Forum Discussion

RVcircus's avatar
RVcircus
Explorer II
Jan 12, 2016

Tough driveway to back into

Does anyone else have an almost impossible driveway to navigate? Our driveway is narrow, steep, cut into a hill, and off a fairly tight street. Just to get our measly 25' TT into the driveway we needed to dig out part of the entrance, lift the trailer, pile lumber at the base, and still need to remove the rear stabilizers and tongue jack.

Here's a video of us backing in and it doesn't do the driveway justice.
https://youtu.be/Syyw791aS_I

I also posted on our blog about it if you're interested in checking it out.
http://www.rvcircus.com/back-trailer-trouble-driveway/

Now we need to contend with our dreams of owning a class a toy hauler. When we get to that point the house will need to go.
  • I could, but my wife would murder me if I put the trailer in the front yard.

    Go Dogs wrote:
    You have a large front yard. Could you make a parking pad in the yard?
  • I have a front hitch and use it for shuffling lower trailers around. Are you able to see the trailer when hooked to the taller TT? I never did it because I thought it would be easier being able to use mirrors. At this point we have the process pretty well down and it isn't too bad, but maybe I'll give it a shot.

    pasusan wrote:

    You might think of a front hitch as that makes maneuvering more exact (and it's easier on your transmission). You can't see where you are going, but DH and I use our cell phones so I can guide to the fraction of an inch.
  • That sounds like fun:( Your driveway sounds like the opposite of ours. Our driveway is basically dug into a valley and we can't turn side to side once in it, but at least we can't push it off an edge.

    carpetguy2 wrote:
    If I could (lot of snow now) send you a picture of mine you would really cringe. I have a narrow 2 lane st and a 4 ft drop off (Culvert) on one side boat on the other side the my garage and a big tree and trying to get a 40 ft trailer and a 23 ft truck to manage.Alot of patient is needed
  • It's much steeper than it looks. The biggest issue is the angle off of the street to the driveway. Before we lifted the trailer the bumper hit the driveway far before the rear tires hit the driveway. Now that we lifted the trailer we clear the driveway by about an inch.

    Our property is all boulders. Houses with basements need to blast in the neighborhood. Once we go with a class a we're planning to go south anyway.

    is it friday yet? wrote:
    That doesn't look too bad to me. I'm confident I could back my 35' 5th wheel up there. Before you sell your house to fit a trailer in there, spend a couple hundred and either A) rent a small excavator/bobcat and make the driveway larger/wider yourself or B) have someone do it for you. You could always buy railroad ties and build a retaining wall. They're cheap and heavy duty.
  • I must say - you do a really great job!

    We have a hard one too - backing our trailer up a hill into a bank barn. We used a winch for a few years to pull it in, but then installed a front hitch on the truck. Now it is easy peasy.

    You might think of a front hitch as that makes maneuvering more exact (and it's easier on your transmission). You can't see where you are going, but DH and I use our cell phones so I can guide to the fraction of an inch.
  • I've seen way worse and it looks like you do a great job.....Not sure how much fun it would be if snow or ice was on that hill.
  • If I could (lot of snow now) send you a picture of mine you would really cringe. I have a narrow 2 lane st and a 4 ft drop off (Culvert) on one side boat on the other side the my garage and a big tree and trying to get a 40 ft trailer and a 23 ft truck to manage.Alot of patient is needed
  • You have a large front yard. Could you make a parking pad in the yard?
  • That doesn't look too bad to me. I'm confident I could back my 35' 5th wheel up there. Before you sell your house to fit a trailer in there, spend a couple hundred and either A) rent a small excavator/bobcat and make the driveway larger/wider yourself or B) have someone do it for you. You could always buy railroad ties and build a retaining wall. They're cheap and heavy duty.

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