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Old 08-26-2014, 05:25 PM   #21
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Last May we were making an overnight stay on our way home from the Rising Sun Tadpole rally and our loop through Kentucky. My GPS had us turn too soon and the road changed quickly from a 2 lane paved road to someones gravel path to a farm field. Realizing this was terribly wrong, I started to back into someones driveway. It had been raining for a few days and when my front wheels of the tv got off the gravel, I sank to the rims in mud. Luckly my tv has 4-wheel drive and I was able to pull back into the gravel path. I backed straight and pulled into the driveway. Nobody was home, but they had a truck hooked to a utility trailer parked in their driveway limiting my maneuverability, plus there was a good 3 foot drop off on both sides of the driveway. I was able to make it out of that situation but it is not something I want to ever do again. As it turned out, the correct turn was maybe 1000 foot further down the road.
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Old 08-26-2014, 05:52 PM   #22
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My driveway. 1/4 mile red clay up and down hill crossing a creek and back up hill. Really slick when it rains, 2wd won't make it. Glad I have 4wd, and add the 5er, that's as much fun as a barrel of monkeys. Our last camping trip when we made it back home it had rained a little while we was gone and driveway was slick. Thank goodness for trailer brakes, because once you make it down the first hill, your not going to back up it even with 4wd.


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Old 08-26-2014, 08:07 PM   #23
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When I was 16 I was driving myself to horse shows. I had a little steel 2 horse trailer being pulled by a 1989 Ford ranger. I had just finished competing at the county fair and was trying to beat a thunderstorm home. Big foot was there making a guest appearance and the truck and tractor pulls had already begun. I was pulling out down a long line of horse trailers on both sides. Then big foot popped up over the hill and was staring me down. I had no where to go but back down the long line. I had very little backing experience and had not yet mastered backing a straight line with the trailer. Well as big foot approached I started to back up. Unable to keep it straight I of course began to get into a Jack knife position. Then my old riding instructor appeared out of nowhere. She talked me through straightening out and backing down the lane. I got backed out of his way and pulled out through the throngs of people at the tractor pulls. So glad he was patient as that rig would have been easy work for big foot!!! Of course the downpours started halfway home. It was so heavy I couldn't see 2 ft in front of me. I found a pull off and sat the ran out. Eventually made it home an hour later. The fairgrounds were only 15-20 min from the farm.

Fast forward 22 yrs and I now had my 30' tt. Coming home from a 4 day camping rally, we wanted to bring the tt to the house to unload. Our court is plenty big and we've brought the tt home many times. Pull up and turns out one of our neighbors was having a party we had forgotten about. People were parked 2 cars wide on each side of the court the entire way around the court and 1 car on each side Down the neck of the court. Our house is in the back corner. I managed to back it down and around all the cars and into the driveway with only having to reposition once. I also had lots of people watching me and comment on how well I did. I thank my dh for being good with a walkie talkie and making it easier for me!
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Old 08-27-2014, 08:05 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by Kaadk View Post
You actually reminded me of another situation I was in, though unrelated to towing. A colleague and I were working a project over in Dingolfing, Germany. Heading out for dinner one night, he was driving and after turning one corner, we found ourselves at the top of a set of stairs. Since the place we were looking for was at the bottom of the stairs, my colleague decided to just drive down the stairs!

We went down these a little Mercedes A class:
Attachment 61504

Later on, we found out the white circle with the red trim meant 'no cars allowed'.
Well in all fairness to you ...ya'll were at the TOP and could not see the keine Fahrzeuge erlaubt Sign at the bottom

BTW, yer lucky! The Polizei would have SO busted you

Someday, remind me to tell you about a Mini, a Rooftop Carrier, and a Parking garage
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Old 08-27-2014, 08:46 AM   #25
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Sooooo On the way to Goshen, I planned a stopover at a KOA in Jeffernsonville IN, just over the Ohio River from Louisville (Plan being I was gonna take 6 Actual to some of the local attractions)

Well the GPS got us to the exit on I65 and was routing us along what looked to be a pretty sketchy route. Turned down this one >narrow< road with the GPS claiming the KOA was only .2 Miles away...

