Bug Smacker

One of the first situations we experienced with our new Jayco RV was a bent Electric Rear Stabilizer Jack manufactured by Lippert Components. This is a very popular jack installed on many RVs and I can’t understand why this jack ended up damaged the very first time we used it.

I brought this to the attention of our local RV dealer who tried to present it as a warranty claim to Jayco. I received word back from Jayco that somehow I was responsible for its damage. I was told the damage was from improper usage.

Just looking at the way the device is manufactured you can tell it is not very durable. This thing is brand new and the motor sounds like it is over-laboring while having a hard time pushing the landing gear down into position even before they reach the ground. In fact before we even left the dealership, we were instructed to never put the jacks all the way up or the motor would be damaged. The main jack rails are extremely light weight for the purpose of securing any good sized RV let alone a large one like ours.

Today I called the manufacturer, Lippert Components, to get their input on the subject. After all I knew at this point I would be writing about my experience with this jack for the sake of others and I wanted to be fair and hear the manufacturer’s point of view. I hate to write non-flattering things about a product without getting all the details first. In fact I was hoping they would somehow change the opinion I had about these jacks.

Right from the beginning of the conversation I could detect a defensive tone on the part of the Customer Support Representative. As soon as he heard me speak the words “Bent & Jack” in the same sentence he kicked into self-protect mode. He said that “the jacks were designed to stabilize and nothing more.” If used any other way they would be damaged. They do not warranty damaged jacks.

At this point I was still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, so I asked what he meant by the word “Stabilize?”

He said that it was point the jacks first touched the ground.

I asked how much force that would represent. Is there an exact measurement?

Once again, he said that it was point the jacks first touched the ground. If the trailer moved at all, then that is too much.

I asked if he knew that the term “jack” was defined as a device to lift or support a heavy object.

He answered that the jack actually just a stabilizer, it was even in the name of it.

I then replied that if an egg happened to be on the ground under the foot of the jack when it touched the ground, would I be allowed to break the egg or would that be considered to much force?

After a long pause, he returned to his previously scripted line “the jacks were designed to stabilize and do nothing more.”

Knowing that this was going to be a lost cause and the fact that it was very evident this was not the first call to Lippert Components on the subject of bent jacks, I decided to cut him loose.

I have read several tips on how to try a minimize damage to this particular jack. Some of the tips may even help a bit. My disclaimer is that while I don’t personally advise the use of any of these solutions, I do recommend one of two things: either use the jacks very sparingly or rip them off and toss them out.

Back to the dealer for a couple of needed repairs. On our last trip we noticed that we could not open the rear sliding window. It apparently had been over tightened at the factory causing the frame to bind.

Also we found some caulk in the carpeting, one of the slide-out awnings would pool with water every time it rained and the front hatch door latch that had been replaced on our last visit did not hold the door in position.

I want to take a moment to thank my friends at Hamiltons RV in Saginaw, MI for completing my RV order. We ordered our new Jayco with two Air-conditioning units: one 13500 BTU and one 15000 BTU. For some reason or another it arrived at the dealership late last year with only two 13500 BTU units. I want to thank our salesman Bob for correcting this error for us. I would also like to thank Ben, Gordon and the guys in the service department for swapping the AC units for us. I am glad we chose Hamiltons as our point of purchase.

99 Things NOT to do when RVing

Tim R. Enright

A bit of satire for all those RVers out there who see the humor in what we love.

 

Don’t…

1. Drive down the road with more than 2 slides out.

2. Use your sewer hose to fertilize your neighbor’s flowers.

3. Backup your RV into the … FILL IN THE BLANK.

4. Hang raw meat on the clothesline to scare away the bears.

5. Tie the dog to the rear bumper while you pack to go home and forget.

6. Put your awning out over the fire pit so the rain won’t put it out.

7. Use the air conditioner, microwave, coffee pot, hairdryer and toaster all at the same time and wonder why the TV went out.

