Tow training for DW

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.

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 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

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.