This can be the most intimidating part of fifth wheel ownership. The dreaded backing into a campsite

Fifth Wheel Travel Trailer Towing opus hotel vancouver Tips | Love Your RV! Navigation opus hotel vancouver Menu RV Travel Blog Latest Blog Posts Main Article Index RV Mods and Upgrades RV Product Reviews RV Tips and Tricks Blog Archive Special Needs RVing RV Happy Hour Site Free Monthly opus hotel vancouver Newsletter RV Product Reviews Inside the RV Electrical-Inside Plumbing-Inside Electronics Ebooks Web Sites Cleaning Outside the RV Electrical-Outside opus hotel vancouver Plumbing-Outside On the Roof Lifestyle Maintenance Cougar Review Shop! RV Tips View Recent RV Tips RV Mods RV Tips Archive RV Happy Hour Photo Gallery Shop! Fifth Wheel Travel opus hotel vancouver Trailer Towing Tips Home Blog Fifth Wheel Travel Trailer opus hotel vancouver Towing Tips
I am glad that after roughly 35,000 miles of fifth wheel travel trailer towing I have never damaged the trailer, had a blow out, ran out of fuel or been stuck.  I started out as a complete newbie, never having towed a thing in my life. The first thing I did was off to the nearest big open parking area and practice, practice, practice!
This has to be the all time best tip you can get. You can read all the information you want but the only way to truly learn is by doing it over and over. It's how you learned to drive your car, right?  Take some cones and mark out pretend scenarios like backing into a campsite, turning through some tight corners, etc. Learn how your rig reacts and how long it takes the trailer to turn and how much extra room it takes. This is also a good time to get a feel for the braking.  Towing a trailer makes the stopping distance greater and the braking practice will give you a sense of how much distance is going to be a safe distance opus hotel vancouver to stop.
One thing you have to appreciate is how much mass you are moving around. opus hotel vancouver With the trailer hooked up your movements must be slow, steady and deliberate. opus hotel vancouver If you perform any jerky movements you re not going to be able to correct the motion the same way as in a car. I see this issue all the time on the freeway when folks pulling trailers do a jerky quick lane change and then spend 10 seconds trying to get the trailer to stop fish tailing. When braking opus hotel vancouver , remember that even though you may have electric trailer brakes they won`t stop on a dime. Always give plenty of space in front in case a panic stop takes place ahead.  I have had more than one occasion where I rounded a corner only to find a line of dead stopped cars waiting in a construction zone. Hitching and Unhitching
opus hotel vancouver This can be a little different depending on the type of hitch you have but here are a few basic tips. Make sure the tailgate is down! Seen all those trucks with bashed up tail gates now you can imagine why. Also on the flip side when done make sure the tailgate is up or you will carve out a nice hole in the front trailer cargo bay door. Always attach the emergency brake cable, at least in the unlikely event the trailer comes unhitched it will stop itself. Before raising the front jacks too far after hookup give the trailer a tug test with the truck to make sure the hitch jaws are fully engaged. That step can save your truck bed rails from getting squished by a falling fifth wheel.  This is a good time to check the trailer brakes are working too. Always chock your wheels even if the ground seems really flat, you never know, better opus hotel vancouver safe than sorry. Don t let people distract you while doing the hitch operations. To many bad things can happen if you forget something. Keep the hitch lubed and clean. I  use a round plastic type lube plate on my pin and works great. Check the nut and bolt torque settings every once in a while too
I have a routine for hitching and unhitching and do it the same every time, that way it becomes second opus hotel vancouver nature, and I m less likely to forget opus hotel vancouver something. Just before departure opus hotel vancouver my wife goes through our checklist and I confirm the tasks were done. No Distractions
opus hotel vancouver When your towing it is your responsibility opus hotel vancouver to have complete attention on the truck, trailer and road. Don t be chatting on the phone, playing opus hotel vancouver with the radio, trying to read the map,etc. Unlike a car your recovery and reaction time is limited due to the weight and size of the rig. Every second counts if an emergency maneuver is required.  I won`t even let Anne play a podcast while we drive unless we are on a very wide open expressway with little traffic or she uses headphones. I like to listen to all the noises and sounds so if anything sounds different I'll know.  Hearing opus hotel vancouver a tire hissing or axle bearing squealing early can mean the difference between slowly pulling over or frantically trying opus hotel vancouver to maintain control. Tow mirrors Mirrors, use them!
