tips on backing up a trailer with mirrors

[Kevin]

Hello all,

This probably seems like a dumb post to you guys but at this point I need all the help I can get. I have been backing up trailers all my life with a pick up truck. I was a marine dealer for 11 years and backed boats in and out of the darndest holes with little effort. This all being done while looking out the back window of my truck. When I try to back up an equipment trailer with my dump truck using mirrors it is a horror show at best. I think I could do it better blind folded. I know it is going to take lots of practice but are there any tricks or tips that may help speed up the process. I don't have convex mirrors on this truck would they help this process?


Kevin

[woberlin]

For sure, get some convex mirrors. They give a much wider field of vision, and are useful when driving also, in helping eliminate the blind spots. Also try swinging your mirrors all the way open on the truck. And finally, always back turning the trailer to the drivers side whenever possible, that way you can always see the back end of the trailer either in the mirror, or by looking out the door or window. Just a couple of hints that seem to work for me. Good luck!

[Steve Frazier]

I was in your shoes once Kevin. I learned backing on a farm tractor and was lost when I first tried it with mirrors. All I can say is practice, practice, practice!!! It will come to you eventually. Just try to remember your looking at a mirror image and have to do opposite of what you actually see.

I'd be lost without convex mirrors, but you can get into trouble with them too. Just use them as reference to see obstacles that are coming into your path then locate them in the flat mirror to navigate. It's very difficult to use convex mirrors only for backing because things are happening much faster than they actually appear in the mirror. And, "objects may be closer than they appear"!

Good luck!

[Kevin]

Thanks guys,

I usually do try to back so that I can see the trailer out the drivers side window but I figured that was cheating. I found an RV site last night that had a lot of posts about this. One of them mentioned placing your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and turning left for the trailer to go left and right for right. I will give this a try today. Has any one had any experience with cameras such as the big RV's have on them. Maybe I could duct tape one of my old camcorders on the tailgate and set a tv set on the front seat to use as a monitor. Hopefully no else will be in the gravel pit today so I can practice in hiding. Thanks again guys for your input.

Kevin

[CT18fireman]

I found the monitor, on my uncle's RV to be helpful in spotting an obstacle, like a tree or child on a bike. It did not however really enable you to back straight or negotiate curves without using the mirrors. It is more to compliment the mirrors.

[RonG]

This is funny to me but I have been driving and backing trailers for 40+ years by mirror.....lowbeds,dump trailers,real ones not the lawn mower haulers I hear about nowadays and freight boxes as well but the the beast that brings me to my knees is the relatively new on the scene articulated haul trucks or rock trucks as they are sometimes called.
Now anybody can drive one of these,the laborers consider it a gravy job and I can see why as you have to turn the wheel the same way as you would backing up a car or pickup while using the mirrors so it is a natural function for them.
I cannot for the life of me get the hang of that so it is a natural reaction like backing a conventional trailer and I embarrass myself every time I find myself in one as happens occasionally on site.
Well,playing the bass line with a thumbpick and the melody with my fingers took a while to learn too:)) Ron G

[xkvator]

KEVIN
as Steve said, don't use the convex mirrors except for a quick glance - use the hand on the bottom of the steering wheel method...and don't let the trailer get too far one way or the other...anticipate. :usa

[Kevin]

The hand on the bottom of the steering wheel seems to be helping. I havn't added convex mirrors yet but will do so as soon as I get to my buddies junk yard and rob some from his storage buses. As Ron said the worst part of it is the frustration factor. Old dogs don't learn new tricks very well.
Kevin

[digger242j]

If you want a real challenge, try backing something that's both short and narrower than the truck, like an air compressor. It'll get 30 degrees one way or the other before you can even see that it's turning. :Banghead

[CascadeScaper]

Man you guys hauling equipment trailers all day have it easy. Most are at least 2 axles on the trailer if not 3 with at least 8 tires. I got my start 3 years ago when I turned 16 towing my mowers around on my 10X6 single axle trailer. I still use this trailer for my maintenance route and after 3 years of practice I can put that trailer, let alone any of the 5 bigger trailers we have, anywhere they need to be. It all takes practice.

[woberlin]

Backing these trailers up really isn't the problem. The biggest problem is that once the trailer starts turning, particularly to the passenger side, you can't see the back of the trailer from the dump truck. That, compounded with the length of the truck and trailer, and the large amount of room needed to correct yourself makes it very difficult to back into tight spaces. The convex mirrors do help, but when the back of the trailer is 30 or more feet away it is almost impossible to judge how close you really are to something. The best way to get into a tight spot is to have a ground guide in front of you that can direct you. Try to keep the guide in front of you so that you can easily see them. I'm convinced that it's everyones natural tendancy to want to guide you from the back of the trailer-where you can't see, or hear, them! It's very easy to damage vehicles and structures, not to mention getting stuck, when backing these rigs up. If help is available, I'm never to proud to ask. If it's not available, and I can't really see where I'm backing, I'll get out of the truck and look as many times as it takes to back it in.

[CT18fireman]

Compressors and Wood Chippers present a problem. We added plow guides to the wood chipper that stick out and let you see where it is. Makes backing it much easier.

