Been a member here for a long time. Been towing for a long time. We want to see the USA with our trailer, but since I do 100% of the towing, I'm not sure I'm up to the task.Tthe last trip to Reno in September totally wore me out now. When we got home I told her, "That's it. I'm done towing long distances anymore. Let's sell this outfit and buy a B-Class so you can help drive too."New B-Classes are expensive, more than I want to pay in our retirement. I told DW I'll agree to buying a shorter TT if she agrees to help with the towing. QS: (1) Are there classes my wife can take that will make her into a competent TT tower? I'm not comfortable having her practice in a WalMart parking lot in the middle of the night or while driving on the open road with our set up. (2) Would it be easier for her to tow a 5th wheel rather than a TT?Any good advice is appreciated. Merry Christmas.

There are RV Driving Schools you can find with an internet search. Groups like the Escapees I believe offer RV driver training classes at rallies. I've read of some people finding them very useful.

My first thought is to tow shorter miles so you are not so tired.I have cut my miles back...Save the $$$'s.My wife won't even drive the pickup....Pat

As mentioned - look for an instructor.I find that people who are very close to each other tend to not works as instructor/ student very well. It's hard to put aside all the history and focus on the subject.Your rig doesn't seem to be too much size or weight wise. How well does DW drive the truck? Does she drive it alone? She has to be comfortable with the TV. I wouldn't consider changing / downsizing until you know if she can or cannot handle the rig.First towing for my wife as just a few miles on local roads without much traffic. Build up from that. Don't start with things like backing and parking.Just being able to safely get down the road. Learning how to turn with consideration of the trailer cut across the corner, how to change lanes. Biggest problem for most folks is learning to look farther down the road and be ready sooner. I made DW not even attempt the turn into the street the first time because she braked too late and then too hard when she realized she couldn't get slow for the turn.I didn't yell, I told her calmly and firmly "You can't make the turn, don't try, just go straight." Which she did, and I slowly came unpuckered from the seat.A good lesson for both of us.Is my DW a competent TT tower? Not yet in my opinion. But she is competent to take over for an hour or so with our 58' long TV/TT combination on unchallenging roads/ conditions and let me take a bit of a break. And ever mile she drives give her more experience and builds confidence and skill.

My wife drives occasionally towing our 35' 5er. No lessons. I just asked her once if she would like to drive a little. To my surprise she said yes. And she actually liked it. She doesn't pull it into campgrounds. She doesn't back it. She doesn't drive it on smaller roads and streets except on main roads passing thru towns. I plan it so that I pull into rest areas or wide pull offs to let her take over on open highway. And we make the same type stop when I am ready to take back over. Makes the driving easy for her. About the only thing I remind her is to take wide turns to stay away from curbs.Works for us. She may sometimes drive a 2 hour stretch between stops to stretch our legs. Especially nice on those occasional days we may be on the road 8-10 hours.

Tow training for DW | Good Sam Community

drsolo
Nomad
Dec 30, 2014
ForestRiverTeach wrote:

It frankly scares me to see couples where the wife is terrified to drive the rig. I can't imagine what she'd do if something happened to her husband and she was left to tow everything home.

There are a lot more options than being forced to drive the "rig" home. The first comes to mind is pay to park it someplace and fly herself and hubby home. I have run thru/planned my options if something happens to my RVan while I am traveling solo and it all starts with a call to triple A. I had to do this last year when my serpentine went while driving on the freeway in Florida. I even have the plan outlined on my tablet.

Imaging disaster and planning ahead seems to be one of women's forte.
drsolo
Nomad
Dec 30, 2014
bguy wrote:
I have found that using cruize control take a lot of the urgency out of driving with the TT. Gives me plenty of concentration for the steering and the mirrors. And slowing down makes a difference as well.

Cruise and driving under the speed limit so the traffic flows around me and so I dont have to be passing and speeding up, slowing down. I especially want the big trucks to get by me fast. I see all the shredded steel belted retreads on the side of the road (sometimes on the road too) and I have always wondered/worried about one of those big tires blowing while I am next to it. Well this trip the truck was passing me, ahead of me on the left when there was this very loud BANG, the driver side tire blew and bits of tire were hitting my RVan. As I slowed down he pulled back into the lane ahead of me and got off to the right side of the road. Thankfully it wasnt a passenger side tire and he didnt lose control of the truck.
profdant139
Explorer II
Dec 30, 2014
RVcircus mentioned that night driving is a problem. One solution is to avoid night driving! We try not to tow at night because it is hard to set up camp in the dark. But I understand that sometimes you have to drive at night, and the really bright headlights of certain types of vehicles are very harsh -- those laser blue newfangled things. Remember when headlights were yellowish incandescent bulbs? Those were the days.
bguy
Explorer
Dec 29, 2014
I have found that using cruize control take a lot of the urgency out of driving with the TT. Gives me plenty of concentration for the steering and the mirrors. And slowing down makes a difference as well.
ForestRiverTeac
Explorer
Dec 29, 2014
'tiredTeacher wrote:
DownTheAvenue wrote:
... skills involved in driving any vehicle are not gender related. Any person can drive any vehicle provided they have the desire.

