How To Back A Trailer

one of the more challenging aspects of towing is backing up a trailer and this is a process that can be a source of intimidation and anxiety for a lot of drivers who are new to towing today I'm going to share some practical techniques to help make this process easier when backing up a trailer your hand placement on the steering wheel can either work with you or against you when you're operating at the top of the steering wheel when you turn to the left it's actually going to make the trailer go to the right if you turn the wheel of the right it's going to make the trailer go to the left this backwards type effect is what frustrates a lot of drivers to simplify this switch hand positions up to the bottom of the steering wheel and from the bottom now if we turn to the right the trailer will go right if we turn to the left the trailer will go left so simply changing the hand position up on the steering wheel can make the process a lot easier in this example we're going to backup a boat trailer in a straight line to the boat ramp when backing up in a straight line it'll be better to use your mirrors than to try to look over your shoulders be sure that your mirrors are properly adjusted to give you a good field of view two points of reference that you'll always use are a point on the tow vehicle and a point on the trailer here we can use the fender will of the truck and the fender will of the trailer we even have a little clearance light here to use as a specific point of reference the third point of reference should be your target in this case we're going to try to maintain the truck and trailer about three to four feet away from the edge of the dock all right with all three points of reference lined up we're going to back a nice straight bead on this boat ramp in reference to that dock now you can see that the space between our clearance light on the trailer and our rear fender well of the tow vehicle is roughly staying the same that's what we're shooting for you want a nice straight back maintaining that distance between those two points and that's what will keep us straight with our target in this scene we switch to the passenger side and in some cases as you see here you might not have a good target reference point like the boat dock in the previous scene in this case our target is simply to keep the trailer straight while approaching the water now this is a good time to consider a couple of points if you have a trailer that is narrower than the tow vehicle then you might not be able to see a reference point on the trailer just make sure to watch both side mirrors as you backup if you see the trailer come into view in one of the mirrors then turn the steering wheel to bring the trailer back in out of view keeping a narrower trailer from coming into view on either side will ensure that you are keeping it straight also longer trailers will be easier to backup because of a longer response time for the trailer to react to your steering input shorter trailers will be more difficult to backup because of a shorter response time learning to backup a short trailer will take more practice you're not always going to have a spacious environment where you can line the vehicle and trailer up for a straight line back when space is limited you may have to back the trailer at an angle always be extra cautious in these situations and be aware of the front of your vehicle so that you don't hit anything while you're maneuvering here's an example of making a left-hand turn while backing up the trailer the trailer may be at a sharp enough angle with the truck that you can't use your mirrors as effectively go ahead and look over your left shoulder and keep your focus on the placement of your trailer wheel once you get the trailer in the position you want it straighten up and you can revert back to using your mirrors just like you did with straight-line backing this is an example of making a right-hand turn while backing up the trailer this turn will be the most challenging to make because you're backing the trailer in the opposite direction of the side of the vehicle that you're sitting in look over your right shoulder and out the back window of the vehicle keep your focus on the right rear corner of the trailer and work on positioning the trailer in the direction you want it to go once the trailer is reaching the desired position start straightening out the turn and go back to using your mirrors if you have a second person that can serve as a ground guide this could be very helpful especially if you need eyes on the passenger side of the vehicle or if you're performing a hard right angle back now there are some hand signals that you and the ground guide can use to make the process a little simpler the ground guide needs to show rearward motion while pointing in the direction that the trailer needs to be steered so this would be come rearward while going left or come rearward while going right if the ground guide shows both hands back that means to straighten up or to back up straight and then double clenched fists can mean to stop if you use those simple hand signals you won't have to shout back and forth at each other we hope these techniques that we've outlined today will help you learn how to back a trailer more efficiently now remember when you're backing a trailer it's not a race so don't get in too much of a hurry and like any other skill it's an acquired one so just take time and practice and in short order you'll be backing a trailer like a pro

Channel: BWTrailerHitches

Views: 1,098,375

Keywords: backing, trailer, tow and stow

Id: vVVEl917UOU

Length: 5min 20sec (320 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 03 2015