Issue Backing into Camping Spot

[RobWNY]

Last year was our first year with our camper (27ft. Heartland Trail Runner). Although we didn't have any major issues that weren't easily corrected, I found that I struggled in one area and likely will again this upcoming season. When I pull past our campsite upon arrival, I can't judge when I've gone far enough so I can stop and then begin backing in. I can't see well enough with my mirrors to know for sure where the back of my camper is in relation to the campsite entry and of course the camper blocks your view. I either pull too far past and have to back up some before starting to turn and back in, or I haven't gone far enough. I end up having to get out of my truck, walk to the back of my camper to determine if I'm in the right spot to begin backing. I love my wife dearly, but she is no help whatsoever for this task so it's all on me. If I could back in where I could look out the drivers side window, I wouldn't have nearly as much trouble but every campground we've been to have you back in like in the picture below. Is there a general rule of thumb or something you have learned to determine when you're in the right spot to begin backing and turning into your campsite? thanks in advance for your expertise!

[APT]

{tpc} wrote:

Have the DW only pay attention to one thing....whether or not your going to hit something with trailer or truck, or jackknife the truck into the trailer. Other than that, don't say anything at all.

This is me. I've been backing up trailers for years. I've received several compliments on my back-in parking from new campsite neighbors. My TT is actually one of the easiest except the height blocks the outside of the turn. No mirrors will help me there. So the only help I ask for is someone standing on the outside of my turn so I do not hit anything as well as how far back if there is something behind where I want to park. Otherwise, I do not want anyone else telling me which direction to turn the wheel or how to move my truck.

[toedtoes]

In case you haven't seen it. This is How NOT to back up a trailer

[gijoecam]

It simply takes practice, patience, practice, patience, and more practice and patience. We have a 30-foot long trailer and a 40-foot driveway. The trailer gets parked along-side the garage, and I have no choice but to back across the driveway over my blind side. (I'd never get it around the corner from the other direction) I have a rather sizeable rock at the 'right' corner of the driveway I have to miss when cutting that corner, then jacknife the trailer across the two lanes of the driveway, onto the gravel that parallels it, and down the side of the garage. Backing to the driver's side is, quite frankly, more difficult as it's easier for me to look out the right window than over my left shoulder.

Find an empty parking lot, set out some cones, and practice. Good mirrors and a spotter who will tell you to stop before you hit anything are a bare minimum.

A practice suggestion that may help: Reverse-engineer the backing. In the afore-mentioned parking lot, park, set out the cones, then pull out and around into the 'street.' Pay attention to the track of the tires and where the truck and trailer end up with the rig straight in the road. You need to do the exact opposite to back it back into the spot. I've found it helpful on my white cement driveway to use the witness marks from pulling the trailer out as a guide for backing the trailer in. After the first couple of trips each year, I have a pretty clear path that the trailer tires need to follow to guide me right back in. 🙂 (on asphalt, you could probably use chalk on the tire tread or sprinkle some sand out...)

[dieseltruckdriv]

Heavy Metal Doctor wrote:

dieseltruckdriver wrote:
Your wife actually can be a big help. Get some of those cheap FRS radios and give her one. Then her job is to tell you to stop before you hit something. That is a lot of help.

The rest is just practice. Check out that swoop too. Almost all truck drivers do it.

X2
In spite of DW wanting to be involved and helpful, she understands that the biggest help for me if just to let me deal with it and just point out stuff that I might be getting too close to -- we find that's best for our camping experience / my sanity.

I was a truck driver for 17 years, and she admittedly knows nothing about backing up trailers. Her stopping me before I hit something is her job, and I do think it is an important one.

[myredracer]

A good thing to do IMHO is if DW is going to part of the camping trip, you need to train her with being part of the process. Took about 2 years to train mine (only time it's ok to ever attempt this :)), and now she's a pro and darn proud of it. :W

I started out with trusting no one and kept getting in and out of the truck to check where I was. Slow... Then we graduated to walkie-talkies and while that was a good improvement, it still wasn't enough. Wasn't until we learned hand signals together that backing in became easy, smooth & fast. For more challenging sites we use both hand signals and walkie-talkies.

