In preparation for my upcoming shakedown trip, my dad and I attempted to set up the car to be towed by Vivian the Class C RV on a 2-wheel dolly.
Here’s a brief rundown of the experience.
Lesson The First
A dolly with surge brakes is heavy as fuck. A dolly with permanently affixed ramps is really hard to pull without wrenching one’s back.
Due to Lesson The First, my dad rigged up a small bogie wheel to keep the ramps from dragging when the dolly is under human propulsion. This setup worked like a treat when dragging the dolly the 50 yards from its storage location to the RV.
Even with the setup, I found it almost impossible to drag the thing under my own power. Or, at least, getting it initially rolling was impossible. I will clearly need to keep the dolly nearby when attempting to move it.
The ramps are permanent, so any tilting to pull the dolly results in dragging & scraping
This bogie wheel allows the dolly to be pulled (by a person) without having to tilt it up and drag the ramps along the ground.
Lesson Deux, YouTube Boogaleux
This collar can be loosened and moved to allow the ramps to be tilted down when the dolly is hitched
I was wondering, given the configuration of the ramps, what would prevent the dolly from smashing onto the ball hitch once the car was loaded. My dad suggested using a jack under the tongue to prevent this.
We had a real helluva time trying to line up the hitch and drive the car onto the dolly. Everything would go cattywampus with the slightest jostling.
I then had the genius idea to look on YouTube. Turns out, you don’t need to worry about slamming your ball. The dolly comes with a collar on the tongue that can be loosened while it’s hitched, allowing the ramps to tilt down for easy mounting. Whodathunk?
Lesson C
RV Parks don’t offer a lot of room to maneuver. We got the dolly hitched and the car mounted, so now it was time to exit my spot and hit the road.
This was after the park manager reattached the box to the pole. Oops.
I needed to make a very wide right turn immediately after moving forward. I was carefully watching my mirror and looking for my dad’s signals when I heard the CRUNCH.
Yep. I had knocked an electrical box clean off the utility pole serving my spot. With the park manager standing right. there. Oops.
It was in that moment I learned that mounting & unmounting the car should be done outside the parking spot, and on a straight, flat area. Hitch up the dolly, drive the RV to the straight, flat area, then mount/unmount the car.
The rest of the activity was uneventful – we made a quick trip to the gas station and back (whereby I proceeded to get poop juice all down my leg when re-attaching the sewer pipe. But that’s another story for another day).
I feel like I’m 90% ready to hit the road with assistance, and about 50% without assistance.
Progress!
Nice. Towing a smaller car with a longer wheelbase vehicle is a treat when you have to back up. I never could get it right. I jist took the car off first.
Pull through. Don’t even try to reverse, just plan to only pull through. I watched my wife make that mistake, and every time I would tell her “don’t do tha…” I would be given the death stare. And this was just a Subaru pulling a U-haul.
You can’t really reverse with this setup. It WILL jacknife within 10′ or less.
Yep, you need the car all the way off the ground if your gonna do that.
You’re not leaving the bogie wheel attached while you’re pulling. are you?
That could end up all kinds of bad, like hitting a bump that bottoms out and the car comes unhitched…
I used the Blue Ox system towing my Jeep. It was expensive (~$5k) but took about 60 seconds to hook up. Installation included vehicle braking (required in many states) and connections to the Jeep lights.
BTW, my system is for sale since we sold the RV. I need to get it uninstalled from the Jeep.
Also:
In your last post I added a scathing comment for which I am sorry. My bad experiences don’t translate to you.
I had to laugh: About two weeks after our RV was gone the Mrs. said, “Are there any RV’s available online?” I’m done but apparently she isn’t.
I would love a little two door Jeep that I could tow flat! Too bad them things is so ‘spensive these days.
The dolly I bought was only used once. New it would be ~$2500. Got it for $800, no bargaining. I snapped it up.
The square headlight jeeps are actually quite charming and run about $10,000 for a clean, unmodified model. One example, with a hard top no less!
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/jeep/wrangler/2460256.html
Since they are all called “Wranglers” now it is harder to tell which one you want. Go for late 90’s to about 2000.
I shopped around for a little Wrangler about a year ago. Yikes! Found one in reasonable shape and age for $35k. Yeah, no, I’ll pass.