[Kevin]

If I can't figure out this backing up with mirrors thing I'll just weld a trailer hitch on the front bumper and tow it backwards to where I want to go and then drive forward to back up the trailer. If you see a truck going backwards down I95 towing an excavator off the front bumper you'll know who it is guys.

Kevin

[digger242j]

Well, if you're going to go to that much trouble, why not weld the hitch to the blade on the excavator? Then you could put the truck on the trailer and tow it to the jobsite. When it was time to back up, you could just spin around so you were looking forwards at the truck and trailer behind you, and you wouldn't need the mirrors at all... :)

[RonG]

If I can't figure out this backing up with mirrors thing I'll just weld a trailer hitch on the front bumper and tow it backwards to where I want to go and then drive forward to back up the trailer. If you see a truck going backwards down I95 towing an excavator off the front bumper you'll know who it is guys.

Kevin

Kevin,back in the '50's there was a doctor over in Sullivan that did just that!
He had a nice new Jeep with a trailer ball welded to the front bumper.
I was young and poor at the time and I marveled at what money could buy.
Now I am old and poor and I am marveled at what money can buy.:)) Ron

[Kevin]

Quite often you will see an old jeep kicking around a boatyard with a trailer hitch on the front bumper for launching boats. Visibility is much better and they are a lot easier to drive. They seem to be one of the few vehicles that you can drive into the salt water up to the front seats on a daily basis and still hold together. These posts have got me thinking if I had an elevating cab I wouldn't need those pesky mirrors I could just look out the back window when backing up.


Kevin

[salesrep]

Put some focus on the trailer wheels. SMALL corrections is key.

[cat320]

Well I think your problem is that you have been backing those boats with real long wheelbases which is much easier to back even though they are long.The reason being that you don't have to move the wheel as much to steer it. vs a small bobcat trailer, but was said small adj. will do the trick and not big ones

[littledenny]

Gues I'm a bit late in the conversation to add advice, but I was taught the bottom of the steering wheel method as a pup, and it's always worked for me.

My first experience was a tilt top trailer behind a dump truck. Guess I didn't know better, so the advice seemed to make sense, been doing it that way ever since.

Hardest thing was to teach young troops to back a water trailer behind a Duece and a half. Most were already in trouble before they could see the end of the trailer. The problem here was long wheelbased truck, short trailer. Longer trailers and shorter prime movers are easier.

Hitches on the front ends of trucks seem like cheating, but they really work well. Even a dope can move a trailer that way, and sometimes, better safe than sorry. Another trick I've seen is putting vertical poles on the very ends of the trailer, both sodes - helps when you're backing a flatbed, or car hauler type trailer, as you can better visualize the rear corners.

[Kevin]

Yes the bottom of the wheel method seems to be working for me. I think seat time will be the ultimate cure. The telescoping cab is going to be to much work for me but as dumb as it sounds I'll bet a periscope would work. Do you suppose I guy could take his CDL test using a periscope to back up. LOL All joking aside I want to thank you guys for the help and advice. Some times a little tidbit of information can go a long ways. Thanks again!!

Kevin

[DwainG]

Top-half or bottom-half of steering wheel is how an old-timer taught me. I found it very helpful. If you're driving a straight truck use only the top half of the steering wheel. With a trailer, use the bottom half. Watch rear of truck or trailer in your mirrors, and turn the wheel in the direction you want it to go. You will want good full-length mirrors so you can see the top corners of a trailer, and the ground behind it also. Use the biggest convex mirrors you have room for. They're not much help for backing, but they are invaluable for lane-changing and for seeing your blind spots.
DwainG

[544D10]

I have never driven a big truck but have worked on countless jobs around them and have seen more than a few times where the front of the truck strikes an object/car because the driver is fixated (sp) on his mirrors. I know its not easy but when backing you have to be aware of the front also.

[DwainG]

You are so right! After posting I realized I should have mentioned that this technique is intended to help a driver back in a straight line with small corrections, not turning while backing.

[itsgottobegreen]

Quite often you will see an old jeep kicking around a boatyard with a trailer hitch on the front bumper for launching boats. Visibility is much better and they are a lot easier to drive. They seem to be one of the few vehicles that you can drive into the salt water up to the front seats on a daily basis and still hold together.
Kevin,back in the '50's there was a doctor over in Sullivan that did just that!
He had a nice new Jeep with a trailer ball welded to the front bumper.


My grandfather's 1946 wills jeep has two balls on the front, along with an original 1946 meyer's plow. He bought it from the original owner. Who bought it solely to pull his airplane in and out of his hanger and to plow his house.

Best part is my grandfather still uses it to plow snow every year. And jocky trailers around his shop.

Iseen more than a few times where the front of the truck strikes an object/car because the driver is fixated (sp) on his mirrors. I know its not easy but when backing you have to be aware of the front also.
Been there done that with a F-150 and 6 by 12 trailer. I told my newest guy that when I was teaching him how to back up a trailer. Always watch the front end, because you can easly take something out and not realize you were that close.