Ever thought of another reason to use a spreader pole? In this article we will show you how to use a spreader pole to make opening your Forward Fold Camper just that little bit easier. Also, we’re going to run through the pre check safety for using winches and straps for your camper trailer
Firstly, check the hook gate, make sure that’s operating properly so it’ll stay on the island. Then, have a good look at the stitching on the webbing, make sure there’s no broken threads, it’s not coming part at all, and it’s in serviceable condition. Then, have a quick look at the rest of the webbing, just to make sure there’s no cuts, no damage from solvents.
Now that you’ve checked the hook and winch strap you’re ready to head around to the back of the camper, get hooked up, and start the process. When you’re using a winch to open a camper trailer, you don’t want the winch strap to be at too an acute angle to the roof of the camper. In other words, you don’t want to be pulling the winch strap across the roof, you want to actually get the lid up a bit, so we’re getting a bit of leverage to enable it to pull across and open the camper trailer up.
The easy way to do that is with a spreader pole. So what you do is you prop your lid open with the spreader pole. So push your lid up, hook the spreader pole underneath. Place it down on the back of the camper. Now you effectively opened up the angle, so you’ll get plenty of leverage. So now head around the front and winch it open.
So now your ready to start winching, your first instinct is to stand behind the winch ready to go. Now, you couldn’t do it any more wrong than that. Never ever stand in line with the winch strap, because if the worst happens, the hooks go or you have some kind of hardware break, that hook, or the end of the strap is going to come back quicker than a Brett Lee bouncer. So what you want to do is get off to the side, out of the line of fire, and start winding the camper over.
So there you go, you can now winch our lid down, keep it tight, and when you pack up, the same thing, you can grab a spreader pole, push your lid up, rest it on the stone guard, and you can safely winch the lid back over and closed.
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Don’t forget the Masterclass series is on video for you to watch here. But, above all, if you have some kind of handy hint similar to this that you think will help other campers and MDC owners, send us an email suggestions@marketdirect.com.au and we’ll turn it into a video and spread it to the rest of the world.
Happy camping and Escape with Confidence
