Noobie Towing

Hopefully be joining the towing crew this year. Going to check out a new to me pop up today hopefully. Grew up camping in popups with my family from when I was about 8 years old. Then somewhere in my early teens we "upgraded" to a 32 foot travel trailer. I have no delusions that my taco will tow such a thing LOL, nor do i want to tow such a thing.

Its been at least 15 years since i towed anything, and that was just a grass trailer. I remember for the life of me I couldnt back the thing up. So that will be first on my list to accomplish with this camper if i get it LOL.

Its an older starcraft, i think dry weight is just under 2500lbs, GVRW is maybe 3300? i forget. I know it doesnt have trailer brakes, so depending on the camper's axle situation, that might be a worthy upgrade to the camper.

 

Find an open field or parking lot to practice backing the trailer. It's really not as hard as people make it out to be.

The easiest way to back a trailer is to use your mirrors. Don't turn around, it can get too confusing. Use your mirrors.

Put 1 hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. If you want the back of the trailer to go towards the left mirror, then move your hand towards the left mirror (cw, this will turn the wheels right). If you want the back of the trailer to go towards the right mirror, then move your hand towards the right mirror (ccw, this will turn the wheels left).

It always helps if you can get the trailer as straight in line as possible with the parking spot.

The more you practice, the easier it will get! Take your time and be patient. If you get flustered, take a breath, pull forward to reset and get your truck and trailer as straight as you can, then try again.

 

Thats exactly my plan, find a nice open lot and just have at it.

 

One thing I'd recommend keeping an eye on is your weight on the Tacoma itself. Especially with a pop-up, you generally have to load the vehicle with bags, coolers, etc because you can't really put things in the trailer when it's packed up. The trailer itself is light, and likely has a low hitch weight, 500 lbs +/-, but then you have to be mindful of how much other stuff gets packed on the truck. Since you have a double cab, if you get 4 adults plus all your gear, you can get over 1,000 lbs of 'stuff' in the truck pretty quickly and get you overloaded (which can make for an unpleasant towing experience).

 

I didnt run all of the math yet, but thats exactly why i was looking at pop ups, to be mindful of the "total" weight of everything.

 

a lot of times this is a necessary step to "take another purchase", or straighten out the line. Watch the trailer's inside tire when backing into a turn. Once the tire passes the obstacle then you're good to crank it (turn the wheel). Be mindful of jackknifing when in reverse. Always use a spotter if you can. A cell phone works handy for communication. Also, the term "chase it back" is when you want the trailer to go straight back, but you're in a turn, you'll slowly unwind your turn as the trailer continues straight back. GL

 

This^^^^^^. The only thing I’d add is slow, slow, slow. Even backing real slow things happen very quickly with the trailer.

 

Go mess around in a parking lot, you'll get confident with it in no time. Funny story, I have towed trailers up to car trailers and a little bigger with no issue. The most difficult trailer to back in was one of those tiny 5x8 open U-Hauls. I could barely see it at all and it responded so quickly to steering wheel inputs that I was constantly overcorrecting.

 

I can back almost anything into narrow spaces or down narrow launch ramps but like you that damn 5x8 little trailer was was the most challenging ever. You barely turn the wheel and the trailer is off. You correct and again the trailer is off.even a tiny correction is an over correction . A professional 18 wheeler told me he too found backing up those little box trailers a pain in the ass.

 

+1 For the parking lot. When I was a teenager my dad took me to the parking lot with a trailer and made me run different made up courses for about an hour in reverse. Wasn't allowed to put the truck in drive except to straighten out real quick. I've never had an issue backing up since. Just gotta practice it and take it slow when backing up.

 

I have to call the guy this week to see if he is willing to budge at all on the price. Its got a few things that I feel will turn into a bigger deal than this guy thinks it will.

 

I would definitely vote adding trailer brakes.

I had to panic stop for a yellow light with a car on a uhaul dolly, probably similar weight. I was probably 15-20-ft pasted the line by the time I was at a full stop. Im glad there was no one in front of me thankfully, but I would've loved brakes in that situation