We got our Cherokee and Grand Cherokee for 0% financing for 6 years. Hell yes, I even rolled over a couple of other loans into that package.
Yep. I had knocked an electrical box clean off the utility pole serving my spot. With the park manager standing right. there. Oops.
Ouch.
One of our first RV parks:
I unpacked the sewer line tube and installed it on the RV and plugged it into the park connection. After what I considered a reasonable time I disconnected the tube. What I didn’t know was the manufacturer installed plugs in the line at both ends. I disconnected the connection and about 30 gallons of raw sewage came spewing out.
My only thought was that I had created a toxic waste spill. I ran back into the coach and told the wife to prepare for immediate departure. We left so fast that I neglected to pull the power cord from the connection. I stopped when I saw that I was dragging a tail behind me.
Niiice. The sewer thing is not exclusive to you. It was my fried’s mom’s RV, so I was covered in his mom’s sewage.
Hawt. MILF sewage.
Germans….
Get a trailer dolly
Today in play stupid games.
LOL but too bad I’m probably going to have to help pay his hospital bills.
That is about one would expect on the “R”.
I live on the other end of the R. We don’t expect such shenanigans in my respectable neighborhood. 🧐
I used to take your end of the R from Bay Ridge to Rector Street monthly after topping of the batteries in my truck and shopping at the commissary on Ft Hamilton. Though to be honest I often jumped onto the N at 59th. The late-night transfer at 59th Street to get to Bay Radge was often okay, but sometimes a freak show.
I rarely do that ever since the N went back to express in Manhattan (this was after they finished repairing the Manhattan Bridge) and does not serve lower Manhattan any more.
Ah yes, I have done that late-night transfer many times myself, in various states of inebriation.
Me too. Only slightly less, but I do pay NYC and NYS taxes.
Do they not have any copy editors. The boy is 15 or 11 depending where you are in the article.
It’s always an adventure in the… What branch do you work for again?
Anyway, sounds like fun!
Link in dead thread:
Thursday’s speech comes as Biden is ramping up his travel schedule in the closing months of the midterm elections. The event in Philadelphia will be his third in the battleground state in the span of one week. Biden on Tuesday intends to discuss his plan for public safety and will contrast that with what he will say is an “extreme MAGA agenda” from congressional Republicans that “is a threat to the rule of law.”
The situation is dire. America’s domestic enemies must be subjugated.
“rule of law”
LOL. Is anyone buying any of this?
Democrats.
I am afraid of asking my mom what she thinks about this whole mess.
Do Biden’s people believe him talking in a certain area is going to help? If the local pols don’t show up, you know he is electoral poison.
OBE, blancolirio put out a video about that collision you were talking about
https://youtu.be/i2Up_Cw8X-g
I don’t know if this has been shared but even if it has, it is too good not to share again.
LOL
Did you consider doing a flat tow instead?
Can’t with my car, and given the price of used cars these days, the dolly is the better option. For now.
I got logged off of the site about 10 minutes after I posted my last comment.
Also, does the “Remember me” function work on any website, anywhere?
Also, also: “Remember me” always reminds me of Bender’s gigantic monument.
Here, “remember me” expires after a couple weeks or so. I believe it’s defined by the webmistress.
Here it varies for me between a few hours and a few weeks.
Hm. It’s always been constant for me. 2 weeks, 4 weeks, not sure which.
But yeah, it sucks when it hits you.
It never works for me, but I have my password saved to Brave.
Not Sanford and Son, but still great.
$800 for a dolly, you stole that.
My first towing lesson: if you’ve been away from the rig even for a little while, double-check everything.
The story: I tow my car to the racetrack behind an SUV. If you look at the pic, you’ll see that the jackstand at the fore of the trailer is off about 10 degrees compared to the fence post behind it. I was getting ready to head to New Orleans, and decided to load my car on the trailer and get everything squared away the night before I left. The next morning, I threw my bags in the SUV, and headed out west after a cursory inspection. Too cursory. As I went to gas up near Tallahassee, someone pointed out that I was dragging the jackstand. It had been scraping over every bump in the road for 120 miles.