8. Drive your rig down a one-way road if you don’t know what is at the other end.

9. Plan a camping trip for your church group only the find out the place you booked is clothing optional.

10. Fill your air mattress with LP gas if you smoke in bed.

11. Believe the salesman when he says that you can easily tow that new Toy Hauler with your Smart Car.

12. Put the RV up on blocks and yell out to the kids “we’re home now!”

13. Run out of gas only to realize that you put the gas into your water tank instead.

14. Use honey as suntan lotion in August.

15. Drive your Rig through the fast food drive-thru window without looking at the menu first.

16. Hang Grandma’s lawn chair (with her in it) on the bike rack because the seats inside are full.

17. Park your RV directly on your neighbor’s water hose.

18. Forget to put the support bars under the slide out of your Pop-Up before you leap into bed.

19. Take binoculars to the beach and try to convince your wife you are just going to look for birds.

20. Fix your flat tire with Duct Tape.

21. Put whiskey in your fresh water tank to keep it from freezing (OK, this one really doesn’t sound so bad.)

22. Hook the trailer up to the truck while your wife is still inside on the toilet.

23. Go up top and check the TV antenna during a thunderstorm because you can’t get the weather channel.

24. Pour water down the outside of the kid’s tent when they are inside while moaning “AHHHH”.

25. Carry your PETA sign through a deer hunting camp.

26. Feed the Seagulls and wonder where all the White Rain is coming from.

27. Put Arm Floaties on Grandpa, push him into the lake and expect him home in time for dinner.

28. Leave the parking brake in your toad on as you travel.

29. Explain to the kids how you through the cat’s toy into the fire and you’re waiting for it to return.

30. Walk past the neighbor’s Pit Bull with a pocket full of Hotdogs.

31. Cook marshmallows over a fire taller than yourself.

32. Steal the neighbor’s Cable connection on game day.

33. Clean your fish with a chainsaw.

34. Jam a stick into the black tank drain to unclog it.

35. Pet the neighbor’s dog if he has foam coming from his mouth.

36. Whisper sweet nothings into your wife’s ear while sitting in a group around the campfire, if you forgot to put on your hearing aid.

37. Try serving a veggie burger to a hunter.

38. Sunbathe on a Tuesday in the rain.

39. Cook microwave popcorn on a campfire.

40. Ride your bike if someone stole the seat and the tire is flat.

41. Get out, drop to your knees and kiss the ground after the first time your wife drives the RV.

42. Use a Roman candle to start a campfire.

43. Go jogging in high heels before 6AM.

44. Eat all your worms before you go fishing.

45. Sit with your back to the campfire after eating baked beans.

46. Take the Pop-Up down with your wife still in it.

47. Fill your fresh water tank using the hose marked “not to be used for drinking” at the dump station.

48. Light your cigarette with a bon-fire.

49. Practice casting your new fishing pole into a crowd.

50. Go swimming with bait in the pockets of your shorts.

51. Use a hack saw to disconnect the power cord because it is stuck.

52. Stretch a rubber glove over the head of your neighbor’s little barking dog.

53. Dive into a frozen lake within 30 minutes after eating.

54. Yell out profanities because you dropped a log on your foot at church camp.

55. Sing campfire songs around the fire in the middle of the night, all by yourself.

56. Drive a 13 foot trailer under a 12 foot bridge.

57. Roast marshmallows over the fire on the tip of your finger.

58. Go for a hike in the woods wearing a brown jumpsuit with a white hanky sticking out of the back pocket during Deer Season. (Actually, I wouldn’t find this fashionable
any time of the year.)

59. Eat a Popsicle after it falls on the ground and more than 2 ants get on it.

60. Dump your tanks while driving down the road.

61. Water ski behind a red row boat.

62. Use gasoline to start the electric fireplace in your RV.

63. Swim in shark infested water if you are blonde.

64. Go to the beach wearing only the top half of your wife’s swim suit.

65. Kiss that sweet little puppy if you can’t tell which end you are holding up.

66. Pull the handle on your tanks before you hook up the hose.

67. Expect the life guard to save you if his seeing-eye dog is a sleep.

68. Go hiking with the wrong map.

69. Use your outside shower in the nude.

70. Put peanut butter on a jellyfish.

71. Start the campfire with your only remaining roll of toilet paper.

72. Take ownership of your air mattress by carving your name in it.

73. Play the cornhole game with cream-style corn.

74. Brush your hair with a grill cleaning brush.

75. Use a meat thermometer if you think you have a fever.

76. Yell “Fire” in the middle of bingo.

77. Run and Jump head first into the kiddie pool.

78. Clean your fish in the hot tub.

79. Shoot hoops with a shotgun.

80. Pitch a tent that is two-thirds or more in a lake.

81. Forget to duck under the bed slide on your 5th wheel while chasing after the dog.

82. Put all the snacks in the kid’s tent so the bears don’t steal them.

83. Shove all your fishing hooks into your front pockets.

84. Crow like a rooster at Dawn, or Sue, or Peggy, or Mary, or Jill…

85. Whittle a snake out of Grandma’s cane.

86. Try to squeeze your big butt into a small folding chair.

87. Throw flaming marshmallows at the neighbor’s kids.

88. Rent a RV for vacation if you don’t know how to drive.

89. Pour sugar all over the table to create a sand trap for the ants.

90. Run barefoot through the campfire so you don’t mess up your new sandals.

91. Practice your yodeling at 3AM.

92. Drive into town without unhooking either the electric cord or the hitch.

93. Tell the nice man at the boarder that your husband needs to carry a lot of guns because he likes to kill stuff every once in a while.

94. When your wife and kids go back to the trailer to eat lunch at the rest stop, unhook and take off. (However tempting this may be, it never works out well.)

95. Ask the salesman if you will need reindeer to pull your new Toy Hauler.

96. Shove the Kid’s hamster into the tank drain so they can run around and clean the tank out.

97. Put the steps away without letting anyone inside know.

98. Try to write a book about 99 things NOT to do while RVing, when you can only think of 98 things.

 

Article Courtesy of : www.BugSmacker.com : Copyright © 2013

Video Courtesy of : www.BugSmacker.com : Copyright © 2012