trailer stored at my deer camp. I came up to check on it after a hail storm and found all 3 plastic skylights busted out. Those bricks stayed up there quite a while until I got around to fixing it right.

nickcrowhurst · 02-12-2004, 08:21 AM

I was driving the trailer off from a campsite last week. My wife was outside, to check the site when the trailer was pulled out. Why was she jumping up and down and waving her arms? Had her home team just scored? Or had I left the power jack down??????????
That only rates 4 out of 10 on my dumbness scale, but yesterday's stupidity could rate a 9. I had removed an aluminum framed roof vent to replace the outer plastic skin in the double skinned plastic window, which had detriorated with sunlight. The frame and plastic was covered in 17 years repeated applications of Vulkem and silicon. It took over an hour of scraping, steel wool and paint thinners to bring the 14 inch square vent to bright shining condition, ready to fit the replacement new polycarbonate sheet. The vent was still fitted with the inner skin of plastic, so the vent was like a bowl, now that the top skin was off, and the whole was pristine clean, ready for the new Vulkem. I needed to profile the 4 corners of the polycarbonate sheet to match the curved corners of the vent, and I found that one of our coffee mugs had just the right radius of curvature when turned upside down. I fetched two of the mugs, and in the second I put a whole sachet of drinking chocolate powder, ready for my 11 a.m drink. While admiring the refurbished vent, and aiming to scribe the cut line round a mug, I absent-mindedly reached out for one of the mugs, and turned it upside down above the middle of the vent ..................................
Nick

RivetED · 02-12-2004, 12:49 PM

Last summer, in our SOB, we were in a site with a steep down grade at the front. The tongue jack wasn't long enough to level the trailer so I got some 2X4's to put under it. I decided that I might as well put a few (about 4!) there since it's a manual jack and it would save some time. I pulled the pick-up away and went in to help Deb finish setting up the inside. As soon as the door closed the trailer shifted, I forgot to chock the wheels. The nose dropped and sank into to soft ground burying the hitch. It felt like we'd been hit by another vehicle.
It took almost two hours to dig, jack, reposition, & level the trailer again. This time I chocked the wheels and only used one 2X8 to keep the jack from sinking into the ground.

53flyingcloud · 02-12-2004, 01:15 PM

This happened while I was camping alone (the year the wife was overseas in Africa) and, had no one to blame but the Airstream~!
It was getting rather late and, I had decided to step outside one more time before going to sleep. I had just shut the door, when I heard a "click" coming thru the door behind me. The vertical tumbler lock on the inside had dropped down on me. I didn't figure it was a big deal until I started fishing for my keys~
LOCKED OUT. My Burb keys were inside the Airstream and, the Airstream keys were in the Burb..Oh well...so much for spares..
Try calling around for a locksmith on a late Fri night~! All you get is an answering machine. I even tried calling the local police dept. but, they said they stopped doing that service.`
Finally, after numerous calls, got ahold of a young man who was willing to drive out to the beach..(had his girl friend with him...lol)
After working on the door of the Burb for nearly 20 minutes, he got it open..It cost 40$ and, ever since..I've always keep a set of keys in my pocket~
Always keep a spare set of opposite keys in the each unit. Plus carry one on you and, you should never have this happen to you.~

Navigator · 02-12-2004, 03:30 PM

The very first trip I:
1) lost the refrig access door
2) didn't close the front door
and
3) Pulled away from the trailer with the umbilical cord still attached.
Its hell going Through life being a dummy

mandolindave · 02-16-2004, 07:14 PM

The previous owner of my trailer redid the copper pipes.
I don't know when he realized that he routed them right
where the drawers go. Not a problem. With extreme conviction,
he " reformed " the drawers ( with a saw ) to accomodate
the plumbing upgrade. No wonder why they wouldn't open.
BTW ...Ron fixed it by replacing it with PEX where it shoulda oughta had to be.

StreamNTyme · 02-16-2004, 08:02 PM

just got our AS three weeks ago and could not wait to go to a Rally the first week we owned it. Checked everything twice and got on the road. Well, I left the key on a long crocheted ring especially made for the key hanging from the lock. Asked my husband if he locked the door, no, didn't I. After a quick panic we stopped....There it was ..no worse for the wear...

I am sure, according to all of you experienced AS'rs, that this will not be the last of oops for us... I am really learning what to 'try' not to do...

Moonshot · 02-16-2004, 09:28 PM

kmtyme,

Forgetting the keys! LOL!

Only did that once when we went to check on our AS after a hurricane. We didn't plan to sleep in it anyway.

My wife gets me with the key thing on almost every trip and I fall for it everytime.

"Did you get the keys?"

Scott

64GT · 02-23-2004, 10:25 AM

Arriving home after a long trip, unhitched the AS and had some excitement watching it roll down the driveway. Forgetting to chock on a hill, tsk, tsk.

Drove two blocks when I was flagged down. Door was open.

But my favorite oops wasn't really my oops, per se. I was driving down a county road, woods on both sides of me when a deer came out of the woods and ran smack dab into my newly polished trailer.

He was a little more shocked than me, I think.