Backing a Trailer, Need some advice

[Diablos]

I've never backed down any type of trailer in my life till I got my boat. I installed my hitch and drove 100miles each way to get my boat. When I got home , I drove to a big empty parking lot and practiced backing up for an hour.

If you dive into this confident you'll learn faster than you think.

I won't lie to you though but I still avoid really high traffic boat ramps during the summer weekends when I'm alone. :-[

[bass or bass ?]

Practice until you can back up and park anywhere you want with ease.

As a former long haul big rig driver I highly recommend learning to use your mirrors. If you are looking over your shoulder, you can't see what's on either side of the front of your truck. Using mirrors, as you look from one mirror to the other, you can scan the area around the front of your truck for objects and people you will not see if you are looking behind.

[oteymc]

The biggest mistake I see is turning the trailer, and then not straightening it up again.  They just leave the wheel turned until they see the trailer in the other mirror and turn the wheel the other way.  Like others have said, make small turns with your steering wheel, but then always straighten it up again.  Turn, straight, turn, straight.  That way you come fairly straight down to the ramp, not like the cotton mouth crawling as Glen mentioned. 

[cart7t]

Another tip I've always used is to throw the tow vehicle into neutral once the trailer begins descending down the ramp.  The trailer is less likely to jackknife off to the left or right if the boat is pulling the vehicle down the hill vs the tow vehicle in reverse pushing it. 

[Olebiker]

I always use the side mirrors. I just watch the wheel of the trailer in relation to the truck and the edge of something (a paint stripe, outer edge of the ramp, etc.). If starts to stray one way or the other too much, I just correct it using the following simple rule:

Place your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. Then move your hand in the direction that you want the trailer to go. Simple.

Hope that helps!

This is the best way to do that I have found.  Several members of our club have vehicles that you must use the mirrors to back a trailer.  I looked like an idiot trying to back their trailers in until a friend taught me this method.

[TrackerG]

another tip i remembered...if your vehicle has tow/haul on the shifter. use this. if I am on a really steep ramp I will sometimes put transfer case in 4wheel low to slow everything down...just be sure to keep it straight.... sharp turning on hard surface is hard on 4 wheel drive.

be careful putting vehicle in neutral....the only speed control u have is the brakes and steering doesnt work well with brakes applied. specially on a concrete ramp with gravel pebbles scattered.

[RoLo]

BLee, your opening post covered it well.

I normally find launching to be more difficult than retrieving.

When retrieving the boat, the trailer is empty and the two upright-guides show me the position

of my trailer. When launching however, the boat obstructs my view to the ramp

(Rav4 with dark backshield that does not roll down). I actually prefer boat ramps with a hooked

approach that give me a view of my trailer, but a ramp with a straight back-down approach

puts me at the mercy of the rearview mirrors.

As some mentioned, I too prefer to keep my hands on top of the steering wheel at shoulder-height.

To clear up some confusion though, with the hands on top of the steering wheel (12 o'clock)

the trailer will move in the opposite direction as the steering wheel.

That is to say, steering left' moves the trailer to the right', and vice versa.

I think of it this way. Whether you're using rearview mirrors or looking over your shoulder,

you will always be steering INTO the direction of error. For instance, if the trailer wanders

to the right, you steer to the right (clockwise), which kicks the trailer to the left.

I believe a common pitfall is not giving the trailer enough time to respond to an adjustment,

because over-steering only leads to counter-correction, and a snake path down the ramp.

Roger

[b.Lee]

BLee, your opening post covered it well.

I normally find launching to be more difficult than retrieving.

When retrieving the boat, the trailer is empty and the two upright-guides show me the position

of my trailer. When launching however, the boat obstructs my view to the ramp

(Rav4 with dark backshield that does not roll down). I actually prefer boat ramps with a hooked

approach that give me a view of my trailer, but a ramp with a straight back-down approach

puts me at the mercy of the rearview mirrors.

As some mentioned, I too prefer to keep my hands on top of the steering wheel at shoulder-height.

To clear up some confusion though, with the hands on top of the steering wheel (12 o'clock)

the trailer will move in the opposite direction as the steering wheel.

That is to say, steering left' moves the trailer to the right', and vice versa.

I think of it this way. Whether you're using rearview mirrors or looking over your shoulder,

you will always be steering INTO the direction of error. For instance, if the trailer wanders

to the right, you steer to the right (clockwise), which kicks the trailer to the left.

I believe a common pitfall is not giving the trailer enough time to respond to an adjustment,

because over-steering only leads to counter-correction, and a snake path down the ramp.

Roger

Yeah I want to fix my snake path down the ramp, but that is an excellent point about giving the trailer time to adjust to the movement instead of just going left and right constantly.

[scrutch]

one more IMPORTANT thing...

make it easy on yourself by making a proper setup before you start backing.  what I mean is...align your truck and trailer in a perfect straight line pointing directly where you want to back up.

If you start out this way you only have to make small corrections to keep it straight, as opposed to trying to TURN the trailer where you want.

trust me...it's a drastic difference in difficulty.

good luck!

[b.Lee]

Hey Thanks again to everyone who has chimed in. Two weeks till my next tourny, until I get to practice again!