Why Wife/ traveling partner needs to be able to drive Rig.

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

... I travel alone but my emergency plan is to buy my Son a plane ticket to wherever I am and have him drive me home. ...

Neither of my twenty-something kids have any experience with a trailer. DD is more likely to embrace the task than DS, but neither has done so before. As they're both out of the house, the likelihood of their getting experience is low. They also wouldn't be in a position to leave their jobs to drive our trailer cross-country.

DW will drive the truck begrudgingly if I were unable but not on an interstate. The prospect of doing so would cause more anxiety than whatever disabled me in the first place. She would never consider driving the truck with a trailer attached, anywhere.

It's something we've discussed vaguely but need to come up with a concrete plan when DW retires soon and long trips become the norm.

[Franklins Mom]

I am the DRIVER of the truck/trailer - went we bought the trailer 6yrs ago hubby said it's your truck and you wanted the trailer so you are the driver. He has never driven...sometimes I will have him backup for me if it's a tight spot but other than that I drive 100% of the time and love it !!

[dnicoll]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

Every time a new thread appears on this subject, I mention it to my DW. She has a similar answer as TitanMike's ==> "Nope... no way. I'll pay Nathan's way (our son) to come wherever we are to drive the rig home."

Thank you guys! One of the reasons we bought the small 5er was to travel. I would love to go all the way To the east coast. But my wife has an issue with towing. Her excuse to not do this trip was ‘what do I do if something happens to you? I can’t drive that
Home’. You just Provided Me with the solution!

[nvs4602]

Originally Posted by MCTroy

I like towing our 35 ft TT. The 2500 Ram is easy to handle. I can tow our 24ft 6000 pound boat too but like the way the trailer handles much better. My father gave me the best advise. Point the truck where you want to go, swing her wide, and the trailer will follow you! I admit to not backing either of them much, but if needed I would try or find someone to help. We tow from Ohio to Maryland so it is important my DH gets a break!

Hi McTroy,

We are neighbors we live just north of Sidney. Happy glamping.

[Jeff from Burlington Ont]

My wife will drive our F350 pulling a 42’ Heritage Glen on highways and into interstate gas stations that have a rear diesel truck lane in the back. The rest of the time she will stop somewhere safe so we can switch to go into tight places

[Scrapper]

DW will drive pulling a popup but nothing larger and she will not back it. That being said I think because the women are usually the ones to ferry kids around to events, many of the ladies out there are good drivers, some even a lot better than guys.

JMHO

[Qwkynuf]

We play a car game based on an observation that I made years ago - whenever we see a trailer being towed, we try to guess the gender of the driver - based solely on the type of trailer.

It seems to work out like this:

Utility trailer/dump trailer/work trailer - 99% male
Travel trailer/5th wheel - 90% male
Horse trailer - 80% female

[RBotr01]

We bought our Sunseeker in 2018 while I was recovering from rotator cuff surgery. DW was the first driver on the 150 mile trip from the dealership. Me being winged wasn't going to stop her from getting the RV!


Our normal routine has me starting and finishing the day's drive with DW doing the middle third. We can cover some good miles this way. It's nice to get a break on a 300+ mile day.

[kfd82]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

At my age the plane ticket is definitely less expensive than a "Traveling Companion" or new Wife.

Wise advice for any age....

[camper70]

My DW has never pulled a trailer. I have no doubt that she could if she had no choice. We discussed it last year on our trip South but it never happened. She would be alright on the open road or interstate but may have a problem in a city type situation. We do have a travel assist plan with Good Sam which would get the trailer home if need be.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by Qwkynuf

We play a car game based on an observation that I made years ago - whenever we see a trailer being towed, we try to guess the gender of the driver - based solely on the type of trailer.

It seems to work out like this:

Utility trailer/dump trailer/work trailer - 99% male
Travel trailer/5th wheel - 90% male
Horse trailer - 80% female

Disagree about the horse trailer stuff. It should be 98% female. My daughter had over 50,000 miles pulling 17,000 pounds of 35 feet of trailer before she was 25 years old. That was using a Ram dually.