Come around a sharp bend and *STOP* where did this "10' Low Bridge" come from?! Sure enough you could look through the underpass and make out the KOA sign...but NO WAY (we need 12'8"!)

Remember I said >NARROW< road

Well about that time a car came under the underpass and the driver had a familiar Yellow shirt on - turns out the KOA mnager was on a bank run.

She said "I'll get you to the KOA um, when you turn your rig around...and pulled ahead and waited"

I waived the cars behind me around and backed the Bear Cave up about 100' (yeah backing around that curve was fun...not LOL) to an area of the road that I could do a 12-ish point turn

After about 12 min of patient back and forth turning (and watching the mounting traffic jam) We got her turned around! Waving to the stream of cars as they went down the now-opened road was a measure of success I must say LOL

Off to the KOA we went - this time without any low bridges in our way!

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You need to buy low clearances and bridges then set your height, mine is 13' or I don't go under it period. It will load in your garmin and also streets and trips if you use that, for about $15.00 bucks or so, and they are always sending you updates that people tell them about, covers the whole USA.....
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Old 08-27-2014, 10:18 AM   #26
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Driving home from this past trip, we were in Indiana or Ohio in construction "cattleshoots" (jersey walls on both sides). Fortunately, they were pretty wide- a narrow lane and a shoulder. 4 or 5 vehicles ahead of me was a pair of tractor trailers.

First we all had to swerve around a blown tire on the road. Then we crept down in speed until we were finally stopped. I think something of the tire wrapped around the front tractor trailer's axle.

I left a ton of space between me and the car in front of me when I realized we were stopping. They had room to backup and the 2nd tractor trailer was able to squeeze by the first one. When it came to be my turn, I found out how cozy it was.

My wife's pictures of the mirrors:

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Old 08-27-2014, 12:15 PM   #27
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Good thing you kept your head and didn't panic, or you could have had MUCHO damage.
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Old 08-27-2014, 12:21 PM   #28
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Good thing you kept your head and didn't panic, or you could have had MUCHO damage.
Thanks, Glenn. Fortunately there was a tractor trailer ahead of me that told me I could get past. I switched both mirrors - one side down to watch the jersey wall and the other side up to watch the awnings to the tractor trailer and took it slow.
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Old 08-27-2014, 12:22 PM   #29
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My driveway. 1/4 mile red clay up and down hill crossing a creek and back up hill. Really slick when it rains, 2wd won't make it. Glad I have 4wd, and add the 5er, that's as much fun as a barrel of monkeys. Our last camping trip when we made it back home it had rained a little while we was gone and driveway was slick. Thank goodness for trailer brakes, because once you make it down the first hill, your not going to back up it even with 4wd.


Attachment 61517
Ya literally made me chuckle out loud Doodler. Oh yeah, good old red clay! Slicker than...owl......stuff!

If Sneak and I lived at the end of a driveway like that, there's not a chance in hades I'll ever drive Biff/Buffy all the way home, or leave out driving....even during the dry season!

Newp, I'll leave that to "the one who has the ability".
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Old 08-27-2014, 12:28 PM   #30
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When I was 16 I was driving myself to horse shows. I had a little steel 2 horse trailer being pulled by a 1989 Ford ranger. I had just finished competing at the county fair and was trying to beat a thunderstorm home. Big foot was there making a guest appearance and the truck and tractor pulls had already begun. I was pulling out down a long line of horse trailers on both sides. Then big foot popped up over the hill and was staring me down. I had no where to go but back down the long line. I had very little backing experience and had not yet mastered backing a straight line with the trailer. Well as big foot approached I started to back up. Unable to keep it straight I of course began to get into a Jack knife position. Then my old riding instructor appeared out of nowhere. She talked me through straightening out and backing down the lane. I got backed out of his way and pulled out through the throngs of people at the tractor pulls. So glad he was patient as that rig would have been easy work for big foot!!! Of course the downpours started halfway home. It was so heavy I couldn't see 2 ft in front of me. I found a pull off and sat the ran out. Eventually made it home an hour later. The fairgrounds were only 15-20 min from the farm.

