Parking a travel trailer question

[Pig-Pen]

so we just bought a travel trailer yesterday. it is 24' long. we have RV parking on the side of the house. the gate opening is 10' and the trailer is 8' wide. so not super tight.

ive had a small utility trailer for years. and have rented long uhaul trailers many times. im ok with backing a trailer up but not an expert by any means.

i was thinking of putting a hitch on the front of the wrangler so i could use it to park the trailer on the side by driving forward while seeing not having to use mirrors.

does anyone do this? or is it actually more difficult than backing it up? this would only be for parking it at home.

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[Pig-Pen]

 

[GATORB8]

I’d rather back it if you have flat and straight on approach.

Tow mirrors may help if you don’t have them yet.

 

[RobAmy]

I do not have a hitch on my Jeep or truck in the front but I do move my equipment trailer with a hitch on the front of my bobcat skid steer. Makes it very easy where I need to put it. That said the visibility is much better on the equipment trailer than the tow behind. You lose any mirror benefit and you will lose visibility as you are closer to it due to the size and width. Personally if you can back in then do it. I have a back up camera on my trailer which works well.

 

[Husky Man]

36 years as a truck driver, I have a little experience backing trailers

I have seen vehicles with front hitches like you mention, but I have never used one. The ones that I have seen have typically been used with lower profile boats, which are also typically narrower than a travel trailer, so the visibility over/around them is better.

You could definitely try it, but I think that with the height and width of the travel trailer, your visibility is going to be better backing conventionally with mirrors, just my rookie opinion

Probably the biggest mistake most people make backing trailers is over steering, then over correcting.

Use smaller steering inputs, and continuously use MINOR input to keep the trailer where you want it

Provided you have the room to maneuver, longer trailers have better backing manners than short trailers, they don’t react as quickly to steering input

Again if you have the room, pull up further, getting aligned with where you want the trailer, as well as you can, with a longer, STRAIGHTER backing path is easier than trying to follow a sharper turning path that is shorter.

also , try to leave room to maneuver the tow vehicle to both sides , rather than crowding the tow vehicle on one side, I see this happening frequently at boat ramps, and in campgrounds all the time

with a little practice, and thinking it through before you set up, it can be a lot easier than many people make it out to be

Doug

 

[Terrymo]

My advice when backing a trailer. Have your wife get out of the vehicle and go inside the house. Things will go a lot smoother.

 

[Pig-Pen]

I was thking about visibility and being closer to the trailer. Makes sense about a low profile boat.

definitely going to buy a back up camera and extended mirrors

 

[toothirtyj]

Beware the tongue weight of your TT and the limits of your potential front hitch.

I have a Curt front hitch installed on my JL as well for road trips with my girl, luggage, and 110 lb shepherd. Curt only lists the tongue weight at 350 Lbs. I suspect your TT is there, or close... FYI

 

[Husky Man]

Yeah, thinking about it, where I saw the front mounted hitches the most was , at Antler’s Campground and Marina, on Lake Shasta in Northern California. I think it was an old CJ, or Land Cruiser and they used it for launching their rental fishing boats, typical 14’ aluminum boats, not much if any higher than the hood, and relatively narrow. Easy to see over and around. They have a pretty narrow ramp, that gets pretty long as the lake level drops, and Shasta can drop a LOT, lake level can change over 200’ in elevation from full pool, to Antler’s ramp being unusable, IIRC. And it was an employee that did it a Lot, so he had a lot of practice launching that way. In that scenario, a front mounted hitch made sense, in your situation, I don’t think it would be an asset, but I have never used one, and haven’t seen where you are trying to put your trailer, but my experience, and understanding of of their use, doesn’t make me think it would benefit you, but again, that’s just my rookie opinion

Doug

 

[Vinman]

I’ve been pulling trailers of various sizes for decades and still can’t wrap my head around using a front mounted hitch to back up a trailer.

 

[wuzwiz]

Had one on my JKU for spotting my boat trailer in a similar parking
situation as you describe. Thought it was great BUT it was for a boat @ 200# tongue weight. My guess is visibility would be a problem as you'd be right up against the trailer and couldn't see anything.

 

[Bayrat]

36 years as a truck driver, I have a little experience backing trailers

I have seen vehicles with front hitches like you mention, but I have never used one. The ones that I have seen have typically been used with lower profile boats, which are also typically narrower than a travel trailer, so the visibility over/around them is better.

You could definitely try it, but I think that with the height and width of the travel trailer, your visibility is going to be better backing conventionally with mirrors, just my rookie opinion

Probably the biggest mistake most people make backing trailers is over steering, then over correcting.

Use smaller steering inputs, and continuously use MINOR input to keep the trailer where you want it

Provided you have the room to maneuver, longer trailers have better backing manners than short trailers, they don’t react as quickly to steering input

Again if you have the room, pull up further, getting aligned with where you want the trailer, as well as you can, with a longer, STRAIGHTER backing path is easier than trying to follow a sharper turning path that is shorter.

also , try to leave room to maneuver the tow vehicle to both sides , rather than crowding the tow vehicle on one side, I see this happening frequently at boat ramps, and in campgrounds all the time

with a little practice, and thinking it through before you set up, it can be a lot easier than many people make it out to be

Doug

THIS is what you need to do! I launched a 30' boat from a crew cab truck. To lengthen your approach (and have a watcher/guide if available) will make the job much easier.

 

[Yellow Cake Kid]

 

[garykk]

I think you’ll find that backing up a 24’ trailer is a lot easier than backing a short utility trailer.

 

[Grayhound]

The only thing I would add is put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel.

Whichever way you move your hand is the way the back end of the trailer will move.

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