I just can't back this thing up! UGGGGGGGG

KismetKrush

I looked at old posts and youtube and have tried and tried. I just can't back up my 320 with my Tahoe by myself. I am constantly almost jack knifing it so the few times I have gone by myself I get pull throughs. A nice person helped me in Texas in a site I couldn't get into. I have a tiny storage slot between 2 other towables and I back it near there and attempt to push it in and typically ask the worker guy there to help me. It's insane and I need to get a wheel repack next week and am just dreading how this is all going to go down. I will take any and all suggestions. 

Grumpy_G

The 320 is a pretty short trailer and as such is a pain to back up, even more so with a large tow vehicle. I can back up a 16000 lbs equipment trailer with less cursing than the T@b. Most campgrounds I go to don't have much room for the front of my full size truck to swing out when backing up which in turn prevents me from keeping the trailer in line. I end up going back and forth a lot, and jumping out to see where the "blind" corner of the trailer is. 

What might help is to just back up a little ways and as soon as the trailer starts to turn too much pull forward and try to get the tow vehicle more in line with the trailer. Easier said than done I know because the tow vehicle might not have much room to maneuver. 

RayJim

Just take your time and get out of the car periodically to assess what you're doing wrong, turning wheel too much to right or left for example, and then correct it. Might have to repeat the process several times till you get the trailer in its assigned spot. It can be a tedious process, and when you have people watching and waiting for you to back in, it can lead to a little anxiety and frustration. Rember to not turn the wheel to much at once or it will lead to the trailer moving into a 90-degree angle very quickly.

Binghi

The direction that the bottom of your steering wheel goes is the same direction that the rear of your trailer goes. Start backing up and turn your steering wheel. When you see in your side mirror that the rear of the trailer has started to move in the direction of the bottom of your steering wheel, go with that for just a little bit, then gently start turning your steering wheel back the other way as you go. This will slow the rate of your turn and help keep you from jack-knifing. If the jack-knife starts, stop, then pull forward, then repeat the process. Bite the back-up process into small chunks and it will go better. Back up, full forward, back up, pull forward, back up. Once you get better at it, you can get through it in one or two runs.

pthomas745

Once I stopped worrying and stressing over it, I got much better. It isn't easy.  I have to retrain myself on every trip.  I take it slow, get out and look, go slower, get out again, go even slower.  Pull forward and do it again if I need to. 

It isn't the most natural thing to learn or get used to. So, give yourself a break!  It does sound like you have a difficult storage situation.  Almost everyone might need help in that case.

VictoriaP

One alternative for those of us who travel solo is some sort of powered trailer dolly…Trailer Valet makes several possibilities, and some of us have gone a step further and had the Purpleline Trailer Mover installed so we can maneuver entirely by remote control. I have yet to master backing up, but it’s also easy for me to put off getting more practice in when I can just unhitch and remote the trailer into place! 

It’s not a cheap option, and many folks don’t need it, but for me, it took a lot of stress out of hitching and unhitching as a solo female. Without a powered mover of some sort, I quite literally couldn’t park at home with the combo of a curved driveway, rock wall, and narrow carport to squeeze into.

But practice practice practice is always the cheapest option.

Greenhil

It’s very easy to overcorrect, so make gradual steering adjustments. The rule about turning the bottom of the steering wheel in the direction you want the trailer to go is probably the most valuable life-lesson I’ve ever learned. 

lino

I would add that after many years I still over correct when turning the wheel and have to look out for jackknife 

when I make less drastic adjustments when backing up slowly I do better 

Slackers

A point made here is once you turn your wheel and get the trailer moving in the direction you want it is to straighten the steering wheel and then continue to back up in small increments.  The best youtube instructions I found on this is from the "Wandering Wagners". There's a lot to digest so it's worth viewing often.
https://youtu.be/p1B5d_K2__4

Jay_and_Kat

So the method I use, you start pulling up to your site with your tow vehicle and camper on the right side (passenger) of the road.  As you come up to your site, you turn towards (left) the site, then once you're to the left side of the road straighten out and keep turning back to the right.

Once you're almost on the right shoulder, turn left again to go down the right side of the road until the back end of the trailer is lined up with your site.  At which point, you start the back in process, pulling up as needed.  Don't try to make the back-in in one go, if you have to pull up 2-3-4-8-10 times to get the correct line, so what?  I've used this method to solo back into our storage spot, with only about 3ft on either side of me before I hit other trailers (might be a bit more than 3ft on each side.)

I also found a video that shows what I'm talking about:
https://youtu.be/fdbGct8EA6E?t=93

Mickerly

The two important parts are above: go slow and periodically get out and look around. With mirrors, you can only see the inside of the turn. Figure out where you want the inside trailer tire and put a white towel on the ground. Now you have a target you can see.

Your Tahoe should have a big set of cameras. You shouldn't need to get out too often. Do get out an look around until you are completely familiar with the cameras.

Marceline

KismetKrush said:

I looked at old posts and youtube and have tried and tried. I just can't back up my 320 with my Tahoe by myself. I am constantly almost jack knifing it so the few times I have gone by myself I get pull throughs. A nice person helped me in Texas in a site I couldn't get into. I have a tiny storage slot between 2 other towables and I back it near there and attempt to push it in and typically ask the worker guy there to help me. It's insane and I need to get a wheel repack next week and am just dreading how this is all going to go down. I will take any and all suggestions. 

I had a boat on a trailer for about a decade before the T@B and I was NOT one of the people that got laughed at on the launch ramp. I thought I was pretty darn smooth before I got the T@B. Hah! 

