Super Duty Backup Assist - Fifth Wheel

Cummins12V98 wrote:
My God what's next they will come up with a way to wipe your......oh yea they already have. ;)

2015 called. They want their crotchety old man comment back. ;)

dblr wrote:
Not sure it makes it any easier backing up still took him multiple times, to me I would rather control the trailer myself, now I was a tractor trailer driver and also a yard jockey for 2 major companies, so my backing skills are pretty good, and this is just my opinion.

Yeah, I saw the video a couple weeks ago. Seemed like just a different process to learn rather than a better process.

I'm sure if I used it regularly, it would become second nature but that's how it is backing manually.

My God what's next they will come up with a way to wipe your......oh yea they already have. ;)

FishOnOne wrote:
In the video they show a device that is bolted to the fifth wheel and plugs into a receptacle in the bed.

Yep, my 2021 F150 has a wired yaw sensor that I mounted on the trailer and then when to a large parking lot to calibrate it. I have heard however that they are going back to the old system. I use mine from time to time, however it is an insult to my truck driving years back in the late 1970's.

The backup assist harness and sensor came with my 2021 F450. I installed it to my 5th wheel but did not use it. It has to be calibrated to your particular trailer and is done by going to an open area and driving and turning with it when it says to do so. The issue I found is locating an area that is open enough to be able go straight, turn and so on when it says to do so without parking stops or other vehicles in the way.
I have actually removed it and just back up the old fashioned way and don't have any problems. But then again I used to drive a tractor trailer and have had plenty of practice.
Perhaps if I can locate an area suitable for calibration I may try it just to see how it is. I think it would take a bit of getting used to using a small knob to steer rather than the steering wheel.

FishOnOne wrote:

cummins2014 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
In the video they show a device that is bolted to the fifth wheel and plugs into a receptacle in the bed.

My son has this setup on his 2022 Superduty , not sure if he's used it on his new fifth wheel, he will be here in Montana with us tomorrow , will have to see if he's used it .

Report back if he tried it and if he like's it or not.

Will do .

cummins2014 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
In the video they show a device that is bolted to the fifth wheel and plugs into a receptacle in the bed.

My son has this setup on his 2022 Superduty , not sure if he's used it on his new fifth wheel, he will be here in Montana with us tomorrow , will have to see if he's used it .

Report back if he tried it and if he like's it or not.

FishOnOne wrote:
In the video they show a device that is bolted to the fifth wheel and plugs into a receptacle in the bed.

My son has this setup on his 2022 Superduty , not sure if he's used it on his new fifth wheel, he will be here in Montana with us tomorrow , will have to see if he's used it .

The system works very well. A person with no backing skills would find it much easier to get the hang of backing a trailer up using the pro trailer backup assist vs manually backing up a trailer and I think most skilled drivers could likely learn to back up better using PTBA than backing without it. However it is slow …. I think the top speed it will back up a trailer is about 3 mph. If you ever came across a situation where you needed to back up a long distance it would be tedious.

Not sure it makes it any easier backing up still took him multiple times, to me I would rather control the trailer myself, now I was a tractor trailer driver and also a yard jockey for 2 major companies, so my backing skills are pretty good, and this is just my opinion.