I live at the end of a cul-de-sac, and had partially blocked a path that some kids from the next neighborhood over used on their way to their school bus stop. The morning I was leaving, one showed his annoyance at having to go around my rig by lowering the jackstand as far as it would go. No big deal if I had caught it, just twenty seconds of cranking the jack handle and grumbling. But I didn’t catch it. Fortunately, the stand still raises and lowers, but I have to put a piece of 4×4 or a cinder block under it now to raise it over the ball hitch when I’m detaching the rig.
Now I always go through the trailer setup checklist, twice.
How many external cameras do you have? They are relatively cheap and are usually wireless. Makes checking your load, maneuvering, and backing up a lot easer by yourself.
So far just the one in the rear of the RV, but I have a dashcam that I need to install. The rear cam from the dashcam will go on the car, so I’ll be able to see both the car under tow and the road behind the car.
Every time I think to myself, “Self, sell the house, get a kick-ass RV and wander the country! The free life of the nomad! It’ll be great!” , I read a line like “I got poop juice down my leg.” Cures it right quick. Hmmm, I wonder if Sugarfree might be able to work “I got poop juice” into an installment of Joemala?
I’m reminded of my last bowel cleanse.
GAH!?
Well, yeah – when they want a look up there they want you to clean house first. Juicy poops all night.
Mandatory.
https://youtu.be/Ku42Iszh9KM
I’m expecting Butthole Surfers.
Crazy shit. Smoking rooms still exist in NYC hotels. How come it’s not against the law? I would have believed if it was in Wyoming or West Virginia but in New York City?
Catering to Asian travelers?
Stayed in a smoking room in the theater district.
The whole floor smelled like an ashtray.
Maybe theater people smoke a lot?
Narrator: Theater people smoke a lot.
Those clove cigarettes ain’t gonna smoke themselves.
Weird. In my recent out-of-state business travels it was impossible to find a hotel that allows smoking. The ones I did find were way outside of town.
PS. I have since quit real smoking but of course they treat vaping the same even though it’s obviously not.
The ones around here warn about high cleaning charges if there’s any hint of smoke in the room. It covers tobacco, but it’s the marijuana that it’s mostly aimed at.
Obviously, you need a tug for the dolly and Vivian.
https://xcedgse.com/product-by-category/conventional-pushback/new-2019-textron-gse-gt35a/
Also some wingwalkers.
Missed the afternoon thread. Longest C130 flight I’ve taken was from KWI to Ft Carson. Broke down at Moron AB, which was nice flying a supposedly fixed plane right over the Atlantic. We did land in Gander so turned out ok. Outbound was on a 737 charter.
Strangest flight was RAF VC10 from west coast to UK and back. All of the seats were rear facing. RAF has a great inflight lemon drink.
RAF Merlin was a smooth ride, but those @#$%ing pilots needed a kick in the arse. “I’m free from all this peacetime shit. I can sandblast everyone, juke, weave, dodge!”
C-5’s seats also face to the rear.
The strangest flight I took was a hop on a KC-10 from Travis, CA to Ramstein. The two spots are quite close when you fly over the North Pole on the summer solstice. The crew refueled some F-15 as we were crossing the pole.
No one knows what it’s like…to be The First man….the best man…behind blue eyes.
KK, this was hilarious. Backing up trailers, boats etc is not easy
I used to have a CDL ( commercial driver’s license) back in 1999-2001, while I was traipsing around the United States testing underground cable so as to enable scheduled maintenance instead of reactionary repair after a failure.
To this day, if I’m on a long drive, I instinctively feel I’m supposed to pull into the weigh statio
Old habits die hard (BTW, I tested cables serving the US Capitol building and the pentagon. Congress was “meh” but the pentagon was really fun and educational.
Had my nephew over to hang out and play video games. When I went to pick him up somehow the Biden college loans thing came up. My sister agreed that politicians will just keep using it to buy votes, then she went on a tirade about military spending…then about how the US should be like ‘the rest of the world’ and make college, healthcare, burial, etc, etc free. I just took the kid to my house and let him play video games and hang out. He said the game he played here is now his favorite, he doesn’t know it’s older than him.
Get a retro pie set up. Buy a pre loaded card with thousands and thousands of retro games. He’ll never be bored again.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/load-of-tomatoes-spill-all-over-i-80-in-vacaville-in-big-rig-crash/ar-AA11euci
Horrible way to make salsa.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/08/29/canada-Hamilton-Public-Library-overdue-46-years/6061661799390/
Mr Bookman will be pleased.
https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2022/08/pregnant-hov-lane-mom-has-one-ticket-dismissed-then-gets-another-you-again.html
She sounds fun.
