My first battle scar . Careful who you let spot you

[SprinklerMan]

Went on our first trip thes weekend . Made a wrong turn in the campground and had to back the trailer out a crooked road , lots of trees . A guy came from his site and said he will spot me . So I start backing up and I hear this crunch THEN he yells " Stop " . I caught the upper corner of the trailer on a tree . I just looked at him and said " Thanks but I dont need any more help " Got it around with no more damage . The rest of the weekend was great .

[Wishbone51]

I prefer not to have any help. I'm happy that everyone wants to help, but I'll get out and look myself, 10 times if I have to. Never had an issue this way.

[salem]

Colberjs: Welcome to the forum. And, yeah, RV'ers sort of have their own language. If you'll go up to the top of the page and click on FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS and scroll down to #21 you'll find a list of the most commonly used abbreviations. There is also gobs of good information under that section. Again, welcome, and happy camping.

[coolbreeze01]

rctoyguy wrote:
Should I be able to turn a 32' TT behind a super cab Ram 1500 in a standard cul-de-sac?

Yes

[rctoyguy]

Probably should be its own thread, but I'll ask here since it seems to fit. (Apology to OP, not trying to hijack)
Should I be able to turn a 32' TT behind a super cab Ram 1500 in a standard cul-de-sac?
Have only pulled it from the dealer to the storage lot So I'm learning what I should or shouldn't try, and the only way to get it to my house will require turning around in a normal subdivision cul-de-sac or backing it a loooong way through my neighborhood.

[Flatland_diesel]

Thanks for all the tips. I am very excited to show my 3 daughters Western Canada!

[King_Hugh]

Sadly as of this weekend I have my own story to add....very experienced backing up trailers....little ones...having a bit of trouble getting used to a 26'TT. DW tried, but she has no experience spotting. Trying to turn the thing around in my tight driveway and I clipped the corner of the shed roof with the side of the TT..nice dent that just missed a window. Could have been costly. I need to try and make some more room for maneuvering.

[mabynack]

I was camping once and a fellow camper volunteered to spot someone backing in. They spotted the guy right into a boulder.

Here's the typical exchange between my ex and I when she spotted me.

Mon back. Mon Back. STOP. Okay pull out and try again.

[coolbreeze01]

I ignore volunteer backers and only watch my wife.

[imadtchmn]

DW = Dear Wife.

[Colberjs]

Forgive my ignorance, but what does "DW" stand for?

[JD_and_Beastlet]

cmeade wrote:
...I don't let anyone spot for me except DW now no matter how much they offer to help.

I have come across a couple of transport drivers (my FIL included) who have taken offense when I declined their spotting help in favour of DW's expertise. I didn't give a rat's patootie about hurting their feelings.

[MrLugs]

Watched a guy in a new C-class back into the site beside us. Tried to warn him of the low hanging branch. He shushed me and said he has a backing camera. Crunch! I tried to warn him.
But I have learned over the years, don't spot unless asked.

[Redterpos3]

Yeah, its rough...mine was on me...I jackknifed to get out of a gas station. Thought I was doing a great job...patted myself on the back, etc. Later I saw my outside light on the trailer was broken... then I noticed a scratch up on my "new" leer cap...and later as I was trying to figure things out (while not too happy with humanity, who would do such a thing, thinking it happened while we were in eating) I noticed a dent in my bumper...then my brilliant accounting mind began adding it all up, and as I backed into my driveway I asked DW to watch as these three areas all came together as I jackknifed my combo (not quite so far this time)....bummer and its on me, double bummer, but my view on humanity didn't take quite the hit (except I had to do a few mea culpa's). This never happened with my previous set up!!

[Colberjs]

I took ours on its maiden voyage a few weeks ago. I pull a 25' gooseneck trailer almost daily and can back a trailer just fine. So when I got to the campground I didn't bother to ask my wife to spot for me. I was backing into the spot and was perfectly lined up on my first attempt and feeling rather proud of myself after seeing other people try to back trailers. Turns out I had gotten the one "deformed" campsite in the park. You see, upon closer inspection after the fact, I noticed that every single other grill was off to the side of the site near the picnic table and the lantern post. But at MY site, some genius decided it would be better to put the grill about 4' behind the parking bumper for the trailer. So my self-confidence took a sharp blow when I was easing back into my spot and heard and felt a thud. Now they have a custom leaning BBQ grill and fortunately I got away with only a hole in my spare tire cover and a temporarily crooked spare tire that I was able to fix with some elbow grease.

I was rather disgruntled at whoever decided that was a good spot for the grill. Who wants the grill right up against the rear of the trailer anyway? How stupid!!!