Backing a dually

[MHalberstadt]

Originally posted by boonsur

For the little trailers (jet ski's), drop the tailgate & look thru the back.

I've tried that and it works better especially if you turn down the inside rear view mirror to see without turning around. You have to be carefull to not let the tailgate hit the gear box on the front of most jet ski trailers. Luckily mine has the tapered front gear box. My brother in law does not. Amazing how that little jet ski gear box tore up his tailgate.

 

[Gypsyman]

The fact that alot of these new trailers are wide bodies doesn't help matters any. My mirrors need to be 3" to 4" wider just to see the passenger side rear of my trailer.

 

[Ramtough]

Actually the thought of backing a trailer of any kind blind is what causes many people to buy a motor home. Then they hook a car behind it which cannot be backed at all. Problem Solved!



For me, the easiest thing to do is to ask the war department to help. Once she is out of the cab, she dutifully reports to her assigned position - behind the trailer where I cannot see her. With no one in the cab to tell me how to do it (peace and quiet), I proceed to impress my fellow campers by gracefully slipping the trailer onto the site.



Back to the war department - from her improved vantage point behind the trailer nearly 50 feet away, she always tells me in a normal tone of voice just when to stop. After I've backed the trailer over a picnic table, she comes forward to ask me why I don't listen to her



The thing I can't fathom is how a woman who spends so much time looking at herself in a mirror cannot understand that if she can't see my mirrors, I can't see her.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

... and doncha just LOVE all those fancy hand motions that make NO sense at all...



"but dear, I was just swatting at a mosquito... "

 

[GerryDrake]

... all of the above, ..... and, she never picks up on why I just STOP... I tell her I stop when I can't see her. . . then next time, when I can't see her, I STOP... and she hasn't a clue why. She is NOT stupid, but sometimes I wish she would remember that.

 

[Casey Ray]

Originally posted by GerryDrake

... all of the above, ..... and, she never picks up on why I just STOP... I tell her I stop when I can't see her. . . then next time, when I can't see her, I STOP... and she hasn't a clue why. She is NOT stupid, but sometimes I wish she would remember that.

This is why I got a couple of FRS radios, now she can sit on the trailer bumper if she wishes and I can still hear her. My wife had what seemed like one hand signal for 'left', 'right', 'back-up', at least 'stop' usually came with a loudly yelled "STOP!" Now with the radio, she can tell me which way the trailer needs to go.



Before the radios, backing in was so much 'fun', wife would only want to camp some place if it was a pull through.



Casey

 

[Ramtough]

Talking among ourselves about backing a 5th wheel fails to address the need for our wives to understand the same issue. Mine never fails to let me know when I have about 3 feet left to go that the back of the trailer needs to be a foot or so over in this or that direction.