Newbie, never pulled a trailer

[neil.ervin]

Backing Up -- The real truth.......

Place hand on bottom of steering wheel. Push your hand (and the steering wheel) in the right or left direction, the same direction you want the rear of your trailer to go..........

and as others have said, back slowly.

[Pooneil]

And be careful not to over steer. It is easy to do with our short trailers.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by neil.ervin

Backing Up -- The real truth.......

Place hand on bottom of steering wheel. Push your hand (and the steering wheel) in the right or left direction, the same direction you want the rear of your trailer to go..........

and as others have said, back slowly.

This. I had never backed a trailer before I got a kayaking job and had "trailer training/assessments" where we had to back the van into a parking spot while 10 people stood around shouting directions. It was ugly- but many years before someone had told me this trick and it was good enough.

[Dovetail]

I found if I lower my mirrors so I can readily see the trailer tires and watch those I can "steer" the trailer much better. (But don't forget to also look all the way back so you don't hit the tree that just grew there!)
Ditto on the hand on the bottom of the steering thingy.

[bodzcampers]

Man, I feel for you. Never did get it. My DH is the only backer upper in our house. Last time I tried to back up a small boat, I took out my lawn, the mailbox and post.

[rawlus]

Minute adjustments... Don't overdo it. The steering wheel trick works to an extend, but eventually you need to "follow" the camper and that technique sort of falls apart a bit. A little bit of steering can be amplified at the back end of the trailer so take it slow and easy. It's something you get better at with practice so don't over think it, take your time and after a while you'll be amazed at what you can do.

I once had to thread the needle through a very complicated, curvy, wooded site with trees in both sides and a curvy access road. Took my time, made very small adjustments to avoid over correcting and getting into that jackknife situation and was able to do it in the first shot. Driving out the same way pulling was actually a bit more difficult than backing in was.

[Pooneil]

Originally Posted by rawlus

Driving out the same way pulling was actually a bit more difficult than backing in was.

I've run into that too. You can steer the camper going backwards, but not forward. Going forward the camper will cut a corner sharper than the car does, which can result in a bad situation.

[Jsusluvsyou]

Went this weekend, took a while getting the right level spot... Backed up slow. But we had an awesome time, paddle boarding, bike riding, fire pit , A122 was awesome!

[Pooneil]

Sounds great. Hope you have many more fun times with your new camper.