Friday, December 30, 2011

Driveway Incident

I recently put my motorhome in my driveway at home. I thought it would be the easiest to just back it up the driveway, and put it on the grass next to the driveway. I was a little concerned that the back end would drag on the concrete, and it did. However; it was just the bottom of the hitch, and it made a little scrape mark on the driveway. So I decided to attach a couple of heavy duty casters to the bottom of the hitch, with the idea of them lifting the back end up just a little on the suspension. The casters were rated at 600lbs each.  So last Sunday, I thought I would try it to see if it would work without scraping. It didn't.  I pulled down the driveway, and started the turn out the driveway, when Alex motioned me to stop.  I got out and the hitch was resting on the concrete.  At the bottom of the driveway there were ball barrings everywhere. I looked under at the casters and they were both broken. I got back in and attempted to back up, but the wheels on the right side began spinning. I tried to go forward and they again spun. The front of the motorhome was blocking the entire street, and the neighbors were having to go around the block. Drew, the neighbor across the street came over to lend a hand. We decided to jack up the right side and put a 2x10 under that tire to give it some traction. I used the right rear leveling jack to pick up the wheel.  However; the tire on the left side then started spinning.  I attempted to used the left leveling jack and when I tried to pick up the left rear wheel, the jack missed the concrete and sunk into the mud on the left side of the driveway. I had already started turning out of the driveway when I stopped. When I went to lift the jack to put a 2x10 under that side, the jack would not retract. It was stuck in the mud under the motorhome.  It was time for some shovel work. After we got the jack up and put the 2x10 under it the jack went down and broke the 2x10.  Drew volunteered to get a piece of 2x12 white oak, which also broke. After digging the lumber out we stacked several pieces on top of one another and finely was able to get it to pick up the left side. we then put 2x10s under the left side and was able to get the motorhome out of the driveway. All in all there was no damage to the motorhome and no injuries, so all is well that ends well. I owe Drew a piece of oak and maybe a bottle for being a good neighbor. And as I like to say, "If there are no pictures, it didn't happen".

1 comment:

  1. OUCH! Our driveway is too short for our rig and even if it was long enough, we would drag the rear as well. Our rig had drag wheels on it but they broke off at a emissions test center that had the lot from hell.

    Happy New Year and safe travels,

    Erik

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