Well we learned!

[Cchapin100]

Have owned our new Solitude 310 for less than a month. DH and brother spent 5 days driving it from purchase location to home. Getting ready for me and cats to go on OUR maiden voyage. Decided today when we picked it up from storage to take some of the helpful hints here and drove it to an abandoned mall parking lot to practice backing up together. DH himself still learning how to back up this beast. Used the cell phones, worked great. Got our buckets out and placed them out. First backup great. DH pulls around again to try a tighter backup. Dispute over how close to bucket and method. Argue argue argue, then DH cranks it even tighter while we’re arguing. Result: smashed back truck window. Moral of story: figure out a way not to argue when backing up, slow down. Any other morals to this story?? Feel so crushed on this major fail!

[bertschb]

OMG, so sorry to hear this. I was always paranoid about this happening to me while backing up so I don't think I've ever exceeded more than about a 50-60 degree angle. When I needed to go at a sharper angle than that, I just pulled forward and started over. We have a long bed truck now so I won't be quite as paranoid but it will always make me nervous backing up with a sharp angle. Hope the repairs to your truck go smoothly and the damage wasn't too bad.

[TucsonJim]

Dang, I'm so sorry to hear that. But don't kick yourselves too hard. Most of us who've owned an RV have had one or two boo-boos. You just got yours out of the way quicker than most...

BTW - Speaking of arguing while backing the trailer. Did you know that they make a T-shirt for that?

https://www.amazon.com/Sorry-What-Wh.../dp/B0785HQTK9

Jim

[Second Chance]

It sounds like you might have a short bed truck. If so, an auto-slider hitch could be an improvement and significant stress reducer in your future. Otherwise, cab-to-cap clearance is something that will always have to be watched - especially when backing. Also, cell phones are great... when you have cell service. You'll find that when you get into the hinterlands that's not always the case. We use FRS/GMRS hand-held radios for communication while traveling and backing. Sorry about your experience!

Rob

[Cchapin100]

��. Now I can say been there, got the tee shirt!

[howson]

Have owned our new Solitude 310 for less than a month. DH and brother spent 5 days driving it from purchase location to home. Getting ready for me and cats to go on OUR maiden voyage. Decided today when we picked it up from storage to take some of the helpful hints here and drove it to an abandoned mall parking lot to practice backing up together. DH himself still learning how to back up this beast. Used the cell phones, worked great. Got our buckets out and placed them out. First backup great. DH pulls around again to try a tighter backup. Dispute over how close to bucket and method. Argue argue argue, then DH cranks it even tighter while we’re arguing. Result: smashed back truck window. Moral of story: figure out a way not to argue when backing up, slow down. Any other morals to this story?? Feel so crushed on this major fail!

You are in fine company--many of us have done things that after-the-fact we say, "Why did we do that?" Don't beat yourself up too much...

[arhayes]

Sorry for your mishap but I know you’re not alone. We have a long bed truck so 90 degrees is no problem, but we’ve all done things we’ve wished we hadn’t (or that no one else was there to see).

Plus +1 on using radios. We’ve had many times where there was no cell service. We happen to be Ham Radio operators, but FRS is fine.

The main rule is that the driver follows the spotters directions! The spotter can see what the driver cannot. I’m envious of these folks I see whip their rig in with no assistance, but I ain’t that good and will admit it!🤪


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Country Campers]

Welcome to the club. We all have done some sort of similar thing at one time or another so you are in good company.
Move on with the lesson learned and enjoy the new camper.

Brian

[Luv2Ski]

+1 on getting a slider for your short bed. I went a different route but it has the same benefit. Jackknifing is really hard on the tires/axles - especially on pavement.

We were in your position when we took possession of our Momentum. We watched a few YouTube vids but still were struggling. I hated being "that guy" that was obviously frustrated and in over his head backing the beast into a tiny park campsite. We also used walkie talkies since phones don't always work in places we like to camp in. To preserve domestic tranquility and keep my BP down, DW and I took a one day hands on driving course from a CDL instructor who teaches RV-ers on the side. It ran about $300 IIRC, but worth every penny. Having taken the course, I'm in no way an expert on backing a 5-er and welcome any constructive input on what follows which are my takeaways from our class.

The instructor taught us that backing up should be a combination of repeated cycles of "jack and chase". We were told to start with the inside trailer wheels about 2 ft. from the road's edge and to position the rearmost inside trailer wheel about 2 ft forward of the campsite's driveway "fan". It would leave us room on the road for our truck to maneuver during the jacking and chasing cycle. These distances were specific to our rig, YMMV. It's also helpful for visual learners like me to conceptualize backing up a trailer into a driveway as a process of creating an arc for backing up and then doing repeated cycles of tightening and expanding the arc to get me to where I want to go. Jacking is tightening the arc, chasing is expanding it. Pulling forward to get more straightened also expands the arc.

After prepositioning the trailer as described, I put the steering wheel in "jack" position - usually near the lock if the driveway is perpendicular to the road. I always GO SLOW and am not afraid to get out and look as often as it takes. If there's trees, it's important to look up too... ask me how I know. Jacking builds and tightens the turn's arc until you get to a certain angle of the trailer relative to the truck and driveway. Then you switch over to chase by turning the steering wheel to the other direction in about the same measure. IMO, figuring out when to do this is best discovered through trial and error (hopefully in a big parking lot) until it becomes intuitive. In chase mode you're opening up the arc and hopefully "stick the landing" with the trailer in perfect alignment to and centered in the campsite's driveway on the first try. Yeah, right. If you're like me, you'll likely have to pull forward a few times to get the rig more straightened out. Also, the straighter your rig is in the driveway, the smaller your steering inputs should be.

Hope this is helpful.

[Aridon]

It happens. Try and not let it ruin your experience. Thing about RVs is they are huge learning curves but once you get over the hump you realize how easy it really is.

Doesn't matter how easy it is or how much experience you have, something like this can happen to anyone. Might be a picnic table, might be a tree, maybe something else. You learn to roll with it and learn a little bit more every time.

If you don't have a slider hitch you should consider one.