Hello everyone. My wife and I are about to move into the travel trailer world after being in a pop-up trailer for the last 11 years. We will be taking possession of a 2022 Freedom Express 257BHS in about 2 weeks and can't wait to get camping.
I do have a concern that I did not really think of as it was never an issue with the pop-up. From the street, my driveway goes up at a slight 3 degree angle, then drops at 11 degrees before leveling out in the backyard. The 11 degrees part happens in a fairly short distance (maybe 20').
Initially, my main concern was if there would be clearance at the back bumper when I back it down the hill, but now I'm wondering if I should be more concerned about the hitch remaining attached to the truck! At the peak of the hill, the truck could potentially be 3 degrees down at the front, and the trailer could be 11 degrees down at the back. Is there a danger of the hitch detaching with that potential 14 degree angle?
Any help that you can provide to this travel trailer newbie would be greatly appreciated.
I'm hoping someone understands your problem better than I.
If your hitch is seated properly, it shouldn't come off. Whether your bumper will clear is another matter. Are you going to back it into the spot? That third picture makes it look like you might have a tight fit.
Are you backing in or facing forward when you enter the driveway?
Either way, when one component is going down the driveway the other end of it is sticking up in the air and rising. The unit attached has one end going up with the other end nose diving. Scraping bumper on the trailing component is the worst that will happen. Then the Issue becomes complicated when the 2nd component starts heading down.
I didn't look to see how long your unit is but if your tow vehicle goes down first; once the tongue clears the apex it will point down. If the trailer is to long before the axle meets the apex it could scrape on the high point of the driveway until the axle passes the apex and drag the bumper.
From where I live - if your truck has no issues getting in or out of that driveway then I would back down. At some point the length of the camper becomes the critical factor. Weight is the next thing because gravity always works!
Don't know if this helps.
Yes, I will be backing the trailer down the driveway. There is more room than the picture seems to show. I don't use my garage to park a vehicle in, so I'm fine if the trailer sticks out in front of the garage door. I began wondering about the amount of hitch movement after I read a post that talked about the maximum left/right and up/down movement that a ball hitch was capable of. The post mentioned a max of 15° side to side, 10° downward movement, and 15° upward movement for a ball style hitch. That 15° of upward movement is my concern. If you picture trailer just cresting the hill to go down the driveway and the truck still backing up the front side, there is a potential for 14° difference between the trailer hitch and the ball on the truck.
Pull the hitch out of the truck and put the ball in the coupler of the trailer. You can then easily move the hitch up, down, or sideways and you will know for sure what angle you can achieve with your set up. Your angles may well be different from what others have found depending on the shaft size of your ball and the way your coupler on the trailer might be built. If those angles will work you will need to use trial and error to see it it will go down the drive without dragging on the ground.
I see the concern. What I would do is start looking for plan b in your nearby area for trailer parking. Not because I think you will have an issue, but just in case you do. In my area it’s hard to come by a decent storage location, so despite ours being over a half hour away, we continue to use it. But we cannot put ours in the driveway or backyard either.
I would be a little concerned about scraping the driveway, because it’s a nice looking driveway! But I feel like once you get to a certain point where the scraping may start, the rear wheels may be starting to cross over the high spot and the bottom of the hitch may just miss.
I’m picturing as you go up and over a hill…the apex part of the hitch would pitch up right? Like this? ^ Then back down as it follows the truck. In this case it’s going to level out to flatter ground. But I’m picturing as if you were starting in the back and cresting this area, not backing in. Though I feel as if it shouldn’t be different?
The key is go slow. Stop and look, go slow, stop and look etc. If there is traffic on your street waiting for you, take a breath, wave to them, and continue to go slow. Don’t get flustered and try to rush, that’s when bad things happen. The extra couple minutes isn’t going to hurt anyone.
My first trailer, one of our first trips our site was really low, compared the main drive. I didn’t have a problem backing in but getting it off the hitch I couldn’t go high enough. I had to put a block of wood under the tongue and stand on truck to get it loose and it barely cleared. Then to level it I had to run the jack all the way to the ground. Had to get creative, but backing it in I had someone watching the whole time for clearance. I didn’t have an issue when we left either once I was hitched back up.
Go slow, stop and look. If you don’t think it will work, plan b. Good luck!
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2020 Salem Hemisphere Hyper-Lyte 25RBHL
2022 Ford F150 SuperCrew 3.5 Ecoboost MaxTow
The vertical curve on the driveway looks like a big radius, I think it should work. Ball hitches have a lot of movement in that direction and unlike a fifth wheel.
(We're just getting started!)
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