What was your first SPUT?

[dmyers7]

... I would get the top within about six inches of down, and the left side wouldn't go down any more.  Push, wiggle...no dice.  The only thing that came to mind was the sleeping bags on the bunks ...

Mine wasn't sleeping bags either and I did end up just pushing it down and finally got it closed. After a walk around I found that I had forgotten to put up one of the corner floor jacks and that was causing the whole frame of the pop-up to twist enough to bind the lift system as it was coming down. Duh. Goes to show the importance of leveling before you raise and lower the roof.

[Puppuller]

Mine was after opening up the pup I put the screen door "window" all the way down... Well you can't push the little tabs in to get it back up once it gets so far. So the genius I am thought to use two keys to push them in and then pull up... Oooo no the key slipped off and a 5 inch slice in the screen

[pcfeld]

Left the front jack wheel in the down position while pulling out of the driveway....what a noise and bounce it made!! I immediately knew what I did. Luckily nothing happened to the wheel and jack.

I did that on the PUP I turned into a trailer.  I had stripped everything off tied it to the floor ready for the dump.  Hooked it up and leaving for the dump heard that nasty scrap and jump.  Added the jack to the pile at the dump also.

[Lindz]

The first SPUT we ever pulled was not buying our second camper first!   

But the first of many included:
-driving away with rear stabs down (no harm done)
-Forgetting to hook up the safety chains (only retrospective chest pain)
-cranking the roof down before stowing door (neighbors got an earful that time)


I think my favorite story here so far is the one about the keys on the roof.  Will make sure to check there the next time something goes missing!  ha

[dmyers7]

Things on the roof.  That reminds me of a lesson for us all to learn from:  After cranking down the roof or winding up the floor jacks what do you do with your crank handle?  Do you put it where it belongs or sit it on the roof of the pup and then move on to the next thing that requires attention when popping down?  I placed it on the roof once and never saw it again.  Imagine trying to pop up when you get home to air out and unpack and you have no handle to wind the roof up ... Doh.  Also have taken the three prong plug adapter off the campers electrical plug and sat it on the roof before winding up only to find I need it for the electrical box and it is now 20 ft up on top the roof because I never put it back ... simple solution, plug in the camper after you back in and chock.

  Can't wait to start camping ........  :-P to those that have already set out on their first trips. (Weekend kid activities keep us anchored till summer starts.)

[Lazyike]

Bought our first pup as newly weds at 25 years old. It was a Coleman Newport pretty basic. We took it to the local county park for the July 4th weekend. Of course my inlaws  were already there and my father in law had told the entire cg that it was my first time setting it up. I pulled in and immediately had an audience. There were 2 dozen campers watching my every move. I leveled it and cranked up the top just fine. Pulled the beds out then Went inside the to put the poles in the beds and did my first wheelie with both beds extended. Got a round of applause for that one.
 One other time with out Coleman Mesa we dropped the camper off and went back home to get ready for a wedding we had to attend. Went to the wedding and got back to the cg about the time they were closing the gates for the night. When we got to the camper we discovered we had left the key at home and the step was up  and  locked. Had to loosen the canvas on one of the beds and crawl in that way that night. Oh what fun it is in a pup!
 

[mandl]

This may be one of the most important boards in the lot, especially for the newbies.  It is also very humorous!

[chiefd]

This may be one of the most important boards in the lot, especially for the newbies.  It is also very humorous!

Trust me having this info wont matter.  The SPUT will come its in your destiny

[scoutermom]

Can't say honestly that I've had many - though trying to lower the roof with the screen door down may have happened once - though I caught it before any damage was done.  And I do remember my first tiny trailer coming unhitched the last time we took it out - we hadn't even used in for about 2 yrs, we'd been doing all our camping with the scout troop in tents. It popped off the ball when I hit the big dip where our driveway meets the street - also no damage, as the chains crossed underneath caught it. 

When Jon first learned to drive, he made quite a few gouges in the street at the bottom of the drive just from the trailer hitch when it's not even hooked to anything......it's such a deep 'dip' there - the edge of the street curves down to meet the apron of the drive, and we almost always hear scraping sounds unless you turn into or out of the drive at an angle. If you back out straight, you ALWAYS gouge the street with the hitch.  I wasn't even sure it had come unhitched, the chains just made a different noise than the normal bump.

I think maybe I've not had too many SPUT's because of two things -
1st, I've only had 'antique' PUPs that I have treated with a bit of TLC.  Since many parts are old and fragile, I EXPECT things to go wrong and normally am prepared for anything that might happen. I love fixing and restoring old, useful things and learned early on never to 'force' anything that didn't want to move - there's usually a reason for it being that way.
2nd, (and this is weird because I'm severely ADHD and very DIS-organized in my everyday life) I was raised by methodical, organized, minimalist camping parents who had 'camping preparedness' trained into me at a very young age.  my campsites are neat, things are always 'battened down' against storms and animals, tools and equipment always put away properly and maintained.

something else I've learned about traveling with trailers - and I've pulled quite a few of various sizes for the troop, too (parade floats, bike trailers, canoe trailers and the troop equipment trailer) - whenever I 'hitch up', after checking everything in the driveway (or parking lot) I take the trailer around a quiet block before setting out on a trip, stop and check it out with a complete walk-around and check all connections, etc once again.  I live on a short dead end street that opens onto a fairly busy state route in a small town, so I get on and off this highway in two short right turns, then check my hookups on a residential street or the nearby church parking lot.  If there is ANYTHING wrong - I'm still within walking distance back home to get tools, call for another pair of hands or whatever.

[mandl]

To Scoutermom.  Thanks for the great advice!

[Thrifty_Tiff]

New-ish to the board and to Pop-ups as of January.  Have gleaned a world of knowledge from the message boards here.  Would like to add my first SPUT that occurred over the weekend. 

It was our 3rd trip out in the pop up and we had a great time with friends we brought with us.  On the way to the CG, I said, "We're just getting our rhythm down with set up and take down, the best thing you can do to help us during those times is to keep the dogs entertained."  Set up went well.  When we got to the take down, the happily exhausted dogs were snoozing on their beds and my earlier request had been forgotten.  Our guests "helped" and asked for tasks and guidance as we were breaking down. 

All went well until we pulled into our driveway after dropping the PUP off at my MIL's where it's stored.  Then I got that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I realized that I had left the kitchen sink faucet hooked up.  With a highwall, instead of the sink cabinet folding down, you just take off the removable faucet.  Except when you don't.  Because you're distracted. 

So, I haven't been back to where it's stored and checked out the damage yet but I'm sure it's at least bent.  I've ordered the replacement part and am hoping for the best.  Our next trip is in 2 weeks so I'm gleefully reassuring myself that everything will be JUST FINE!!!

Anyone else with a HW ever have this issue? 

[knobbyhead]

My first?  Probably trying to crank down the roof with the door.   Done wheelies, tried to open the roof with a latch still latched.  nothing exciting.

Now the last one, I wasn't even near the PU.  I was taking my battery to the basement for winter storage and I dropped it down 1/2 flight of stairs!