Having trouble backing

Buy a truck and trailer toy.

Play with it.

Your trailer will tell you exactly what you need to do with that steering wheel.

 

I was instructed on a short dump trailer. Put your hand a the bottom of the wheel. Need trailer to go right move hand right and follow trailer slowly so you don't have to chase it. Longer trailers you don't need to chase them too much as they turn slower.

 

Most places will tell you a formula. Crank wheel over, count off five seconds, reverse wheel.

Bug mirror and bottom convex mirror are your friends. Don't even bother with the California mirror.

 

Stop thinking about the truck & trailer as two separate units, but rather the truck as the steering axle for the trailer. Just as your steer tires turn in relation to the truck to make the truck go where you want, the truck needs to turn in relation to the trailer to make the trailer go where you want. How does the truck need to be positioned for the trailer to go where it needs to go? Turn the wheel to get the truck into that position under the trailer.

For example, you want the trailer to go to the right. Which way does the nose of the tractor need to point? If you were backing up your car and wanted it to go to the right, how would you turn the front tires? That's where the tractor needs to be in relation to the trailer. How do you get the tractor there?

 

Also, small inputs and patience will prove more smooth & successful (and confidence inspiring) than large, frequent inputs. You want to turn the wheel "just enough" to correct the path of the trailer without having to hurry up and turn the wheel the other way to correct your previous overcorrection. Slow & steady.

 

Dont oversteer. You wont even have to turn the wheel a full turn. Keep an eye on the back end of your trailer, and adjust accordingly. One thing I will add: when getting back under it, turn the wheel fast. A lot of people take their time turning the wheel when backing. You will be surprised how much distance is covered in a matter of seconds. You dont want your trailer to move faster than you trying to get back under it, if that makes sense

 

Don't worry. I know guys who have drove for years who still can't back up worth a flip. Best thing for me is pull up plenty far if there's room, then back up using small corrections instead of whipping wheel back and forth. I used to think don't pull up too far you just have farther to back up, but sometimes having that extra time to line up is nice. It takes years of practice to get good.

 

The first thousand backups are tough.
After that they get easy.