Obstacle courses

[rynosback]

I have a bunch of what I call motorcycle cones. They are tennis balls cut in half. They can be placed where ever I want them are clearly seen and running over them will not harm anything. I plan on setting a coarse up in a big parking lot right after I pick up my trailer. Any scenarios that I should cone out besides 90 degree turns to go forward and backwards with?

Good to see you on this forum also NC.

 

[Killgore]

Rynosback, I'm tempted to suggest buying a set of Midland two-ways and running the coarse at night in reverse. I've watched many an "experienced" camper yell and cuss his wife while he tried to figure out how to navigate into a tight spot. (In a perverse kind of way it can be very entertaining. ) And, be sure to keep an eye on what's overhead; some campgrounds don't trim the limbs high enough.
- Ed

 

[B.G. Smith]

I have a set of little red cones that I have used ocasionally. A couple of tips, always back to your left if possible, try not to turn too radically when backing, not good for some tires, will cause belt seperation. I keep a block on the driveway where I park at home, it makes a good aiming point and prevents me from backing into something and wrecking the ladder on the rear. When we first started using a trailer we used the two ways as Kilgore mentioned. Works pretty well but sometimes got distress signals when things were not really that bad. I now just tell her to stay where I can see her in the rear view mirror and I can usually tell by how high she is jumping and waving her arms how close I am to hitting something. bg

 

[Shadrach]

We use the two way radios, and I wish more people did, but it can still be a challenge especially at night in an unfamiliar campground. I once saw a man who had pulled just off the campground road waiting for the other family he was with to get set up at a double campsite. When it was his turn to park the trailer he just hopped in his truck and put it in reverse. You know those 8x8 wooden post with a 45* angle on the top they have to keep people from parking in places? Well he was too close to one and he tore the front awning mount right off as well as a few feet of siding. He had to remove the entire awning. Fortunately it was an older trailer, but still that wrecks one weekend of camping.

Even at some government campground you wonder who designed them. That is one problem with today's long units. I once asked at the gate for a spot that was at least 50' long and was told the one we were given was 60', so no problem right ? Except the angle was over 90* and the sides of the road were covered in bush. After I finally got in I went for a walk later and saw a beautiful spot that was over 75' in length and it was occupied by a VW campervan. First come first serve.

David

 

[Killgore]

Several months ago we stayed at the NAS Campground in Corpus Christi. I always do a walk-around before backing into the assigned space. The hookups were on the wrong side and probably 25' from the pad. There was no way I had enough water and sewer line to reach. Fortunately, they had another space I could use. The moral is to look before backing.
- Ed

 

[BIGNASTY]

Personally I find it VERY ENTERTAINING to watch RV'ers back into spots.

Get a nice seat, light a fire, have a few beers, munchies AND LET THE ENTERTAINMENT BEGIN!!!

Last time we went to Glacier we watched this older man try like hell to bend a GIANT 5th wheel into a spot. Back & Forth FOREVER!! got out slammed the truck door so hard it broke his mirror. He walked a ways down the Campground road then came back all composed and ready to give it another shot. Before he got back in his truck he asked if I had any suggestions?

Yep!! that's a PULL THRU SPOT!!!

 

[Killgore]

:-laf:-laf:-laf I love it!! And, I do the same. The last time I watched some poor yahoo take 45 minutes to try and back a pop-up into his space while yelling and cussing with his wife, my wife asked me why I didn't go over and help him out? I told her that if it was one thing I had learned to dread when a cop it was getting involved in a domestic.

 

[rynosback]

It sounds like it is kind of like hanging out at the boat ramp.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Hey them little trailers are hard as Hell to back-up they jack on you so quick its hard to follow them fast enough.

For a long time when I worked I drove a Truck with a tank on the frame and then pulled a pup trailer, its the exact opposite of backing a straight truck with trailer. I got pretty good at a Truck & Trailer but when I tried to back the TT in to a spot I had to think backwards again.

The only thing that I needed the wife for was to tell me to stop, When driving a truck a load dock tells you that your home, and a flatbed hardly ever did I back to a dock. I really didn't want a tree or a rock to tell me that the TT was good where it was.

I have gone and backed some RV's in for guys that were so upset and yelling at their poor wife. (its not her fault you cant back up)

BUT IT IS FUN TO WATCH!! :-laf

 

[rynosback]

Rynosback, I'm tempted to suggest buying a set of Midland two-ways and running the coarse at night in reverse. I've watched many an "experienced" camper yell and cuss his wife while he tried to figure out how to navigate into a tight spot. (In a perverse kind of way it can be very entertaining. ) And, be sure to keep an eye on what's overhead; some campgrounds don't trim the limbs high enough.
- Ed

We have a set of two ways or we might use our phones.

 

[rynosback]

Hey them little trailers are hard as Hell to back-up they jack on you so quick its hard to follow them fast enough.

For a long time when I worked I drove a Truck with a tank on the frame and then pulled a pup trailer, its the exact opposite of backing a straight truck with trailer. I got pretty good at a Truck & Trailer but when I tried to back the TT in to a spot I had to think backwards again.

The only thing that I needed the wife for was to tell me to stop, When driving a truck a load dock tells you that your home, and a flatbed hardly ever did I back to a dock. I really didn't want a tree or a rock to tell me that the TT was good where it was.

I have gone and backed some RV's in for guys that were so upset and yelling at their poor wife. (its not her fault you cant back up)

BUT IT IS FUN TO WATCH!! :-laf

I know what you mean as I had a little 9 foot landscape trailer and any little adjustment that trailer would TURN. I have heard the bigger the trailer the easier it is. As they need more feedback to make them turn.