The T@B is actually a bit tricky to back up because of the short distance between the axle and the hitch. 

Take your time. Nothing good comes from being rushed. And I've never, ever had any luck with someone trying to give me directions. If someone really insists on helping I just ask them to yell if I'm about to hit something.
My suggestion would be to 1) search "how to back up a trailer" on YouTube and watch a bunch of videos; 2) find an empty parking lot and bring a orange cones, 3) spend a few hours at it with no audience and no pressure until you can settle down and feel the hang of it. 

KismetKrush

THANK YOU all, @Grumpy_G, @RayJim, @Slackers, @Marceline, @Mickerly, @lino, @Greenhil, @Jay_and_Kat, @Binghi, @VictoriaP, @pthomas745! That video you included is one I haven't seen before and think I need to start with backing a long distance just very straight as he instructs. He is very helpful, most videos are like 2 minutes. Next I think the towel is helpful with spatial orientation and using the swing method to get oriented into the spot, and LASTLY I just don't think I have spent enough time in a place where I don't feel pressured to deliver. I can't keep saying it is hard, I need to practice in a parking lot more than I have. The couple people who have jumped in my Tahoe have also struggled and commented on how ridiculously hard a tiny camper is. So, this is a high level skill-its not like boiling an egg-this is a tough, tough skill and I got to get after. I will do it, you are giving me confidence. 

campmore

I'm new to towing this year and second all the advice given.  Like you, I scoured videos and found parking lots to practice.  But I found this video unique and very helpful in understanding what is going on when you backup.    Whether you have a back up camera and can make the guide tool he does or not, the key point is that there is an angle, unique to your specific vehicle and trailer geometry, past which you simply cannot recover to steer the trailer where you want.  It's just the geometry and no amount of practice will change it.    Once reached, you must pull forward, straighten out, and start backing again.   So, don't feel bad that you need to pull forward often.  If you need to turn the trailer sharply and pass that angle to park it, you absolutely will need to the pull forward after that to start steering it in both directions again.    I found this to be very enlightening, and helps to realize that pulling forward is not a sign of failure.     So, small steering corrections when you can, and pull forward after sharp turn situations .  

https://youtu.be/8NlaDEx_-uQ

From my experience I will add that you can't move the trailer wheels left and right instantly. It takes some travel distance for each correction to take effect.  It's frustrating to get it pointed near where you want, only to realize there is not enough room left behind the trailer to make it happen.  So, again, pull forward to get more room.

Hope this helps.

Binghi

Geometry does matter. There is a real difference in turning response between the two tow vehicles I’ve used with my 2021 400 BD. With our VW Touareg, the trailer responds sharply and I have to counteract quickly with the steering wheel to keep the trailer from jackknifing. With our son’s Ford F150 truck, the response is slower and a lot smoother. It’s actually much easier to back the trailer up with his truck than with our car. Possibly because of the truck’s significantly longer wheelbase? Or maybe because the turning radius on the truck is a whole lot longer than the car?

duckblind123

I agree with many of the comments.  When I first started with our T@B 320, the dealer told me to back up using the bottom of my steering wheel as the direction I want the trailer to go.  This has been gold.  It still took a few times to get the overll hang of it, but it works well now.  Good luck!

SolidCamper

I have one small visual cue to add. Think of backing up with your tow vehicle pushing on your trailer like one log on the lake pushing another log. the first log has to change angles to push and stay in contact with second log.  It only works at a very small angle- too much V-angle and it will jack-knife.

Richard_R

All the comments here are great. The biggest key is go sloooow. REAL slow. If you’re going even a tad too fast, the trailer responds too quickly and then you’re on your way to a jackknife. One thing that helps me quite a lot is to keep the steering wheel moving back and forth pretty much all the time. Sort of jiggling the wheel back and forth — tiny movements — but trending in the direction you want the thing to go. Not sure why it works, but it does seem to work. 

GregChris

Always try to back up turning from the driver side. Not always possible, but you can't see turning from passenger side.

creamburmese

I am a newbie and despite reading tomes of advice regarding backing up my new tab 320s it just wasn’t clicking. My backing attempts were back up a bit, go forward, repeat, umpteen times. Yes I understand which way the wheel goes, but still didnt have a clear picture of what I was aiming for…. Then I spent an evening playing with the “ “reverse my trailer” app on my phone and a (small) light bulb went off in my head.  I now understand that I first turn the wheel on the tv quite a lot to get the trailer angled, then turn the wheel back the other way enough to get the tv to follow the trailer round the curve Once I’m heading where I want to go, turn the wheel back some more until the tv and trailer are lined up to go straight back.  If trailer starts veering off to one side, steer towards trailer a bit to straighten it up. All using mirrors (NOT the back up camera). Apologies to all the back-up veterans out there  but thought it might be useful for other struggling newbies lije me.  Cannot recommend the rvt app enough. For the first time last week I successfully backed into a site via a narrow steep uphill drive by myself, first time.  - though admittedly it could have been a bit straighter I’m not complaining!

Bayliss

To add to @Binghi’s comment, put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel when backing.  Push your hand to the left to make the back of the  trailer move left; push your hand to the right to make the back of the trailer move to the right.  Also, practice in an empty parking lot.  Use the stripes for the parking slots as your guide.  I often use the “swoop” method when backing into a campground site.  Works great.  And, I agree 100% with @GregChris’s suggestion to back in from the driver’s side whenever possible.

jfinigan

We put a hitch on the front of our truck because it is easier. So now we have a hitch in the front and a hitch in the back.