Hello all. I have a pair of plastic wheel chocks that I have used around
the garage without incident for a couple of years. Recently, I was backing
my boat up my driveway, which is a slight incline. The surge brakes on the
trailer tend to come on when you try to do this. The procedure when this
happens is to chock the trailer wheels, pull slightly forward to take the
downhill load off the trailer tongue, and move a lever on the brake
actuator to the "off" position. This allows you to back up without the
brakes coming on. I think you might know where this story is going. I
tried doing this with a plastic chock. The thing exploded. It didn't just
crack, it broke into about a dozen pieces, completely disintegrating and
propelling shards of plastic across the driveway. Now, when I recovered
the piece with the nice warning label on it, one of the items listed is to
never try to move a vehicle while it is chocked. The legal department has
them well covered, so I guess I won't be filing that million dollar law
suit. I don't think I will be using any more plastic chocks, though. I
just don't think complete disintegration is a great failure mode for a
wheel chock. I am telling this story just in case it might save someone
from watching their car roll down a hill, or worse. It's good to learn
from your mistakes, but it's better to learn from other peoples
mistakes. Much less painful.
-Steve Trovato
strovato@optonline.net
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