Help,help, help with 45 degree alley backing

Leftie loosey, righty tighty. There's only one left and one right, but can be opposite directions depending on which direction you are facing. Turn left or right, depending on which way you wanna go. Going left is not always right, but being right may mean going left unless right is right then left is not right.
Does that help?

 

Also I forgot to mention. If you have plenty of room in front of the docks, pull up with the dock on your left until your driver window is in the middle of the dock lane then STOP. Look out your right window and pick out a "target". Now turn to the right and aim at that target. When your truck gets close to straight aimed at that "target" STOP. You should now be lined up to do a straight line back into the parking spot.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen guys try and try to jack a truck around into the dock when they could do a straight line back which is always a better choice and easier to boot.

 

Sure that helps a lot...if you're going to pull a flatbed!

Flatbedders only need to pull in to get unloaded...or loaded...we all know they don't even have a reverse gear in those trucks!

Makes as much sense as the quoted post I guess!

 

To put it another way:

If you got the room, take it and use it!

 

Take a piece of notebook paper so you can draw a diagram. Turn the paper so that the lines on the paper are vertical to you. Mark the bottom as South, the top as North,left is West and right is East. Draw the parking spot at the bottom center (South) of the paper.

You drive the truck from right(East) to left(West) just in front of the parking spot. Stop and look into the parking spot and look for obstructions. Yugo's, drunks ,overdosed druggies and overhead obstructions. Nothing there -- okay, pull forward until the line on the west side of the parking spot is perpendicular with the center of the rear drive tandem wheel.

Now, turn HARD right until the nose of the tractor is pointing directly North.

IMMEDIATELY turn HARD left. When the nose of the tractor is pointing directly West, STOP.
.
At this point, your tractor should be pointed West and the trailer should be jacked at a 45 degree angle between the tractor and the parking spot.

When backing a trailer use only the bottom of the steering wheel. Put your hand palm down on the bottom of the steering wheel like a previous poster stated.

.If you want the trailer to go to your right, move the bottom center of the steering wheel to your right/toward the passenger door side.

.If you want the trailer to go to your left, move the bottom center of the steering wheel to your left/toward the drivers door.

 

good post that is a great way of putting it...

 

The biggest thing that helped me with backing was to stop. My instructor was big on this. Don't let the truck roll five or ten feet while your thinking about what to do next by then it is to late. Once I started doing this backing became alot simpler. Now that I am getting more experience I don't have to stop as often. Unless it is in a tight spot then I always get out and look. I would rather be the guy who stops and gets out ten times then the idiot who backs into someone or something.

 

Until you get rid of your "habit" of backing up like a car, you're gonna have difficulty. First learn to break that habit.

When you look in your driver side mirror - when the trailer is turning to your left it gets "larger" (you see more of the side) - when the trailer is turning to your right it gets "smaller" (you see less of the side).

Knowing this, you need to learn your tailer turn corrections. I like to have my hands at the "top" of the steering wheel - meaning, closest to the windshield. So, I remember when backing up that "Turn left - trailer turns right. Turn right - trailer turns left." When you hold your hands at the top of the wheel - the trailer turns in the opposite direction of the turning of the wheel. Conversely, when your hand is at the bottom of the wheel - the trailer turns in the same direction as the turning of the wheel.

Now, here's a trick they taught me in school for the 45% back-up. If you follow this tip, you will learn how to back-up 45% with a fair amount of repeatability. Here's how it works:

With the rig parked in a straight line, place your hand at the "top" of the steering wheel - at 12 o'clock. Now turn the wheel to the right until your hand is at 5 o'clock. Hold it there firmly and begin backing. Just let the clutch out and let the motor idle. Don't give it any fuel - slow and steady is the rule when backing up.

Looking in your driver's side mirror, watch the landing gear of the trailer. Yes, that's right - watch the landing gear. Doing this gives you perspective as to the angle your trailer is turning in regards to the tractor. Watch the landing gear as the trailer turns - until the RIGHT side pad just becomes visible. Now turn your steering wheel (quickly) back left to full lock and hold it there until the rig straightens back out. AND STOP.

Are you now close to a straight back-up? If so, continue backing. If not, do a pull up and get a better line on your back up. In the Illinois skills test they allow you a pull up. If you're off a bit - take it. A straight back-up is easier to correct than a poorly lined up 45% back-up.

If you practice this technique, I guarantee 45% back-ups will be easier to learn. Don't get discouraged if your first try gives poor results. You may have to turn the wheel to 6 o'clock instead of 5 o'clock. Or you may need to see more or less of the landing gear before you turn back to the left. Make only one change to your formula at a time until you find the recipe that produces the best results.

I learned this technique in school and, once I mastered it, I usually didn't have to make very many pull ups to get straight. In fact, I backed right into the 45% box when I took my test and the instructor commented how well I performed as a beginning driver taking the skills test. I remember feeling proud - but thinking, "Now I'm sure to do something stupid and flunk!" Happily, I did not.

I hope this helps.

Buzz

 

I'm 54 years old just finishing driving school and I have to say the 45 degree backing is the most frustrating skill I've ever tried to master. After 2 weeks of yard practice I seriously considered walking away from my 3800.00 investment, which I can't afford to do. I finally realised that I have no natural talent for it and there was no magic light bulb that was going to come on and show me the way. It's just hard work and practice that makes it happen. I'm far from a master but I figure I can get the trailer straight in the box now about 90% of the time and get my tractor straight about 60% with one pull up. It ain't much much at least I can see light at the end of the tunnel. You will get it. just keep at it.

 

Maybe it's different in southern Cali...

For me, the 45 degree is actually a 90.

We start out 90 degrees to the dock, around 100 ft. forward of the dock and perhaps 50 ft. or so out.
Turn the steering wheel all the way to the right and back until the left landing gear is fully visible (in the mirror) to get the initial angle. Then straighten the wheel and proceed back.

Then it is simply a matter of pushing the rear tandem into the center of the dock.

Steering right (with your hand at the top) will bring the back of the trailer in tighter, while steering left will widen the turn.

One key point (to me, anyway) is to keep moving, if at all possible. When moving you are better able to judge where the rear tandems are going.
The person that has the hardest time with this, well, he keeps stopping every 5 feet. Then he makes a big steering adjustment and goes another 5-10 feet.


I have a tendency to come in a bit loose (going wide, so that I need a sharp right turn to bring the ##### end in line (and then a sharp left to straighten it), but I have found that doing so lets me better judge the distance between the back of the trailer and the dock because I can use direct line-of-sight (at a better angle) vs. using the mirror (looking straight back).


I just passed my skills test a the DMV. The hardest was docking because the testing area is both on an incline and angled, and the dimensions are different from practicing in our yard. (You should see this place. It is literally at the bottom of a hill, and not much is paved in the testing area.)

I only just managed it because of how I learned what turning the steering wheel did to the motion of the back of the trailer.

I was allowed 5 pull-ups, and I ended up using them all. It took a few tries, though, but I did it.