Last summer in Tucumcari NM when leaving our camp it was raining. So, I was in a hurry and forgot to lock my tailgate up on my truck. This resulted in a 36 inch tear on my generator/battery door. Duct tape fixed the problem. I did not get it fixed this winter wanting to wait until after my 13,000 mile NW trip this summer. This morning when leaving our RV park in Kansas my truck was about 6 inches from a 6 foot drop-off . I was distracted with the ledge so I forgot to close my tailgate again. This time it ripped through both front and back walls of the door. It also bent my hinges on my tailgate. Usually I do a walk around before I pull out but these two times I did not and damage was the result. Has anyone else done this same dumb thing? I'm just venting.....

Not with the tailgate,but 2" angle iron on a utility trailer parked next to me while I was parking.
Thank goodness for good insurance!

I was being so careful not to go off the edge and move the picnic table as to not hit it and BAM, I leave my tailgate down. Insurance is right

I learned early on (about 4 fifth wheels ago) that the best solution to this problem was to get a 5th wheel tailgate, I did this after I left the pick up tailgate up and pulled forward, putting a nice dent in the tailgate from the 5ers pin.

The latest pick up's regular tailgate has been sitting in the garage unused for about 8 years now!

You know...We'll ALL make a mistake or two at some point. Posting these incidents is a helpful reminder to all of us to check out our tail gate before we move or we may have a similar fate. Thanks for posting this. I know it's hard to swallow and very frustrating. I've put a small set of dents in our RV by not checking where we parked before opening the slide. Little did I recognize that a brick mailbox doesn't give. I thought the slide motor would overpower it and push it out of the way. I get that daily reminder now to check around me before opening the slides and if I'm that close to anything, get a tape measure out and double check! :S

I was always so careful about the tailgate when hitching and unhitching, but I smashed the dang tailgate with the pin box just parking the truck one day after fishing! All that careful, for no reason in the end 🙂

Ok, I will confess my Boo-Boo.
I was putting things in the tool box compartment on the drivers side under the bedroom slide out. Just put the door on my head since I wasn't going to be on there long. My wife was putting in all slides so we could take off. The door being on my head was high enough that the slide caught it and started to draw it in under the slide. I let my wife know quite loudly to STOP THE SLIDE OUT.
Damage to hinge and door but I could do the repairs myself. LESSON LEARNED: USE THE ATTACHED HINGED LATCH INSTEAD OF MY HEAD TO HOLD THE DOOR OPEN!!
Had I used the latch, the slide would have cleared the door. As I said lesson learned

The start of most of my boo boos was "I was in a hurry and . . . "
It's hard not to get in a hurry when it's raining or a storm is coming and you're trying to get out of Dodge.
We left our antenna up and took off down the road, pulled out and scraped our roof on a tree, took off and left our water pressure regulator, etc. etc.

Ooooo, yea. I've given away four or five water pressure regulators in the last couple of years. Gotta stop that.

Ooooo, yea. I've given away four or five water pressure regulators in the last couple of years. Gotta stop that.

If you're talking about leaving these so called "regulators" behind that's the best place for them. I've picked up about 20 of those at different campgrounds/parks that folks left behind, I give them away, I don't use them.
Now if I left my adjustable regulator behind I'd go back for it.

Haven't used those for quite some time..........I am talking about the Valterra adjustable regulator...........I would have gone back if I had known we left it before the next stop 400 miles later.............

It's cost me enough in regulators from me leaving them setting on the pedestal, it may be worth installing one permanent at the other end. I know it won't protect the hose, but hoses are cheap compared to how many regulators I leave.