Another "ooops"

Well, I perused this Confessional Forum for others who may have done something similar. However, the lack of posts means either that everyone is fairly diligent about following the bug-out protocols as outlined by CI. Or they are/were just as embarrassed as me and were afraid to post.

Reserving late for this past holiday weekend meant that I wasn't able to stay in the same site in the park for each of the 3 nights and had to pull up stakes each morning. Because I was camping with friends and was using their site most of the time, my site was essentially just a parking space for the trailer and a place to sleep. I got complacent about my normal packing-up routine (cuz there was nothing to pack up) and left the single levelling jack down. And they do do a very good plowing job, and the site has a nice drainage ditch down the middle.

Thankfully the gauge of the steel in the jacks themselves is much thinner than the mounting brackets or the trailer frame, and failed before they did any damage. I'm sure that all these 24" scissor jacks on the market are made in the same factory in China, but with different branding, so a replacement was easy to obtain. I was able to leave the mounting bracket in place (its much more difficult to remove) and just replace the scissor section. Bolt holes are 2" OC if you need to match them up with another. Replacements are typically sold as a pair, which I was loathe to pay for. But if this happened to me after only 1 1/2 years of ownership, then having a spare on hand for a future incident may not be such a bad idea.

This faux pas was directly on the heels of leaving my large canoe pack (tent, bags, pads, clothes, about $1500 in gear in all) on our last site on our final morning of a long backcountry trip in Algonquin. Which I didn't notice until we got home. As the leader of a large group it was my responsibility to do the final sweep. Which I didn't do, or do very well. This necessitated an 8-hour round-trip drive back to the park, and 7 hours of solo paddling to retrieve the pack, which was still on site 5 days later, and undisturbed by human or animal. A miracle.

Both mistakes, and their ensuing consequences, will (I hope) instill in me a more thorough site sweep routine in the future, whether its front-country or back-country camping. If not, I deserve what I get.

 

Great message about doing a final sweep. We learned the value of it canoeing in Quetico one year. Forgot the fishing poles at a portage and of course instead of an easy lake paddle back we were 2 miles down a swift flowing river. Got them back after a combination of heavy paddling and bushwhacking along the shoreline.

Thanks for sharing.

We pick up our 560 next week in Necedah!

 

Congrats on the new acquisition and welcome to the club.

Normally, the jack inspection is part of my lights and turn signal inspection, from the rear, but I was only moving the trailer a short distance in the campground., so I didn't do the regular hook-up.

I should reiterate Ken and Peggy's great suggestion from 2010 that a brightly coloured block placed under the jack foot not only serves as visual reminder that the jack is down, but also assists the jack on softer ground, or helping it reach and do its job on a very sloped site.

I had thought of a small flag/magnet combo sticking out from the side of the jack, but the block does triple duty.

 

I’ve wondered why the jacks on my previously owned 550 don’t work smoothly - driving away with them still down would do it!

Steve & Karen, what was the source for the replacements (or replacement parts) you purchased? Did you buy complete jacks then discard the upper mounts?

 

Seth: I found them in a Canadian Source (Princess Auto) after I found the local RV dealership to be understocked and over-priced. Most of the ones I've seen on-line (Husky, Curt) are virtually identical.

The U-shaped mount that attaches to the frame with a single bolt, I left in place. They were heavier gauge and undamaged. Is hard to get a wrench on the top-side of the bolt to keep it from spinning to completely remove the whole assembly. The scissor section bolts into the bracket with 2 bolts 2" OC.

Cary advises that they don't stock these as a store item as the OEMs are far from unique, easy to obtain, and they can't compete with the pricing out there, especially after shipping costs etc...

I don't discard anything. The brackets will come in handy in some other fabrication or assembly I'm sure.

 

Thanks! I’ll take a closer look at my semi-functional jacks...

 

What's the club for the hitch taking a nose-dive when the wheel jack isn't locked? I won't say whether or not I'm in that one. One admission this week enough.

 

Yeah, I'm in the hitch ball club too. Fortunately, the hitch came off as the trailer made the transition and bump up to a section of newly blacktopped highway -- nice and smooth. Unfortunately, we were going pretty fast. The hitch remained useable though.

 

Jack knifed our camper the second night we had it. On the first outing a few weeks later, we did not have it hitched right. When I hit the brakes suddenly, it came off and hit the car. Without realizing it we towed it about 12 miles with the chains and the emergency brake engaged. Smelled real good when we got to the campground, nothing like overheated brakes. So before the second outing we got to replace the tires.

 

I bought a 10-pack of Lynx Levelers (they fit in the front storage "axe-hole" if tilted in through the door). A stack of leveling blocks (plastic, wood, whatever) under the jack = a lot less time time spent lowering the jacks.

I prefer the stacking leveling blocks - they seem a lot more stable than a stack of (usually dirty/slimy) wood chunks.

 

re saving time lowering/raising the jacks(s) - I leave a cordless drill in the TD. I charge it every so often, though it holds a charge forever. I don't hand-crank, any more, except for the final touch if I need to crank past what the cordless drill will do. Might be my favorite TD accessory!

-Al