Something I have found is that if you have been driving for hours, are tired and aching, hungry and need the restroom, it can help to get out and take break for a few minutes to re-energize before backing into the site and then it can be easier. We've also learned not to let fellow campers and/or CG staff to help back in, unless it's absolutely needed.

[Krease]

Your wife sounds similar to mine actually. But I've given her specific instructions for the walkie. Hold the talk button down, BEFORE I hit something, simply say "stop", I stop, she releases talk button, and then I ask her for further instructions. And I keep it simple by using drivers side, and passenger side. Don't want to over complicate it with "left" and "right" haha. I have her stand directly behind my fiver though. No need for me to see her, just for her to be able to see both sides and the rear to ensure I'm not going to hit anything.

One thing I learned by driving a big rig is ALWAYS, always, ALWAYS pull up further past the hole you're backing into than you really feel that you need to. Because backing up another 10 ft is easy, but if you didn't pull up enough by 10ft, it's a lot harder and you'll probably have to start over again.

Blind side backing (which is the technical term for your diagram) is the hardest side to back to. No questions about that. If you have power mirrors, turn that passenger side mirror way out while you're initiating the turn, then when you feel that you've maneuvered it to where you need your mirror back to normal, apply the brakes, adjust mirror, and back up more.

Trust your mirrors. Trust your wife. If you try it a couple times and fail, go drive a loop around the campground, take a few breaths and try it again. Remember, this is suppose to be a relaxing getaway!

[Tvov]

If you've already got some experience towing utility trailers, you are ahead of many other people. Some things I always mention about trailers, which you might already know:

Get used to using your side mirrors on your truck and other vehicles. Don't use the center windshield mirror when you are just driving around, towing or not. Learn what the side mirrors are showing you.

If your helper is not used to giving trailer backing directions, their primary job then is to warn if you are going to hit anything.

Your "helper"... have them tell you which direction the rear of the trailer should go, NOT which way they think you should turn your truck's front wheels.

As others have posted, the helper should stay within sight of the driver's mirror, preferably on the driver's side. The helper should understand that as the truck turns, the view out of the driver's mirrors changes, and the helper should move to stay within sight. If the helper needs to move to see another part of the trailer, stop backing up and wait for the helper to come within sight again. Your helper does not have to be right next to the trailer, they can stand pretty far away to see what they need to see and still be within sight of the driver.

Get out and look! If in doubt, just stop, get out and look. If you have to get out a dozen times to look, then get out a dozen times. The more you do it, the less you'll need to stop and get out.

Try not to let neighboring campers watching you bother you - we've ALL gone through it, they are not laughing AT you, but laughing (or smiling) at remembering their OWN backing up adventures!

If you have to temporarily block the road to back into your site -- EVERYONE has done this, and has to do this to back in. If anyone drives up and is waiting to get by you, don't worry about it. They will patiently wait. Maybe even smile and wave at you, they are not making fun of you!

Have fun camping, and see you on the road!

[2012Coleman]

Google Backing your RV. Start with a video called The Scoop Helped me quite a lot - taht and lots of practice. You will get it.

I pull forward while scooping and look through the driver side window at where the back bumper of the TT is in relation to the right side of the entrance to the spot. You can see this if you are doing the scoop. A spotter with a walkie talkie standing and observing on the left corner of the spot - where you can't see is helpful, but if the entrance to the spot is wider that your TT, then there should be no problem.

Concentrate more on where the slide out side of the TT is in relation to the power pole or trees and if you will have enough room to put out a slide if you have one. I always put my TT inthe right side of the spot to give more room for the awning and chairs, fire pit etc.

My wife was much like yours, but I taught her how to guide me. I told her it was a two person operation and that somehow clicked.

[Heavy_Metal_Doc]

dieseltruckdriver wrote:
Your wife actually can be a big help. Get some of those cheap FRS radios and give her one. Then her job is to tell you to stop before you hit something. That is a lot of help.

