How to Tow a Trailer Feedback

Hey Doug!

That is a very good link. I have added it to my favourites. But the Parking Game is diabolical. I would challenge anybody to do it in 6 minutes. Whew!

Kingo

Parking Game....where did you find that...


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Sorry Doug I just had to duck out for a while.
The parking game is in the How to reverse section
here

Too hard for me!

Kingsley
Thanks, but I'd already found it and have totally wrecked the van,

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Also make sure that it never overtakes you!

Yep, Reversing is a very good skill to master especially with trailers.

You never know when you may be down a narrow bush track and there is a blockage. Now you have to reverse that trailer maybe a hundred metres or more up the track before you can turn around.

I had not done a real lot of trailer work before going on a weeks fishing trip with the old man. We went to one of the nth qld dams and the water level was very low so every trip twice a day for a week involved reversing the boat trailer down a 100m ramp. Dad made ME do it every day.

The first couple of times I could see his frustration at not getting the boat into the water quite quick enough to satisfy his fishing needs. But he persisted with some coaching and by the end of that week I was able to smoothly back down at better than walking pace and now have complete confidence at being able to put a trailer where it needs to go with the R cog selected.

Practice makes perfect.

Cheers
Muddy

Hi All
I taught my Cook to Tow the Caravan and Reverse ect, you never know when it comes in handy, especially on long driving stints, we take turns at caravan parks reversing in to position, it's amazing the amount of people who just look in amazement seeing a woman towing the van, anyway she learnt most of her driving skills on the farm when she was a lot younger lol.

If you've got kids in the family and can get hold of a toy with steering and a trailer (Technic LEGO is the best) then you can practice reversing with a "bird's eye view" from outside the car (and it won't cost $$$ if you make a mistake!). This helps to understand the concept and get used to how to make the trailer go where you want it to and when it's second nature, you can practice in the car. When teaching my sister to reverse-parallel park, I built her a LEGO car and told her to practice with it. The next time she tried it in the real car, she pleasantly surprised both of us!

Hi Dave B,

Thanks for that. At the moment i tow a 4.7M boat. and yes your right. i have no idea what is behind me. Except for a 60 HP outboard motor taking up the rear view mirror. But sometimes i can see behind me if i angle the motor a little. but yeah, some different types of wing mirrors would be better and safer. And plus i would probably need them when i take delivery of my new camper trailer in September.

John

Muddy Doe,

Interesting about your old man teaching you to reverse a trailer. I am a member of ausfish.com, and one of the members there described a way to easily reverse a trailer. (Not knowing how your old man taught you)
Instead of doing what 95% of people do with their hands on the sides of the steering wheel, and trying to think the opposite way of turning the wheel and the trailer will go the other way etc etc, the other way of doing is putting both hands on the bottom of the steering wheel. if you want the trailer to go left while reversing, then move your left hand up, and visa versa.

John

Hi John,

Yeah My father had a somewhat similar method but called it the "follow the trailer" method.

When backing the trailer he had me watch the mirrors (never the turn the head or open door and look back thing). If the trailer starts moving to the drivers side then turn the wheel that way slightly. This causes the ass of the car to pivot that way and the trailer goes straight again. If the trailer starts moving left then steer left and it will correct.

Using this method you can travel backwards pretty quick using only subtle steering inputs. The trick is to correct even the most subtle movement of the trailer. If it is going left the follow it left and it straightens instantly. As it straightens then you centre the wheel. If it goes a bit far and starts going right then follow it right with the steering wheel.

This works really well if you have a small trailer that you can't really see in the mirrors behind a wide tow vehicle. As soon as you even SEE the trailer emerging on one side then steer that way until you see it come out the other side and so on. It may look ugly but is effective.

Of course you also have to process the bigger picture with peripheral vision to keep it heading in the right direction of where you are trying to reverse into but after some practice I have found that even backing around corners is easy using this "follow" method. If it is turning too quickly turn some more lock on in that direction to lessen the swing.

Also if the trailer is going around too far don't be afraid to stop and go forward just a small amount before continuing to back up. Many times I see people reversing a box trailer up a driveway and they get halfway up the drive and it all gets crossed up. They then go forward to straighten it up again but invariably go way too far and effectively start all over again. It only generally needs a few feet to straighten up to a point where you can continue reversing.

I have now got to the point where I enjoy the challenge of reversing into a driveway off a busy street without holding up traffic. A few years ago I would have been bleep ting bricks at the thought!!

Cheers
Muddy

'Oldplodder',

Interesting suggestion...it is going to take some doing to get my missus behind the wheel with a trailer on the back. but maybe if i mention what you said like if i cant drive, how is she going to get the kids to safety etc, she might try to have a go.
But do i really want her to practice with a brand new trailer?? Maybe the safest thing to do is to just sit in my chair and not move any further than arms reach of the esky...?! :-)

John

Just kidding, and point taken.

Just mentioned your post to my better half.

Her comment, if it was serious she would unhook the trailer and leave it behind, and just use car to get to where we need to go in an emergency.

Clear thinker this one. :o)

Obviously has thought about it since we often travel alone.

Regards

John c

Actually that's not quite the full story...
Reversing a trailer becomes easier with:
* a shorter the wheelbase on the car
* a longer the distance between the TOWBALL and the trailer axle
* a shorter rear overhang on the car (ie. distance from rear axle to towball)
The distance from towball to the axles is important because it is the pivot point between the two 'vehicles'. These three points enable semi-trailer drivers to accurately reverse their rigs (first time) into loading docks that are scarcely wider than the trailer (oh, and they 'practice' it every day!).

I learned to reverse a trailer with a Suzuki LJ80v - it was easy because the wheel base of the car was so short, the towbar was almost immediately behind the rear wheels, and the trailer (incl. drawbar) was probably longer than the car!

Yeah true So if some are aware of why do trailer manufacturers make them so short.
Defies logic really, but suppose less steel more profit and stuff the poor customer who's left with an unmanageable result.

As you have a Cape York, the tow bar wont be too short. Great trailers and everyone I've seen had a longer than average tow bar.

MFewster,

Thanks for the feedback on the cape york trailer. This is going to be my first camper trailer, and it is reasuring that someone out there has something positive to say about it.

John

Hey Jo Q,

Thanks for the pointers. Yes absolutely we will set up the new trailer in the yard before taking it out on her maiden voyage. I have 2.5 acres, so not only will we set up the trailer, but will have a fire, and toast marshmallows and sleep in it etc. Of course we will have the hand held UHF with us so we can call the house to have more essentials brought down! :-)

What type of camper trailer do you have? I cant quite make out the picture, but your tow vehicle is a subaru?

John

hey JO Q,

Glad to hear your enjoying your new CT and X-trail. A freind of mine has just bought a X-trail and reckons its the beez neez! When you come to QLD, and if you are in FNQ, i have posted a good camping spot on the walsh river. its free, and its got water. we were there last weekend, and managed to get a few yabbies. Not enough for a feed, so put them back.

John