At a truck camper rally last month, a good truck camping friend shared a harrowing story.
“This guy pulled his car in front of our rig at a traffic light, taking up the safety space I had left between me and the traffic, and then slammed on his brakes. I had to practically stand on my truck brakes to avoid hitting him. I honestly thought we would.”
As he told the story, his eyes were wide open as if he was back in the moment. Clearly the experience had freaked him out a little.
“I’m going to get a F450,” he confessed.
Flashback six years. Another friend, and an eerily similar conversation.
“I was coming down a hill and suddenly the car in front of me stopped. There was nothing I could do, and I hit the car. It was full of nuns. Thankfully, no one was hurt. After that experience, I bought a Ford F450.”
Perhaps the weirdest part of these conversations is that they both happened within a few feet of each other, at the same annual truck camper rally, but exactly six years apart – to the day!
The moral of these stories is simple; watch out for cars that pull in front of you, and try your best not to hit a vehicle full of nuns.
Putting on my Chief of the Weight Police hat (Angela says it makes me look hot) I have to report that both friends were over payload. What’s interesting is how both of them knew it prior to their hair-raising brake checks, and immediately resolved to get a more capable truck.
“I want bigger brakes,” explained the friend at the more recent rally. He also wanted 19.5 wheels and tires. Basically, he wanted to be able to stop and steer next time a knucklehead pulled in front of his rig.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term in this context, knucklehead refers to an increasing common phenomenon of drivers who aren’t paying attention, driving without care or concern, and generally administering the act of accelerating, steering, and braking as if fighting off a pack of angry bees that just flew down their barn doors.
None of this has anything to do with this week’s question of the week, except for a stupid joke I made after hearing about the more recent incident.
“That guy was lucky you didn’t give him a nice Honda scooter.”
On the front of his rig was mounted a somewhat vintage Honda scooter. Had our friend not been able to stop, that scooter would have been in that knucklehead’s keister.
“You can keep the scooter!” we laughed.
Speaking of scooters (how’s that for a transition) we see scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles strapped and attached to an increasing number of truck camper rigs. In fact, Angela and I have even considered adding a scooter to our rig. This would be more tempting if Angela hadn’t almost totaled another friend’s scooter at the aforementioned rally, three years ago. I don’t have to make this stuff up folks – it actually happens.
This week’s Question of the Week is, “Do you bring a moped, scooter, or motorcycle when you go truck camping?” If you do, tell us about your two-wheel (or three-wheel as it may be) vehicles of choice, how you attach or tow it, and why you bring it along.
