Today I’ve decided to write about something that constantly becomes a conversation with our beloved clients. I’m going to break this down into a few sections because it might be a bit long, and if reading it in one chunk isn’t practical, I hope you’ll at least come back a few times and take in the whole thing. Time is at a premium right now and I’m sacrificing some to write this because it’s important, in some situations, even life-saving important!

Background

Once upon a time, long (LONG) ago, when I was a young man, I had an incredibly agile, organized memory. When a task was at hand, the steps of the task magically arranged themselves on a sort of special blackboard in my head. As I performed the steps, they would also magically, and very securely, be wiped from the board. I never missed a step. If there were contingencies or variations required, the blackboard just rearranged itself and on I went relentlessly towards completion.

This ability/habit was actually quite a bother in flight training, where checklists often mean the difference between life and death. Although I was a natural at “stick and rudder work”, chartography, radio communications, the physics of flight, and even immune to motion sickness, the use of a physical checklist turned out to be my biggest weakness. I had absolute trust for my friend and flight instructor, so I committed to making it happen.

Then, one day, he proved to me it was necessary. As we were doing a preflight inspection, he noticed I wasn’t using the flip pad of all the plane’s various checklists. He set me up by “discovering” a potential issue with one of the landing gear tires, then led me away from the next item on the checklist by jumping in and covering a few things to “make up for lost time”. As we settled into the cockpit and I reached for the ignition key, he asked, “Did you take the sock off the Pitot tube?” He had me. The consequence would be no airspeed indication and it wouldn’t have been obvious until our takeoff roll. Since the flight characteristics of a plane are very dependent on airspeed, having no indicator is inherently dangerous.

Flash forward to the RV arena a few (OK, OK, more than a few) years later. I knew from the beginning that working with the heavy equipment of a 10,000 lb. truck and a 17,000 lb. fifth wheel camper was dangerous business. I had already seen others have accidents both small and large. I paid careful attention to how various situations had unfolded to avoid them myself. When it was time to start hitching that monster camper to my monster truck, my first move was to make a checklist.

One checklist grew to many checklists for different phases of our travels. Eventually Michelle discovered Changing Lanes on YouTube and we adopted their division of checklists into activities that can happen at “T-24”, “T-12”, and “T-0” (think T minus hours to take-off). We eventually expanded on that idea and our lists are now a comprehensive suite of both necessities and conveniences that we just don’t have to think about (or stress about) as we ramp up to one of our frequent drive days.

The Objections

I’m going to stop right here to acknowledge the nay-sayers. As I said above, checklists can seem like a bother and, under normal circumstances, add a layer of “busy work” to a task. Complaints we’ve heard are:

• I don’t need a checklist because it’s like second nature at this point.
• Checklists are for newbies.
• Checklists make things take longer and I could be using my time more wisely.
• If I needed a checklist to go camping, I shouldn’t be camping in the first place.
• My mind is sharp as a tack. I never forget anything.
• Checklists are too tedious.

There are many variations on the above, but you get the picture and may have even used some of these yourself. As I said in the Background section above, SO DID I during flight training.

The Reality

It’s not that any of the objections are incorrect in perfect conditions, it’s that the real purpose of a checklist is to ensure a consistent, and often safer process when conditions are not perfect. Aside from the truism that life isn’t perfect, here are some ways we’ve personally experienced and witnessed imperfection around breaking camp:

• The Chatty Neighbor (or Relative): This one is almost an absolute in campground environments. You’ve lowered the hitch onto the ball, but before you retract the tongue jack, it’s time for heart-felt goodbyes. Afterwards, it’s time to get things back on track and next up is a bent tongue jack because raising it was missed in the shuffle. Or an abandoned water filter hanging from the campground hose bib. Or a bent slide because someone forgot to move the camp chairs. Or whatever.
• Bad Weather: This one includes not only rain, but also excessive heat, dust storms, and even hurricane evacuation orders. Bad weather makes everything rushed, and in a rush, things can get missed.
• A Cry for Help: Nothing will break one’s stride as fast as a call for help from a spouse or child. In most cases, an interruption ranges from mildly annoying (Bobby won’t stop pulling Susie’s pigtails) all the way to mind wiping (the wife fell off the stairs and at first it seemed her ankle was broken).
• The Bump on Your Head: You raise up into a slide with your noggin or drop a hammer on your foot and suddenly there’s a certain clearing of the mind that would make a monk jealous. However, are you sure you unplugged the power cord from the pedestal?
• The Unexpected: You’re happily about your normal routine when something goes wrong. Let’s say as you’re pulling your wheel chocks, you notice some uneven tread wear on your tires. When you’re done making a plan to deal with that, did you remember to raise your stabilizers?
• The Ringing Phone: No explanation necessary for this one, but I will say in my case, I think my mother has a spy network.
• The Last Hurrah: You made such good friends on this trip, the campfire was EPIC. It also lasted half the night and you woke up with a dehydration headache from the tequila shots that were going around. This is not a good time to “trust yourself”. (NOTE: If you wake up really hung over, consider you may still have alcohol in your system and must CANCEL your travel day. Punctuality is not worth your life… or a DUI.)
• To Be Human Is to Be Distracted: As with many of the specific examples above, sometimes we just have “things on our mind”. I think the most distracted year of my life was after my oldest brother and father both died within 36 hours 2000 miles away from each other. I didn’t even realize how distracted until the checklists showed me.
• My Perfect Memory Failed Me: It happens more often than any of us want to admit. The fact is, when new information comes in, old information has to either get shuffled or dumped to make room after a certain age. Denile isn’t just a river in Egypt, as they say.

Our Ever-Evolving Checklists

Our checklists have really evolved over time. At first glance, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to call them out of control, but here’s how it all unfolded. At first, as mentioned, the most critical (dangerous) part of our camping experience was the only checklist: hitching up our giant fifth wheel camper. Also as mentioned, we came across the idea of spreading out the process of breaking camp to take things at a little easier pace. We took the Changing Lanes checklists and made them our own.

Then we did a few long stays requiring considerable efforts to get packed up to leave, which prompted us to even make a checklist of things we could do two days before departure. We knew we wouldn’t use that list all the time, so it actually duplicates items on our T-24 (day before) checklist. That led to doubling up on some other items on the other lists because sometimes we’re really busy the day before and we want to save items for the day of travel we’d normally do the day before. It’s really no big deal to tick it off more than one list and then we’re extra certain it got done.

Somewhere in the evolution, we realized that some things were just more convenient if we did them in a certain order. A really good example of this is remembering to turn on the propane before the slides come out since our propane hatch is under a deep slide. It’s not just your checklists that evolve because your camping gear changes over time too. With that can come new things to do. One of my favorite upgrades was this step stabilizer for our motorhome power steps. The downside is if we turn the key on with the door closed, the stairs try to retract and if the stabilizer is down, that’s a big problem. Checklist update to the rescue!

What’s In It for You?

So, quick recap here of all the things implied so far. Checklists are the way to:

• Increase safety
• Increase confidence
• Decrease stress
• Guard against the unexpected
• Create convenience
• Hone your process

I don’t think anyone can honestly say they don’t want that list of benefits. Some might say they don’t think the cost is worth the benefits. The problem with that view is either too much reliance on luck, or a lack of experience with the real-world cost of NOT having these benefits. Most nay-sayers are just one avoidable disaster away from being checklist enthusiasts.

Having the Checklists at Hand

Using a checklist is such a simple concept, there’s no need to explain that part. The interesting part can be getting access to the list. Here are some ways we’ve seen checklists presented for use:

• Permanent Lists: This is more or less the way you’d do checklists in a small plane. There’s a hard list, printed or written, where items don’t actually get checked off, they just get listed and it’s up to you know if you did them “this time” or not. We’re not crazy about this method, because repetition can play tricks on the mind. Did you do it this time, or was that last time? Having something as simple as a tick mark can prevent a costly and/or dangerous mistake.
• Hard Copy Disposable Lists: This way is very old school, but also very straight forward. It generally requires a printer to get that hard copy, but then at least there’s a place to clearly mark an item complete. The downside is if these are printed in advance, it might make one hesitant to revise the checklist. The ability to easily evolve is pretty important, but again, if this is the maximum tech level you can achieve, it’s 1000 times better than nothing.
• Erasable Notebooks: In addition to old school notepads you can use with a pencil and eraser, there are notepads out there now with erasable ink. You’d have to hand write the checklist, but you could still have super-simple, the ability to tick items off the list, and reusability. It wouldn’t be great for revisions, but still 1000 better than nothing.
• Tokens: An interesting way to keep up with tasks is to write them on slap bracelets and put them on the steering wheel. When something is done, you remove that slap bracelet. You can see how Today Is Someday does that on YouTube. Other variations on the same theme include magnets on a fridge and painted rocks in boxes.
• Smartphone Apps: There are many smartphone apps that can track a to do list. Some are even better at checklists. Although we’ve even seen a few RV-specific checklist apps, we currently use Google Keep, available on Android, iPhone, and webpage so you can truly run it on just about anything. It has the advantage of being able to share a list and more than one person can actually edit the list or check items off at the same time. It also has the ability to uncheck an entire list to start over with a couple of taps. It’s so easy to change our process for both of us at the same time, we are never afraid to have an idea and just throw it into the list. If we don’t like it, we can always change it later.