If you want to see some highly skilled girls parking 30+ feet of gooseneck trailer look at the ones at the barrel racing events. I’ve seen them back into spots that I’d have problems getting out of...and they do it with a single push

[Qwkynuf]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

Disagree about the horse trailer stuff. It should be 98% female. My daughter had over 50,000 miles pulling 17,000 pounds of 35 feet of trailer before she was 25 years old. That was using a Ram dually.

If you want to see some highly skilled girls parking 30+ feet of gooseneck trailer look at the ones at the barrel racing events. I’ve seen them back into spots that I’d have problems getting out of...and they do it with a single push

Not saying it's bad....

My mom and her husband owned a boarding stable for about 35 years and we definitely saw some skill around the place. Horse trailers just seem to really pull nice - I don't know why.

There were lots of cases where it was a matter of necessity. A wife would want a horse, and the husband would say something to the effect of "I ain't dragging that thing all over gol-darned creation!!! You want your horse moved from the pasture? YOU move it!!!"

We had a trailer and would pick up and deliver from anywhere in our county at no charge (as long as it was coming to or leaving from our place), but after a while most folks would get tired of needing to schedule with us and either rent or buy their own.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by NXR

My wife was a firefighter/paramedic for 26 years and she rarely lets me drive.

I was a firefighter/paramedic for only fifteen years so she outranks me on this. So I nap in the passenger seat.

Works for me.

Ray

So.......who gets to light up the lights?
You know.......the red ones you both got as retirement gifts?

[RDupre]

Sometimes our life partners step up when necessary. We purchased our first MH, a 2020 Berkshire 39A about a month ago. I am the CEO of a Levee Dist in a S.Louisiana parish. With the threat of Hurricane Delta, I had to stay home. We had planned a trip to the N Dallas area for our grandson’s wedding. My wife drove our MH there alone. I just joined her with our new tow car. She did a great job. Of course her late father,George, was an 18 wheeler driver. I guess the spirt of her Dad was with her. I just joined my wife and I am watching Mon night football at our coach. The bottom line is trust your partners. You may be surprised what they can do.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

So.......who gets to light up the lights?
You know.......the red ones you both got as retirement gifts?

Her. We used to keep it on the outside of the house but it attracted the wrong kind of people...

I do wish I had one of these on the front of the motorhome but bolting it to fiberglass kind of doesn't work and the draw from the alternator probably would stall the engine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q2B

"The Q-siren produces 123 decibels at 10 feet (3.0 m) with an operating current of 100 amps at 12 V DC (1.2 kW).[1] Hearing protection is recommended but not required when operating the siren or for anyone in the truck."

Ray

[wheaps]

We have 32 ft Flagstaff. I can drive it, unhook, hook up. I would not be scared to back up if it was a wide road. I could do better if my husband was not in the truck🙀

[tlspencer]

My truck, my camper. Hubby "can" drive, but it would take a majorly debilitating event for me to allow it. I am not a good passenger, lol.

[LizzyRN]

Originally Posted by Portagie1968

Alzheimer just took my wife. This is info I never thought of since I will be traveling alone for the first time in 20 years. Use to do that a lot in the Army. Anyway thank you for the emergency plan.

I'm sorry to hear about your wife. My husband has a different dementia called Lewy Body that will ultimately take his life. He drove truck his entire life and is still a great driver. However, mostly I drive when towing as it's my vehicle we use. Although, I leave the backing up to him because it's second nature and he does it with ease.

I believe he once told me "I can put 80 feet of tanker anywhere you want it. I only need 85 feet of space." Not sure if that was a pick up line, or what!

Safe travels as you work through losing your DW.

[CAACTUS]

Originally Posted by bikendan

There have been many posts here about this subject.
Unfortunately the majority state that the wife refuses to drive the truck/trailer combo. For those that own a Motorhome, the responses were better....

Chalk my wife up into that category. She drives our F350 all over town as a daily driver. Once 42’ of fifth wheel gets hooked up, she refuses to slide behind the wheel. I’d love to be the one relaxing in the right seat as we cruise down the highway from time to time, but in spite of my explaining these sorts of situations to her, no dice.

[AudiDudi]

How many have discussed what to do when cruise control is set at 65 and the driver suddenly slumps over the steering wheel? The passenger should at least have basic knowledge to get to the side of the road safely and if 50 miles form the nearest town with no cell signal, maybe how to get to the hospital/doctors office.