Towing

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by blhvet

And the more people that watch, the more nervous you get and the longer it takes and the worse it is and the more beer is consumed afterwards...

Hi: blhvet... It's much more of a problem when you own a 5.0TA. They stare you down going by and then settle in for the afternoon "Matinee". I usually manage a thriller and jackknife at least once per performance. You get used to it!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[blhvet]

I know people watching are only trying to help, but it's so much worse when they come over to "help". 'K, so it's dark - I can't see you drunkenly standing behind my new $35 000 trailer making hand signals!! And no, I don't need you to just "wheel it right in there for me".!!

Marry, it will be small and isolated, and hopefully it will have many pull-throughs!!

[Marry]

The Narrows, Buffalo Lake. See you there!

[Mike Lewis]

Guess I'd better tell this story.

After two years with my Escape 21 I still have problems backing it up. I can put it in a camping spot, but I can't back for any distance without over-correcting, it seems. I know I just need to practice.

On my last trip my GPS mis-routed me through downtown Meridian, Mississippi. Then it told me to take a left on Sixth Street. There was construction on the street but it wasn't closed, so I turned down Sixth. Turns out the "Road Closed" sign had blown down in the wind.

Then I saw I had nowhere to go except for a narrow street off to the right. I drove down this which opened up into a bank's set of drive-thru teller windows. I was trapped. I would have to back the trailer up at least 100 yards down the alley to get back to the street I had turned off of.

The bank had glass windows, so people were watching to see what I would do. I looked back and saw the road construction crew watching as well. At first I tried to go through a teller lane and almost made it, but it looked like the raised lip on the rear of the air conditioner would hit the building overhang. So I had to back up.

I got out and walked back down the road to assess the situation. The construction foreman offered to have his crew help me back up, and they did-- a guy walked in front of me as I slowly backed up, the crew blocked traffic on the road I had left, moved cones, and got me back out on the street. But then the guy in front tried to guide me around concrete barriers as I pulled forward back onto the previous street and misjudged my turning circle, so I smacked one of the barriers with my bumper, skinning up my truck a bit. Oh well.

I have invested in a backup camera.

[Mike Lewis]

The damage from my Meridian misadventure. I've since had it repaired.

[GCS]

Glad to see that it was minor. Moral of the story. Never trust your GPS. Been there. I hate it when that happens.

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

The damage from my Meridian misadventure. I've since had it repaired.

Ouch.

My brother once forgot he was towing and drove his truck and trailer through a Macdonald's drive-through. That didn't work out very well either, and he was forced to do some crazy backing out to extricate himself. These things are always more funny looking back on them then in the moment.

[gbaglo]

GPS is just a tool.
And, when it comes to backing up in that situation, I'd not count on a backup camera. A second set of eyes is much more valuable.

[Mike Lewis]

I really can't blame the GPS for having me turn down the street under construction. The "Road Closed" sign being blown down is what messed me up. In retrospect I don't think there is anything I could have done to avoid the situation; sometimes stuff just happens. I will avoid construction sites in the future, though, just to be sure.

Funny thing about this GPS-- I replaced my Garmin with a Magellan GPS that has a built-in dashcam. After I stopped to assess the damage from this incident I saw to my horror that the GPS had recorded the whole thing on video. Out of embarrassment for myself and the poor construction worker trying to help me, I immediately deleted the video. You should have seen his face when I hit the concrete barrier, though.

[Iowa Dave]

My Dad and I were hunting near Clutier Iowa when I was about 14. We drove through an underpass with railroad tracks over the top. My Dad asked me what I thought of the "tunnel" and I said it was low and narrow. A few years later he related that as a farm hand before the war, he and a friend had gone through that underpass with a tall horse in a trailer. Bad deal for the horse.
Dave

[Greg A]

Got stuck once in my Scamp similar situation, not fun.
General Question; Is the 19 easier to back up than the 21? I'm finding that the 19 is the easiest trailer I've ever backed into spots with, but I've not pulled anything but Scamps and a 17B, and it's easier than all of those. I've been sticking it into campsites on first try with no corrections, very positive handling. Stuck it into a 10' gap between my garage and wife's car the other day on the first shot.

