More "Oops" Tales

[Minnie&Mickey]

Here's our really bad, really expensive OOPS! As some of you know, back in April, my husband and I bought our first RV...a 2006 used Fleetwood Providence. A few weeks ago, my husband was looking at the batteries in the back and noticed that they were all rusty looking and swollen. If I'm understanding this correctly, these are the batteries that are for the generator. He decided that he would replace them now, before it became a problem later, so he found the identical batteries at our local Sam's Club for something like $75 per (they are well over $100 at the RV stores). So he put them in, but they wouldn't charge. We were leaving in about a week for a trip to the beach, so it was important that we got this fixed. He called a friend that works on RVs who came by and told him that he had put them in wrong. Instead of putting them in all lined up, he was supposed to stagger them with a positive pointing toward the back on one, and then next one with a negative, etc. (hope this is making sense). They put them in the right way, and it appeared that they were charging. The next day, I went into the RV to put clean sheets on the bed and load some stuff up, and DH turned on the generator for me so that we could turn on the A/C. Every time he would turn it on, it would turn itself off within a minute. We finally decided to put it in the shop and see if they could figure out the probem and fix it (this was Monday, and we were leaving Thursday morning). As he was driving to the RV shop, the RV kept losing power...luckily I was following behind and had no idea what was going on. The repair shop called the next day to let us know that when he had put the brand new batteries in wrong, it ruined all of them. If I've got this right, it meant that we not only had to replace the 6 brand new batteries that we had just put in, but also the other one (or two...I have no idea) for the coach. Not only that, we now had to pay $150 per battery, plus labor, etc.!!! I have no idea how much it cost, but my guess is that it was over $2000. Needless to say, he was absolutely sick over it!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

A couple of summers ago we had been camping for a week in Lancaster, PA. We had just left the campground on this little back road only about a car and a half wide and I was watching for oncoming traffic so I could avoid it, when my wife said "watch out!" This Amish farmer had put his mailbox up with it sticking out into the road! My passenger side mirror on the truck clipped it, the mailbox swung around, caught the right rear fender of the truck and gouged the paint, swung around again, bent the trim on the front of the trailer, gouged the side of the trailer and broke a side light. I stopped and kicked Jakey's mailbox and tossed it in his yard. The trailer still has the scar on the side.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Here's another one. My wife was directing me while I backed into the driveway after a camping trip. I kept asking her if everything was okay on the radio, and she said "yep." Next thing I know, I feel a jolt and the whole operation is halted. I had backed into my utility trailer parked in the driveway. I said to her "why didn't you tell me to stop?" She said "I thought you just wanted me to tell you if you were going to hit the HOUSE." Kiwi still has the dent in the rear bumper from that one.

 

[drafthorsecrazy]

Our oops happened while pulling our livestock trailer. It was 2 days before Thanksgiving and we had picked up a load of horses, mules, and ponies. 26 to be exact. Yep, that's a big load and we were hauling them almost 500 miles that day. With livestock you want them good and snug----less room in the trailer for them to move around, the better. These animals came from an Amish farm in central Ohio. You've all seen either in person or pictures of the quaint Amish farms and the rolling hills of Holmes Co, right? Ok, now mind you, this farm is on the top of the hill with a gravel single lane road with ditches on either side big enough to swallow a car. Lets add 3 in. of fresh snow. We pulled out the driveway and started to creep down the hill. About then the weight of all those horses started pushing us faster. Husband taps the brake to slow the decent and the trailer starts to jackknife. He lets off the brake...we straighten out....but now we are going even faster downhill. I'm screaming slow down! I would have said more but my eyes were glued to those deep ditches. At this point he did a rookie mistake. The NUMBER ONE thing you NEVER do while going downhill with a standard transmission. He tried to downshift. The second he hit neutral that truck/trailer took off like a bat outta you know where. Truck is going way to fast now to get it into a lower gear.....or any gear . My life, his life, and the lives of all those horses are flashing before my eyes. This would have been a fine time for a good prayer....but all I could get out was Oh My God....Oh My God. Between the big man upstairs understanding what I was trying to say, and my husbands driving skill we made it down the hill in one piece.
Lessons learned (1) Never downshift while going downhill. (2) Reach down and push the freaking brake controller lever if the trailer is pushing, jackknifing you.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

. The repair shop called the next day to let us know that when he had put the brand new batteries in wrong, it ruined all of them. If I've got this right, it meant that we not only had to replace the 6 brand new batteries that we had just put in, but also the other one (or two...I have no idea) for the coach. Not only that, we now had to pay $150 per battery, plus labor, etc.!!! I have no idea how much it cost, but my guess is that it was over $2000. Needless to say, he was absolutely sick over it!

