my curse

[nephi007]

Howdy. Never was able to master backing up well enough in 7 years of owning my Jayco to make the knot in my stomach go away, we we were always looking for pull through sites and generally found them.We had a 4 point equalizer hitch which was fine but I wonder if other wdh are better for backing up ease.Hope I am not barking up the wrong tree with this question.Thanks

[PAThwacker]

I don't trust my wive to be the spotter. ?One collision and too many near missed..

[Dennis_Smith]

Same with my wife, as she just usually gets nervous and panics. I usually can't see her or even hear her when backing in to a site. When backing up to hitch up, she just keeps saying "one more....one more...." without giving me a clue how far I am away from the hitch, or which direction to turn. So I just back up a little ways and get out to check everything. My daughter is much more useful with this process.


Why don't you let her drive and you spot her when your hjitiching up?

[Doug33]

RetiredSFC 97 wrote:
backing up is a matter of practice and experience. You'll get better. As some others have said, get out and recon the area yourself and make a plan on where you want to park. Then go slowly. If you're not comfortable, et out several times to make sure you're working your plan.

My wife is terrible at helping, she will even go as far as stand behind the camper and I can't see her at all. Waste of time. I just tell her to stay in my mirror line of sight and stop me if I'm going to hit something. (she knows this and understands she's no help so all is good)

You think this is hard? I grew up backing hay wagons. Now that's hard.

Same with my wife, as she just usually gets nervous and panics. I usually can't see her or even hear her when backing in to a site. When backing up to hitch up, she just keeps saying "one more....one more...." without giving me a clue how far I am away from the hitch, or which direction to turn. So I just back up a little ways and get out to check everything. My daughter is much more useful with this process.

[CavemanCharlie]

RetiredSFC 97 wrote:
backing up is a matter of practice and experience. You'll get better. As some others have said, get out and recon the area yourself and make a plan on where you want to park. Then go slowly. If you're not comfortable, et out several times to make sure you're working your plan.

My wife is terrible at helping, she will even go as far as stand behind the camper and I can't see her at all. Waste of time. I just tell her to stay in my mirror line of sight and stop me if I'm going to hit something. (she knows this and understands she's no help so all is good)

You think this is hard? I grew up backing hay wagons. Now that's hard.

Oh God Yes, hay wagons are hard. I've gotten purty good at it but, it took me a lot of decades to learn.

[RetiredSFC_97]

backing up is a matter of practice and experience. You'll get better. As some others have said, get out and recon the area yourself and make a plan on where you want to park. Then go slowly. If you're not comfortable, et out several times to make sure you're working your plan.

My wife is terrible at helping, she will even go as far as stand behind the camper and I can't see her at all. Waste of time. I just tell her to stay in my mirror line of sight and stop me if I'm going to hit something. (she knows this and understands she's no help so all is good)

You think this is hard? I grew up backing hay wagons. Now that's hard.

[2112]

I know you were not asking for backing up tips but this youtube Scoop Video may help. I approach my right hand site just left of center of the road. Dive towards the site and turn out at the last possible moment. Point TV down the road again just left of center. I leave room to the left of TV front tire as needed. Keep moving forward until TT rear is pointing towards the site. The TT will glide right in, just follow it in. ALL in slow motion.

[Jerrybo66]

CavemanCharlie wrote:

Jerrybo66 wrote:

Ole Man Dan wrote:
.

FWIW... I tried having my wife assist, wanted to kill each other.
NOW... I have her go sit at the picnic table till I'm parked.
No shouting back and forth, no miscommunications...
She's still speaking to me. Married 39 yrs now...

Congratulations....
You have mastered the secret to a long married RVing life. How do I know? I speak from experience... 56 years & counting... Or is it 57.... I don't know, it seems like 157...:)

Better not let your wife see this of you won't make 58. lol

I'm way ahead of you Dan. I didn't last this long by not knowing how to play the game. Today is her 76th birthday. A rationally thinking husband, with years of experience, doesn't remind his wife how old she is. Her morning coffee was served with a greeting of Merry Christmas as was her breakfast roll. Merry Christmas...... Sometimes I'm so smart I scare myself... :B :B

[CavemanCharlie]

Jerrybo66 wrote:

Ole Man Dan wrote:
.

FWIW... I tried having my wife assist, wanted to kill each other.
NOW... I have her go sit at the picnic table till I'm parked.
No shouting back and forth, no miscommunications...
She's still speaking to me. Married 39 yrs now...

Congratulations....
You have mastered the secret to a long married RVing life. How do I know? I speak from experience... 56 years & counting... Or is it 57.... I don't know, it seems like 157...:)

Better not let your wife see this of you won't make 58. lol

[Boskie]

Hondavalk wrote:
Backing is just practice and taking your time and not getting pressured. Find an empty parking lot and do it until your comfortable. Your hitch is fine.

No substitute for practice!! Two-way radio can help, especially at night!!

[Jerrybo66]

Ole Man Dan wrote:
.

FWIW... I tried having my wife assist, wanted to kill each other.
NOW... I have her go sit at the picnic table till I'm parked.
No shouting back and forth, no miscommunications...
She's still speaking to me. Married 39 yrs now...

Congratulations....
You have mastered the secret to a long married RVing life. How do I know? I speak from experience... 56 years & counting... Or is it 57.... I don't know, it seems like 157...:)

[Keith_Haw]

The biggest mistake I've seen drivers make after years as a long haul driver is to try and aim the trailer. Sure you need to keep a watch on the sides of the trailer to make sure you don't hit anything but, watch where the trailer tires are going. What you need to do is put the trailer tires where you want to go and not try backing watching the rear of the trailer. And like was said before, if you have trouble on which way to turn the wheel try holding it on the bottom.

[Murphsmom]

My husband does the backing into a campsite with me on a walkie talkie directing him. However, when it comes to hooking up the trailer to the TV, I always drive while he gives the directions. We rarely miss being dead on the first time when hitching up. We have been using this method for 35 years now, and it works great.

[rgolding]

My wife and I have been backing boats and trailers together for 40 plus years. The longer ones are easier and the hitch doesn't matter. Years ago, bride got tired of me not being satisfied with where she had me stop or that we were too far left or right.

Since then she does all the backing and I direct her as to where I think it should be when we are finished. If she can't see me or questions my thoughts she just stops and waits until we talk.

For us it works good and she is a very good driver. Yes, I can do it by myself, but we camp and travel for fun together and its part of the adventure.

[Ole_Man_Dan]

Sometimes things work the way they are supposed to... Not Often.

Last month We were at a campground in the Smoky Mts.
I had a spot that looked like it was going to be difficult to back into.
A couple of guys sitting on a nearby table thought it was going to be entertaining...
I lucked out. I followed my camper into the space, I got out to see how close I was to the hook-ups. I was dead on.
The cement pad was perfectly in line with the door.
I cut off my truck and began un-hooking... Looked like a pro.
Dumb luck, but I acted like I was that good.