Tow training for DW

[jamesu]

Been a member here for a long time. Been towing for a long time. We want to see the USA with our trailer, but since I do 100% of the towing, I'm not sure I'm up to the task.Tthe last trip to Reno in September totally wore me out now. When we got home I told her, "That's it. I'm done towing long distances anymore. Let's sell this outfit and buy a B-Class so you can help drive too."

New B-Classes are expensive, more than I want to pay in our retirement. I told DW I'll agree to buying a shorter TT if she agrees to help with the towing. QS: (1) Are there classes my wife can take that will make her into a competent TT tower? I'm not comfortable having her practice in a WalMart parking lot in the middle of the night or while driving on the open road with our set up. (2) Would it be easier for her to tow a 5th wheel rather than a TT?

Any good advice is appreciated. Merry Christmas.

[rbpru]

My DW has no problem driving when I ask her. I prefer to drive because I do not like to ride.

She learned the same way I did. We take a section of the trip with few towns and she drives. She will leave the parking to me because it can be a hassle.

You can give a few pointers but everyone has their own driving style.

[BellaLynda]

Howdy All,

I'm a new member to the site and we just upgraded from towing a teardrop with my Ford Escape to towing a Flagstaff Micro Lite 21DS with an E-250. We haven't taken a maiden voyage yet, but I'm confident, after a couple of hours on the road, I'll be just as comfortable sharing the driving as I was before.

[profdant139]

Maybe let's approach this a different way -- what is it about towing that you find tiring? I used to be the same way -- then we finally dialed in our hitch arrangement to minimize the bucking of the trailer. We also dialed in the tongue weight. We got a better tow vehicle. I got used to the extra alertness that trailer towing requires, and now I even enjoy it (since it makes driving so much more interesting than regular driving). We learned that there is a limit -- about 8 hours a day, or 400 miles. We do what we can to avoid heavy city traffic.

Putting all of these things together, I now find towing to be enjoyable, if not relaxing (it isn't). And I am no longer tired at the end of a long day.

PS --DW is a great driver but prefers to navigate. She works the smart phone and the audio system and arranges meals and so forth -- I just drive.

[_tiredTeacher]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
... skills involved in driving any vehicle are not gender related. Any person can drive any vehicle provided they have the desire.

As evidenced by all the women long-haul truckers.

Teach

[drsolo]

I am also the DW and do almost all the driving/towing. DH is a "flyover" type so to get him into RVing I stepped him up from conversion van to tent to teardrop and he is hooked. He is great at backing up trailers, but there is something about being high up in the van freaks him out. After freaking myself out with long exhausting drives, white knuckle drives I limit driving to 4 hours when I am alone and 5 hours with DH driving the extra.
I think it is most important that people (especially women) be told "yes, of course you can do this, it just takes practice". I take it slow and let the traffic flow around me and learn a little breath control. I have found anxiety increases with increasing speed and forcing myself into frequent passing/changing lanes. I do avoid backing up whenever possible and look for pull thru sites. I just got thru pulling a little 13' trailer from Wisconsin down to Florida for a friend. So I am going to be teaching her how to drive/tow in the coming weeks. I may suggest a driving school to her... will see how it goes.

[xteacher]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
The original post and many subsequent posts are condescending to women. The skills involved in driving any vehicle are not gender related. Any person can drive any vehicle provided they have the desire.

Amen! I'm the "DW" and I always do all of our towing, b/c DH isn't comfortable towing whatsoever. I've towed something since I was 16, starting with a two-horse trailer, and have towed up to a large 5ver in our many years of camping. I enjoy it and DH doesn't - very simple.

If someone wants to learn, they probably will, given patience and practice. If they don't, they may become competent, but perhaps never comfortable, doing it.

Definitely not gender-based. I gave driving lessons to a gentleman who bought one of our TTs (it was 31 feet, and he'd only had a small PUP in the past), and he was clueless - lol! He didn't see the point to several of the tips I gave him, even when I gave the reasons...

[shihtzumoma]

Hello Guys
Well first off I want to say that I was married. While I was married we had a class C and then a Class A. Husband did all of the driving telling me " you can't do this" I was terrified to drive a rig! Fast forward 4 years . I bought a 31 ft travel trailer and a F150 . I have joined RV women. They have helped learn a lot. I have had the rig a week. I talked myself into learning this. They have encouraged me too. They are going to teach me to drive it. After they are done with me I am going to take private lessons.

I will admit I am scared. But the way I see it we can all use a lesson. You DH. It might be nice and helpful and good for you too to take the class with your wife. After all I am sure the school can teach you something you don't know. To me its like buying a motorcycle. In CA you can take classes that only make you a better , safer operator. Plus you get confidence and a discount on your insurance. This is just my opinion and mind set. I figure I could wait till I meet a man who could take me or I can learn this. Well meeting a man may or may not happen. But, I do know that RVing makes me happy, I can take the family and visit my daughter at college. I went for it.
:h
j
2004 Keystone , F150
3DD, 2 Shih tzu
1 bubee, oye Vey!
1 set of great grandparents that dreamed of RVing and never got to do it.