The rest is just practice. Check out that swoop too. Almost all truck drivers do it.

X2
In spite of DW wanting to be involved and helpful, she understands that the biggest help for me if just to let me deal with it and just point out stuff that I might be getting too close to -- we find that's best for our camping experience / my sanity.

[BenK]

GordonThree wrote:
Next time I go for a drive in reverse I'll have to check the computer for the atf temp... never through that would be a problem, especially if the truck is equipped for towing... wonder why this serious issue is not covered in the operators manual.

Be sure to have several tons of trail hooked up when you check this

[RobWNY]

Thanks for all of the incite everyone. I'm ok with the backing in part. I've backed enough smaller landscape type trailers and flat bed trailers to understand the concept to the point that I don't really think about it anymore but I can see everything with those types of trailers. My issue is knowing when I've pulled past the site entrance far enough to begin backing into the spot because my view of the passenger side is blocked because of the size of the camper. Trying to get a good view of the tires in relation to where the entrance is, is a good idea and I'll try that when we start season 2 in May. We do have walkie talkies and I've tried to use them with my wife but I guess she gets too focused on watching me and forgets she has one in her hand to offer assistance. I'm also not comfortable with her ability to tell me when to stop or when to turn right or left. I know it sounds like I'm bashing her and really I'm not. She's a great woman and I love her dearly but helping me get into a campsite is just not her strong suit. She's more the type to make sure she brought her hair dryer and that her "camping clothes" are coordinated than the type to start a campfire. That's why I was shocked when it was her idea to buy a camper but it turns out that she loves it. It's a social event for her and she'll know pretty much everyone's name in the camping loop, will have exchanged email addresses, become facebook friends, shared recipe's etc. after one day while for me it's a time to forget all about work and life's issues and relax. Funny how women will become fast friends and talk up a storm with one another while guys are perfectly content during this process saying three word sentences to each other "want a beer?" "where ya from?" "That a cummins?" "Good lookin Dually!" HAHAHAHA

[GordonThree]

Next time I go for a drive in reverse I'll have to check the computer for the atf temp... never through that would be a problem, especially if the truck is equipped for towing... wonder why this serious issue is not covered in the operators manual.

[BenK]

Yes...going backwards will have little to no air flow through the main radiator,
nor external ATF cooler

The engine fan and any aux fans 'help' a little, but the amounts of heat generated
maneuvering back and forth like that will elevate the AFT way up there

The TC will be at stall a lot with little to no air flow to cool the radiators.
Plus high throttle setting...worse if dirt, gravel, potholes, incline, etc

Been there done that and always let it rest a bit while holding the engine
in N at a higher RPM to get the fan to cool things down.

There will just be days when it's NOT working...

Love drive through sites !!!

[Dave_Mck]

Honestly, it's not as bad as you think. If you pull in to a campground and there are 100 people there, only 95 or 96 of them are going to stop what they are doing and watch you back up. It's not like EVERYONE is going to watch. You always have a couple drunk guys who have no clue what's going on, and then you have the children under 3 years old who don't seem to care.

I am relatively new to towing. All I can say is practice. Go to a big shopping center early on a Sunday morning bring some cones or 5 gallon buckets and practice. The scoop works well, I've got that down to a science. Good mirrors are also key. I purchased the fold out towing mirrors for my Dodge Ram on e-bay, that's a whole other story, but what a difference from the slip on ones I was using. I can honestly say I back just as easy on the passenger side as I do on the drivers side. I don't know if you can do it on your truck, but in the Dodge I flip up the center console up and slide over as far as I can toward the passenger side and still drive the truck. I basically sit in the middle seat, just doing that gives a you such a better angle on the view lookin out the back windows and in the mirror. I can also just put it in park and lean over and look out the window. Most important take a deep breath and take your time, get out 5 times if you have to who cares. Practice, practice practice. I'm no pro, I have it down pretty good but I still practice when I can.