I love how she pretends it isn’t about just naked self-interest and her convenience, and that the lefties pretend as if this really is some great gotcha moment.
Morning, Glibs.
*waves*
It’s odd having gotten close to what other people regard as a normal amount of sleep. Though I don’t know why I dreampt I worked in a foresnics labs doing laser ablation of pottery glazes.
That’s so weird.
Everyone knows working with rust lasers is much more satisfying.
https://youtu.be/2quCvinouqo
https://ktla.com/news/california/san-diego-zoo-penguin-fitted-with-orthopedic-footwear/
Penguins!
No show Fetterman:
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/no-show-dem-senate-candidate-skipped-dozens-of-city-council-meetings-as-mayor/
And he’s still likely do beat Dr. Oz even though he was a shitty mayor and he is a stroke victim who’s showing the aftereffects (not his fault but he has brain damage and it’s effecting him). No one to thank but Trump for that one, whoever advised him to endorse that chump needs to be fired.
Trump probably endorsed Oz based on a combination of knowing him and Oz defending use of HCQ during the Lil Rona Panic. For the latter, Trump rewards loyalty.
It’s deserving of a hearty handshake and a “Thank you”, that’s about it. Loyalty can be laudable but loyalty to the point of stupidity is just, well, stupid.
AAA has a new Rick Astley commercial:
https://youtu.be/GtL1huin9EE
https://nypost.com/2022/08/29/nebraska-man-shatters-world-record-for-longest-trip-in-a-pumpkin-boat/
People are weird.
What is the record for not caring?
I’m just surprised the record exists… longest distance traveled in a pumpkin seems awfully specific and stupid.
Welcome to the Guinness World‘s Stupidest Records. Care to know about important events like the most Elvis impersonators singing together? Longest time spent on a pogo stick? Well they have those and many more.
I do miss the two fat brothers who rode motorcycles, I must admit.
I think it’s awsome.
I’d bet folks pore through the Guinness books looking for things that AREN’T in it – whatever kind of crazy stunt they can imagine. If it’s not already in the book, they don’t have to worry about breaking someone else’s record! 😃
Well, the book is entirely about bar trivia, so the more trivial the record, the more apt.
Looks like McInnes being arrested is a prank:
https://rumble.com/v1hw7tv-gavin-mcinnes-arrested-during-show-is-looking-like-it-was-an-awful-prank.html
Have mercy, talk about career suicide…
I’m going to not watch him even more than I’m already not watching him.
From what I’ve seen he’s not very funny but I recognize how some could think he is. He’s too unfocused and he apparently pulls shit like this from time to time. Not the Devil like some claim but not trustworthy either.
The movie he did about a decade ago – How To Be A Man – was unexpectedly good. I enjoyed it.
What a dipshit
suh’ fam
whats goody
Mornin’
I executed another round of chemical warfare against the ground nesting yellow jackets. There was activity in the nest. I found an extender tube that works with the can of foaming ground nesting insect killer. I got the tube down the hole, and sprayed whatever was left of the can, I’d estimate 3/4ths of the can, into the hole. Let’s see what happens.
Gym time soon.
Plot twist – they weren’t yelllow jackets but yellow vests and the french protesters are getting annoyed enough to storm DEG’s house.
French protestors.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8jGqdE2iw
Good morning, DEG, homey, Scruffy, slummy, Stinky, U, RoaT, and Sean!
Got payroll submitted AND approved yesterday, finished up the charge-offs report for the month, and got a little head start on the recoveries report. With any luck (::knocks wood carefully::) nothing earth-shaking will come up, and I can spend the last couple of days of the month plodding along at a leisurely pace.
*sneaks up*
*shakes GT’s desk*
*runs away*
EARTHQUAKE!!! 😱
::hides under desk::
EARTHQUAKE!!! 😱
Were they tall cans of Earthquake?
Tres hardest hit.
I start a new project Thursday. I wonder how long it will take to get accounts and all setup so I can be productive.
