Backing in to sites

[07_FL_Sham]

Great advice all around. Life is much easier since I installed a back up camera on the back of my trailer / RV. The 'guide lines' on the screen can be adjusted for accuracy to help you get exactly where you want to be.
Garmin RV760LM with optional Garmin BC-20 camera. I got mine
online on sale for $399 in June 2015 from Crutchfield.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[kinnikinnick]

I'll share an experience with you. My DW and I bought a camper this past winter after many years of tent camping. I was backing into a site with her spotting me from behind. I had only backed a couple of feet when she started waving frantically to the left. I cut the wheel hard to the right when she started waving frantically to the right. I cut the wheel back when she started waving both ways! By this time I was totally jacked up so I got out of the truck and asked her where she was trying to make me go. She replied " I wasn't watching you, I was fighting these d..n flies! I felt like I was on an " I love Lucy" episode.

[Johntgif]

Some time you have to laugh to keep from crying :-)
Happy camping.

[DobeFanatic]

Of all the videos I have watched so far, the one most helpful said: as you pull past your site ( say its on the right ), hug the right side of the road, then swing the TV to left a few feet, then back to the right to straighten up the TV. This approach leaves the TT rear end pointing more toward the site entrance so the turn has already been started.

[MainelyUS]

Good tips on backing up with your TT.

My 2 cents worth:
If your TV has Blue Tooth use it...have your DW/DH outside at the back of your TT on the cell phone giving you directions (I discovered having feet on the ground is better then relying on a computer screen while backing up). This way you can hear instructions while using your mirrors and your hands are on the wheel (old trick my grandfather taught me....put your left hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and move it in the direction you want your TT to go).

Videos are great but nothing like hands-on. Take your TV and TT to a large parking lot (e.g., school pk'g lot on weekends) with a few cones or friends and set up a few scenarios with your blue tooth on....if your TV does not have BT put your cell on speaker and set it where you can hear it.....NOT in your hand and have fun.

Happy Trails

[bob caldwell]

Originally Posted by DobeFanatic

Of all the videos I have watched so far, the one most helpful said: as you pull past your site ( say its on the right ), hug the right side of the road, then swing the TV to left a few feet, then back to the right to straighten up the TV. This approach leaves the TT rear end pointing more toward the site entrance so the turn has already been started.

X2

[ChipBruce]

This is the original video game for us old timers that were around before computers...

[blwnsmoke]

Originally Posted by DobeFanatic

Of all the videos I have watched so far, the one most helpful said: as you pull past your site ( say its on the right ), hug the right side of the road, then swing the TV to left a few feet, then back to the right to straighten up the TV. This approach leaves the TT rear end pointing more toward the site entrance so the turn has already been started.

That's exactly what I have learned to do.. My driveway is 90 degrees to the road (as most are) and I have a rock lamp post on one side about 5 feet off the driveway and a granite mailbox post about 3 feet on the other side. I do exactly as you posted to get the corner already angled up to the driveway to back it down and have been able to do it every time but once on the first try.

Once you do as posted, it pretty much is as simple as backing your truck up straight following the road as the camper is already curved and will continue to turn as you back straight.

[MainelyUS]

The advice through out this forum is very helpful. One just needs to boil it down to develop their own techniques through practicing. I took the advice of a few post and watched numerous videos about backing up your TT. My hackles when up at instructors who made things more difficult than needed...turn left if you want your TT to go right and vise-versa, Keep IT Simple, put your hand at the bottom of the TV steering wheel and move it in the direction you want the TT to go in...you can't get any simpler than that...one less thing you need to concentrate on. Some instructors encourage the use of walkie-talkies to communicate btw driver and spotter. You want your hands free to concentrate on the issue at hand and not clicking buttons on and off. The use of Hand-Free communication is the safest. On our first TT camping experience at Lk Livingston, TX my sister, brother-in-law, DW and I watch our next door neighbors trying to navigate their site with colored-coded walkie-walkies destroying the rear quarter panel of their TT. It was evident the driver & spotter were spending more time with the devices in their hands trying to communicate with each other than paying attention to the issue at hand. We ask if they want some help but the answer was a definite NO. This was not their first TT. Just imagine if the driver was communicating "hands-free" and concentrating on L/R mirrors,position of rear wheels,etc. what the outcome might have been.
SO videos are great... they may put you in the ballpark but nothing is like practice...when you can make mistakes without causing damage to the TT or your marriage. Maybe it should be the other way around. My DW and I have had a lot of laughs at the practice lot.
Happy Trails

[Las Cruces]

I think you got it! Soon it will come natural.

Happy trails to you.

[Cowracer]

My standard advice... practice practice practice.

Go find a big empty parking lot, like a,school on a Sunday. Take a couple cones or plastic trash cans. Set up a fake campsite and spend an hour or two just backing in and then pull out and try again. It's a low stress way get used to how your unit handles.

Just an hour or two will instill so much confidence, that you will no longer fear or dread backing into a rest site.

Tim