 

[Mike Ellis]

I have seen a lot of trailer-backing escapades in my years of RVing, unfortunately all too often it has been me providing the entertainment. I always thought I was pretty good backing a trailer until we started pulling a small box trailer for the Scouts --- arggh many a dose of humble pie has been consumed.

It is interesting how many people plan out their trips to the smallest detail, I did that for years when I was younger but as I got older and had more responsibilities piled on I got a gut-full of "Gotta do this, gotta do that" at work and Scouts and church and stuff. When I am traveling now, I like to haul my arse out of bed when I feel like it and go wherever the whim strikes me. If I am driving along in the middle of nowhere headed to a particular destination and suddenly see a sign for the World's Biggest Ball of String, I am on it. On many of my trips, the most memorable experiences have been spur-of-the-moment detours like that.

Doing trips without a set plan drives the wife nuts, but then again nobody said being Mrs. Ellis was ever gonna be easy... :-laf :-laf

For those of you with wanderlust who enjoy seeing offbeat attractions, I highly recommend the app "Roadside America" - if you are staying in Bugtussle and there is a nearby Muffler Man or world's biggest collection of hair curlers, the app will steer you right to it. :-laf

 

[rynosback]

I have seen a lot of trailer-backing escapades in my years of RVing, unfortunately all too often it has been me providing the entertainment. I always thought I was pretty good backing a trailer until we started pulling a small box trailer for the Scouts --- arggh many a dose of humble pie has been consumed.

It is interesting how many people plan out their trips to the smallest detail, I did that for years when I was younger but as I got older and had more responsibilities piled on I got a gut-full of "Gotta do this, gotta do that" at work and Scouts and church and stuff. When I am traveling now, I like to haul my arse out of bed when I feel like it and go wherever the whim strikes me. If I am driving along in the middle of nowhere headed to a particular destination and suddenly see a sign for the World's Biggest Ball of String, I am on it. On many of my trips, the most memorable experiences have been spur-of-the-moment detours like that.

Doing trips without a set plan drives the wife nuts, but then again nobody said being Mrs. Ellis was ever gonna be easy... :-laf :-laf

For those of you with wanderlust who enjoy seeing offbeat attractions, I highly recommend the app "Roadside America" - if you are staying in Bugtussle and there is a nearby Muffler Man or world's biggest collection of hair curlers, the app will steer you right to it. :-laf

We have been across the country twice. And love seeing cool and corky things. We used that resource when planning our trips. And we still made a couple of more detours.

 

[EDankievitch]

A few years back I was on my first trip to the Fla Keys. After having a break down , Cracked injector line on my 05, I got in to Fla really late missed dinner with my Aunt an Uncle in Lake Worth. Unable to find a room I kept pushing south. How was I to know that the last night launch of the space shuttle would sell out all the hotels on I95? Any way I made it down to Jupiter and found a room at the Hilton Garden manor inn. It was the last room a king suite. I didn't care at that point I was tired it was about 2 am I had been up since 5 am. So a small fortune later, and for that price Paris her self should have tucked me in. I pulled around back parked the truck and my boat/ boat trailer and hit the bed. The next morning I go to checkout and the manager asks is that your truck with the boat. I said yes then the manager walks me out to the lot and asks how the hell did you get in here with out hitting anything???? To this day I don't know how I did it we had to move about a dozen cars that were there all night so I could get out and around the long sweeping flowing driveway. I guess being that tired I was really in tune with the truck and trailer or the Big Guy up stairs was driving I don't think I could do it again....

 

[RustyJC]

For those of you with wanderlust who enjoy seeing offbeat attractions, I highly recommend the app "Roadside America" - if you are staying in Bugtussle and there is a nearby Muffler Man or world's biggest collection of hair curlers, the app will steer you right to it. :-laf

Hey, Mike, good to see ya on the forum - it's been awhile (or maybe it's because we don't frequent the same forums). I'll bet I'm one of the few people that know Bug Tussle is located 10 miles south of Honey Grove and 5 miles north of Ladonia (my mother's home town).

Rusty

 

[Mike Ellis]

Hello Rusty, yeah I had not been online much other than to check political wrangling, spent all my time working and going to school but now I decided to take it easy and have more time to goof off on the computer. I sold my Bigfoot camper not long back, probably will get a small fiver. I loved the Bigfoot but started hankering for something new. I have had Class A / C motorhomes, trailers, pop-up and truck camper so far, never had a 5th wheel yet. So far I enjoyed the truck camper the most, it was a heck of a nice rig. Who knows maybe I will get another one someday.

Actually I was at a RV dealer not long back and they had some of those little A-frame popups, I was impressed with them but they are a bit on the small side. I like the idea of something small and easy to use, I have found over the years that my likelihood of using something goes down exponentially with the hassle factor - apparently I am a lazy scoundrel...

 

[Superdawg]

About 3 years ago I pulled into a crowded campground and started to back into a space on the right w/ a 29' fifth wheel. Hindsight, I should have turned around and backed in with the visibility on the driver side instead. Anyway, my wife asks if I want her to spot me. Heck no, I've been doing this for years. Well, I backed up until I heard the thunk. I pulled forward a bit, got out and checked the damage. With the rear motorcycle rack behind the bumper, I knocked over the iron pipe protecting the water spigot, the water spigot and almost took out the tree. I shut down the water in half the campground showers and bathrooms for about 6 hours. Water ran out of that hole for a couple hours before they could shut it down. The campground workers dug a 4 foot deep hole in the rocky soil to fix it. I felt so bad. I took some ribbing that weekend, month, year. My middle son calls it the great flood of 2013.