[Dog_Folks]

For what it is worth: I had a fatigue problem also and my wife took over all the towing. She started out just driving on the interstate and progressed to driving in high traffic situations and cities. The last hurdle was backing into a campsite.

Last fall she did 100% of the driving, drove over 1000 miles and backed the RV into sites!

If your wife can drive a car, she can tow the rig. A RV driving school will show here the differences between a car and your rig, but most importantly will give her the confidence needed to drive the rig safely.

Just don't look so happy when you go down the road when she is driving, and you are drinking a cup of coffee and relaxing in the passenger seat. 🙂

[DownTheAvenue]

The original post and many subsequent posts are condescending to women. The skills involved in driving any vehicle are not gender related. Any person can drive any vehicle provided they have the desire.

[campigloo]

My wife learned slowly and started with small trailers. You might start with just the TV. If she is comfy with that move on to the trailer. Maybe even rent a little U-Haul. Don't push the tricky stuff. When she gets that move to the real one. My DW has been relieving me for about 15 years now and does a good job. I try to limit my requests to easy, long straight roads but she has surprised me. I woke up one day and she had driven through ElPaso, no problem. Just be patient with her, don't push too hard, nothing tricky and she will be fine. GOOD LUCK!

[Tvov]

I do most of the towing. During our two Disney World trips Wife drove for portions of that, sections of highway that were not crowded or in cities. No problems. She was nervous, but then said "That's it? that's what I was concerned about?", lol!

When I am towing, I do point out to her some of the things I'm looking out for - plenty of room for me to turn (takes a bit of practice to get used to crossing the yellow line into the other lane while turning if needed), watching speed limits, planning for lane changes, planning my route and gas stops. And DON'T blindly follow the GPS!!

As in other posts, you need to "back off" a bit and not over-teach someone, especially wife!

[PAThwacker]

I have my wife tow a boat trailer to learn to watch the trailer tires during turning. She has towed the camper a few times but gets in plenty of jams cutting turns too early.

[nomad297]

How did you learn?

I suggest you let her do it the way you did.

Bruce

[dadmomh]

The first 6 years we had our HTT, I "got to drive" maybe 10 miles, straight only, no corners. OK. On a family reunion trip from West TN to New Braunfels, TX, some years later, DH did all the driving going, as usual. The morning we were to leave to head home he got up sick. Wonderful. I got most of the pack up done, he was able to hook up and it was my time to learn OJT or stay however many days IF we could even have space. I'd observed a lot over the years and really enjoy driving and do a good job. As we started to leave, DH started giving instructions a mile a minute. I asked him to just let it be, let me get the feel for it and just sit. Got out of the park without crisis, had to stop at Walmart and got in and out of there good, then the interstate. Long story shorter, I love towing, I do a good job, can get in and out of the gas station without taking the pumps with me and DH has now handed that job over to me most of the time. The next day he was fine but wanted me to drive just because he enjoyed looking around at the scenery. Got close to Little Rock and he remembered an RC shop he wanted to stop at.....downtown LR. Wonderful. Can hardly wait to try this! Seems that if you pay attention and just take it calmly, it's pretty much a case of the trailer following the truck! Backing up? Not so much. DH tried to do the left/right thing, but got sorta dyslexic...he backs from the top of the steering wheel, I back from the bottom, so we had a bit of a problem and I finally gave it back to him. Whether we're just going to our favorite nearby CG or longer trips, I do at least half of the driving.

Parking lot is a good starting place...even a school parking lot or a large church lot during the week. Anywhere she can get a feel for it. My guess is that you may be more nervous about it than she is. She not only CAN learn and tow frequently, but she SHOULD in case of illness or such. And it will give you a much needed break.

Re the miles per day....we try not to go over 300 - 350. Happier around 300. We keep our speed between about 58 - 60, rarely 65 and only in a pinch. We figure with stops for food, gas, etc we may average 50 MPH and 6 hours is plenty. We're also in the AARP crowd and we don't rush, leave when we're ready and try to stop by 6:00, minimal set up, a cool one, fix dinner and then repeat. Very enjoyable that way. We never have been ones to get up at the crack of dawn, drive 10 or 12 hours - or more - and be frazzled by the time we arrive.

After we moved from our 23SS HTT to Rocky 2604 I did about half of the driving home from OH with our brand new TT in tow. Had a bit different feel, but not a problem at all, just takes a few minutes of getting used to it. She can do this!

[Bob_Olallawa]

Well, maybe she could learn the same way most of us do. Have her take over the driving in areas with wider lanes and low traffic. When she is ready try backing straight back, turning through intersections going forward and so on. Grab a few traffic cones or boxes or whatever, find a vacant parking lot and have fun doing it. Then she may even be ready to back into the site or better yet find a pull through.