Using a Front Mounted Hitch to Park Trailor?

Many, many, many people do that exact thing with boats. No reason you can't do it with any trailer providing you don't exceed the hitch rating.

I've heard of some doing this. Since you already have the front hitch why not take the camper to an open parking lot and try it. Give us a report how it goes.

I do that with my small trailer to park it next to my house as I can not see it when backing up.

Spotting hitch. Makes things much easier.

Years ago, we kept a boat about 1/2 mile from our ramp. I would hook the boat to the front and push it through the neighborhood and to the ramp. I even kept my drive wheels on the dry pavement at the ramp. When we were done, I could drive the boat and trailer back into the shed on the first try.

I now use the spotting hitch for parking my cargo trailer.

Matt B

Thanks for all this feedback!!.

It's looking encouraging!..

I have to admit that although I can manage to reverse my trailer into most spots I DO NOT look forward to it. It's always a point of increased stress for me AND my wife who is my guide. finding a cheat way to get the trailer in by pushing it would maybe ease the stress a little?

Also we are now about to buy our new truck (I've been asking questions about this on the forum for about 18 month) We would like a long bed but the thought of making reversing even more stressful is putting us off. To be able to put a front hitch on the new truck and push the trailer in would ease the stress and the decision making about getting a long bed :-)

works, but only if your tongue weight is fairly low. Most every front hitch I've seen is rated for 500lbs or so max. I have one on the front of my truck to haul a MC, but with 1500lbs on the tongue I won't try to park my trailer with it.

ktmrfs wrote:
works, but only if your tongue weight is fairly low. Most every front hitch I've seen is rated for 500lbs or so max. I have one on the front of my truck to haul a MC, but with 1500lbs on the tongue I won't try to park my trailer with it.

Good point!.. I'm not sure what my front hitch is rated. It was never a concern because it was just a Genset that it had to carry!

Maybe I should check on that! Thanks!

I wouldn't even worry about the front hitch tongue weight, within reason. It's rated for dynamic highway loads. Spotting a trailer won't putt he same amount of vertical loads into it. It can apply high side loads however, so it should be rated for winching too.... I would stick to that for trailer spotting.

Also, beware of the high loads applies to the steering system going this. Some power steering systems may overheat with the addition load on the front tires, and in this case low speeds make it worse. I wouldn't even recommend moving large trailer with a front hitch if you don't have a power steering cooler.

Be careful off pavement, you are putting all the weight on the front end, and removing (a little) from the drive wheels out back. A trailer that weighs less then the TV isn't to bad, but some TT weigh almost twice the TV..

I used to park my 25ft Jayco 232 at the side of my house. I had 3" of room on each side of it (brick wall on one side and a 6ft fence on the other). The first time I backed it in took 1.5 hours with 2 spotters. We needed a better solution so installed a front hitch mount. With some pratice, my wife and I were able to park it in place in less than 10 minutes.

The advantages of a front mount hitch was that I could watch exactly what was going on and use the edge of the house to line the trailer up straight. Also, the steering response was immediate.

When we get our new trailer, I'm going to immediately install a front mount hitch to help us get our 37ft. beast (Coachmen 312) in to tight campground spots.