Hi All,Greetings from a soon-to-be first-time trailer owner.My wife and I finally decided to buy a Coachmen Clipper 16RBD trailer. We are excited.I'm watching youtube videos on how to backup a trailer.What I'm nervous about is that our driveway is very narrow (8ft-4in) and has a steep inclined approach/portion coming from the street.The Clipper 16RDB has an overall width of 7ft-4in so I only have 6 inches clearance on both sides.My question is it still possible to park my trailer and how relatively hard or not so hard will it be?I do not have any trailer hauling experience let alone trailer backing experience.Some articles says to practice with cones in an empty parking lot. I will do that for sure.Thanks for any advise.RonPS I'm attempting to attach some pictures but the Image button says "Enter the complete URL for the image." and I cannot browse to a folder location.

Welcome to the Forum....you certainly have a challenge for sure, but the width (with practice is do-able).I'm more concerned with the steepness of your driveway. Be very careful that you don't drag-bottom out when making the transition.Certainly have a spotter and work out good communications between the two of you ahead of time. We use our cell phones on speaker to talk to one another in tight situations like yours.Good luck with it....and have a second plan for parking your new rig, just in case.

Yes, it will be really hard at first -- take some video so you can laugh about it later!Seriously, practice backing up on the flat. It takes a lot of practice. My wife is my spotter. She and I communicate with hand gestures (not the naughty ones).Good luck, be patient with yourself, and practice. You will become an expert eventually.

You probably less than 6" clearance each side due to the awning sticking out on he passenger side.I have many many year of experience with my own trailers, and I will say that with what minimal clearance you have, I wouldn't want to deal with the headache that little of clearance will cause.

Consider a front receiver hitch.

Thank you all for the quick replies. I Appreciated them.

Backing up to an inclined and narrow driveway | Good Sam Community

RonValor
Explorer
Mar 25, 2017
Bobndot, correct. one side is a hard clearance because it is the corner of the house structure. One side is a soft clearance since they are bushes and chain fence.
Dan,, we got a Thousand Trails pass so we will strart going through each of them southern california ones first. Thanks.
profdant139
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2017
Ron, where are you headed? Looks like it will be a sunny weekend! Good luck, and well done on the parking job!
bobndot
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2017
I installed a trailer ball on my snowblower and use it to move trailers at times. I use it to back a trailer between my fence and garage with one inch on either side. IMO, 12 extra inches should not be a problem, i wish i had that much room to spare .
While backing using a vehicle, watch the drivers side.....If you have 6" on the drivers side...you have 6" on the passenger as well, right ?
All_I_could_aff
Explorer
Mar 25, 2017
Great job! Happy camping
RonValor
Explorer
Mar 25, 2017
. . . . and I did it!

Thanks again for all your insights, suggestions, and encouragement.

PS we are ready to camp this weekend for the first time on a travel trailer.
RonValor
Explorer
Mar 25, 2017
Hi guys,
Today is the day. Just wanted to update you that there was some delay in the delivery of our travel trailer so Im not able to post lately. But we picked it up today.
Here's a picture of the driveway last week for some last preparation.
I painted some guidelines and trimmed some the ivys :)
OutdoorPhotogra
Explorer
Mar 04, 2017
Hate to introduce a new fly on the ointment but if that is the tow vehicle, you'll fine those mirrors inadequate for backing. The u-haul is harder to back straight but much better for visibility.

I'm not sure about your cargo capacity for tongue weight either but that's for a different thread.
bguy
Explorer
Mar 04, 2017
humblerb wrote:
One thing you did not encounter with the U-Haul is the overhang on your house. Depending on how tall your TT is, that overhang may come in to play.
Out of all your other concerns (you seem to have conquered most of them) keep an eye on that when you back it in the first time.

Put a mark on the driveway below the eave. Something you can see when backing such that you know if you are past the mark you'll hit the eave.
humblerb
Explorer
Mar 03, 2017
One thing you did not encounter with the U-Haul is the overhang on your house. Depending on how tall your TT is, that overhang may come in to play.
Out of all your other concerns (you seem to have conquered most of them) keep an eye on that when you back it in the first time.
_1nobby
Explorer
Mar 03, 2017
fulltimedaniel wrote:
I have been backing trailers many of them tractor trailers since I was 14. The one thing I can tell you is this: get to a big parking lot where you can back in a STRAIGHT LINE for about 200 feet or more down a strait edge.

Practice backing straight until you can do it well. Backing straight and the small corrections you will have to make continuously will implant the motor skills in your brain and teach you. This will make backing into any space much easier.

And Please forget any one who tells you to put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. This is like a crutch and you just have to unlearn this bad habit to really back up. Start with your natural hand placement on the wheel and learn from there.

Unless you have WALLS on both sides of your driveway or steep and sudden dropoffs then your driveway should be just fine and you too.

I would also limit anyone helping you to using HAND SIGNALS only. The CLOSED FIST held up is the universal sign for STOP. You only need one person helping you. Don't let a crowd gather and start giving directions, this is disastrous.

Good Luck

GREAT post.