Our Lists

These are our lists, unabridged, judge as you may. We love them. We depend on them. We wouldn’t have lasted this long on the road without them. They have saved us time, money, and best of all, our health. You can copy and paste these lists into Google Keep by selecting all the lines of a particular list and simply pasting it on a line in Keep. It’ll make entries for each line when you “Turn on Checkmarks”.

T-48 (Two Days Before Travel)

Wash rugs, tire covers, etc?
Check fluid bus
Check fluid toad
Check Roadtrippers
Check/Empty Berkey Status
Locate cooling towels
Secure printer
Make bread
Clean Bathroom
Take camper picture
Clean Kitchen
Check reciprocity
Download all media
Clean toaster and stow
Plan fuel stop and route
Purchase supplies – creamer, sandwich etc
Fix Steve’s pills
Clean grill and stow
Put sunpass in camper
Clean Instant Pot and stow
Locate cash for tolls
Confirm funds in OpenRoads Fuel account

T-24 (The Day Before Travel)

Program ham repeaters
Clean wiper blades
Charge Doosl
Condition camper bra?
Check fluid bus
Check fluid toad
Check Berkey Status
Locate cooling towels
Clean steering wheel
Do you need to make bread?
Clean bathroom
Take camper picture
Take showers
Clean kitchen
Secure printer
Clean windshield
Check reciprocity
Verify grey tank closed!
Update Apps on phone
Update tech locator
If it’s going to rain, sweep roof, rainex rear camera
Update GPS maps
Make snackle boxes
Sweep/mop kitchen
Check hot water tank
Check toad tires (inflation, general inspection)
Download all media from dash cam and wipe
Clean toaster and stow
Plan fuel stop
Dump tanks if early departure
Return items to their spots
Fill fresh water if boondocking
Purchase sandwich supplies
Prepare travel day dinner
Check Silicone
Check back of refrigerator
Check and Condition Slides
Prepare travel day breakfast
Plan route and fuel (get a feel on gas station locations, rest stops, etc)
Fix Steve’s pills
Laundry
Stow tire covers
Wash camper nose
Turn on TPMS – check pressure
Check engine bay for hitchhikers
Confirm funds in OpenRoads fuel account
Check escape hatch
Put Sunpass in camper
Clean Mirrors
Prune Pikmin Postcards
Check Roadtrippers

T-12 (The Evening Before Travel)

Turn off night light
Make travel breakfast and put in fridge
If boondocking turn charge controllers up
Take down thermometer inside and out
Steve arm brace
Stow Berkey
Get Michelle’s sunglasses
Pack water for Steve
Is Bra secured
Clean Hydraulics
Lock big drawers
Turn off media drive
Steve’s sunglasses
Pack sandwiches/snackle boxes
Check engine bay for hitchhikers
Plug in TPMS repeater
Sweep roof, Rainex rear camera
Show Steve the route and approaches
Awnings in
Bungee rocking chair
Bungee freezer
Take Doodle for a walk
Turn off or on critter lights
Bungee spice rack
Take trash to dumpster
Slides: one last check for obstacles inside and out and basement also
Check slides for water if needed put out postit note
Bedroom A/C and lights off
Stow antennas, Dishy
Locate cash for tolls
Put Sunpass in camper
Bedroom secure (closet door latched)
Clean Instant Pot and stow
Locate walkie talkies put on driver’s seat
Locate all remotes and stow them
Vacuum/Sweep
Bedroom windows closed
Clean windshield inside
Clean windshield outside – Steve
Control Panel Items off (AC, water pump, water heater, ALL Lights)
Bathroom shower secure (everything off shelves, shower door closed, shower head
down)
Secure Toilet Area
Bathroom secure
Move doodles box
Stow computer desks
Living room secure – move rugs to center
Doodle’s food and water bowls put up front
Stow coffee cups
Stow Coffee Pot
Stow any items on counters
Arrange fridge for travel reset thermometers – latch fridge door
Bedroom door secured
Move living room chairs
Turn off propane
Fill fresh tank (% based on next location)
Kitchen secure
Windows closed / blinds up
Pantry door closed and locked
Turn water off make sure all quick connects are stowed
Dump tanks add detergent
Flush toilet (empty all water from bowl)
Remove hitch cover
TPMS ON
TV on bed
Turn on camera
Plugin LevelMate
Lock hatches
Prepare for travel Internet (GPS,stow Dishy)
Start Coach – Verify step stabilizer is up!
Slides: Retract with door, vent, or window open for air flow
Raise Jack’s
Check all lug nuts
Check jack shoes and inspect tires
Stow jack blocks
Secure Electrical and plumbing (water hose, power cord, poop hose)

