This

plus this




plus this



equals trouble



I bought my truck a month ago, the plan was to use it to haul a slide in camper.

My truck was exactly 4 weeks old and had about 250 miles on it Thursday night when I headed off from SC to the factory in New Paris IN to pick up the camper. I got back home on Saturday night early Sunday with close to 1,900 miles on it. When the 3,500 pound camper lowered itself on to the truck the weight didn't have any noticeable effect on the truck springs and the diesel had the power to accelerate the truck almost as if there was no weight in the truck at all.

As soon as the camper was on the truck I headed back with almost no sleep.

I decided to crawl into the camper in the back of my truck for some much needed sleep but I wanted to fuel up and take the dogs for a walk so I would be ready to go when I woke up.

I pulled into the pumps pre-paid for fuel and filled up, then got my change.

I have been keeping a record of fill ups since day one so I turned the key to read the odometer, trip meter and computer MPG estimate. Then I stepped out of the truck for a second to write down how many gallons it took. I had had this happen before with the window open and after it happened once I made it a policy to crack open the window a few inches when I got out of the truck with the dogs inside. But I was groggy and forgot to do it. The two dogs jumped up on the arm rest and hit the door lock button.

The guy at the gas station called the police and the cop arrived real fast. The cop pulled out a real neat gadget to open the door. I worked as a cop from 1970 till 1990 when I retired and we didn't have tools like that back then, I was really impressed at how well the gadget worked.

The two dogs were playing with the tool he was using to hit the un-lock button so I ran over to the passenger side to distract them. He unlocked the door without realizing it so I yelled out to him it was open as i opened the passenger door and grabbed the key.

He retrieved the tool I closed the passenger door and walked around the driver side to thank him.

In the 10 seconds or less it took me to walk to the drivers side the dogs managed to lock the door again. Fortunately this time I had the key in my hand.

The electronic key and regular emergency key that are linked together but there is a release to separate them so the first thing I did was to separate the key from the electronic key and hook it to a chain around my neck.

Animals should not be unrestrained in a vehicle but my dogs were not restrained because I just taken them for a walk in the parking lot and was stopped at the fuel pump.

 

Sounds like a similar incident I had with my car on Thanksgiving morning. It had the lock button on the center console between the shifter and the armrest. Spent 15 minutes outside the quick mart walking around the car getting the dog to walk back and forth just to try and hit the button again. People thought I was nuts just walking around yelling at the dog inside.

 

I did the same thing while I was waiting for the cop to arive, trying to get my dogs to hit the un-lock button. They seem to be experts at locking the door but never hit the unlock button.

 

yeah, i always get a spare key made just to unlock the doors and hide it under the truck. its nice on these cars because it wont start the truck just unlock the door.......

 

Funny this was brought up cause the other day my black lab locked me out on a beer run. I was standing there about to dial my cell phone when he managed to roll the window down. I was literally laughing out loud in the parking lot. Now if I can just get him to be the designated driver i'll be set!

 

I had to laugh as soon as I saw the pictures. I had the exact same thing happen last year at Lake Cumberland. We were heading home and went to retrieve the boat trailer and when I backed up to it I jumped out and just left it running thinking my son would stay in the truck. He got out the same time I did and the dogs jumped up to see what we are doing and whamo door locked! I know it won't lock with the keys in the ignition and the truck not running but with it running it locks. I was trying to get the dogs to do it again hoping they would unlock it. No chance. The park ranger had us opened up and on the road again fairly quickly. I always shut it off and grab the keys now or crack the window. As soon as it locked though I remembered the wife had the spare key in her purse. You guessed it... the purse is in the truck. Oh well, it was a good learning experience.

 

i went to autozone and got a key magnet storage compartment .. i have it with a key in it on the frame and zip tied .. so as not to loose it if hitting a hard bump .. i have not had to use it yet .. as i only had the truck for a year ..
but i owned a 1999 dodge ram 318v8 4x4 before this and that hidden key saved my A$$ AT LEAST 20 times over the 10 years i owned that truck ..

 

I have been wearing the key and the remote opener on a chain around my neck since 1993. The make and model cars changed but I never broke the habit of wearing the key around my neck. The first time in all these years I didn't wear a spare key my slight lapse came back and bit me in the butt.