Fast forward 22 yrs and I now had my 30' tt. Coming home from a 4 day camping rally, we wanted to bring the tt to the house to unload. Our court is plenty big and we've brought the tt home many times. Pull up and turns out one of our neighbors was having a party we had forgotten about. People were parked 2 cars wide on each side of the court the entire way around the court and 1 car on each side Down the neck of the court. Our house is in the back corner. I managed to back it down and around all the cars and into the driveway with only having to reposition once. I also had lots of people watching me and comment on how well I did. I thank my dh for being good with a walkie talkie and making it easier for me!
asquared, there's a reason my signature line includes "give me 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around".

I am NO good at backing a trailer. My brain just doesn't work that way; turn opposite of the way you want to go.

I decided to mow our 3 acre yard once (married to ex at the time) and he'd parked a van with a short flat bed utility trailer still hitched to it in the back yard. I simply wanted to back it up enough to mow where it was sitting.

YEP, jackknifed it!

My ex MIL (may she RIP) was the same way. If she was towing, she'd always ask before pulling in somewhere: "can I circle here"? So I am in good company. That woman was the *best* MIL/Grandmother a person could ever have.
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Old 08-27-2014, 12:37 PM   #31
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Thanks, Glenn. Fortunately there was a tractor trailer ahead of me that told me I could get past. I switched both mirrors - one side down to watch the jersey wall and the other side up to watch the awnings to the tractor trailer and took it slow.

OH yeah, we got caught up in the "cattle shutes" going from PF on up to OC's place in NC.

Jeepers CREEPERS! One of them was on a LONG/HIGH bridge. Sneak was doin' fine, but I kept my eye on those awning poles on my side. Gotta keep those in mind for SURE, as the front one extends down to just above the wheels.

I'm a "chatty cathy" (hey it's my job to keep him awake, right?) co-pilot and during that one I noticed he wasn't responding....then heard a quiet "honey I'm kinda tunnel focused at the moment".

/snark nice way of saying "would you please ZIP it 'til I'm outta this"? (I zipped it.)
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Give me 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around:
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Old 08-27-2014, 12:41 PM   #32
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What GPS is Best?

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Originally Posted by gljurczyk View Post
You need to buy low clearances and bridges then set your height, mine is 13' or I don't go under it period. It will load in your garmin and also streets and trips if you use that, for about $15.00 bucks or so, and they are always sending you updates that people tell them about, covers the whole USA.....
Don't mean to hijack the thread but...

What is the Best RV GPS out there? When we got the King Ranch, it came with a Integrated GPS system and, like typical Microsoft Software is a POS

Back on thread now
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Old 08-27-2014, 12:48 PM   #33
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I use my garmin quite a bit but this last year I've really been pleased with the Rand McNally unit I got from CW. I'm not a fan even in the slightest, but it was priced well and is specifically designed in cooperation with GS for RV'rs. You can input your rigs dimensions, etc, and it will route you past low bridges and the what not.

