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Topic: Reversing with a small, low trailer

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dk168

01/7/2013 at 8:39pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: MWB VW Crafter PVC

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I can see my trailer in my rear view mirror, however, I still can't reverse the blooming thing!

DK

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cassettes

03/7/2013 at 8:10pm
Location: scarborough
Outfit: Outwee Monterey 5 Carolina M

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I like many others that have posted on this forum am a hgv driver and would rather reverse a 44" trailer than a small trailer , however I found it easier to reverse once you can see the damn thing before its too late so putting a top box on my trailer makes it a lot easier and room for the bedding too !!

masekwm

03/7/2013 at 10:12pm
Location: High Wycombe
Outfit: Montana Lake and Icarus 500

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I can see mine, and if I sit and think about it I can reverse it perfectly.

However, if its a oh crap moment I need to reverse, like last weekend, I can't do it.

Norbert Dentressang

via mobile 25/8/2024 at 12:38pm
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We bought a teardrop caravan and I practiced and thought I'd learned the fundamentals, then on a trip to Wales came head on with a huge tractor. The driver was a woman who must've been 20 at most and I was incredibly embarrassed after 3 or 4 attempts to back up. My partner offered her the chance to reverse us at which point she backed up with considerable ease about 100m.

There's nothing like a sudden situation to act and in future I'll check the satnav route and avoid any road that isn't a named road. Echoing all others who say unhitch and manoeuvre manually

Colin21

25/8/2024 at 2:25pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail

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Quote: Originally posted by Norbert Dentressang on 25/8/2024
We bought a teardrop caravan and I practiced and thought I'd learned the fundamentals, then on a trip to Wales came head on with a huge tractor. The driver was a woman who must've been 20 at most and I was incredibly embarrassed after 3 or 4 attempts to back up. My partner offered her the chance to reverse us at which point she backed up with considerable ease about 100m.

There's nothing like a sudden situation to act and in future I'll check the satnav route and avoid any road that isn't a named road. Echoing all others who say unhitch and manoeuvre manually

Unhitching is what I would do with my little trailer. It is virtually impossible to reverse it, particularly as I can't see the thing at all until it has completely jack-knifed! I once had a small business that involved towing all sorts of trailers, and the bigger they were the easier they were to reverse. Tiny ones are a nightmare!

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Colin

saxo1

25/8/2024 at 2:42pm
Location: None Entered
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The best advice I was given is to ensure the trailer is dead straight behind before you start and then, when reversing, hold the steering wheel at he bottom with both hands so that you cant turn the wheel too far.

SHANTY SINGER

via mobile 25/8/2024 at 5:37pm
Location: walton on the naze e
Outfit: Coachman pastiche

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Same as most replies. U hitch and push it.

SHANTY SINGER

via mobile 25/8/2024 at 5:42pm
Location: walton on the naze e
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I can reverse my caravan no problem but my garden trailer has got a mind of its own.

Colin21

25/8/2024 at 6:23pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail

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Quote: Originally posted by SHANTY SINGER on 25/8/2024
I can reverse my caravan no problem but my garden trailer has got a mind of its own.

Same here!

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Colin

Fiona W

via mobile 25/8/2024 at 7:16pm
Location: Ayrshire
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Not necessarily the tow vehicle driver’s skill.
I was on a site visit with a work colleague on Mull, single track road with passing places (as most are, there). We were towing a small trailer. Around a corner, we came face to face with a car. Her passing place was just behind her. Ours (with trailer) was beyond the blind corner behind us. Both stopped, we expected her to reverse her car less than 10m. Nope. So my colleague got out & an amicable conversation ensued. She couldn’t reverse her car because the drive to her house went in at one side & out at the other, so she never needed to reverse. Result: my colleague reversed her car 10m, we passed at the passing place, with the obligatory wave of thanks that some visitors forget.
Oh, I need to get back to Mull, and I still miss posts from ficklejade.

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navver

25/8/2024 at 7:34pm
Location: West country
Outfit: Mondeo

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Many years ago we had a young girl drive into the office car park and leave it there. She got out and went in the the Commissionaires and one of them parked it for her. She had passed her test but could not park in a parking place. She did this every morning.

If I recall, parking in a parking place was not part of the test. It was a 3 point turn and reverse round a corner only.

Our local tip won't allow us to unhitch the trailer so it's park and walk or reverse. Mine is so low I cannot see it at all until it's at a huge angle from the car. On a sunny day when I can see the shadow and reverse it on that.

dk168

25/8/2024 at 8:31pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: MWB VW Crafter PVC

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Quote: Originally posted by navver on 25/8/2024

If I recall, parking in a parking place was not part of the test. It was a 3 point turn and reverse round a corner only.

Reverse parking into a space on the passenger side was part of the test when I did mine in the early 90s.

I remember that clearly as at the end of the test, as I was asked to reverse-park into a space on my side by the examiner due to lack of space on the passenger side, and he said to me no need to worry as I had already passed.

DK

Colin21

25/8/2024 at 10:45pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail

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Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 25/8/2024

Quote: Originally posted by navver on 25/8/2024

If I recall, parking in a parking place was not part of the test. It was a 3 point turn and reverse round a corner only.

Reverse parking into a space on the passenger side was part of the test when I did mine in the early 90s.

I remember that clearly as at the end of the test, as I was asked to reverse-park into a space on my side by the examiner due to lack of space on the passenger side, and he said to me no need to worry as I had already passed.

DK

Yes I think it depends on when you took your test, as it has changed greatly over the years. I don't remember having to do more than reverse round a corner when I took my car test in 1966, but I did have to reverse a bus into a bay between two other buses when I took my PSV test in 1972. This was something we had to do daily in the garage where the buses were kept overnight. The bus I took my test on didn't have power steering either, yet even most small cars have it today.

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Colin

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