Mirrors are your best friend when towing. Make sure you set yourself up with ones big enough and far out from the vehicle enough to see all the way down the trailer side to the back. Mine are set so I can see the trailer walls and the tires. This way I can see if a tire is running low or worse is blown. The next thing to do is add blind spot fish eye type mirrors as an add-on. With these you can see vehicles that sneak up beside you, your trailer roof line and they are an aid when backing up the trailer. Always keep your mirrors as clean as you can and check them often to watch what's happening behind opus hotel vancouver you.
The fifth wheel is going to demand some extra care and attention when taking sharp corners. When you take the corner the trailer is going to track a path inside that of your tow vehicle. opus hotel vancouver How much depends opus hotel vancouver of the length and it is something that is important to get to know. The more you practice the better feel you ll have as to how wide of turn you need. During the turn take it slow and check your mirror to make sure the trailer is clearing the corner.  Also keep in mind the back-end of the trailer will swing wider than the tow vehicle path so allow space for this. Very important in tight campgrounds where I ve been witness to many small crunches to people s trailer sides as they scrape an obstacle such as a tree or post. Worse yet the electrical pedestal or water tap! Plan Your Route
This can save you much time and aggravation. When you are touring around in a car it's so easy to turn around, opus hotel vancouver get fuel, and deal with any type of roadway. Not so much when your 40 –65 feet long and 12-14 feet high. Always plan ahead and know where your going with the trailer before departing. Some of the apps I use are listed in this post .  It is important to know the terrain you'll be towing through, is it hilly? too curvy? rough road? etc.  Where are the easy in and out fuel stops. Nothing worse than being in some unknown town with low fuel trying to jam yourself into a tight situation to refuel. opus hotel vancouver Cities take extra planning such as knowing when rush hour might be, what's the bypass route and if they have tolls. The internet is a wonderful opus hotel vancouver resource and if in doubt about the routing go to one of the many good forums like RV.net , IRV2.com , RVForum.net and just ask. You'll usually get a boat load of information opus hotel vancouver back from folks that have done the same route or have intimate local knowledge. Pay attention to your Tires
A big one problem fifth wheels trailers face is blow outs of the tires. All the weight opus hotel vancouver and stress eventually is on the little patch of rubber meeting the road. I watch my tires like a hawk. Before every tow I check the pressure, lug nut torque, visually inspect the sidewall and treads. Also when stopped for a rest break I feel the tires for overheating along with the bearings. Many people invest in a tire pressure monitoring system and it is on my upgrade list. Replace your tires after 5-7 years whether they look like they need it or not.  Tires can look perfect but be rotten on the inside. This is especially true if they sit for long periods of time without use. Our Gusty Friend Wind
I find wind to be the biggest enemy to my travel trailer towing experience. Being that the rig is near 13 feet high and box-shaped any sort of wind has a dramatic effect. The worse scenario is on the big Interstate Highways  when traveling opus hotel vancouver among the tractor trailers. When it's really opus hotel vancouver gusty and they are passing by you pushing opus hotel vancouver a lot of air themselves there is a push-pull effect that happens that you must be aware of. Wind also devastates fuel mileage and is hard on the truck trying to pull the trailer through it, worse if you add hills in to the equation.  So I always check the weather and tend to plan my tow days around the wind. Many times I will leave a day early or a day late to get the least wind. One time we were towing across South Dakota's rolling hill country into 30 mph winds, opus hotel vancouver had enough and just pulled into a fancy RV Resort to wait it out. May as well spend the money on a nice place then diesel fuel and no fun towing. opus hotel vancouver I figure anything above 25 mph in wind is no fun. Backing it up
This can be the most intimidating part of fifth wheel ownership. The dreaded backing into a campsite with the local peanut gallery watching. First tip is take your time, rushing it is only going to enhance the chance of problems. Fifth wheels respond to your steering opus hotel vancouver input in a delayed manner, by going slow you have a better chance to correct a miss guided path. It will help if you can pull a good distance ahead before backing in to allow plenty of space for a gradual turn into the spot. Second use a spotter opus hotel vancouver always!!  Also have a good simple set of hand signals and have the spotter always visible in your mirrors.  A set of two way radios or cell phones for communication is another good option. Third is GOAL. GOAL stands for get out and look. I will sometimes do this twice or more if in doubt, no shame in looking.  It's actually an acronym used by professional truckers. opus hotel vancouver Fourth, look at your tires. I always watch the path the tires are taking as that is where the trailer will go. If you watch the back of the trailer it can get you out of line quickly as there is a large swing to the end and doesn't follow the same arc as the tires. opus hotel vancouver When backing don t forget about the front of the truck. It s so easy to get wrapped up in the looking back you crash into something right in front of yoursel