Help!!!! Travel Trailer Back in
I feel so dumb and miss out on a lot of campgrounds, as my anxiety hits an all new level when trying to back in to a site. Part of that anxiety occurs when people are watching me fail, lol. What giv...
Forum Discussion
the best training for backing a trailer is a small 8' utility trailer where you can barely see it in the mirrors!
I too was lucky in learning how to backup stuff since I was a kid. Laugh if you want, but I started doing it at around 5 years old, on my tricycle with a hand truck strapped to the back and "going camping" in the parking lot of the apartment complex we lived in back in the late 60's..
I would load the hand truck with my 'camping' stuff. Pedal out and back it into my camping spot.. ha, ha..
Anyway, over the years and doing real world backing, I find it easier to do it with the mirrors and just watching the trailer tires and the hand at the bottom of the wheel.
Once the trailer starts going where you want it to go, start 'following' the trailer so you don't oversteer the turn and adjust as you back up.
I find that you will be spinning the wheel, following, turning again, but all the while keeping the trailer tires in the mirror. Be that the drivers side, or the pass side. Also remember to keep in mind where the front of the truck is... If it's tight, you don't want to steer the front end into something!
If it oversteers, don't fret. Just pull forward to straighten out again, and start again.
I like having a spotter... But ONLY to tell me if I'm going to HIT something I can't see.
I don't want my spotter telling me to turn 'right' or turn 'left'... As long as you can see the trailer tires and where they are going, that's where the trailer is going..
Hand signals work too. As long as the spotter stays in your mirror view, they can use their thumb to point the way you should go, or in my case, when to stop in the site and that's just the open palm signal. Works every time. :) We do the same thing when hitching up the trailer. Even thou I have a backup camera, and I can do it by myself 9 times out of 10 the first try, the hand signals still work great for us with the second set of eyes.
No yelling, no walkie talkies..
Anyway, that's what has worked for me for all these years.. Yet, the little 8' utility trailer is the one that is the hardest to backup! :)
Good luck! Mitch
I too was lucky in learning how to backup stuff since I was a kid. Laugh if you want, but I started doing it at around 5 years old, on my tricycle with a hand truck strapped to the back and "going camping" in the parking lot of the apartment complex we lived in back in the late 60's..
I would load the hand truck with my 'camping' stuff. Pedal out and back it into my camping spot.. ha, ha..
Anyway, over the years and doing real world backing, I find it easier to do it with the mirrors and just watching the trailer tires and the hand at the bottom of the wheel.
Once the trailer starts going where you want it to go, start 'following' the trailer so you don't oversteer the turn and adjust as you back up.
I find that you will be spinning the wheel, following, turning again, but all the while keeping the trailer tires in the mirror. Be that the drivers side, or the pass side. Also remember to keep in mind where the front of the truck is... If it's tight, you don't want to steer the front end into something!
If it oversteers, don't fret. Just pull forward to straighten out again, and start again.
I like having a spotter... But ONLY to tell me if I'm going to HIT something I can't see.
I don't want my spotter telling me to turn 'right' or turn 'left'... As long as you can see the trailer tires and where they are going, that's where the trailer is going..
Hand signals work too. As long as the spotter stays in your mirror view, they can use their thumb to point the way you should go, or in my case, when to stop in the site and that's just the open palm signal. Works every time. :) We do the same thing when hitching up the trailer. Even thou I have a backup camera, and I can do it by myself 9 times out of 10 the first try, the hand signals still work great for us with the second set of eyes.
No yelling, no walkie talkies..
Anyway, that's what has worked for me for all these years.. Yet, the little 8' utility trailer is the one that is the hardest to backup! :)
Good luck! Mitch
