1st time FW owner...with lots of questions!!!

Hello

I'm new to pulling a 5th wheel. I just got a Jazz that's a 29 footer...31' overall length.

I had to turn it around today on a road that wasn't quite wide enough to do a U turn. I had a heck of a time trying to get the FW to come back around doing kind of a 3 point turn. Any tips for when this can't be avoided?

Also, what's the best way to back into a space when you can't back straight in?

Thanks...sorry for the novice questions.

Definitely cheaper to go thru someone else.   Check the library on extended warranty   There been some long discussion on the subject.  Dealers make a big profit on selling them.  Perhaps as much as double the price.  You can also Google Extended Warranties.  Rental units are not a favorite of RV buyers. but everyone starts somewhere and we're all here to help  HAppy Rving Congrats on buying an RV and fire your questions and we'll see about answering.

Shayne,

???  Did you get lost on your way to that answer???  I think you might have given the right answer to the wrong question.  Or maybe the other way around?

ArdraF

Nope  it all makes sense to me  Maybe you are reading it wrong. 

Mitchn said:

Hello

I'm new to pulling a 5th wheel. I just got a Jazz that's a 29 footer...31' overall length.

I had to turn it around today on a road that wasn't quite wide enough to do a U turn. I had a heck of a time trying to get the FW to come back around doing kind of a 3 point turn. Any tips for when this can't be avoided?

Also, what's the best way to back into a space when you can't back straight in?

Thanks...sorry for the novice questions.

Click to expand...

Avoid it.  Seriously, hauling a trailer getting stuck on a dead end road or a road on which you can go no further can be a nightmare.  Be very careful about going up back country roads or residential roads with out knowing that you have an outlet that you can navigate.

Backing into a space is a skill you will have to master.  I have a few pointers:

        1.  When backing, move the bottom of your steering wheel in the direction in which you want the rear of the trailer to move.

        2.  Have only one person give you directions and station that person on the outside of your turn where you are blind to what is in your rear.

        3.  Have that person tell you where the trailer's rear end should go, not give you instructions on where to turn your wheel.  You already know where to turn your wheei -- the bottom in the direction that the rear end is to go.

          4.  Your 5er will tend to cut inside your turns so be careful of obstructions on the inside of the turn, swing as wide as you can.

          5.  Do not be afraid to get out and check on progress yourself.


   
       

Well, U-turning a fifth wheel in a narrow space is no picnic. I can't think of any real secrets except to start far to the right to get as much use of the available space as possible.  The maneuver isn't really the same as 3 point turn in a car, since you need to consider the angle between truck and trailer as well as the space for the truck itself. As you maneuver around and pull forward, try to end up with the truck/trailer at the angle you want to begin the back-up segment. That helps with the next step in each case.  As you no doubt discovered, the tough part is when/if you end up perpendicular across the road with little or no room to back up & pull forward again to continue turning the trailer.  Try to avoid that - plan your moves so that one pass leaves you at an angle short of the perpendicular and the next move takes you past that point. That gives you a bit more backing room each time.

If the space was "almost" enough for a U turn, it should not have been too terrible, so maybe you just need more practice in fifth wheel backing. With experience you will master it.

AS Carl says, the real trick is too look/plan ahead and avoid the situation. The next trick is to be willing to keep on driving until you find a place you can turn around, either a normal turn or a driveway or something you can back into like it was a campsite, then pull out the way you want to go. But sooner or later you will get caught somewhere and have to do the U. It happens to all of us.

Nope  it all makes sense to me  Maybe you are reading it wrong.

Click to expand...

OK, Shayne, I'll bite.  What does an extended warranty have to do with backing a fifth wheel?  ???

Mitch, Audra, and Gary,  you're right I guess I was thinking of another post that asked about extended warranties.  One of the 73 yr old mysteries of the ages.  Dangif I can remember where it came from , but someone new asked about it yesterday.  The mind does strange things LOL  A least we know that you guys are awake  LOL  20 lashes with a wet noodle and I'll go to the bullpen .

Thanks very much for the replies!

Here's another question...I went out today to move my FW today to a storage lot.

There were 2 rows of RV's and they showed me my spot. There didn't seem to be enough room between the rows to back mine in.

I couldn't back straight in because there wasn't enough room.

In a case like that, what is the correct angle to start from to back in? Or is my FW just too long? The space was a 12' wide x 35' deep.

Thanks again!

Oodles and gobs of patients, coupled with lots of practice. There is no magic bullit that helps in backing it. You may want to attempt some backing procedures in a local vacent parking lot before you hit the storage area. Your trailer is not going to react as fast as a tow behind when backing, so you actually have to over man\euver to get it moving in the right direction.

One person a few months ago suggested taking a long yellow rope and laying it on the ground from where you've stopped the trailer to where you want it to be  along the wheel track of a wheel you can watch. Then back slowly doing your darndest to make the wheels follow the yellow rope.

Just remembered another trick I've seen and do .... as you are pulling in to the area, just before you stop, turn the truck the way you want the trailer to start moving --- if you have to back right, just before you stop, crank the wheel to the right and visa versa -- that gives you a head start getting the back end of the trailer sort of pointed the way you want it to eventually move.

Larry

Now I remember  Someone else asked about warranties and my wife interupted me and I lost my train of thought and placed that in the wrong message.  Sorry

Shayne,

You're forgiven.  We all know about getting distracted.    I did think it was an awfully strange reply.

ArdraF

Heck  I'm strange.

If you don't have yellow rope, those orange highway cones are also good for practicing backing up, whether it's a 5er or MH.  Definitely good advice about finding a big empty parking lot and practicing before going to the storage lot.  Those places really pack 'em in.

ArdraF

Heck, when I had mine in storage, the site width was only 9 feet (trailer is 8, so it took some jockying to get it in). At first it wasn't too bad - no one on either side and they has said that if either side was rented, it would be to someone with a small trailer or car as my trailer pretty much filled up my space. Went out a couple weeks later to pick it up for a trip, and found that I had a class 'A' parked on either side. Both jokers apparently felt that it was they duty to park as close to me as humanly possible (heck, could have almost driven a VW beetle down the other side and still not be in the next site). As we pulled out after having to walk sideways to get around the trailer, we decided to stop and the office on the way out and politely inform them that we wouldn't be returning and they could do with my site as they pleased and why. It wasn't worth the possibility of banging up one of their $100K MH with my $50K trailer.

Larry