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I just bought a new 2018 F450 platnum. Looking through the owners manual (it's going to take years to learn all this stuff) I read through the trailer reverse guidance.
You have to put special tape on your trailer, enter measurements and calibrate each trailer to the truck. And then the truck will help by telling you how much to turn the wheels (I guess)
Has anyone done this. I can see a benefit on a small trailer that cant easily be sewn behind the (dually) truck, but what do you gain on bigger trailers?
I will do my dump and flatbed trailers, just for the heck of it.
looks like a lot of work for little gain.
Have any of you all done it? What do you think?
I have it on my F150, it works like a champ for my 5x8 utility trailer! The trailer is too narrow to consistently see in the mirrors while backing and my tonneau cover poses the same problem. It probably took me about 30 minuets when I originally set it up.
But it’s not for use as depicted.
Hopefully it works better for you than it did for me. I have a 32' travel trailer and thought that I'd set it up because it seems like a cool/useful feature.
Due to the tongue jack and the propane tanks on the trailer, there was only 1 place to put the sticker that fell within the given measurements for the system to work. Once I got it all set up and the camera located the sticker, I thought it should work like a champ. It worked great as long as I was backing in a straight line lol. As soon as I turned the trailer, the camera lost sight of the sticker and it no longer worked.
I'd guess with a manual tongue jack and no propane tanks, you'd have more room to place the sticker which in turn would allow the system to work as designed.
Hopefully it works better for you than it did for me. I have a 32' travel trailer and thought that I'd set it up because it seems like a cool/useful feature.
Due to the tongue jack and the propane tanks on the trailer, there was only 1 place to put the sticker that fell within the given measurements for the system to work. Once I got it all set up and the camera located the sticker, I thought it should work like a champ. It worked great as long as I was backing in a straight line lol. As soon as I turned the trailer, the camera lost sight of the sticker and it no longer worked.
I'd guess with a manual tongue jack and no propane tanks, you'd have more room to place the sticker which in turn would allow the system to work as designed.
Good luck with it.
2017 F250 Platinum 6.7
Make sure the power cord to the tt doesn't cross the sticker, mine kept losing sight of the sticker in turns, took a bit to figure out the cord was blocking just a tiny corner, I secure my cord so it wont cross the sticker and it works everytime.
I have it on my F150, it works like a champ for my 5x8 utility trailer! The trailer is too narrow to consistently see in the mirrors while backing and my tonneau cover poses the same problem. It probably took me about 30 minuets when I originally set it up.
But it’s not for use as depicted.
The system for the Super Duty is a bit different although the setup is the same. The Super Duty screen shows which way the trailer will go relative to wheel motion and when it will jacknife based on the display. I have a travel trailer but I believe there is some capability for 5th wheel with the system in the Super Duty. I do miss the Pro Trailer backup assist dial though that I had in the F150.
I just bought a new 2018 F450 platnum. Looking through the owners manual (it's going to take years to learn all this stuff) I read through the trailer reverse guidance.
You have to put special tape on your trailer, enter measurements and calibrate each trailer to the truck. And then the truck will help by telling you how much to turn the wheels (I guess)
Has anyone done this. I can see a benefit on a small trailer that cant easily be sewn behind the (dually) truck, but what do you gain on bigger trailers?
I will do my dump and flatbed trailers, just for the heck of it.
looks like a lot of work for little gain.
Have any of you all done it? What do you think?
I have it on my F150 and set it up on three trailers. It takes about 10min after you have done it before. For my TT it worked well the first few times but I have found that time of day and amount of sun can cause problems where the sun cannot see the sticker.
on my work trailer the only place to put the sticker the truck can only find it when straight. Once I turn it can no longer see it.
on the flatbed trailer I have a chain holding the pin that confuses the truck and it will not find it if that is setting on top of the sticker.
when I used it with my travel trailer and it worked it was amazing but when it cannot find the sticker it makes things frustrating espically when you go to enable it and there are people waiting on you to back up and the truck cannot find the sticker....then you start to use it and it loses the sticker.
it did help me to learn how to back better but in the end 2yrs later I don't use it anymore and just know how to back up.
The system for the Super Duty is a bit different although the setup is the same. The Super Duty screen shows which way the trailer will go relative to wheel motion and when it will jacknife based on the display. I have a travel trailer but I believe there is some capability for 5th wheel with the system in the Super Duty. I do miss the Pro Trailer backup assist dial though that I had in the F150.
It's of no use with a fifth wheel, as the chart says. In fact, the only thing I have found of value to use with our fifth wheel is the camera mounted on the brake light on the back of the cab. It lets me see my hitch and the king pin on the trailer and has a centering line which lets me hit it perfectly every time. Best thing since sliced bread because otherwise I cannot see my hitch.
I also have a boat but have not set up the towing system with it. Maybe some day.
I have Ultimate Tow too and just picked up my toy hauler out of storage today to set it up next weekend (its 117 today!). I think the max trailer length is 30 ft and mine is 25. Pretty excited and looking forward to it since it looks very useful
It's of no use with a fifth wheel, as the chart says. In fact, the only thing I have found of value to use with our fifth wheel is the camera mounted on the brake light on the back of the cab. It lets me see my hitch and the king pin on the trailer and has a centering line which lets me hit it perfectly every time. Best thing since sliced bread because otherwise I cannot see my hitch.
I also have a boat but have not set up the towing system with it. Maybe some day.
The chart is different for the Super Duty.....the sticker placement isn’t needed as it doesn’t work the same for a fifth wheel as far as showing trailer direction,etc. but it says you can use the various camera angles and split screen views. The F150 system didn’t have the split screen as far as I recall. If your towing a fifth wheel you probably don’t need all of that though since you are likely way more expert than me! 😀 I’m pretty new to towing so need all the help I can get!
