How to get comfortable with towing a trailer

[Mountain Air]

We are the proud owners of a 17B which we plan to pick up in Sumas in about three weeks. For the last 30 years we have traveled in medium sized motor homes; the last trailer we towed was a pop-up tent trailer that we sold in the late 1980's. We will be towing with a Ford F150. As the date approaches I am more than a little bit intimidated by the prospect of towing our Escape.

I am hoping that, like riding a bicycle, muscle memory will help me to get back up to speed. Still, I would prefer that my first trailer towing experience in this century not be pulling out of Bob's Burghers Burgers and Brews and that I will not have to relearn how to back up a trailer at our first night's camping site at the Oostema Farmstead.

So, how have others approached learning or relearning how to safely tow a camping trailer? What has worked best for you? Are there any particularly helpful Youtubes or other resources?

We are thinking of renting a U-Haul trailer for a day to get a taste of driving in traffic and on freeways and to practice backing. Does this seem like overkill?

[occer]

I suggest keep your speed down till you get comfortable.
The trailer cuts the corner , when making turns get out into the intersection before turning your wheel.

I’m sure others will have more suggestions.

[splitting_lanes]

I hadn’t towed in many years and never with the truck we have, until I pulled out of Bobs burgers with our new 5.0.

It was remarkably easy to tow, the trailer brakes were easy to adjust and get used too.

I mean, you could rent a trailer, but it wouldn’t be like your escape trailer, and you’ll get the hang of towing it as you do it.

Edit: occer is correct, take corners wide.

[brroberts]

Others have recommended renting to practice ahead of time. When I bought my first trailer, I just hooked up and drove 150 miles. What will help you be comfortable is probably the right answer.

[Iowa Dave]

1. Take your time
2. GOAL. Get out and look
3. Use a spotter to help you and if you aren’t putting the trailer where you want it in a couple tries, again get out and think about what it would take to get it there.
4. There is no dishonor in receiving help from an another camper. In April I backed a rig in for an older fellow who got pretty frustrated after making several passes. I stopped back to make sure he got set up ok. He was fine and we had a good conversation about our Boy Scout experiences.
Best of luck and have great experiences with your new trailer.
Iowa Dave

[Bill and Earline]

Although I've pulled trailers off and on for over 50 years, the best advice that I use now and that I suggest to others is the one where you grasp the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand, then if you want the rear of the trailer to back up to the left, move your hand to the left.

Of course, if you want the trailer to back up to the right, move your bottom of the steering wheel hand to the right.

It's simple and it always works.

Other must do's: 1) get out and check the site before backing up.
2) back up ridiculously slowly
3) pull forward and try again. It's not a contest.
4) don't back up in the dark. If you do, plan to get out and check ten times, minimum.

[SageRpod]

Congratulations on your new trailer. From experience, I can tell you that if you take the most direct path from Bob's Burgers to Oostema Farmstead, there should be light traffic and you will begin to get the feel of the trailer without being in a heavy traffic situation. Most if not all of the sites have plenty of room to maneuver. The folks there are super helpful and nice.

Take your time and don't feel rushed. Being rushed is the quickest way to make mistakes, so take your time and breathe. There is a lot of really good advice on this thread already so I won't repeat it. You've got this.

[camp4528]

All very good advice here.

I did borrow a friend's utility trailer to practice towing, and more importantly backing up, since I had never towed anything before. I found it very useful. A UHaul or Home Depot trailer is pretty inexpensive to rent for a couple of hours. It also helps with reviewing the discipline of hitching (ball, chains, lights, checking, checking)

My backup tips, mostly repeating previous posts.
Hold the bottom of the steering wheel.
Take it slowly, and if you get into a knot, pull ahead and try it again
Have a spotter who doesn't yell at you
Be calm (this was my main challenge). I mostly got tizzied (is that a word?) when people were waiting. Once I learned that they will just have to wait, I was much more calm and the backing up was much easier and faster. My home driveway is fairly short and on a busy narrow, residential road - fodder for tizziness.
I am still a terrible backer-upper but I am getting better and it sometimes only takes 2 or 3 tries to get where I want to go. Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does makes things easier.

