Wife driving with trailer on the back

[jlgail4309]

I let my wife drive the Jeep pulling the travel trailer today. She didn't go far but still made me a little uneasy. But it came back in one piece. Any one else let the wife drive.

[DDC]

Originally Posted by jlgail4309

I let my wife drive the Jeep pulling the travel trailer today. She didn't go far but still made me a little uneasy. But it came back in one piece. Any one else let the wife drive.

Are you kidding. Lol

[jlgail4309]

Yea I know I need my head checked!!

[thunderalley3]

Mine pulls our 36' work and play like it isn't behind her. She grew up a farm girl and has no problem towing. The only part that makes me nervous is she tends to have a heavy foot but she always makes it with no damage. She has thousands of miles towing horse trailers, it sure taught her well.

I decided early on that she needed to be able to set up, tear down, hook up and tow in case something happened with me, I used to do a little motorcycle hill climbing and it paid off one weekend when I broke my leg and collarbone and obviously she was on her own, no problem doing any of the required duties with the trailer etc.

She was sick of listening to me before we made the 1400 mile trip home with me injured needing surgery after we got home,,,she is a keeper for sure!!

[bakken]

My wife drives a fair bit, although she prefers I do the city driving.
But then again, she also drove our 15-ton tandem dump truck, so I guess the F250 isn't that big of a deal!

[jlgail4309]

That's cool wanting to be able to trade off on long trips. She a good drive just need to used to the wind .

[jlgail4309]

Originally Posted by bakken

My wife drives a fair bit, although she prefers I do the city driving.
But then again, she also drove our 15-ton tandem dump truck, so I guess the F250 isn't that big of a deal!

Wow !!

[Crankshaft]

We've been pulling travel trailers since 1973. The only time my wife drives is to take the tv to the laundry, either on site or off site, and to get groceries. Driving while towing has always been up to me for the last 40 yrs. So why should anything change now?

[ependydad]

My wife drives. This past trip, we went from the campground to my in-laws on a work day. I passengers and worked the whole way (phone hotspot). She counted 4 tunnels, I think, on the PA turnpike from Pittsburg to York, PA.

She's learning the hitching and unhitching steps. In fact, she helped remind me of a few things last trip as I played the role of "space cadet".

She hasn't backed it up yet, but given that I generally listen to her directions as we're backing in, I'm sure she'll get it. She understands the parallel parking maneuver way better than I do. (My ugliest jobs are when I don't stop and go talk to her.)

She's still uneasy with all of it, but is learning.

[Dennis and Julie]

I am generally the one that takes the camper out, gets everything set up and my husband comes out to wherever we might be, whether its our local campground 1/2 hour from home or 4 hours down the road, and my husband comes out when he gets off work. And I have seen many women in our area who do the driving and yes the backing up. So get off it guys we are just as capable as you are!!

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Dennis and Julie

And I have seen many women in our area who do the driving and yes the backing up. So get off it guys we are just as capable as you are!!

Too true!

[Crankshaft]

Originally Posted by Dennis and Julie

I am generally the one that takes the camper out, gets everything set up and my husband comes out to wherever we might be, whether its our local campground 1/2 hour from home or 4 hours down the road, and my husband comes out when he gets off work. And I have seen many women in our area who do the driving and yes the backing up. So get off it guys we are just as capable as you are!!

It has nothing to do with "capability". It has everything to do with "I don't want to" or "I don't want the responsibility" or any other reason she can think of.

[Dennis and Julie]

Originally Posted by WindJammer2012

It has nothing to do with "capability". It has everything to do with "I don't want to" or "I don't want the responsibility" or any other reason she can think of.

Guess that would be her problem.

[Hutch65]

Heh, the terms "let" and "my wife drive" used together in a sentence would result in me being about 6 feet under ;-) She'd kick anyone's butt if she caught wind of that term being used around her - she's a Saskatchewan girl and not to be trifled with. If she feels like driving or backing up the TV to hitch the trailer, all the power to her.

On a similar topic, a few weeks ago a Telus (telco/digital TV company) sales rep knocked on our door, and asked if "I was the bill payer of the house"..? I laughed, said "I'm *one* of the bill payers in the house", and opened the door wider to reveal my wife standing on the stairs, ready to rip the guy a new one. He said he would come back after dinner, but strangely enough he never did return...!

[Terier]

Being a solo female RVer I do all the driving. In the beginning it was pretty challenging but with experience it became easier. Keep in mind that I didn't have any towing experience to start with nor did I have an second set of eyes to watch out for stuff.

And your Cruise Lite is perfect for her to learn to tow!

[bikendan]

my wife has no problems pulling the trailer. she helps with the driving whenever i need a break.
she prefers me to do the backing up but does a good job with the rest of it.

[dretired]

after the DW talked to a lady... that had stopped at our campground ..in Florida last winter. This lady had lost her home in Hurricane Sandy last fall. She had gone to the Tampa Supershow and got a great deal on a Crusader 325 (and she loved it). She was on her own and doing fine . her major complaint was.. connecting the 50 amp twist lock cable to the coach

[Truth B Towed]

My DW will be driving this weekend, her "maiden" voyage with a TT, she always used to drive our pop-up.

[TURBS]

My ms amy is taking our 36' 5th one day early camping next week by herself, I'll meet up with her on friday.
When we head out the week after to go to goshen she's driving there 300+ miles.
I'm giving her a refresher course this week.

Turbs

[Weezer]

Originally Posted by Terier

Being a solo female RVer I do all the driving. In the beginning it was pretty challenging but with experience it became easier. Keep in mind that I didn't have any towing experience to start with nor did I have an second set of eyes to watch out for stuff.

And your Cruise Lite is perfect for her to learn to tow!

Your post (and kudos to ya!) reminded me of something I saw on CW the other day. It's a set of glow stick type attachments that assist in aligning the TV and TT for hitching up. If any of you (male or female) have ever done wire pulling inside walls, think of those LONG glow stick tools used for that purpose.

One attaches to the receiver and the other to the TT hitch. They appear to be about 6' tall when installed.

I have not tried towing our rig yet. However, we're going to TN the latter part of August. That's a long haul for DH with no relief. SO, I told him yesterday that I'm willing to give it a trial run in a couple of weeks when we make a short trip just over the TX line for a weekender.

Why am I suddenly willing to try? Hauling this monster with the F150 Ecobeast scared the beejeepers outta me in the right seat. With the F250 now it seems so very much more stable.

I'll probably need a booster seat to see over the dash though.


Now, while I've yet to tow our rig, I dang sure get involved in the loading out and hitching up. That's a job for two, in our opinion. What one mind might forget the other catches. I assist with hooking up the WD arms, and stage much of the quipment....cheater bar, the arms, the retraction of stabilizers, etc. I *want* to be involved in all that and do as much as possible to assist.

On the day we leave I take at least half a day off to start the load out... the groceries, load the TT with our clothes, etc.

I can't imagine doing it all by myself...again KUDOS TO YA!