how do dey do dat ?

spoon059 wrote:

NJRVer wrote:
Tailgate half the cost of Cummins?!
Cummins on my '17 was somewhere around $11,000 option.

$5,500 for a tailgate??

My friend has a 16 or 17 F350. His tailgate was stolen off his truck in his driveway ($70,000 truck and no tailgate lock...???). Insurance paid over $6000 to replace it (paint included). And a Cummins upgrade doesn't cost $11K, but even if it did, some tailgates cost at least half that much.

Read the window sticker on any Ram H.O. Cummins. $11,000+ option.

valhalla360 wrote:

FlatBroke wrote:

Have a friend that was helping a guy hook up. Latched hitch. Driver ask if he was sure. He said “hell yes, get going. Yep, destroyed his bed.

Yep, only time we've had any issues is when friends/strangers help out.

Spotter is a bit of a misnomer...She's in charge while backing and I'm not allowed to move unless I can see her in the mirror. I only have the authority to hit the brakes if something doesn't look right.

This is what works for us. I don't move if I can't see her. If she steps out of view, I stop. A good spotter can see things that the driver cannot possibly see.

agesilaus wrote:
OK I watched it on YouTube, that truck has 15 cameras and at least one is on the trailer.

Ya, they don't let that little bit of info out of the bag in the commercial!

bid_time wrote:

Johno02 wrote:
Don't really know exactly how it is done, but there still idiots out there that will try backing one up without a spotter, and will run all over something or someone.

Drove a truck for more years than i want to count. Backed up a trailer literally thousands of times (PER YEAR). I can count on one hand the number of times there was a spotter.

Same here, but we aren't the norm here.

My wife knows her job is to stop me before I hit anything that might puncture the roof.

Me Again wrote:

bid_time wrote:

Johno02 wrote:
Don't really know exactly how it is done, but there still idiots out there that will try backing one up without a spotter, and will run all over something or someone.

Drove a truck for more years than i want to count. Backed up a trailer literally thousands of times (PER YEAR). I can count on one hand the number of times there was a spotter.

A truck driver is trained to get out and look when in doubt. I drove this for 3 years in the late 70's and hardly ever had to climb down to walk back and look.

Would you like me to post some videos of "professional" drivers?

bid_time wrote:
Drove a truck for more years than i want to count. Backed up a trailer literally thousands of times (PER YEAR). I can count on one hand the number of times there was a spotter.

Father in law was a truck driver for many years. No spotter, no camera. I rarely use a spotter when I back up. I look at my site and find my obstacles, then avoid them.

NJRVer wrote:
Tailgate half the cost of Cummins?!
Cummins on my '17 was somewhere around $11,000 option.

$5,500 for a tailgate??

My friend has a 16 or 17 F350. His tailgate was stolen off his truck in his driveway ($70,000 truck and no tailgate lock...???). Insurance paid over $6000 to replace it (paint included). And a Cummins upgrade doesn't cost $11K, but even if it did, some tailgates cost at least half that much.

FlatBroke wrote:

Have a friend that was helping a guy hook up. Latched hitch. Driver ask if he was sure. He said “hell yes, get going. Yep, destroyed his bed.

Yep, only time we've had any issues is when friends/strangers help out.

Spotter is a bit of a misnomer...She's in charge while backing and I'm not allowed to move unless I can see her in the mirror. I only have the authority to hit the brakes if something doesn't look right.

On the docks the spotter was called ' the monback '.

bid_time wrote:

Johno02 wrote:
Don't really know exactly how it is done, but there still idiots out there that will try backing one up without a spotter, and will run all over something or someone.

Drove a truck for more years than i want to count. Backed up a trailer literally thousands of times (PER YEAR). I can count on one hand the number of times there was a spotter.

Thank you. IMHO, the best thing for the spouse to do to help parking in CG is make sure other traffic especially kids know you are backing up.

valhalla360 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

Are you trying to insult me? I think of a "spotter" as just something else not to run over. Mostly I just call them "Onback"
Every time I asked a driver how a truck got damaged I heard "On Back, on back, on CRUNCH"
And never once has a onback ever offered to pay for damage.

Well there's your problem...don't use random strangers as spotters.

Every time a truck was damaged by the onback, I assumed I had failed in training. The spotter's job was to tell the driver where the load should be. Driver, and driver alone is responsible to get the load there. Same as in a CG.
Most times I have heard driver tell spouse to stay where she can be seen in mirror. That puts her in the back watching the rear. Driver watching her, and that side. Nobody is watching the front of TV, the other rear corner of TV or the other side of trailer. Better you learn to move head watch all your vehicle, I'll watch your wife.