Good luck!!

[Selkirk]

I recently went through a similar experience when I picked up my 19 in Chilliwack this past spring and towed it 1200+ kms back to Alberta. I had a very limited amount of towing experience prior....all with trailers less than half the size/weight of the Escape.

I did as much towing-related research/preparation as possible in the months leading up to delivery. This included:

- Made sure I understood the fundamentals of towing.....such as TV payload capacity, towing capacity, tongue weight, weight distribution, and braking.
- Talked with other owners who utilize the same TV/Trailer combination, so I could establish realistic expectations of the towing experience.
- Researched how weight distribution/sway control hitches function.
- Made sure my TV was mechanically sound, maintenance up to date, and properly equipped for towing duty. This included installing rear helper Sumo Springs, a brake controller, and auxiliary towing mirrors.
- Made sure I fully understood how a brake controller functioned and was comfortable adjusting the gain and manually engaging the trailer brakes.
- Taught myself about trailer sway and recovery techniques. I remained very conscious of the potential for strong crosswinds during the trip home.
- I performed a LOT of research about how back up a trailer. There are a few really good YouTube videos out there that proved to be invaluable. I still found the learning curve to very steep. I am a solo traveler....and wasn't afraid to ask for help from neighbors at the first couple campgrounds I visited to act as a spotter when backing up into tricky spots. Anyone I asked was happy to oblige...and demonstrated a great deal of patience once I explained that I was a newbie. The rear camera option is invaluable.

The ETI representative performing the pre-delivery walkthrough made sure I knew how to properly hitch up and adjust the brakes. He also recommended a nearby truck stop with a large yard that I could use for initial practice backing up (I asked the attendant for permission and told him he was free to laugh) . I ended up driving quite a few laps in the industrial area in order to gain an initial feel for the towing experience prior to hitting to highway to the first campsite.

The route home involved several very steep and twisty mountain passes. I took my time, drove slow (didn't really have much of a choice on many of the grades), maintained a high level of situational awareness at all times (no radio/music/etc), and took frequent breaks. In the end, I found the experience to be challenging....but not overly stressful. There was no point in the journey home where I felt that I wasn't in full control of the situation. The tail never wagged the dog.

Hope this helps....

[SageRpod]

I am fortunate that Linda has become an excellent spotter and want to share some spotter tips:
1. Never, ever stand between the tow vehicle and the trailer.
2. Roll down windows and turn off AC and radio so you can hear your spotter.
3. Use driver-side and passenger-side terminology instead of left and right.
4. Make sure you can see the driver in at least one of the side mirrors.
5. If traveling with pets, leave them in the tow vehicle until you are parked.
6. Some folks use walkie-talkies, we never have but there are occasions when it would have been helpful

I'm sure others have spotter's tips.

[Doug2000]

Go rent a U Haul utility trailer for 4 hours. Practice backing up and driving around obstacles. Assuming your married or have a partner both must do it. Also practice as a couple backing with directions from your partner. Be on the same page. Make sure the one guiding knows that if they can't see you in the mirror, you can't see them and you definitely can't understand their directions. In cases, my wife and I use our phones to communicate instead of yelling and getting frustrated.

[Sean Murry]

I had never towed anything until we got our Escape 19. I too was intimidated, but just took it slow and always thinking ahead. When do I want to stop, pull in etc etc.
When the trailer was hooked up at Escape, they suggested we set our brake controller in the truck to "8". That seemed to work really well initially, but after a few days I noticed the trailer pulling on the truck when braking. Me being me, didn't bother to check the trucks owner manual on how to set the brake controller. But finally I did so. The manual (GMC Canyon) suggested travelling at about 45kmh on a straight piece of road and manually applying the brakes from the controller. If the wheels on the trailer lock up, back off on the controller setting until the wheels no longer lock. That finally happened at a setting of 2 on the controller. Can't believe the difference. The braking is smooth as silk

[YakRV]

Congrats on your 17B, Mountain Air! Great user name! You’ve already got some excellent thoughts and tips. You’ll be glad to know this is par for the course on this board. Lots of helpful, knowledgeable folks here.

