Backing up training for newbie TT

Thank you, Community, for all the good suggestions. It's great to know there are so many helpful and experienced people to "go to". Thanks!

If your not at all familiar with backing a vehicle, before even practicing go to the nearby toy store and buy one of the bigger tractor trailer toys.

unpack it, put it on the floor, and using the tractor back up and turn the trailer. seeing what it is doing will give you a good idea of what you need your tow vehicle to do.

Or, if you have a kids wagon, grab it by the handle and back it up. you will quickly learn what the wagon wheels need to do to backup if your pushing on the handle. basically the same thing the tow vehicle must do to the trailer.

Rather than thinking of how to turn the steering wheel, once you see how the toy works, remember how the toy tractor needed to move front and back. Once you know that, think about how you must turn your steering wheel to do that to your truck. Becomes pretty natural pretty quick.

http://www.rvschool.com/

galandpup wrote:
After driving a small MH for many years I have recently bought a small TT. Only one little tiny detail... I need training to learn to back up. Does anyone in the San Diego area know of a person or school or dealership that can help me? I don't have a partner for helping me make mistakes. My driveway is tricky. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

All good advice above. Find a vacant parking lot and practice.

Any tech at a RV dealership, or even at a U-Haul dealership, should be able to give you basic training. From there it is all about practice, and that is specific to the tow combination. The utility trailer I towed behind a pickup backed differently, in detail, than the 18-foot travel trailer behind the Country Squire.

Get some soccer cones (they are cheap at Walmart) and lay out some spaces to back into, then practice until you are not knocking down cones. Skill progression is about doing it with fewer corrections. We had to back our travel trailer alongside 40 feet of brick wall four inch clearance on the right side, then through an eight-foot gate, and push it back to the right side of the pad for a two-car garage. We punched a hole in the trailer the first time we tried it, but it got better every time we did it.

Before trying to back your RV consider renting a small box short trailer and use only your mirrors while backing.

I am sure you will find that backing that trailer is actually more difficult than an RV. The shorter the distance from the trailer axle to the vehicle hitch makes backing and turning more sensitive and difficult. Once you get the hang of turning while backing then you can move to your RV.

The other hints about stopping and moving forward to straighen out the tow and trailer, taking it slow, put up markers, etc all are good points. Hand on the bottem of the steering wheel a must.

If you can adjust your mirrors so that you can see the trailer tires on one side or the other, I know of people who layed out a length of rope for the wheels to ride next to while backing.

Get some type of high visibility marker to put very close (just outside of) where you want each rear corner to be. That gives you something easy to spot and aim for. I agree with other advice to find a big empty parking lot and practice.

There are also some good videos on youtube.

I will repeat again. If. and when, you have any doubt, STOP, get out, and LOOK!

Is there a truck driving school near you? That is what I did...an instructor worked with me and my rig, fiver, for almost 4 hours. Back at that time, 50.00 hour, 4 hour minimum. Best $200 I ever spent. All in the setting up the tow vehicle before you back in. Tried the parking lot, tried other things.

Maybe you know a retired trucker who could go out with you and give you pointers?

Practice Practice Practice...