Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

For many drivers, backing up is quite a pain. Without extensive practice, it can prove difficult to line up your vehicle just right on the first try. As if a car or truck alone wasn’t tough enough to contend with, adding a trailer of any kind — even those from the best or worst travel trailer brands out there – to the mix, only complicates the situation. It can feel like they have a mind of their own as you attempt to back them up, but overall, this isn’t a new obstacle drivers have had to deal with. Therefore, some tricks have risen to prominence to save other drivers from frustration.

Advertisement

One of the most effective out there takes advantage of one of the most irritating parts of backing up a trailer. With your hands towards the top of the wheel, if you turn your wheel to the left, the trailer will move right, and vice versa, making it obnoxious to keep track of where the trailer is going. However, if you simply place your hand on the bottom of the straightened steering wheel, moving your hand left causes the trailer to swing left, and the opposite is true for moving your hand to the right.

This strategy can work with just about any trailer. Still, there are some other important things to consider when backing a trailer up.

Fhm/Getty Images

Making the trailer steer in the desired direction is only one of the things you need to take into account. Another one is your speed. If you do find your trailer heading in the wrong direction, a slow speed will give you time to correct. Just as crucial is getting yourself in the best position possible before starting the backup process. It’s much easier if the truck and trailer are aligned with their destination, and small adjustments should have to be made as you back up.

Advertisement

Before backing up, it’s a great idea to double-check all of your mirrors, ensuring you have the best view possible for the task at hand. This way, should an obstacle of any kind appear, you’re able to see it and react accordingly. Finally, if you’re lucky enough to have someone else around to help you out, you not only want to see them, but you should want to hear them as well, heeding their directions as you move. Much of this may sound like common sense, but if you’re unfamiliar with backing up trailers or often find yourself in a hurry, they’re worthwhile precautions to start noting.

In response to the frustration and inherent dangers that come with trying to back up, trailer or not, vehicle manufacturers have innovated to make it a bit easier. One of the biggest to become a staple of most rides in recent years is the backup camera, which, as the name implies, is a small camera near the back bumper that gives drivers a live feed of whatever might be behind them. It also alerts them of potential hazards and, as a result, is a major aid in parking. Now, there are several highly rated backup cameras for cars and RVs alike on the market. Naturally, other breakthroughs have come around simultaneously, with one making backing up trailers a breeze.

Advertisement

Integrated into modern Ford and Lincoln – one of many brands Ford owns — vehicles is a feature called Pro Trailer Backup Assist. This inclusion makes it so that your Ford vehicle can store specific trailers you’ve driven with, recognizing their specific type. With the necessary hardware installed and calibration performed, you can back up your trailer with the aid of the Pro Trailer Backup Assist knob located on the dashboard. It’s used to move the trailer precisely, with the help of visuals on the dashboard screen. There’s also the Trailer Auxiliary Camera that provides a view of whatever may be behind the trailer that you couldn’t see with a regular backup camera or by looking back.

As great as this tech is, it’s not quite commonplace yet across the vehicle world. Thus, tricks like the steering wheel hand placement one have yet to go out of style.

Advertisement