A Tiny Little Adjustment
Sometimes your tiny trailer has been sitting for months, on soft ground and has slowly gotten itself off kilter. It wasn't a major lean, but it was enough to keep the doors from staying open and it probably led to the leaky seam I found when I checked on it a few months back.
So this morning. I had determined was the morning I was going to make the adjustment. I needed to either back it up, or pull it forward. After much thought? I decided to back it off of the 3 boards on one side and away from the chocks that were now buried in soft ground.
Seems simple enough. Truth be told - it took nearly 3 hours to make a simple adjustment. A tiny - TINY - adjustment. Why would it take so long? Well here's what actually had to transpire before attempting to hitch on to my pickup !
- Secure everything inside that might fall down and break.
- Remove all 4 stabilizers and the wood they were sitting on.
- Move the dog away from the trailer.
- Disconnect cords for electric and refrigerator.
- Then ... now comes the tricky part and where I spent the MOST time. Hitch the trailer to the truck and move my trailer the 18" it needed to level it up.
- Oh. Find trailer hitch in back of packed pick up truck! Ha!
- Attach said hitch to truck. Easy peasy.
- Back truck just right to the tongue of the trailer.
- Try again.
- Try again. And again and again. INCHES - just inches to get it there.
- After about 10 tries? Success.
- Lower the trailer onto the hitch.
- Sit down and figure out what to do when the trailer won't come down to the ball.
- Put wood blocks under tires to raise truck.
- Back truck just right to the tongue of the trailer and onto the boards to raise the hitch.
- Try again.
- And pull forward and bounce onto the wood blocks and try again.
- Cuss.
- Back up again, the inches you need to get it just exactly right!
- Lower the trailer (again)
- Get in truck and back up 2 inches so ball sets in tongue.
- Wipe sweat.
- Drink water.
- Readjust wood boards and pull trailer onto boards.
- Check level. *Perfect* (well perfect enough!)
- Set all 4 stabilizers in place.
- Plug tiny trailer back in and lay out cords properly.
- Put everything inside back in it's place.
What would have taken maybe an hour if I'd have had a spotter? Took me 3. So I did all of this by my tiny little self, using my tiny little brain to figure it all out! And the best part? I did it! I did it myself! I faced my fear. I prayed for God to help me. I prayed I could get it done without hurting my truck, my camper or myself. And I did it.
Next up? Seal the roof seams. I just may hire somebody for that! *LOL*
So this morning. I had determined was the morning I was going to make the adjustment. I needed to either back it up, or pull it forward. After much thought? I decided to back it off of the 3 boards on one side and away from the chocks that were now buried in soft ground.
Seems simple enough. Truth be told - it took nearly 3 hours to make a simple adjustment. A tiny - TINY - adjustment. Why would it take so long? Well here's what actually had to transpire before attempting to hitch on to my pickup !
- Secure everything inside that might fall down and break.
- Remove all 4 stabilizers and the wood they were sitting on.
- Move the dog away from the trailer.
- Disconnect cords for electric and refrigerator.
- Then ... now comes the tricky part and where I spent the MOST time. Hitch the trailer to the truck and move my trailer the 18" it needed to level it up.
- Oh. Find trailer hitch in back of packed pick up truck! Ha!
- Attach said hitch to truck. Easy peasy.
- Back truck just right to the tongue of the trailer.
- Try again.
- Try again. And again and again. INCHES - just inches to get it there.
- After about 10 tries? Success.
- Lower the trailer onto the hitch.
- Sit down and figure out what to do when the trailer won't come down to the ball.
- Put wood blocks under tires to raise truck.
- Back truck just right to the tongue of the trailer and onto the boards to raise the hitch.
- Try again.
- And pull forward and bounce onto the wood blocks and try again.
- Cuss.
- Back up again, the inches you need to get it just exactly right!
- Lower the trailer (again)
- Get in truck and back up 2 inches so ball sets in tongue.
- Wipe sweat.
- Drink water.
- Readjust wood boards and pull trailer onto boards.
- Check level. *Perfect* (well perfect enough!)
- Set all 4 stabilizers in place.
- Plug tiny trailer back in and lay out cords properly.
- Put everything inside back in it's place.
What would have taken maybe an hour if I'd have had a spotter? Took me 3. So I did all of this by my tiny little self, using my tiny little brain to figure it all out! And the best part? I did it! I did it myself! I faced my fear. I prayed for God to help me. I prayed I could get it done without hurting my truck, my camper or myself. And I did it.
Next up? Seal the roof seams. I just may hire somebody for that! *LOL*
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