Tips for Reversing Trailer

[Joyous70]

Last night i was having a play at driving my trailer and reversing I am unsure as to why i found it so difficult to reverse the trailer, at times the trailer seemed to go in the wrong direction, but putting opposite lock on seemed to make no difference either?

Does anyone have any useful tips on how to keep the trailer moving backwards smoothly and in the right direction please?

 

[Janee]

Watching for replies with interest, I need to learn to pull the trailer THIS weekend, no pressure, I have always relied on someone else but no one available next week so taken a deep breath and arranged to go for it. All tips greatly appreciated.

 

[JillA]

Find a large open area and practise practise practise. There are formulae but I can never remember and I can only do it if I don't think about it. As soon as I try and work it out it has all gone You just need to practise so much it becomes second nature.

 

[jenni999]

Slowly, slowly, slowly is my advice. As soon as you start reversing too quickly it will go wrong. I have been towing for years but still frequently start off turning the wheel the wrong way. Don't make any sudden changes in your steering, the trailer will start to turn very quickly if you do.

Remember you have to turn the wheel the "wrong" way.

Agree with finding a big space and just practice as much as you can.

 

[soloequestrian]

Go slowly. I have to look at the trailer to reverse it, I can't use the mirrors. Even after years of towing them, I still in a fankle with reversing occasionally. Other times I can look like a pro. There seems to be no pattern to my ability/lack of!

 

[weebarney]

When I reverse I look in my wing mirrors and say to myself' which side of the trailer do I want to get rid of?' And i Turn the steering wheel towards the mirror that has the trailer in it that I don't want to see. So in other words if I want the trailer to left I turn the wheel towards the right wing mirror because that's the bit if trailer I need to get out of my mirror.
Once the trailer has started making the turn you then need to turn your wheel back in the other direction to finish the turn. I hope this makes some sort of sense. It certainly works for me. My biggest tip is dont allow someone else to tell you on the ground 'right hand down , left hand down ' it doesn't work it just blocks your thought processes and they are usually wrong anyway!

 

[Joyous70]

Im just so glad there was no one there to witness my appalling attempts to reverse straight back, then around a corner, straighten up again, and again another angle to put it back into the space i had moved it from earlier. Every time i seemed to get the angle for the corner, the trailer would then get to the stage where it was at too much of an angle for the back wheels to move??? despite my futile attempts to straighten it out slightly!!

I shall practice again tonight, and i think im better off without people there shouting at me!

 

[Joyous70]

When I reverse I look in my wing mirrors and say to myself' which side of the trailer do I want to get rid of?' And i Turn the steering wheel towards the mirror that has the trailer in it that I don't want to see. So in other words if I want the trailer to left I turn the wheel towards the right wing mirror because that's the bit if trailer I need to get out of my mirror.
Once the trailer has started making the turn you then need to turn your wheel back in the other direction to finish the turn. I hope this makes some sort of sense. It certainly works for me. My biggest tip is dont allow someone else to tell you on the ground 'right hand down , left hand down ' it doesn't work it just blocks your thought processes and they are usually wrong anyway!

This does make sense, i shall employ this tatic later, i eventually found last night, by sticking my head out of my window and just watching the trailer wheels i was marginally better, but still awful, so glad the farmers had gone off combining somewhere as i was blocking the path for quite some time!

 

[ROG]

If you are close to leicester then I can help you for free - with expenses covered

Advice - put a tiny turn on, reverse for one second then turn the wheel the other way until both side mirrors are seeing the same - then do the same again - and again .....

 

[jrp204]

Take it slowly, try not to overthink it just think opposite. Don't overcorrect too much either. Set up some bollards or some stones and aim for those. It will happen just don't rush or panic. I am hopeless using mirrors but look over my shoulder and steer opposite to the way i want to go. It is automatic now and I can usually put the trailer where I want it.

 

[Dry Rot]

I don't know if it is a man thing, but I can do certain jobs better if I understand exactly what is going on!

What helped me a lot was playing with a child's tractor and trailer on a table top and just reversing. I quickly found I could understand which way to move the steering wheel (even though the toy did not have one!) to reverse in the direction I wanted.

Some trailers are easy to reverse. Ifor Williams are generally good. A quad with a quad trailer (especially a Predator poo sucker) I still find difficult.

My skills were recently tested to the limit when trying to find someone on a housing estate. I had two 4x4 bales on an Ifor 8x5 trailer and found myself down a cul-de-sac having to reverse up hill and around a corner. At one point, I thought it might be easier to hire a crane as there was not a soul around to guide me and I could not see where I was going because of the bales!

 

[pansy]

I went out with trailer loaded for the 1st time a couple of weeks ago - my main thoughts were DO NOT REVERSE - got away with it - not sure I always will though - so I am taking note off comments & will have another practice reversing the weekend ��

 

[castella]

I always think if I want the trailer to move to the left, therefore need to turn the steering wheel to the right, and vica versa. I still over correct though and find it hard going straight !

 

[Polos Mum]

I am terrible with my left and right and people 'helping' make it worse - my simple tip is to keep straight turn the wheel towards the wing mirror in which you can see more of the trailer.

If the trailer looks equal in both mirrors you'll go straight.

Once you have suspended logic, and stopped worrying about why, and found that this works perfectly - then you can learn to turn by slowly allowing the trailer to stay more in one mirror than the other

 

[9tails]

I do what Weebarney does and it works 99% of the time. If it goes wrong, I pull forwards and start agan. Getting the hump doesn't help and sweary words seem to make things worse.