When I’m getting paid by the project this doesn’t take very long. When I’m getting paid by the hour, it takes a looong time.
Well, the request I put in for accounts for our project vendor got jumbled up in procedure.
“ Unvaxxed Coast Guard Cadets Given 24 Hours To Leave Campus”
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/unvaxxed-coast-guard-cadets-given-24-hours-vacate-campus
Pathetic…
They could spread COVID to the vaccinated cadets.
Since the government doesn’t respect religion any more, these cadets should just say the jab violates their race. (If they are white they might want to identify as something else first.) That’ll get their attention.
Well, my movers did actually show up yesterday. They did a pretty crappy job, but at least “all” the stuff is in the new place. It’s going to be a giant 3D puzzle getting everything re-arranged, unpacked, and so on, but so it goes.
Now it’s off to the old place for cleaning and getting the odds and ends packed and schlepped over here. Oh, my aching back ;-\
Moving well and truly sucks even under the best of circumstances. I hope this is a significant step up for your quality of life to make all the effort worth it. Good luck!
Any sign of your wayward roommate? And if you don’t mind my asking, will you be sharing these new living quarters with anyone?
Sounds like great fun, but it’s for a good cause, right? Lack of roommate sounds like a big plus.
Mornin’, reprobates!
Good morning, ‘patzie!
RAIN!
We got 1.5 inches last night. It was beautiful.
half hour later, no standing water at all. Flowed into the desiccation cracks.
Still happy.
Now if only I can find my email icon on my work laptop I will be ok.
Yay!
It sounds like the icon got sacrificed to Tlaloc for the rain tho
Yay! Glad you finally got some rain, who says climate change is a bad thing? Hope you find that wayward
sheepicon soon.@ 6:15 AM, i have been on hold with the help desk.
I have a feeling this is a base wide computer problem.
Fun times….
I have so many other icons i would have been happy to sacrafice,
O Frabjous Day! Hope more is in store!
And a missing work email icon doesn’t necessarily sound like a bad thing to me… 🙄
Ehhhh.
Since most of my work from home is through email, not having it can force me to drive. Found an ICON, but since an “upgarde” most of my PST files are missing…..
Fun times.
Well this article was an epic fail 🙁
Not even a single smartass remark about slamming balls.
Sorry, KK
Slamming balls is generally painful.
It was a great article. Thank you.
If that were the case it probably would have generated a bit more discussion, but thanks.
I don’t take it personally. It’s just not something y’all are that interested in. 🤷♀️
I was off bowling.
And this morning I’m at work.
I’ve not been able to give the content the attention it deserves.
Just read it, night shift is not my thing.
Don’t know about slamming balls, but teenaged me wishes he’d known this:
“It was in that moment I learned that mounting & unmounting the car should be done outside the parking spot, and on a straight, flat area”
Not just cars.
You have my sympathy.
Also, if you want to come visit and build a stone wall around my yard, you are welcome to.
Question: instead of towing, would it not be better to get one of those 800k Mercedes RV things with a built in garage for a smart car? Or those with a built in garage for your Porsche?
No, that takes away from the space for the living area. plus it costs too much.
actually there was plenty space in that huge bus thing. Or truck I do not remember.
this is one of them. 2 mill. It’s a steal really.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW_MCJruPqM
Guy I hired last week started yesterday.
Guy I hired yesterday started today.
🙂
Are they tall dark and handsome?
I don’t think Sean cares. The Ladyglibs, on the other hand….
Correct.
The one dude has a nice truck (for a Chevy).
Who starts tomorrow?
THIRD BASE!
No one, but I have another good candidate I interviewed yesterday. I might bring him onboard very soon.
the workers should control the means of production not you.
Why? They’re already getting paid for their time and skills. If they feel shortchanged, they can work elsewhere, or even try to start their own business.
they can\t because the capitalistic system is oppressive and keeping them down.
citation needed.
Can I ask what line of work? Seem to have a significant amount of turnover! Or in a period of rapid expansion.
shooting steaks with guns. It is hard work but someone needs to do it.
Rapid expansion.
Residential contractor kind of stuff.
Fired one lazy ass mf’r and the chick left after 3 days cuz she had issues.
I’m still up six for recent hires. Plus 1 return employee!
Logged in early after a day off work to find that I have a meeting in three minutes. 😡