[float5]

Our 21' is easier to back than the 19'--- because we had the 19' first.

[LarryandLiz]

Lundbom Lake (http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/searc...e&site=REC1883). We got to a fork in the road at the first camping area. One fork had a “boat launch” sign so we took the other fork thinking it would lead us to the camp ground (most campgrounds that have boat launch signs means you drive down that road to the launch site). The road we took was a single lane, twisting, up and down rutted dirt road which took us along the lake (turns out there is a better road on the other side of the lake). We drove for about 5 minutes watching the first camping area recede into the distance. As the road got worse and worse, we finally stopped and spent the next 3/4 of an hour or so backing up …. stressful but a learning experience.

It took quite awhile and one more backing up training exercise when we followed the advise of a fellow camper who didn’t realize just how green we are to all this and didn’t realize our little trailer doesn’t like rough steep trails but we finally got ourselves sorted out at the other end of the lake. $12.00 a night camping fee - not bad now that we are on a retirement budget. Open range land which I love. People take their horses and ATVs up there. A lot of people came up for the wknd with their ATVs. We left on Saturday. We stayed at Lundbom 3 nights. People seemed really nice and friendly - no street vibe at all.

Larry

[thoer]

I think the problem for most of us is that we tow just infrequently enough for it to never really get to be second nature like lots of skills we have. I find myself thinking about it rather than being able to just do it. Best advice, (when I remember to follow it) was from the guy I bought our popup from long ago. He showed me to put my hand on the very bottom of the steering wheel and then move my hand (and the wheel) in the direction I want the rear of the trailer to go.

Dave - did aspirin work for that horse's headache? - I'm betting not.

[Ron in BC]

[QUOTE=Greg A;142109]
General Question; Is the 19 easier to back up than the 21? I'm finding that the 19 is the easiest trailer I've ever backed into spots with, but I've not pulled anything but Scamps and a 17B, and it's easier than all of those.QUOTE]

My view is that the greater the distance between between the ball and the trailer axle, the easier it is to back up. Much more forgiving.

I've had a short m/c trailer that was lethal to back up and long boat trailers that were a dream to back up.

On that basis I'd say the 21 might be a tiny bit easier to back up than a 19 but maybe not enough to even notice.

Ron

[Greg A]

Makes sense Ron, that would explain why the Scamp 13's were always the most squirelly things to back in somewhere.

[rbryan4]

All I know is, in about 2 years when I trade in my F150 for a new one with Pro-Trailer Backup Assist, I'm going to look alot less foolish when setting up at a campground. Of course, I'll take any credit for being a "pro", and won't talk about the little knob....

Wait....doh! The secret's already out.

[MyronL]

Man, I love these trailer backing-up-trouble stories. Thinking these are valuable learning lessons we all need to experience, well, at least once. Reminds me of my one such memorable incident with the 19 on a side road up through a Durango residential area that became a narrow one-lane-er beside a cliff going up a mountain to an alleged "campground" that ended suddenly with a chained shut gate. Was too spooked to back it back down. Gathering locals gave me respectful assistance while somehow I K-turned everything around.

[blhvet]

My worst was getting my 23' sticky jammed in between trees so bad up at Spray Lakes in the Rockies that I had to unhook the truck and trailer twice to get out of there.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by thoer

I think the problem for most of us is that we tow just infrequently enough for it to never really get to be second nature like lots of skills we have.

I agree. I had to back trailers all the time when I was a teenager on the farm, and in high school ag class we had to back a two-wheel trailer through an obstacle course. So one problem is that I'm out of practice.

The other problem, though, is that not being able to see where I'm going unnerves me more than I anticipated. Hopefully the rear view camera will ameliorate the situation.