I also have a little 5ft single axle trailer and that is impossible to reverse, it just jackknifes so I take it off and wheel it where I want to put it!

 

[ROG]

I also have a little 5ft single axle trailer and that is impossible to reverse, it just jackknifes so I take it off and wheel it where I want to put it!

Cheat - LOL

 

[ester]

slowly and gently- none of this putting full locks on. add a bit of turn- see what happens. Even my mum can manage it vaguely ok these days

 

[ROG]

FREE TRAILER REVERSING INSTRUCTION AND/OR ON-SITE ADVICE FROM ME

I live in Leicester near Walkers crisps LE4 and am willing to help anyone with reversing issues for FREE providing my expenses are covered

EX LGV instructor
Current advanced driving observer for car + commercial

PS - same goes for LGV supervision/advice

 

[9tails]

Cheat - LOL

It has a mind of its own! I installed a jockey wheel for such circumstances. Plus it's little so I can't see it behind the Slowgun and before I know it there it is sticking out one side jackknifed.

 

[little_critter]

When I reverse I look in my wing mirrors and say to myself' which side of the trailer do I want to get rid of?' And i Turn the steering wheel towards the mirror that has the trailer in it that I don't want to see. So in other words if I want the trailer to left I turn the wheel towards the right wing mirror because that's the bit if trailer I need to get out of my mirror.
Once the trailer has started making the turn you then need to turn your wheel back in the other direction to finish the turn. I hope this makes some sort of sense. It certainly works for me. My biggest tip is dont allow someone else to tell you on the ground 'right hand down , left hand down ' it doesn't work it just blocks your thought processes and they are usually wrong anyway!

Agree - I do something like this.
I use my mirrors and if I want to keep straight and the trailer is showing in my left mirror then I steer towards the left mirror. Of if I want the trailer to turn left then it needs to disappear out of my right mirror, so I steer towards the right mirror.
Basically steering towards the trailer makes the trailer go away!
Also take it slow and make SMALL corrections, once you start overcorrecting it's almost impossible to bring it back.
The longer the tow vehicle, the longer it takes for the trailer to react so be patient and don't start adding more lock because it's not moving straight away...it will catch up eventually.
Practice makes perfect.
And I'm not sure about in the test, but in the real work it's ok to get out and check!

ETA - make sure before you start reversing that your wheels are straight - otherwise you're in a pickle before you even start!

 

[Joyous70]

FREE TRAILER REVERSING INSTRUCTION AND/OR ON-SITE ADVICE FROM ME

I live in Leicester near Walkers crisps LE4 and am willing to help anyone with reversing issues for FREE providing my expenses are covered

EX LGV instructor
Current advanced driving observer for car + commercial

PS - same goes for LGV supervision/advice

ROG That is really kind of you - im sure you will have some takers on this

I am going to battle on myself, i shall practice again tonight, and every night until i can do it easily, making tiny adjsutments as i go! I think i actually did better last night on my own, because there wasn't anyone around to confuse me and i couldn't just leave the trailer where it was so i had to get it parked somehow!

 

[Kat]

As someone who employs the cheats method of reversing (unhitch and push) every time I park my trailer at home and even once at a show I might have to pay ROG a visit

I can do straight but can't turn.

In my defence I am hindered by a towing vehicle with the turning circle of the Ark Royal!

 

[Janee]

Oh ROG I wish I was near Leic, would be on my way right now.

 

[Finn]

Ohhh ROG, I'm in Leics, I might have to take you up on your offer! I just have to remember to turn my steering wheel the opposite way to which I want the trailer to go but on Sun I kept turning it too much so we had to keep pulling forward to straighten it up and start all over again.

 

[DJ]

My biggest tip is dont allow someone else to tell you on the ground 'right hand down , left hand down ' it doesn't work it just blocks your thought processes and they are usually wrong anyway!

This is soooooooo right, i was trying to reverse park my husbands 40 tonne truck the other day and he was shouting the left hand/right hand thing at me ... didn`t work LOL had to tell him to shut up and just let me "feel" it for myself

 

[ROG]

Ohhh ROG, I'm in Leics, I might have to take you up on your offer! I just have to remember to turn my steering wheel the opposite way to which I want the trailer to go but on Sun I kept turning it too much so we had to keep pulling forward to straighten it up and start all over again.

Use my alternate email if you wish to proceed - advanced.driving@live.co.uk

 

[AandK]

Agree - I do something like this.
I use my mirrors and if I want to keep straight and the trailer is showing in my left mirror then I steer towards the left mirror. Of if I want the trailer to turn left then it needs to disappear out of my right mirror, so I steer towards the right mirror.
Basically steering towards the trailer makes the trailer go away!
Also take it slow and make SMALL corrections, once you start overcorrecting it's almost impossible to bring it back.

Absolutely this!!! I used to get in a bit of a pickle reversing sometimes until someone told me this method (using mirrors) and it is easy peasy now :wink3:
I also cannot stress enough about the advice of doing it slowly.

 

[Daytona]

I learnt through watching a video on you tube , it was very very helpful.

 

[Yorkshirelass1]

Practise reversing trailer backwards in a straight line.
If you see more trailer in your left mirror, bring your left hand down
If you see more trailer in your right mirror, bring your right hand down.
Let me know how you get on!

 

[D66]

Little critter's way works for me.