As evidenced by all the women long-haul truckers.

Teach

Amen, amen, and amen.

It frankly scares me to see couples where the wife is terrified to drive the rig. I can't imagine what she'd do if something happened to her husband and she was left to tow everything home. The stress of having to deal with a disabled (or worse) husband would be stressful enough. Add to that not knowing how to hitch up or tow would just make matters worse.

I find it rather demeaning that women are told today that they shouldn't worry about towing their trailer. And I get pretty exasperated with those who say they're afraid. Heck! They (most often) have birthed a baby! If they can do that, towing a trailer is a cakewalk!
RVcircus
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2014
profdant139 wrote:
Maybe let's approach this a different way -- what is it about towing that you find tiring? I used to be the same way -- then we finally dialed in our hitch arrangement to minimize the bucking of the trailer. We also dialed in the tongue weight. We got a better tow vehicle. I got used to the extra alertness that trailer towing requires, and now I even enjoy it (since it makes driving so much more interesting than regular driving). We learned that there is a limit -- about 8 hours a day, or 400 miles. We do what we can to avoid heavy city traffic.

Putting all of these things together, I now find towing to be enjoyable, if not relaxing (it isn't). And I am no longer tired at the end of a long day.

PS --DW is a great driver but prefers to navigate. She works the smart phone and the audio system and arranges meals and so forth -- I just drive.

Driving at night wears on me. The lights really do a number on my eyes and quickly take a toll on me.
_tiredTeacher
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2014
dadmomh wrote:
Still working on that backing part, but by the summer I promise to have it at least acceptable...

Most folks don't realize that they can practice this skill all the time. At the mall, grocery store, wherever, make it a practice to back into parking spaces. Use your side mirrors, don't turn and look over your shoulder. Once this becomes second nature, adding the trailer into the equation won't be as daunting.

Teach
PAThwacker
Explorer
Dec 29, 2014
dadmomh wrote:
Have you asked your DW if she would like to learn? If she says, "NO!" then this may not be a huge success. She needs to want to do this and certainly nothing has been mentioned to think she can't. At the risk of repeating, which I am, BOTH should be able to tow just in case.

Re the boat trailer....I had a harder time towing our bass boat because it seemed harder to see in the side mirrors. To me, towing the HTT/TT is easier....kind of hard to miss noticing it. Drive "further down the road" so you don't get surprised, know what's coming as much as possible. Allow yourself a wide berth in turns. Still working on that backing part, but by the summer I promise to have it at least acceptable....DH can back into most anything and be 100% parallel...he's good!

The bass boat/jon 1448t is harder to tow. I want her to learn to tow that boat, learn to back it up, and even launch it. Master that and the tt is a joke.
Community Alumni
Dec 29, 2014
All of the classes around here seem to focus just on the Class A crowd. I have one of those folding 4x8 trailers that worked well for this purpose. It's great for teaching someone spatial awareness, backing, and other basics for those that are just starting out. Maneuvering trailers that short can be an exercise in patience, frustration, and self control lol. Once the person has mastered that, handling larger trailers is somewhat of a breeze. The only thing you can't simulate is the feeling of weight wanting to move you around. That's just something you just have to experience first hand in the driver's seat.
dadmomh
Explorer
Dec 28, 2014
Have you asked your DW if she would like to learn? If she says, "NO!" then this may not be a huge success. She needs to want to do this and certainly nothing has been mentioned to think she can't. At the risk of repeating, which I am, BOTH should be able to tow just in case.

Re the boat trailer....I had a harder time towing our bass boat because it seemed harder to see in the side mirrors. To me, towing the HTT/TT is easier....kind of hard to miss noticing it. Drive "further down the road" so you don't get surprised, know what's coming as much as possible. Allow yourself a wide berth in turns. Still working on that backing part, but by the summer I promise to have it at least acceptable....DH can back into most anything and be 100% parallel...he's good!

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