Good news, bad news

"It could have been so much worse," I said to Leonard as he stood gazing dejectedly at the badly-damaged tailgate of our now three-week-old F350. Though it took awhile for that notion to really sink in with both of us, we later agreed we had been lucky that Tuesday's mishap wasn't more serious.

 It was our first full day as RVers.

The incident began with a knock at the door and a representative of our RV dealer asking if a couple of his crew could hitch up the 5th wheel and take it for a short spin around the dealership. This step would be necessary to insure that our trailer brakes worked properly before we hit the road.

Now, every time you tow a trailer, it puts both structure and contents through the equivalent of a high-magnitude earthquake. Anything that isn't tucked away safely and securely becomes a projectile. If it doesn't break, it likely will make sure something else does. Armed with this knowledge, Leonard and I quickly and (I don't mind saying) expertly readied the unit for departure.

Leonard then started up the truck and masterfully proceeded backing it into the appropriate spot. After guiding him the rest of the way to couple hitch pin and pin box, the pros proceeded to review the hitching arrangement and make sure it was secure and ready for towing. Except it wasn't. Here's where this little tale turns nasty.

Two of our rig's six hydraulic stabilizers

Once parked, a 5th wheel sits on legs that keep it from tipping forward, backward or side-to-side as its occupants move about the inside. If that arrangement becomes imbalanced, well, it's just not good. The rear stabilizers can be stowed just prior to towing and without difficulty because an unoccupied trailer's wheels keep it from rocking backwards. The front, however, is a different story. Once those front legs are raised, the 4000 pounds (give or take) of unsupported weight wants to go one place. Down.

As long as the hitch pin was sitting in the jaws of the hitch in the middle of our pickup bed, everything was fine. Once the truck pulled forward, all bets were off, and all that weight came crashing down on the tailgate. The gate was a total loss.

The good news here, and there is good news, first of all is that the accident was the dealer's fault. The service manager arrived on the scene within minutes, instructing his crew to remove the damaged part and transmitting information to a local body shop arranging for a replacement.

Better still was the fact that there was no damage to the RV or the truck bed. Amazing.

Best of all, no one was hurt. In a "worst case" scenario, had that truck not stopped the tipping of the RV, someone standing in the wrong spot easily could have been killed.


Looks like Truckzilla's got company. Ain't she a beauty?

The bad news? Well, it looks like we may have to hang out in the Springdale area just a bit longer than expected awaiting delivery of our new tailgate. If so, we'll scrap plans to check out Beaver Lake, Arkansas so we can stay on schedule for a mid-May return to Kansas.



Eyes on the road! Towing requires good
driving skills and even better concentration.

Today is a new day. After two nights parking at the RV dealer's lot, we successfully relocated to our first proper RV park without incident. Here, we'll focus on the challenge of learning the ins-and-outs of operating a home on wheels.

[Spoiler alert: Watch for a future posting about how to dump an RV's sewage tanks. (Good times!)]