My additional thoughts are: Reserving pull-through sites early on can help reduce some of the stress during that early stage when everything might seem overwhelming. If a pull-through isn’t available, I’ve found that driver’s side back-ins are WAY easier than passenger. I can see the rear of the trailer going into the site on a driver’s side back-in, and that visual helps me a lot. At least it’s that way for me.

I never towed anything before our 21C, and I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I got the hang of it. If I can do it, I’m sure it’ll all come back to you quickly as well. The F-150 is a very capable tow vehicle for our 21C, so it will haul your 17B with ease.

I don’t know if you have the front storage box, or even if it would be an issue with the 17B, but watch those tight turns! That front storage box and the F-150 tail light don’t always get along. (Don’t ask me how I know ). Make sure your spotter keeps an eye on that!

As already mentioned, getting frazzled and losing patience - especially when trying to back up with people waiting - can lead to mistakes (see the above front storage box vs F-150 tail light warning). Keep it as calm and slow as possible. Fellow campers will understand, and if they don’t who cares? You need not concern yourself with inconsiderate campers anyway.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by SageRpod

6. Some folks use walkie-talkies, we never have but there are occasions when it would have been helpful

We do and I think that we're a bit past the newbie stage. FRS radios are very handy to have at times.

I suspect the main reason we use them is so that we're not providing entertainment to onlookers. The radios allow us to silently communicate with each other without shouting or arm waving. Sometimes onlookers view raised voices and arm waving as an invitation to jump in also. I've seen them offer so much advice to a driver that they became even more frazzled. Not helpful at all.

Ron

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Mountain Air

We are thinking of renting a U-Haul trailer for a day to get a taste of driving in traffic and on freeways and to practice backing. Does this seem like overkill?

I think that makes sense, but it won't be quite like towing the Escape. Any but the smallest U-Haul trailer will have tandem axles that your Escape 17 won't, so it will not turn as well. Even the longest U-Haul trailer will be shorter than the Escape, which is easier in some ways but is harder to back up. It will also have a narrower body, so looking past it is not the same... which might be okay as you practice backing up and can see what the trailer's tires are doing. It also will not have electric brakes, which doesn't make much difference to what you will be doing. It will likely have a pole tongue, which allows a sharper turning angle (especially when backing up) without the tow vehicle's bumper hitting the trailer tongue.

[Mountain Air]

Thank you for all your responses. Your posts had a lot of good information for us, and I also appreciate their positive and supportive tone. A great first experience with the Escape community and this Escape Forum.

[Endymion42]

Originally Posted by Mountain Air

Thank you for all your responses. Your posts had a lot of good information for us, and I also appreciate their positive and supportive tone. A great first experience with the Escape community and this Escape Forum.

Ditto, I'll be picking up my 21NE in late September and these comments are very helpful!

[Carmel Clown]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

1. Take your time
2. GOAL. Get out and look
3. Use a spotter to help you and if you aren’t putting the trailer where you want it in a couple tries, again get out and think about what it would take to get it there.
4. There is no dishonor in receiving help from an another camper. In April I backed a rig in for an older fellow who got pretty frustrated after making several passes. I stopped back to make sure he got set up ok. He was fine and we had a good conversation about our Boy Scout experiences.
Best of luck and have great experiences with your new trailer.
Iowa Dave

Although sometimes the other camper might confuse you more.

[Iowa Dave]

I said to this old boy , “Why don’t you let me back that in for you. Where do you want it.”
His wife said “Put it as close the timbers on the side with the hookups.”

I got in the front seat of his Ginny Mae and backed it in,
one shot. It was a COE campground with dead level pads. The camper was still setting where I parked
It when I left three days later.

I do not try to give the turn left, go north, towards river directions but I will eagerly pull a possibly offending picnic table out of the way. If I see an impending disaster and I’m a ways off, I yell “whoa” and dead people in the next county roll over.
Iowa Dave

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I said to this old boy , “Why don’t you let me back that in for you. Where do you want it.”
His wife said “Put it as close the timbers on the side with the hookups.” .
Iowa Dave

Not exactly sure why, but when I read this an image of Foghorn Leghorn popped in my mind.