Before Move to Hitch Toad

T24, T12, T0 complete
Turn on galley fan
Confirm jacks up – stow chocks, check feet
Inspect Rig wheels inflation and suspension
Propane off
Turn off all electrical loads
Put towels on slide (if needed)
Check air system moisture ejectors
Check lug nuts
Put outside mats away
Verify all hatches are locked
Confirm tanks closed
Turn off main ac switch
Air Brake test (if its been 3 months)

Hitching

Check departure time
Set car timer (7 hours)
Grease hitch
Remove hitch Cover
Remove stow pin
Lift hitch into tow position
Hitch Toad
Replace stow pin
Put sunscreen on
Check toad and buss tires
Lock tongue
Put windows up
Connect Electrical cord and Breakaway cable.
Flip ignition breaker from Toad
Put car in neutral
Parking break OFF
Confirm steering wheel unlocked
Verify all lights are operable (signals, brake)
Check propane off
Remove any items from car
Lock car doors

Before Take-Off (All Hitched Up and Heading for the Highway)

Secure main entrance (check steps, lock door)
Validate TPMS reads all tires and validate pressure / temperature
Setup GPSs
Verify Pandora Connection
Clean Steve’s glasses
Check mirrors

Fuel Stop/Pit Stop (Before Hitting the Highway Again)

Do you need a Lottery ticket?
Fuel additives
Reset trip one
Clean glasses
Hatches locked
Check hitch
Bathroom break
Clean windshield?
Full walkaround
Start car?
Reset car timer?
Doodle walk
Refill water glasses
Propane off?
Fuel cap
Lock door

Overnight Take-Off (If we did an overnight stop without setting up camp.)

Reset fridge thermometers
Front stairs
Start toad and set toad timer
Fridge Latched
Electric, Water, Sewer (if connected)
Hatches locked
Check roof?
Make sandwiches
Check wheel hubs
Shower area
Bathroom area
Bedroom door locked
Blinds up
Chairs moved
Antennas stowed
Everything off counters
TV secure
Fans on
Bedroom slides
Main slides
Bedding accessible
Office chair stowed
Doodle box accessible
Water pump off
Water heater off
Toilet empty
Check hitch
Steve’s office stuff
Microwave empty
Coffee pot stowed
Check pigtail
Check tires
Dash cam mounted
Drone footage?
Clean our eyeglasses
Air/Heat off
Hatch keys in camper
Check lights
Car neutral, no brake, key on, breaker tripped
Check TPMS
Clean windshield
Doodle food stowed
Check camera
Propane off
Secure car

BONUS: Going On a Mission (This helps us document our adventures.)

• Objective
• Where We Got the Idea
• Potential
  • Rewards
  • Challenges
• Expected Effort/Difficulty Level
• Preparations
• Costs
• Gaining Access
  • Competition
  • Requirements
• Transit
• Major/Minor Objectives
  • Lead Up
  • The Thing
  • Impressions
  • Unexpected Features Positive and Negative
• The Thing
• Impressions
• After Thoughts
  • Positives
  • Negatives
  • Worth It?
  • Tips & Tricks
  • What We’d Do Differently Next Time
• Summary/Final Thoughts

ANOTHER BONUS: Location to Remember (These are the things we try to do at all the areas we visit.)

