Video - how to reverse a double trailer.... woohoo!

[John E Davies]

This is very cool. It is in Aussie English, so he is a little hard to understand.

 

 

At 5:00 he shows how to do an S maneuver, “sharp left, then sharp right” to get the back end pointing where he wants it. This is an excellent trick every Ollie owner should try to master, it works very well for making tight backing turns where you cannot pull far enough forward to straighten out the trailer. If nobody ever showed it to you, you might never know to try it. I use the maneuver often, and every single time I back “Mouse” into my driveway. Good stuff!

 

The best advice is at the very end, 9:00. “Don’t drive beyond your own ability.”

 

I would like to meet that instructor and shake his hand.... and play with his car toys.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[DavidS]

At 5:00 he shows how to do an S maneuver, “sharp left, then sharp right” to get the back end pointing where he wants it. This is an excellent trick every Ollie owner should try to master, it works very well for making tight backing turns where you cannot pull far enough forward to straighten out the trailer.

 

When I picked up Ollie two years ago, I really did not know how to back up a trailer. Making things worse, putting our trailer into storage requires a 90 degree turn.

 

This

describes a backing up method called The Scoop or The Swoop, and it really helped me. The Swoop is much like John's S maneuver, “sharp left, then sharp right.” This diagram on The Swoop from this web site was also very helpful.

 

[attachment file=Screen Shot 2018-08-21 at 12.26.16 PM.png]

[Spike]

Is it just me, David, or are there obvious contradictions between the diagram and the video--other than the shift from terminology: "Scoop" to "Swoop"?

 

The video shows the tow vehicle "scooping" toward and away from the parking space, while the diagram shows the vehicle driving past the space perpendicular to it. Also, the video shows no "critical" turn forward to the left.

 

On the website, it states that "This last bit of information below will make things a lot easier too....." Well, perhaps, but certainly not clearer--to me at least.

[DavidS]

Is it just me, David, or are there obvious contradictions between the diagram and the video–other than the shift from terminology: “Scoop” to “Swoop”?

 

I spent a lot of time researching backing up a trailer online, perhaps because I initially lacked any skills and my first tries were such abject failures. I learned about trailer pivot points from the web, as well as strategies for using mirrors and spotters. While I am certainly not an expert at it, I am much, much better. We went camping last weekend I got Ollie straight in the center both at the campsite and at the storage facility, both on the first try.

 

I don't think there are contradictions.

 

This web site has a diagram with the same approach as in the video.

 

[attachment file=Screen Shot 2018-08-22 at 5.10.54 PM.png]

 

You are correct that the video has you approach the campsite from an angle, and then cut back away from the campsite, while the red-blue arrow diagram has you approach perpendicular to the campsite. Both of these approaches get the trailer at a good angle to back in to the campsite. I don’t know if one method gives a better approach angle than the other. But I don't think it is a contradiction.

 

The other difference is that one method has the “critical” turn to the left. This really works, but I am not certain why. It could be that it changes the trailer angle slightly, or that it positions the tow vehicle relative to the trailer in a favorable position so that when you start backing up the trailer naturally heads into its destination.

 

One variable is how wide the campground road is. If the road is very narrow, you may not have enough room to get the trailer angle positioned optimally when using the video swoop. In contrast the red-blue arrow version of the swoop can be done in a narrower space. Of course if the road is wide enough you have room to pull far enough forward to straighten out the trailer, as John put it.

 

When I started using the Swoop at my storage facility, it did not work well. I finally learned when to make the turn to the right – the last red horizontal arrow. With practice I learned that for my vehicle I should make the sharp turn when the rear pillar of the driver’s door reached the far edge of the campsite driveway. Once I got that figured out this method has worked well for me at a lot of campsites.

 

Finally, the S turn in the red-blue arrow version is much like the S maneuver that John’s Aussie trucker used.

[John E Davies]

 

The other difference is that one method has the “critical” turn to the left. This really works, but I am not certain why. It could be that it changes the trailer angle slightly, or that it positions the tow vehicle relative to the trailer in a favorable position so that when you start backing up the trailer naturally heads into its destination.

 

One variable is how wide the campground road is. If the road is very narrow, you may not have enough room to get the trailer angle positioned optimally when using the video

 

 

Excellent post, thanks. The diagram is fine as far as it goes, but as you pointed out, they left off the critical S-turn back in the opposite direction. If there is enough road to get the trailer fairly straight, no problem. If there is an obstacle, then you can’t get enough room to swing the truck. The angle between trailer and truck will be too sharp, in the wrong direction.

 

The trick is to do that exact maneuver, but in say the last ten feet of forward motion, crank the steering wheel from hard right to hard left. This does two things.

 

It moves the front of the truck further away from the curb, allowing you to pull a little further forward.

 

It kicks the trailer hitch hard to the right, forcing the back of the trailer left into MUCH  better alignment.

 

To reverse, you crank the wheel hard back to the right while stationary (you do not want to waste any distance doing that while moving), then proceed into the parking spot. Left backing turns are easy because you can hang your head out the window and see most everything... Right ones are tough.

 

As you suggested, a visual “bookmark” is something I often do. I try to pick a marker to align the truck with to locate the initial turn point.

 

Practice practice!

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Commanche]

The problem with the first video, there are no trucks that pull doubles in this country, that look like that. That's a pure Ausie rig. The doubles you see here, like FEDX and UPS pull are a completely different deal. There are guys that can back doubles, and it's a special skill.

 

I drove a semi for 12 years, pulling flatbeds and double drops, but I had it easy, we had  day cabs, so you could look out the back window on a off side back. I had many times the we were hauling bridge beams or large box culverts and had to back in a mile or more. Fun times.

 

There is one thing that is guaranteed, the more people watching, the worse your backing job is.

 

Stan

[Trav3leyz]

I am trying to figure out how to keep the trailer hitch aligned when reversing. Good to know I can get the info here. Will take note of that.

 

moderator edit: removed obvious spam link

[andres10]

Here is another helpful article on how to back up a trailer that I found helpful... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/blog/how-to-back-up-a-trailer-like-a-pro/