Backing Up Trailer

[njfishing]

Admittedly, backing up is certainly not my strong suit but I'm getting better.. Problem is my DW is the excitable type... You know, the type that tends to over react to everything... You get a cut your going to "BLEED TO DEATH" or if it's a little cold you'll "FREEZE TO DEATH", you get the picture.....

As if backing up isn't hard enough she tends to make it a little harder and more nerve racking then it should be....

Here's the typical drill...

- We get to the site, get out of the truck and scope out where we want to trailer to rest.

- After negotiating with her for what seems like an hour on the best spot, I go back in the truck and get things lined up and she goes to the back of the trailer to guide me in... .

- As I make the approach and start backing up she starts motioning which way I should turn the wheel as if she was sitting in the driver seat. These aren't subtle hand moves, she's flailing her arms in big circles so hard her arms practically come out of the shoulder sockets.....

- As usual I'm not lined up right and she's running around the back of the trailer like a chicken with her head cut off continuing to flail her arms and winds up in a spot where I can't see her in the mirrors...

- I get out of the truck and calmly tell her she needs to be in a place I can see her and ask her not to tell me which way to turn the wheel since it's confusing, just point which way the back of the camper needs to go...

- I continue to back up, she continues to tell me which way to turn the wheel so I get back out of the truck and ask again...

- She says WELL YOUR TURNING THE WRONG WAY!! An argument follows that finally ends with me asking her if she'd like to back it in

- I explain once again all I need you to do is stay in a place where I can see you and point which way the back of the trailer needs to go...

- She finally obliges and we get the camper where we negotiated it should be

- I start to unhitch and level the trailer and she decides the trailer should be at a different spot on the site

It seems like every time we set up it's like Ground Hog Day.... Am I the only one with these issues :confused

[Fluffywhitedogs]

I’m usually on my own, and generally manage to get into sites with little difficulty. However, when I get home, my hubby feels the need to help me get into our driveway. Which is wider than many sites and essentially free of obstructions [emoji4]
It used to turn into a screaming match and he’d end up stomping off and saying “fine, do it yourself”, which was a relief! It used to make me nuts that he’d say “turn left” or “turn right” but would go back and forth between meaning the steering wheel and meaning the actual trailer! We’ve now reached an understanding. I won’t get cranked up at him if he ONLY describes the motion of the steering wheel and nothing else.
I still, however, prefer to park it when he’s not home [emoji4]

[Chief T]

I have a wonderful marriage, but at these moments things got tense. Can't see her in mirror, flailing arms, yada yada. Picked up a couple walkie talkies last year and it's a much smoother and calmer operation now.

[tomkatb]

I am sort of in the same hell!

Mine is particularly brilliant. However, she cannot do a map.

Has severe issues telling me which way to turn. No help. Lots of waving.

So I let her steer. Yep, steer. Clueless. Robotic.

I tell her every move to make. Can’t say straighten up. When she thinks and acts on her own she turns the wrong way 80% of the time. And when she thinks I am wrong she ignores me. Until I loudly say STOP. That pisses her off.

Doing this is hard.

I guess I need to practice backing up myself, a lot.

I feel your pain.

[Kimber45]

I am lucky 75% of the time we are close to home and bring two vehicles and go back and forth to work from the campground. So I leave early and get set up and then my wife comes out. Works well for me to be alone.

25% of the time when we are together we have come close to divorce over the backing up/set up process. Your wife must not be on the web site if you are brave enough to put all that in writing.

[Semperfi24]

You just need to get a common language, and in my opinion, since you are the driver, you should pick the language you understand so you dont need to "translate". Once you get the language decided upon, stick with it. And have her stay as still as possible unless there is an emergency situation.

For us, we use walkie talkies (some will use cell phones because of the hands free abilities of new vehicles). We dont use "left" or "right", we use "driver" and "passenger". She doesnt tell me what to do, she just tells me which direction the trailer needs to go and then I take it from there. I just found it was too confusing for left and right, and even worse when she is telling me how to steer. Her just telling me where the rear of the trailer needs to go has been the easiest for me to understand.

Also, the best advice I found (maybe you have heard this), is to put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel when backing up. If you need the trailer to go toward the passenger side, move your hand toward the passenger side. As long as your hand is at the bottom, you can move your hand in the direction you want the trailer to go. Simplest way to do it in my opinion

[IsleDog]

My wife and I had this problem when we first started camping with our trailer. but since we were both invested in the idea of camping, we both decided to come up with a plan to make it work. we use hand signals and she knows that i need to see her when backing up. if i cant see her, im not moving, period.

what can really help is having her learn to tow and backup your rig. it creates a completely new understanding of how things really work. My wife does not jump for joy when its time to tow and its her turn, but she understands how important it really is to know how to do it and what the primary driver goes through.

find an empty parking lot and practice together, be constructive and level headed. stop and talk about what is happening. even if she decides that she will never ever back up your rig, practice your signals and forms of communication. encourage each other. then take her out for lunch and discuss.

[jayrodoh]

LOL, I got a good chuckle reading through this! All I could think about is every time my wife is yelling at me to "turn straight" as I back in.