Post video about our arrival in FB group
Is there a hot tub?
Talk to a Neighbor
Visitor Centers
Use campground amenities
Do something from the hobby stash!
Sit outside and enjoy the weather
Participate in campground activities
Cook outside (are there clams?)
Have a campfire
Go to Attractions/Roadside Stuff/Local Color
Document: Pics, video, drone
Hike
Fish
Farmers Market/Butcher
Fix something on the camper/maintenance
Do something musical
Curate media for a location, update the slide show
Scenic Drives
Eat at a local restaurant

We did a lot of roof jobs this summer. We used many tubes of Dicor 501. But why? What is the Dicor supposed to be doing? Most people, even RV repair techs, think of Dicor 501 Self-Leveling LAP Sealant as a… wait for it… sealant. It says so right on the label, right? So, what is this stuff, really, and why is it drizzled all over your camper’s roof?

For brevity, I’m going to call “Dicor 501 Self-Leveling LAP Sealant”, as well as its non-sag version, just plain “Dicor”. Be aware, however Dicor is a brand that has many other products in 10.5-oz calk gun tubes. Most of them have the same thing in common: They are heavy in solvents. Solvents evaporate very quickly at first, causing the substance to “set up”. The evaporation of the solvent slows more and more, but never actually stops until it’s all gone. This is why fresh Dicor is like puffy bubble gum, but old Dicor is chalky, cracked, and flakes away easily.

What happens if you try to seal something with a chalky, cracking substance? Of course, it leaks. But here’s the interesting thing: The Dicor on an RV roof isn’t actually sealing anything (if the manufacturer was doing their job). Under the Dicor, wherever you find it, there is an actual sealant. Sometimes it’s a waterproof adhesive, sometimes it’s butyl (like window putty), sometimes it’s a flexible adhesive like Lexel, sometimes it’s a Sikaflex product (read up on those on your own), and sometimes it’s even plain old silicon.

A BREAK FOR A SERIOUS WARNING: DO NOT EVER, E.V.E.R. put silicon on an RV unless it was already there from the manufacturer. Nothing will ever stick to that spot again except silicon without stripping the material completely. In most cases, that means destroying a piece of your camper to undo the mistake! Ok, back to our program….

If it’s not sealing things, then what is the Dicor doing up there slathered all over everything in sight? It is actually acting as flashing, the term for anything that redirects water away from water sensitive areas. The reason for flashing is not to create a seal, but to protect one from water.

Water is one of the most destructive substances on Earth. It sounds weird but think about the Grand Canyon for a minute. Water is abrasive, acting as more or less super-fine-grit sandpaper in flowing liquid form. Water is chemically active, aiding in all sorts of oxidative processes like rust. Water has a tendency to rehydrate any sort of water-based adhesive over time making it no longer adhesive. And most dramatically, water expands when it freezes. This last point has led to the absolute obliteration of many campers (including one of our own) when a roof leak sprang in storage over the winter and water made it into the wood. The water literally explodes the wood fibers away from each other as it freezes and expands destroying the structural integrity of the wood.

Taking all this information in and jiggling some thought with it, it’s pretty easy to arrive at a conclusion about water leaks on a camper: If the leak has happened, it’s not just because the Dicor failed, but also because the REAL seal under it failed too. This means to reliably stop the leak, it’s not just about replacing the Dicor, but also about repairing the broken seal under the Dicor. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of the solvent evaporating before the leak returns. Sometimes, especially on older campers with severe damage, this kind of repair is the best because it is the most cost effective, but it’s never permanent. Doing this kind of “repair” on a newer camper is just sealing the fate (see what I did there?) of the camper.

Having said all that, the first line of defense is the flashing. In many ways, keeping that flashing viable is the single most important thing to keeping your camper from literally falling apart. An inspection schedule of at least twice a year is needed just about everywhere in the world for different combinations of environmental factors (e.g. sun, freezing, etc).

Almost all campers also have a generous supply of exposed sealant. Most campers have many seams which are sealed with silicone or silicone-like substances like Lexel. If you touch up one of those surfaces, make sure you know which it is and heed my warning above about silicone. Because a camper goes through an earthquake and a hurricane every time it moves, we inspect our own as part of the setup process when we arrive and, if we’ve seen freezing, heavy weather, or been stationary for more than a couple weeks, we inspect it again before we leave. We highly recommend you do the same. It’s all about keeping the rain in the outdoors!

Stay safe out there!