Wow, I'm absolutely sick over it too, and it didn't even happen to me.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Our oops happened while pulling our livestock trailer. It was 2 days before Thanksgiving and we had picked up a load of horses, mules, and ponies. 26 to be exact. Yep, that's a big load and we were hauling them almost 500 miles that day. With livestock you want them good and snug----less room in the trailer for them to move around, the better. These animals came from an Amish farm in central Ohio. You've all seen either in person or pictures of the quaint Amish farms and the rolling hills of Holmes Co, right? Ok, now mind you, this farm is on the top of the hill with a gravel single lane road with ditches on either side big enough to swallow a car. Lets add 3 in. of fresh snow. We pulled out the driveway and started to creep down the hill. About then the weight of all those horses started pushing us faster. Husband taps the brake to slow the decent and the trailer starts to jackknife. He lets off the brake...we straighten out....but now we are going even faster downhill. I'm screaming slow down! I would have said more but my eyes were glued to those deep ditches. At this point he did a rookie mistake. The NUMBER ONE thing you NEVER do while going downhill with a standard transmission. He tried to downshift. The second he hit neutral that truck/trailer took off like a bat outta you know where. Truck is going way to fast now to get it into a lower gear.....or any gear . My life, his life, and the lives of all those horses are flashing before my eyes. This would have been a fine time for a good prayer....but all I could get out was Oh My God....Oh My God. Between the big man upstairs understanding what I was trying to say, and my husbands driving skill we made it down the hill in one piece.
Lessons learned (1) Never downshift while going downhill. (2) Reach down and push the freaking brake controller lever if the trailer is pushing, jackknifing you.

That is a LOT of weight to be pushing you down hill. I sure wouldn't feel like driving 500 miles if that was the beginning of my trip.

 

[AuburnJen92]

Two years ago, we went down to see my grandmother for the day in West Palm Beach. When we returned, I noticed something odd about our mailbox. (we normally keep a cover over it with an Auburn logo and it was missing...there were just our house numbers on the box) The whole post and mailbox were brand new! Now, I was with my husband all day, so I know it could not have been his running over of the mailbox and fixing it, so I was a bit puzzled. We found out later that it was the next door neighbor's friend that plowed it over with his truck. (luckily he didn't hit our RV!) The oops came the next day when my husband decided that, for some reason, we needed to buy them a new mailbox too. He backed into their mailbox and "smushed" it. So, they were all laughing hysterically in the front yard watching Chris put the mailbox back up when he got back from HD. Guess who had to buff that out before we turned that lease in? (take a guess, it wasn't the one who ran the mailbox over....)

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Wow, I'm absolutely sick over it too, and it didn't even happen to me.

Yeah, I think the moral of the story is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

 

[ntsammy5]

My story involves fried chicken a bottle of olive oil and some folding chairs ---- on second thought I'd better not tell that one.....

 

[des1954]

My "oops" involves backing out of the garage to go to work one morning. We brought the RV home on a Wednesday to pack and get ready to go to FtW Friday morning. On Thursday morning I was leaving for work, minding my own business backing out of the garage, watching the garage door making its' decent, when........BAM!!! I totally forgot about the 30 foot motor home parked in the driveway! Nope!!! Didn't look behind me when backing because we had a long driveway that usually had nothing in it when I backed up. Uh....that was after two cups off coffee. The ol' Grand Marquis took most of the damage. And to think my DH is worried about me backing the MH. I don't know why???

 

[musicmama]

2 summers ago, pulling into our favorite (Lancaster, PA) campground for Memorial Day weekend when DH ignores my directions and cuts the turn in a little short and ... wait for it ... takes out the power pole and almost pulls off the back trim and bumper. The power pole is on HIS side. How could he miss???

Thank goodness that our camping neighbors there were our friends! Between all of the guys, they got the pole back up into position. And yes, the outlets did work.

 

[stacktester]

My "oops" involves backing out of the garage to go to work one morning. We brought the RV home on a Wednesday to pack and get ready to go to FtW Friday morning. On Thursday morning I was leaving for work, minding my own business backing out of the garage, watching the garage door making its' decent, when........BAM!!! I totally forgot about the 30 foot motor home parked in the driveway! Nope!!! Didn't look behind me when backing because we had a long driveway that usually had nothing in it when I backed up. Uh....that was after two cups off coffee. The ol' Grand Marquis took most of the damage. And to think my DH is worried about me backing the MH. I don't know why???

Grand Marquis????? Oh that's the Mercury version. I knew the Crown Vic was the choice of old folks, guess that's the other version.

 

[kc5grw]

Grand Marquis????? Oh that's the Mercury version. I knew the Crown Vic was the choice of old folks, guess that's the other version.

The Grand Marquis is the version for them uppity old folks.

 

[stacktester]

The Grand Marquis is the version for them uppity old folks.

That makes sense.

 

[BRDof3]

Finally got the pics downloaded.

This is what the chocks look like when engaged. This is the surviving chock, in the left-hand tires where I mangled the other pair.

And here is what the other set looked like when I looked back and realized what I had done.

At least it was a fairly painless lesson.