It's come in handy a time or two.
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Old 08-27-2014, 12:56 PM   #34
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First time I ever pulled our first 5th wheel I was in a very dangerous spot. We were going to or lot in eastern washington and I had never towed anything that big before. Its a 1986 27 foot alumalite, and the running lites werent working. Due to the lights not working and we were running out of daylight, we took the shortcut. Well we had driven up this road many times with the camper on the truck with out any problems. After 18 miles you get to a steep gravel hill with turns on it. Well I made it up the first part, but the second part gets steeper and I lost traction. I couldnt go forward, and I sure couldnt go back. one side of the hill is a couple hundred feet up and I didnt want to fall off of the edge. The DW was following me in our little ranger pick up and when I stopped I had to keep my foot on the brake so it wouldnt slide of the cliff. I had her take the dogs out of the truck with me, and go get help. The road goes right by a farmers house on the bottom of the hill. She went down and explained to the farmer what was going on. Luckily he drove up in an older (70's) dodge ex forest servive truck with 4 wheel drive. I had our f350 dually with only rear wheel drive and that trailer. He hooked up a big rope, and he was able to get me the rest of the way up. he went and followed us to the next big hill but I was able to keep momentum and made it up that hill with out trouble. He has helped numerous people throught out the years, but he said most people had been drinking and get into trouble, was glad to help since I was sober. (not after I got to my property). I have pulled my little utility trailer and even flat towed our jeep up that hill, but I wont pull a 5th wheel up that ever again. I am a chicken, I see the farmer pulling live stock trailers up that hill alot but they have been doing that for years.
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Old 08-27-2014, 01:16 PM   #35
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We (ex and I) had one of these. We just used it around the farm, and our sons learned to drive using it. During the winter, when we had ice storms, this was used a LOT to help out neighbors. I think top speed on it was 40MPH, but dang that thing would DIG and PULL like an ox!

He may still have it. Several people tried to buy it from him...newp. Too much fun. The fenders on that thing could take a whack from a baseball bat and show no damage.
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Old 08-27-2014, 01:21 PM   #36
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I looked out the back window once and saw it bobbing across the terraces on the back 40....no one in it, both doors open....it doodled on across the pasture and plopped nose down into a ravine.

Boys came running to the house...LOL...red wasps boiled out from under the dash on 'em and they bailed.

They were worried 'bout being in trouble with Dad when he got home so I took the tractor down and pulled it out. Not a dent on it anywhere. Money can't buy a vehicle made like that anywhere.

Ya started that ox by pushing a button/pedal on the floor.

We lived on a lake and that was only one of many times those boys got that thing "high centered" on something....cypress knee, etc., ran it off in the edge of the lake, etc.
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If age is a state of mind, and I've lost my mind, I'm AGELESS, right?
Give me 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around:
Flagstaff 5er 2014 8528 IKWS, Platinum Package, Regency Interior "Buffy"
F250 Super Duty 2013 Tuxedo Black "Biff"
Days camped 2014: 30
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Old 08-27-2014, 04:59 PM   #37
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Ya literally made me chuckle out loud Doodler. Oh yeah, good old red clay! Slicker than...owl......stuff!

If Sneak and I lived at the end of a driveway like that, there's not a chance in hades I'll ever drive Biff/Buffy all the way home, or leave out driving....even during the dry season!

Newp, I'll leave that to "the one who has the ability".

Yep, UPS and FedEx will not even come down my drive. They leave my packages at neighbor's house . That red clay is real pain to wash off too!
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Old 08-27-2014, 11:54 PM   #38
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asquared, there's a reason my signature line includes "give me 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around".

I am NO good at backing a trailer. My brain just doesn't work that way; turn opposite of the way you want to go.

I decided to mow our 3 acre yard once (married to ex at the time) and he'd parked a van with a short flat bed utility trailer still hitched to it in the back yard. I simply wanted to back it up enough to mow where it was sitting.

YEP, jackknifed it!

My ex MIL (may she RIP) was the same way. If she was towing, she'd always ask before pulling in somewhere: "can I circle here"? So I am in good company. That woman was the *best* MIL/Grandmother a person could ever have.

You just haven't found the right teacher yet. You need another woman to teach ya. I took my DH from not being able to back an SUV (silly city boy) to being able to drive, park and back the old 30' tt. Haven't let him drive the new fiver yet.
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