What is your most "exciting" trailer backing experience? There should be room in this thread for both entertainment and enlightenment. Let's share . . .

Mine was at the Motel 6 in Wytheville, VA. Unlike most Motel 6's, this is an independently-designed and unique place. I arrived after dark with a tired wife, kid, & dog. This motel is on the very top of a hill, with a steep, narrow private drive with several switch-backs - no problem, just put it in "grannie" and take my time. Then I find that the building is an "E" shape and has four dead end parking areas - no trailer parking and no way to drive around. I parked in a driving lane and checked in. The management had no problem with me - they just said to park long the side of the main connector for all the parking areas.

After towing a lot of miles, I am pretty handy at backing, but doing it in the dark in a strange place is a little harder . . . I also learned a long time ago that depending on my wife's hand-signals was a recipe for divorce. None-the less, I got the rig "put to bed" for the night. From then on I paid a LOT more attention to the little "truck parking" icon in the motel handbook.

 

I have fun everyday I back my trailer in to my yard at night. I get idots that drive in front of me and behind me when I am backing up. I have all my lights on (headlights, taillights, four-ways, & rotor beam going) that does not stop them from being IDOTS. One day I am going to get one and make them pay.

 

I have to back my dump trailer with a 6' tall wooden box on it way back into a place where I load it. I have very little room. 12' wide (the trailer is 10' wide!) and about 150' long. Doing that with the crew cab gives me very little room for error. I've gotten used to it. Now everything else is a piece of cake. I remember one time when I first started driving I got my F150 and 18' car trailer in a twisted mess in a Wendy's parking lot. It worse the worst designed lot I have ever seen. I ended up having to back out of it. I'm a pro now tho lol.

 

On dealer lots we use an adapter that fits on the forks of a lift truck (also called: FORKLIFT).

For whatever reason - maybe so that I can train to be a master forklift driver, I dunno - I have yet to work at a place without a mean hill somewhere on the lot...

At STUNKMOST (AKA: Suncoast) I was told the forklift had a brake connection on the sevenway that was added for trailer power, so I began using it religiously whenever I moved one of the really mammoth fifth wheels (like an ALFA or a KZ Escalade). Until one fine day when the cable got stuck in the fifth wheel plate and more or less ate about a foot long section of it, with suitable fireworks from the battery charge wire!

When I rewired the connector I found that yes indeed - it did have a brake connection.

REITERATE: Connection...

Pity it wasn't wired


The wildest thing that ever happened to me while towing was going forward though. I had a Taurus wagon on a trailer behind an F100 and was making a turn into a fuel pitstop between Norfolk and Memphis. I thought I had slowed down plenty - in fact I'm sure of it. But the trailer and its load kept on pushing until it shoved the back of the truck through about forty degrees and near jacknifed the whole works!

I tell ya what, momentum is a BEE-ATCH especially without trailer brakes...

It was a U-HAUL trailer that considerable time had been spent on to make sure the FOUR WAY was working right on. The surge brakes?

Umm, what surge brakes?

(It had 'em installed...)

 

Anytime I've backed a trailer with my Ranger has been interesting- the factory mirrors were junk, and my gallery shows a picture of what I've got now on the left, which is worse. Until it gets pretty far off straight, I can't see the damn trailer, which makes it hard to put it where I want it...

 

The only reason I have mirrors on the sides of my Ranger are for pure show. The only one that does anything is the drivers side - and it can show me the painted stripe of a space I am parking in.

For a back-up mirror I use a five pane WINK racing mirror. This link will give you some idea, but since you can get them at any autoparts store FORGET these guys: http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/mirror.htm
For twenty five years I have used these, and won't drive anything without one if I can help it.

I also drop my tailgate...

 

Just where do you drive this 10' wide trailer? 8.5' is the max. legal limit without a permit in most states & is the Federal max. limit.

 

My most exciting is when someone used to tag alongs only tries to direct me into a tight camping spot with my 5er. With a fifth wheel, backing can be a little diferent - there's a point where you can kind of follow it along where a tag along driver would still have the wheels cut the other way. I've found it difficult to find a way to tactfully tell a "helpful" freind this, as they get animated and upset that I'm not cutting the front wheels the way they expect towards the end of the manoever. They'll be jumping up and down insisting I'm cutting the wrong way as I try to follow it in; this while surrounded by trees...

 

I kinda go the other way. Except for my truck, with it's godawful factory mirrors, one of which was broken and made worse by the previous owner, the only reason I have an inside mirror is to pass inspection.

If I could bring myself to drill holes in my doors, I'd put west-coast mirrors on the darn thing.

 

Sorry, I'm an idiot. I was up too late. It is a 6'x10' trailer, so about 7' wide overall.

 

I would say by far the worst backing experience would have been in north Arkasas when I turned onto a gravel road leading to a CG on the Buffalo River. The road was so steep that my F150 (pulling a 7500lb. gooseneck TT) couldn't get enough traction to make the top after about 1/2 a mile. Had to back down the hill using the trans in 1st gear for braking and back onto a 2 lane highway with heavy traffic, in a curve to make it worse.
Most people would cringe to think they had to park a trailer in my driveway,(I am pulling a 37' 5er with a R-model Mack) I have to back off the street blindside with a 5' dropoff on the right, drive way is about 350' long with 2 45* turns through trees. Had a friend come through town and wanted to hook up in the drive, after he looked, he decided to stay at local CG.

 

I was entering a campground in N.H. early evening was directed to a spot that was fairly open. I found the site and thought this will be a piece of cake. I pulled the Truck and Trialer up an inclined area of nice grass and was ready to Back into the space. I started backing and decided the speed was a bit fast and applied the brakes. All the wheels caught and I started stripping the real nice sodden grassy soil and rolling it behind the tires trying to get-er stopped on the incline. That was not a happy campground owner

Mello!

 

Go hang out at a busy boat ramp on a nice weekend, some of the best free entertainment available.

 

I totally agree. I have spent many days sitting there on my lawn chair just watching. I swear there are atleast 10 people every day that hang out at the boat ramp just to watch. I see more awful back up jobs and cars that should not be pulling trailers than anywhere else. You know, the Monte Carlos that pull 20+ foot boats? Those are the ones I like to watch.

 

My worst was borrowing a friend's 16' tandem flatbed trailer for a job. I don't remember all the circumstances, but I needed to back the trailer into the driveway across the street from my customer to turn around. Well, the driveway had a steep slope near the road, which had a good crown to it, and I didn't know that the hitch had a tricky latch on it (it looked latched, but I didn't check it). I got the trailer part way up the driveway when I heard a little thump. I needed to straighten out a little anyway, so I pulled forward a little, then backed up again. Then I didn't go anywhere--the trailer had come off the ball, and I had backed my bumper on top of the hitch far enough to cause my rear wheels to have no traction whatsoever. That wasn't a very busy road--until then, it seemed. We ended up jacking up the rear of the truck and pushing the trailer back by hand.


Jason