Turning radius question

[daystrom]

Got a question about the turning radius of trailers and need some fresh eyes/minds.

I live in a suburb of a small city. I’m lucky enough to have a large enough driveway and no HOA (100 year old neighborhood) that I can store my trailer at home. I’ve never really had a problem getting in or out of my drive as there hasn’t been cars parked on the street for the past 3 years during the day. Coming home I can come from the south and pull into the alley directly across from my driveway and back it in even with the gold car where it is parked.

The issue I may run into is the guy that lives across the street. In the photo, his is the gold car. His spouse recently retired and the car is always in this spot, day or night. He and his spouse are old and going senile. They hate my wife and I, don’t know why but they do. Asking him to move his car is totally out of the question, he would slam the door in my face.

The car that is just north of my driveway comes and goes so it may be possible to exit north.

My question is, in the event that both cars shown in the photo are where they are in the pic, does it look like I would be able to pull my truck and trailer out of my drive going south.

Here are some specs:

My driveway is 12’ wide
The street is 25’ wide
My trailer is 30’ 10” hitch to bumper
The center point between the tandems is 20’ from the hitch
The truck’s wheelbase is 13’
The length of the truck from front bumper to hitch is 18’ 4”
The distance from the center of the rear wheel to the hitch is 5’

From my measurements I think I should be able to pull out with trailer attached going south. The off track of the trailer could ride on the sidewalk, curb lawn with no issues. However my lawn drops down a few feet to sidewalk/road level. I don’t have an issue getting my truck out, will the trailer track close to the truck’s track when making this turn?

The scale is on the map.


Looking at my driveway to street. You can see how my yard drops slightly to the road level:



Thanks!

[daystrom]

colliehauler:

That's exactly how I come home. Pull into the alley and back 'er in. No problems doing that. I just would like to pull OUT going south without having to deal with the guy across the street.


majorgator:

A no parking sign is the best idea out there! I have a close friend who is a patrol officer in the same city. Maybe I can get some of those 'by order of police' signs too!

I have no problem running over the grass or sidewalk. My concern was the off track of the trailer. If it cuts too close to the inside, I worry about the curb side tires running down the 18" grade and the overhang of the trailer scraping the lawn.

If the wheels of the trailer track close (within a foot or so of the TV), the turn is fine with the gold car in place.

I found this neat calculator but it is designed for big trucks/5th wheels.

http://www.itd.idaho.gov/dmv/poe/offtrack.htm

[majorgator]

Go the Home Depot and buy a "no parking" sign, drive it into the ground next to your neighbor's gold car 😉

Run over the grass and sidewalk. No harm in that.
Happy I live in the woods 😉

[mrw8i]

Your Tow Vehicle is pretty short. As long as the tow vehicle can make the turn, the trailer should follow. The right side trailer tires might go over the grass near the street. Maybe leave your weight distribution bars off while you make this maneuver. Just don't jack knife if you have to back up a few feet so you can make the turn tighter.

Personally, I go to the RV lot. Hitch up my 35 5th wheel and park it in front my house. I live on a dead-end street. To get out. I pull forward centering my rig in the middle of the street with cars on either side of the street. Then back down the street a few houses until I reach the intersection and turn the rig 90 degrees onto that street. My wife stands at the intersection and waits for a break in traffic then has me back up, then stops any other traffic that approaches. You should be able to do similar by pulling directly across into the alley. You are a bumper pull, so your TV should offset less when turning than when towing a 5th wheel.

You have a another choice. Put a receiver on the front of your tow vehicle. You can make a really tight turn if you hitch up your trailer to the front of your tow vehicle. I have a bumper pull and have had to do that once or twice backing in my bumper pull trailer into our driveway when the street was lined with cars.

[westend]

As long as your trailer wheels are clear of any obstacles, any turn can be completed.

[colliehauler]

I would swing wide coming in from the south and turn into the alley and back straight into the drive.

[bguy]

I believe that as long as the pickup is not there you can turn north no sweat. Just keep to the left err, make that to the right as you come out the drive and don't crank the wheel until the TV rear wheels are across or about to cross the curb. If the black car is further forward(south) it will really be tight but I think still doable. As it is looks easy enough with the pickup gone.

[daystrom]

Jack_Diane_Freedom:

Backing into the street from the alley could be possible but would require a lot more skill than I have! There is a power poll very close (shown in photo). Easier to pull in than to back out of!

WayneAt63044:

Other side of the alley is usually jammed pack with vehicles. Leaving north or south will get me to a major road so nothing is forcing me one way or the other. Backing the trailer toward the north would be difficult if that car was there! Neighbors to the north would move if asked; just looking for other options in the event they are not around.

Drbolasky:

The one good thing about the guy across the street is that he doesn't wan't ANYONE parking in front of his house so he ALWAYS parks right in the center. Not enough room for a car in front or behind. If he pulled any closer he would risk a citation for parking too close to a road. He's smart enough to know this.


All:

I guess my worry was turning too sharp and rolling down the 18" grade. The more I vision this, it would be the same turning angle if the gold car wasn't there and I took the turn invading his spot. The difference is about 7' which would simply put my tandems that further back into my drive. I just can't picture at what point the trailer axles would begin to pivot and move forward compared to the location of the truck.

Thanks for the comments so far!

[sch911]

If you don't mind going over the grass a little you should be able to easily make it out either way IMHO...

[Drbolasky]

To me, it looks "do-able." I said "LOOKS." I say this because our driveway is behind our house and the alley leading to it is maybe 18' wide, if that. I have to make a hard 90-degree turn to back into the driveway (the paved part of which is only 9' wide) to park it. That said - my trailer is 2' shorter than yours and my TV wheelbase is just over 10'. Hitch to ball distance is about the same as yours, maybe a bit shorter. I do cut across some of the grass on the inside of the turn - it's unavoidable.

My concern would be this - if your across the street neighbors are as ornery as you say, I can easily see the wife parking her car closer to the alley to prevent you from having enough room to swing the front end of your TV around - simply to be a pain and/or precipitate a confrontation. Other than that, I agree with both of the above replies to your post. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[WayneAt63044]

No exit at the other end of the alley? How 'bout pulling out of your driveway into the alley and backing your trailer north and then heading south when the street is empty north of your driveway? I would have street problems too but the neighbors rarely park on the street and are approachable. Any way to make nice with the neighbors and have them reciprocate? Are the neighbors north of your drive more considerate? I have more questions than answers as the turning radius is tough to estimate.

[Jack_Diane_Free]

If it becomes a problem you could pull into the laneway directly across and then back out into the street either direction.....possible? Just the opposite to when you come in.