[bedubya]

I already knew I was a lucky man. My wife only uses 3 hand signals: 👈,👉,✋. 3 keys that work for me:
1. She's always telling which direction she wants the BACK of the traler to go.
2. I only use my mirrors, I do not turn to look back.
3. I keep my hand at the BOTTOM of the wheel. That way, left is left, right is right.
We use walkie talkies but very little.

[timfromma]

My wife is disabled and cannot help me. She either waits in the truck or at the site's picnic table and watches. Quite often, my neighbors see me backing up solo and offer to guide me. Otherwise, I will repeatedly get out of my truck to see gauge I'm doing. I find it quite helpful to mark the ground some way at where I want my tires to end up.

[bedubya]

And she understands that the trailer does not react instantly when I turn the wheel.

[Cabinfever97]

Something that may help. Get a small orange cone, the type for street hockey. Place that where you both decide the back corner should be. Gives you both the same target. I'm surw.you already know but backing to the driver side is the best. You could also use your phones to talk to each other so no need to yell. Put your phone on speaker so no need to hold.

[fella10]

DW came from China in 07, and she still thinks in Chinese, ... at first, she had to be taught that she always needs to be where I could see her if shes going to be giving hand signals, ... finally got that understood(I think), but that subject does require a refresher course occasionally, ... then there was the verbal communication problems, "I told you to stop", "but I didn't hear you"--- "I told you to go left", "but I didn't hear you"/ ect, ... finally solved that with our cell phones, use them on speaker phone and they work great, ... our house is at the end of a court/cul-de-sac, I pull the trailer into the circle and completely around so I can back up our driveway(about 200ft) to the house and parking pad on the end of the garage, ... because of the angle, the most critical point is getting the trailer onto the driveway, after that its pretty much smooth sailing, but at that time I certainly need her attention, which is not always in the same ball park that I'm playing in, ... in my mirrors, I've seen her walking towards the house, with back turned to the trailer, or checking the mail box, or talking to a neighbor, ect, ... like I said, she still thinks in Chinese and that's a much different language in more ways than one, ...

ps: use your cells, they're a great help

[timfromma]

Cells don't help if your out in the boonies with no reception.

[dbledan]

I feel you. My wife usually sits in the truck. I like it that way. My son helps me. He understands the pecking order and just tells me what I need to know with no argument on how to do it and simple directions. A great marriage saver along with the camera.

When my wife does help because my son is not there, there can be no bugs and it must be cool. She will tell me many things but the only real direction we agree on ahead of time and during the process is stop and it mostly starts with "Ahhhhh, wha wha!". There is lots of flailing and noises with some pointing but I am never sure what she means on turning the truck or trailer.

We tried walkies but she either completely forgets to push the button or only does so after she says the command and I only get the last letter or a beep. When this happens I stop and usually get out to look.

I use the cameras and mirrors to position and I get out and look a lot. She refuses to back the trailer so she does not understand the logistics of it. Learning to hook up the propride the first time was interesting and stressful because I could not explain what I was doing in advance.

She typically will sit in the truck until I have completed setup and turned on the AC with the slide out. Then she does the inside thing and hands me things to "put away" while I have a drink.

[cavie]

The best way to back up a trailer is to the driver side BY YOURSELF. First get out and look where you want to go. Use something as a marker. Rock, tree, hat. Put this on you driver side and know you howe much room to fit the width of the trailer next to it. As long as you keep the driver side of the trailer next to the marker, Nothing is gonna jump out for you to hit. Put another marker down for a place to stop.

You can do it to the passenger side if necessary but that's a little tougher.

Semi drivers do it all day long.

[Mr. Dan]

SITE TEAM NOTE:
We have considered moving this thread to the JOKES sub-forum since the OP is hilarious! Oh, wait.... it's not really funny but it IS funny if it's the other guy being torqued. However, it is much more general than the sub-forum it's in so we're moving it to http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f5/.


It is now here ==> http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...er-178344.html.

[kenandterry]

Truckers all over the world manoeuvre their rigs single handily all the time using their MIRRORS only.....they have no choice.

I have a 35 foot motorhome and sometimes pull a trailer, and you’re better of working solo....Trust me.

Get some small cones, like someone suggested, find a large parking lot, and practice, practice, practice. If in doubt at all......G.O.A.L.
This means.....Get Out And Look.

Biggest tip, like someone else mentioned, place your hand at the BOTTOM of the steering wheel. Moving your hand to the left, the trailer goes left. Moving your hand to the right, the trailer goes right.

[RACarvalho]

Good that we are not the only ones !!!

Each couple is a different history and I found out that there are things you can improve and things that you can't.

So for the sake of our relationship I have her helping me only when it is easy to park so when she is helping me we almost always get it right the first time and we start camping on a good note...

When it is complicated, I ask my boys for help or I do it alone....
No fault on her, it is just that we think differently...

I bought a monitoring camera and it helps.

[bedubya]

Originally Posted by timfromma

Cells don't help if your out in the boonies with no reception.

That's why we carry walkie-talkies. They work anywhere.