Things you shouldn't do ...

peasant

Some of these I've already done myself, others I've seen being done ...

- Leave the keys in your side door ...one gust of wind, the door swings open and you've got a nasty dent in your aluminium bodywork and/or a broken key

- Drive off with the 240v still hooked up

- Driving off, forgetting about the steps ...particularly interesting if they are of the fixed, retractable kind and there are obstacles nearby

- driving off without having closed all drawers, the fridge and the cupboards properly ...round the next bend all your belongings come to meet you in person

- driving with the fridge at the wrong setting ...very warm beer in the evening

- leave the lever for the awning hanging in the awning, only to wonder what that peculiar movement in your side mirror is when you're driving off


Please add to the list

KoNiT

I moved the camper with the toilet window wide open & luckily it was high enough to clear the garden wall by a few inches! i will now do the walk around check for any manuevering!


Funniest thing I ever saw was when an old caravan (black steel chassis type) landed into a caravan park with the side door flapping open & the net curtain of said door hanging on by a thread. The car stopped just forward of the caravan parking spot. I was thinking he'd never reverse it that tight when girl in the passenger seat jumped out & unhooked the caravan & walked it into position, without closing the door.

dollydishmop

Have very nearly done the 'run over the step' thing, but remembered it before the rear wheels got to it :rolleyes:

The only other thing I remember doing is not ensuring the swivel seat was clipped back in. At the first bend on our journey my passenger swung around to face me....not sure which of us was more surprised

stapeler

I've done the step thing a few times. Worst disaster was leaving an overhead press open and something came crashing down. I looked around and heard another band. It was my brand new Fiamma F45i slapping off a tree. All about 500 meters from my house.

TigerTim

One August weekend, a few years ago I was wuld camping by the beach. Saturday night was beautiful & I left the wind-out awning out without the heavy strap to hold it down. You guessed it. About 7 the following morning, there must have been a freak gust of wind as we woke to a really loud bang as the awning got bent back over the roof. No damage to the camper but the bits from the awning are still behind my garage. Needless to say, the awning is tied dowd with the black strap with the springs attached now every time we use it.

Has anyone ever has the springs come off the pegs that come with the awning securing strap. Last year it got windy while we we parked in Muckross Park, Killarney during an afternoon and while watching the awning moving up & down I saw one of the springs become detached from the hook on the peg. They are not securely attached but just go over a hook on the peg

T.

mike65

I won't post the Top Gear clip, nearly an A-Z of what not to do. You know the one.

Mike.

3ps

I once put the dining table top in the luton and drove off without putting up the restraining straps/blind and it fell down and hit the table "leg" and smashed the handle. It also nearly fell on my children so I've never made that mistake again.......

Driving off with the rear stabilising legs still down...

Driving off with the small windows in the Luton open....

2 stroke

A few years ago I left a site with my waste water tank full. No real harm but I was aware I was loosing water as I drove and was looking for somewhere safe to pull in. After A few miles a car overtook and flagged me down to tell me there was something leaking under my van. I said " it's O.K, the young lad is taking a shower. They drove off scratching their heads.

A serious not to do is, don't presume your tyres are in good condition just because they have loads of thread. Tyres have a limited life time as I discovered 2 years ago. I was checking presures before heading off when I noticed a bulge on 1 tyre. had it replaced and checked other tyres and headed off. 140 mile later, suffered a blowout on otherside. These tyres only had about 5000 miles on them and had loads of thread, but were 8 to 10 years old, and perished.

pathfinder1

Have you ever had the problem of changing an alloy wheel after getting a puncture? Recently a friend of mine had this problem and couldnt remove the wheel after undoing all the studs. The rim was stuck solid to the hub. Remedy get a sledge and beat the inside of the tyre to remove. Tip. Remove each wheel and sandpaper off the rust from the hub and put a little copper grease on the hub centre before repalcing the wheels.

ianobrien

2 stroke wrote: »

A serious not to do is, don't presume your tyres are in good condition just because they have loads of thread. Tyres have a limited life time as I discovered 2 years ago. I was checking presures before heading off when I noticed a bulge on 1 tyre. had it replaced and checked other tyres and headed off. 140 mile later, suffered a blowout on otherside. These tyres only had about 5000 miles on them and had loads of thread, but were 8 to 10 years old, and perished.

On the tyre thing, my brother spent some time working in the desert in the Middle East. Tyre failure there is common, due to the heat and driving with low pressures to get out of the sand. Because of this, they change the tyres every 2 years because of the heat and low pressure damage. As a result, he's paranoid about tyres (he checks them every day, both inside and outside) because of getting tyre failure in the middle of the desert.

As a result, he's an expert in reading tyre date codes and spotting other tyre damage. He told us that the 06 camper that we have has tyres that were made in the middle of June in 05, and as that they are getting near 3 years old, to get rid of them. Yet, they look perfect!

bigx

Hi
Under no circumstance should copper grease be used near alloy parts or you will get severe corrosion.
Yours bigx

pathfinder1 wrote: »

Have you ever had the problem of changing an alloy wheel after getting a puncture? Recently a friend of mine had this problem and couldnt remove the wheel after undoing all the studs. The rim was stuck solid to the hub. Remedy get a sledge and beat the inside of the tyre to remove. Tip. Remove each wheel and sandpaper off the rust from the hub and put a little copper grease on the hub centre before repalcing the wheels.

zagmund

One thing not to forget is to empty the grey water and the loo before leaving site.

I've done this once or twice, and if you're never experienced it then you may not realise the effect of the agitation on the liquids after they have been brewing away for a few days in the sun.

Not pleasant.

z