"Safety Tips"

[Silvertwinky]

Thanks femuse for your post about traveling with the gas on and also for the safety links; it gave me the idea for this thread!

Respond to this thread to post tips for anything that is safety related. I think it would help our awareness to become a safer driver as well as a safe camper.

*****

I like to have someone observe the operation of all driving lights before pulling out on the road! I also like to travel with my headlights on. I believe other vehicles can see you better and I think they will be less likely to pull out in front of you.

*****

What kind of safety tip do you have?

[garry]

For me a non standard saftey tip.
At every fule stop I do a walk around around the rig and feel the tires and hubs, check saftey chains ect.
Saved me from having a break down due to a very hot bearing once and lets you know if a tire is runnng to hot and needs attention.

Garry

[john hd]

run with your clearance lights on in the daytime, one quick glance in the mirror will tell you if your umbilical cord is still hooked up.

that way you will know if your brakes will work.

i had stopped for gas, out of the corner of my eye i saw a guy too lazy to walk around my trailer. when he took the short cut between my truck and trailer he knocked my plug loose.

caught it about a mile down the road, when i didn't see the lights on.

the plug was scuffed up but still serviceable. for that mile i had no brakes!

john

[Pick]

Regarding temperatures, I have one of those infrared gun thermometers. I "shoot" everything at fuel stops.

After doing my axles and bearings, I noticed one was running about 20¢ª warmer than the others. When I got back home, I backed it off one notch on the castle nut. Now it runs about the same as the others. Another thing I noticed is that the front axle with the new brake plates runs 15¢ª warmer than the rear axle. Everything is adjusted properly.

[59toaster]

NEVER EVER park in tall grass along the hwy or anywhere with a hot engine. The tall grass can catch fire on the exhaust system. Passed a car on fire on in the grass on the Hwy last week.

Check under the vehicle as soon as you stop and just before you leave. Look for fluid spots that are pre existing and new as your ready to leave. Also look for anything that may have caught on the bottom of the vehicle like plastic grocery bags. Again a fire hazard or it can get up in the grill and block air flow for the radiator.

Inspect the trailer hitch assembly where it bolts to the vehicle carfully (check for tight bolts) before every trip and every time you hitch up on trip take a peak and make sure every thing is in order. Some are known for coming loose.

[Ken J]

Pick

Where do you get one of those infrared guns - are they expensive?

Ken J.

[RoadKingMoe]

Every time you hook up, run the tongue jack up until it's lifting the rear of the tow vehicle. This ensures the coupler is securely locked on the ball.

Folks with weight distributing hitches have to do this anyway to get the right chain loop on the end of the spring bars on it's catch. Hensley owners will find the screw jacks a LOT easier to tighten with the tongue jacked up high too.

Cross the safety chains under the coupler so they'll provide something for the coupler to rest on if it ever comes off the ball or the ball breaks.

Make sure the trailer electrical connector is long enough that if the coupler did come off the ball and is resting on the safety chains that the plug won't pull out. This will ensure you still have trailer brakes to keep the safety chains tight when braking and not sag down letting the coupler dig into the ground or the trailer run into the rear of the tow vehicle.

Make sure the emergency braking cable is attached to something other than a part of the hitch that might break off, and make sure it is long enough that it won't lock up the trailer brakes unless the safety chains have failed and the trailer has separated from the tow vehicle. You don't want a skidding trailer attached to your tow vehicle.

Once you start the hookup, don't leave the trailer tongue area until EVERYTHING is complete, including fully raising the tongue jack. It's too easy to forget to go back and finish a step. Don't let anyone or anything distract you during hookup.

[SBS]

I do it with my SOB, do it on your AS too:

number your hitching steps, remember you have let's say 8 steps, and when you have finished, redo a count: #1, #2, #3,....

I have a friend who forgot one step and lost his trailer on the interstate (not an AS). Now he counts his steps.

[airstreamer01]

Ken,
Your local Radio Shack has a palm size IR Termometer runs about 30 bucks. I think its a decent one. There are nicer ones out that you aim a red dot at the point of interset and it tells you the temp, but the price is over hundred bucks for a good one.

[thenewkid64]

Here is a link to the less expensive one

Infrared thermometer

[Silvertwinky]

Whenever I had the 350ci G-20 3/4 ton van, it would sometimes overheat going up hills while towing. Once I replaced the radiator it really helped but here is a tip which may prevent a breakdown.

When watching the temperature gauge I would see it was getting very hot (near the red area) I would roll the windows down turn off the A/C and turn up the heat full blast! Yes, it was a little un-comfortable but I would also watch as the temperature gauge would cool off.

This could make the difference as to whether or not you make it over the hill without a break down.

[59toaster]

Originally posted by Silvertwinky
Whenever I had the 350ci G-20 3/4 ton van, it would sometimes overheat going up hills while towing. Once I replaced the radiator it really helped but here is a tip which may prevent a breakdown.

When watching the temperature gauge I would see it was getting very hot (near the red area) I would roll the windows down turn off the A/C and turn up the heat full blast! Yes, it was a little un-comfortable but I would also watch as the temperature gauge would cool off.

This could make the difference as to whether or not you make it over the hill without a break down.

I'm getting ready to do a cooling write up for a website I moderate www.ck5.com

There are several things that can cause this problem and it is a problem and shouldn't be happening. Radiator is one. Cheap water pump is another. Then fun stuff like caps, clogged converters, bent exhaust pipes ect.

[drboyd]

...and that's to use 25% antifreeze instead of 50%. check out the Redline Oil web page under "products" then "Waterwetter" for more details.

Another good idea is a high-flow thermostat.

My daily driver is an Olds Cutlass with a 455 and a/c, and keeping that puppy cool in stop and go traffic at 115 in Phoenix can be an issue at times.

[SBS]

Another type of safety:

I just came across a thread from this past July: Safe from Lightning in an Airstream?

New members like "Silvertwinky" have been inspired by "older" ones, but, unfortunally, one may notice that a lot of those "older - productive" members are not with us anymore.

So, in honor of its 1 year anniversary, let me direct you to a September 13, 2002 thread. By one of our "dear departed" member, "Hex": SAFETY : >>>>Lightning Strikes<<<<

What made this a good thread [IMO]: after a lot of members gave their layman [laymen?] opinion, someone decided to go and consult an expert, like in "...... I wrote to the National Lightning Safety Institute and finally recieved the following reply...".

Threads like this one and posters like Hex and femuse are missing from the Forum nowadays. Again: in my opinion.

DISCLAIMER:
"The opinion expressed in the last paragraph belongs solely to this writer. It does not reflect the opinion of the majority of the members of this Forum".

[Silvertwinky]

When I was hooking up this past weekend getting ready for the return trip home, I remembered how we almost had the cord bounce out of the storage compartment while traveling one time.

Our storage compartment doesn't have a latch on it so I've learned how to pack the cord so I won't need to worry about it bouncing out of the back while going down the road.

After placing the water hose/hoses in the storage compartment in a way that takes up the least amount of space, (I try and do this by placing them in first and not allowing them to crisscross with each other) I then will crisscross the electric cord so that several parts of it is underneath the sides while it makes a loop and crosses back to repeat the process again on the other end until its all tucked away nice and cozy. Since I’ve been doing this I haven’t had any problems with it trying to bounce out of the compartment.

Why didn’t they just use latches on the storage compartment?

[Fyrzowt]

Here is a link to a report about an RV fire, and a mistake that lead up to the fire.

I linked to the story from RV Travel.

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