# Backing up a trailer



## hunting777

We've all seen people like this or been there ourselves. 🤣















Horses laughing at bad driver


Funny horses laughing at bad driver.




youtube.com


----------



## taxidermist

It amazes me that some people cant back up a trailer.


----------



## Lone_Hunter

taxidermist said:


> It amazes me that some people cant back up a trailer.


I'm not going to judge...... much. It's not like I back trailers for a living, but it did take some practice.
I learned what might be considered the hard way.. not sure. Backing wielding trailers on a pintle hook, overseas, on the job site, with little to no instruction, amongst a crew of 30 salty engineers, just waiting for the new guy to screw up. Backed em with a truck, backed em with an articulated front end loader or all terrain forklift too. Up and down the jobsite, a lot.

Fast forward 20 plus years, and I think I finally got it down to where I won't embarrass myself too much with a 5th wheel or bumper tow trailer.

When I was at a park near my house so my daughter could play, and was watching these two guys try and back this small trailer onto a driveway with a wielders truck, they stopped, looked at me, and asked for help. I jumped right into the truck, discovered it was a manual, smiled, and got the trailer in on my 2nd try. Felt pretty good about myself. Almost looked like I knew what I was doing.


----------



## Critter

In my former life as a working man I had a job that required to back up a trailer, sometime dual trailers and I became quite good at it. 

However there have been times that I have just walked away from a situation where someone had a hard time just backing up their vehicle much less a single trailer. I have also had a few times where people have just told me to get into their vehicle and back it up to connect to a trailer or into a spot. 

But at one time I did have a few problems. I pulled down a road that went nowhere with a very long trailer and ended up backing it up for over 1/4 of a mile to get to a spot where I could turn around. Now that right there made me appreciate those who could back up a trailer. My partner just sat in the passenger seat and laughed at me.


----------



## 3arabians

Haha that was a good laugh. I’ve got plenty of experience backing trailers between our fifth wheel and hauling horses around for years but am no expert. I’m always amazed watching my old man who drove semis most of his career back his fifth wheel. He’s a true pro. 

What I quickly learned is I’m much better on my own. Nothing gets my anxiety up more than a FIL or other family member jumping out all excited about guiding me like they are one of the guys at the airport with those wands helping park a jetliner. Constantly waving their arms around and yelling STOP!, KEEP COMING, etc. I’d much rather just be on my own even it means getting out several times to walk around and make sure I’m good if it’s a tight spot like the side of our house. Best advice I can give is go slow! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Critter

I was backing a van down a long driveway once and my passenger kept sticking his head out of the passenger side window to see how I was doing, this blocked my view out of the mirror. When I told him to keep his head inside he asked me if I could really see what was behind us......


----------



## DallanC

Just tell people who "dont get it", turn the BOTTOM of the steering wheel the way you want the trailer to go. 

PS: Who are all these Ford people who need the dashboard backup knob to actually back up a trailer? That still makes me SMH when I see that commercial.

-DallanC


----------



## Critter

DallanC said:


> Just tell people who "dont get it", turn the BOTTOM of the steering wheel the way you want the trailer to go.
> 
> PS: Who are all these Ford people who need the dashboard backup knob to actually back up a trailer? That still makes me SMH when I see that commercial.
> 
> -DallanC


All the manufactures will go to that, don't you know they want to be able to make it easier for folks to back up. 

Remember when you could get a truck with those big West Cost mirrors on them so that you could actually see what was behind you as you backed up?


----------



## middlefork

Critter said:


> All the manufactures will go to that, don't you know they want to be able to make it easier for folks to back up.


I'll take my back facing camera any day to to hook up. I can sit for hours on the launch ramp watching people launch and retrieve boats. Pure comedy.


----------



## DallanC

+1000.

I've seen one guy with a sailboat on strawberry loose his trailer in the lake... TWICE. Two different years... same guy, same boat, same trailer. Broke free... shot down the lake and disappeared,with the boat floating off.

-DallanC


----------



## RandomElk16

Reminds me of this:


----------



## caddis8

RandomElk16 said:


> Reminds me of this:


I've had to help a few park trailer as well. I'm more sympathetic with that because the husband usually is on the boat waiting for the wife to park. 

I did get boxed in once because of a bad park job. Had to unhook the trailer, move it by hand, pull the rig around, and then hook back up, just to load the trailer up. I was pretty hot after that one. 

We can be prepped, rigged, and ready to roll in about 5 minutes, with about 1 minute of that on the actual ramp.


----------



## taxidermist

I have a CDL and before they were called a CDL, it was a Chauffer's License. Had that in 1984 and owned my own over the road rigs. (wouldn't recommend that now with the fuel prices) But backing a trailer is like second nature to me now. The little short tonged trailers are the worst! Just a slight turn on the steering wheel, and they take off fast. 

I've always told new drivers to put their hand at the bottom of the wheel. If they want the trailer to go right, turn your hand the same way you want the back of the trailer to go. There is a "blind side" (passenger side) when backing a trailer. If your wanting to back a trailer into a 10' wide area, pull the driver side of the truck to the hole and when the trailer hitch gets to the hole, crank the wheel to the right. If you have enough room, pull the trailer strait so it's lined up to fit in the hole and then begin backing up. No need to be spinning the wheel left and right at all. Don't make "snake tracks" with your front tires.


----------



## middlefork

I have also had many hours of entertainment watching long haul truckers backing in to deliver a load. There is definitely a trick to it that takes a bit to learn.

I've also watched them back in with little effort with as little as a foot on each side of the trailer. Little short trailers are the worst.


----------



## taxidermist

middlefork said:


> I have also had many hours of entertainment watching long haul truckers backing in to deliver a load. There is definitely a trick to it that takes a bit to learn.
> 
> I've also watched them back in with little effort with as little as a foot on each side of the trailer. Little short trailers are the worst.


90% of driver accidents happen in a truck stop or yard backing up. New drivers are fun to watch getting the "feel" of a rig. At one point in the game, I was a driver trainer and I had some that had no right trying to drive a rig. I "dynamited" on one rookie after missing gears heading up Parleys just at the Lambs Canyon exit. Told him to move over, and I headed back to the yard, threw his bag out the door and told him to go see the manager. No way was I going to teach him how to drive with a load that was heading to Blue Anchor NJ.


----------



## johnnycake

Ha ha ha what kind of moron can't back up a trailer? Ha ha ha, amirite boyz?! 

Ha ha ha. 

<I think I pulled it off, just act cool johnnycake and pull forward. You didn't really want to fish from the boat today anyways>


----------



## BGD

I’ll just leave this little gem from the Red Green show right here. Always gives me a good laugh. 





__





red green boat trailer - Google Search






www.google.com


----------