When we first saw the slide out room on this mid-sized travel trailer, it seemed like the slide needed adjustment. The owner mentioned the slide had become harder and harder to move during the last year, even requiring extra people to push on the slide to get it to move. This was the beginning of a “purple monkey” from hell and if we ever felt like there was a threat to our 100% problem resolution rate, this became it. This story is about wasting a ton of time and learning yet again, never draw a conclusion and then ignore additional evidence. It’s also about, as the title implies, the hazards of improper stabilizing, bracing, pseudo foundation laying, or any other thing that attempts to hold a camper level/still or “take the weight off” when it’s parked. This is especially true of campers, like this one, which are parked permanently or semi-permanently at a seasonal or other long-term spot.

There was a total of about 8 hours wasted on this job. The list below is just the actions taken, not the result of the action, because the result was always the same: The slide did not retract and slightly pivoted on the arm towards the rear of the camper, furthest from the actuator.

• Adjusting the slide mechanisms to properly align the slide in the wall, which appeared rotated slightly counterclockwise.
• Disengaging the actuator arm (aka thruster) from the slide to check the motor function.
• Lifting the slide with jacks to clean and clear debris from the ramp along the bottom where the slide slides across the threshold of the wall into the camper, which had a lot of sand and even some gravel trapped in it.
• Lots and lots (and lots and lots) of penetrating oil on the slide arm tubes which showed quite a bit of rust.
• Removing the gear packs to relieve a possible bind from bad left/right timing.
• Disengaging the slide arms from the slide wall to move them in and out to be sure they weren’t rusted in place. (Both arms moved freely.)

This list took place over a series of days with a “stop and think about it” in between. We consulted with colleagues who made suggestions and bounced around ideas. That part was not successful because we did not give our colleagues the one vital piece of information which would eventually solve the puzzle. At the end of this list, we pretty much apologized to the “customer”, who, to make matters worse, is also a personal friend. Days went by and as I (Steve) tend to do, I obsessed over it, going over every detail over and over in my head.

We dropped in to see the friend socially several days later and of course conversation came back around to the slide situation and what to do about it at the end of the camping season when the slide would normally be retracted for winterization. It was then that the most eye-opening stroke of luck happened. My friend decided to check again to see if the slide was still stuck but pressed the wrong slide switch. The kitchen slide was also now stuck! We’d all been having drinks, so we all agreed we’d look into this further tomorrow. My first thought was that I’d somehow screwed up the kitchen slide while doing all the work on the living room slide, which is exactly across from it.

The next day, it was time to throw out the bath water, so to speak, and start on this with fresh eyes. This approach to solving this kind of elusive problem has worked in RV repair and every other endeavor since the very first time, decades ago, I realized I had duped myself with confirmation bias. I had decided there was something wrong with the slide mechanism and then bent everything I saw to fit that decision. With fresh eyes on the shocking evidence that now both slides were jammed, it was time to have a look around for a better opinion.

That’s when I finally saw the jack stands under the camper as a potential threat. These jack stands were sitting on extremely sandy ground, and it had been an unusually rainy spring. The stands were positioned at the very front and very back of the frame rails, potentially creating the maximum twist on the frame possible if they were to become uneven. We told our friends to get those jack stands out from under their camper and see how the slides behaved. If you guessed the problem was magically solved, you guessed correctly.

The question in the title, “Should you put your camper up on blocks?”, is misleadingly oversimplified. There are times when it’s a great idea and also times when it is a prelude to disaster. First, it’s important to understand the difference between putting supports under the frame rails and under anything else, especially under slide outs.

This might generate some hate but putting supports under slide out rooms is an absolute never, ever. The frame and walls are designed to have that weight permanently and the risk of even a minor shift in the supports, the ground, the position of the frame, or the tides of the ocean, can cause much more damage than “the weight of the slide out”. In short: STOP DOING THIS.

Second, supporting the frame can be a good idea if it meets three requirements. The supports must be equal, meaning exerting an equal force at every point they meet the frame. This may or may not be perfectly level if the frame is not perfectly plumb. It must be direct support with the jacks or blocks resting directly under the frame rail, not outriggers, suspension components, or crossmembers. The supports must not be able to move relative to each other. “Relative to each other” pretty much means the ground can’t sink leaving the supports out of balance in the force distribution on the frame. It was this last one that actually twisted the entire camper out of shape and trapped the slides in the walls in our friend’s case.

We hope you enjoyed our embarrassing story and took the two important lessons to heart. If you’re going to use supports, use them correctly, and much more importantly, never let an assumption overrule evidence.

Stay safe out there!