Hello All!
I'm just back from my dealer with a Quicksilver 5.0 pop-up.( my first
camper!!!) I had my neighbor put it in the driveway since I haven't had time to practice backing up. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to "steer " the little front wheel to move the camper around the driveway? I hope you all will be patient with my newbie questions! & Thanks in advance!
Regards
Dante
Congratulations! :-() I saw those Quicksilvers at a show; they're so neat! And you're right in time for the nice camping weather.
I kept getting confused with the whole "steer in the opposite direction" mentality, so my husband taught me a trick for backing our camper into a space: put one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and move it in the direction you want the camper to go. (If you want the camper to go left, move your hand left, which will turn the tow vehicle right, which will steer the camper left.) We practiced backing up in a large parking lot before we attempted to back it into the garage ;)
Enjoy your new camper!
Congrats on the purchase.
To move it around in the driveway.....if your driveway is level.....just push the camper around by the tongue. If it's too heavy (and the tires are aired up to the maximum rating on the side) to push around like that, you can have family members help. But be sure they only push on strong sections of the trailer, so that a body or roof panel doesn't get caved in.
The other option is the trailer "dolly" that places like Harbor Freight sells. It's a long T handle with a couple of hand truck dolly wheels at the bottom, and a hitch ball to fit up into a trailer tongue. Makes it really easy to move even large trailers around
I haven't backed up our camper yet but my husband says to turn the steering wheel the direction you want the back of the trailer to go.
Jacqui
Quote from: OC CampersI haven't backed up our camper yet but my husband says to turn the steering wheel the direction you want the back of the trailer to go.
Jacqui
Well ... that's close .... put your hand on THE BOTTOM of the steering wheel. Now turn the wheel in the direction you want the camper to go (while backing up, of course!) ~
Quote from: flyfishermanWell ... that's close .... put your hand on THE BOTTOM of the steering wheel. Now turn the wheel in the direction you want the camper to go (while backing up, of course!) ~
and even closer..this is what i was told
put your hand on the bottom of the steering whell ... and turn the wheel in the direction you want the rear of the camper to go.
does that make a difference in the semantics? I think so.
I'm still awful at reversing, but this method helps a lot.
My neighbors used to gather and laugh at me whenever I had to back my camper into my driveway. It didn't take many of those sessions to make me figure out to back up. :J
Take your camper to an empty parking lot and practice for an hour or so. You'll figure it out. Short trailers are extra sensitive to even slight changes in the steering wheel when backing up so make little corrections and go slow.
Quote from: PopUPTimesMy neighbors used to gather and laugh at me whenever I had to back my camper into my driveway. It didn't take many of those sessions to make me figure out to back up. :J
Take your camper to an empty parking lot and practice for an hour or so. You'll figure it out. Short trailers are extra sensitive to even slight changes in the steering wheel when backing up so make little corrections and go slow.
Soon to be appearing on America's Funniest Home Videos. Stay tuned!
Dante
Quote from: austinado16Congrats on the purchase.
To move it around in the driveway.....if your driveway is level.....just push the camper around by the tongue. If it's too heavy (and the tires are aired up to the maximum rating on the side) to push around like that, you can have family members help. But be sure they only push on strong sections of the trailer, so that a body or roof panel doesn't get caved in.
The other option is the trailer "dolly" that places like Harbor Freight sells. It's a long T handle with a couple of hand truck dolly wheels at the bottom, and a hitch ball to fit up into a trailer tongue. Makes it really easy to move even large trailers around
Thanks , Austin!
Harbor freight has the perfect trailer dolly!
Great suggestion!
Dante