back in or front first to sites?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Professor David

Professor David

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2022
Posts
628
Location
Western South Dakota
Wondering if others have thoughts on this?

In national, state or county parks we usually back into sites with the windshield area facing the road into the site. Usually the best view and the most privacy would be in the back of the rig. Most sites seem to be set up for back in regarding ease of hooking up to usually electric and sometime water...usually not sewer in these type of parks and easy access to picnic table/fire pit.

The problem is electrical hook up. My built in cord is fairly long but not long enough to pull in head first and still reach the electrical box. Is there any problem with using a longer 10 gauge extension cord (which I have) using the proper adapters in a 50 amp or 30 amp outlet box?


Should I buy an RV 50 amp extension cord for this purpose?


Any other thoughts are appreciated.
 
Last edited:
I've used either a 30 amp or a 50 amp extension cord as needed. If the weather is hot enough to need both AC's, I use the 50 amp cord. Otherwise I use the 30 amp cord for the easier handling. We've pulled head in at several lake or river side parks for the better view. Occasionally we've run into a park that didn't allow head in parking.
 
Professor David said:
Wondering if others have thoughts on this?

In national, state or county parks we usually back into sites with the windshield area facing the road into the site. Usually the best view and the most privacy would be in the back of the rig. Most sites seem to be set up for back in regarding ease of hooking up to usually electric and sometime water...usually not sewer in these type of parks and easy access to picnic table/fire pit.

The problem is electrical hook up. My built in cord is fairly long but not long enough to pull in head first and still reach the electrical box. Is there any problem with using a longer 10 gauge extension cord (which I have) using the proper adapters in a 50 amp or 30 amp outlet box?


Should I buy an RV 50 amp extension cord for this purpose?


Any other thoughts are appreciated.
Click to expand...
should be no problem at all.
if you have 30 ft already and extending another 30 ft then the voltage drop on full load over 60 ft will be in the order of 3%.
 
Actually, (I went out and checked it) my built in 50 amp cord is long enough if I run it under the rig diagonally....which was kind of a hassle. I probably will invest in a 50 amp extension cord if AC is needed and to avoid crawling under the rig so much. We are headed up to the Big Horn Mountains in WY next week at Sibley lake...probably won't need the AC but will need the heat pump.

Still need to walk around to use the picnic table and fire pit but the view is really the most important thing for us.
 
NY_Dutch said:
I've used either a 30 amp or a 50 amp extension cord as needed. If the weather is hot enough to need both AC's, I use the 50 amp cord. Otherwise I use the 30 amp cord for the easier handling. We've pulled head in at several lake or river side parks for the better view. Occasionally we've run into a park that didn't allow head in parking.
Click to expand...
Just last week DW and I were in an Ohio state park campground that didn't allow head in parking. Pretty common in state campgrounds.
 
Professor David said:
Actually, (I went out and checked it) my built in 50 amp cord is long enough if I run it under the rig diagonally....which was kind of a hassle.
Click to expand...
If you don’t have a 10 to 20‘ 1/4 inch piece of rope in your rig maybe you could go out and purchase a length and tie it off on the end of the 50 amp cord… roll the rope up and throw it underneath the rig to the other side. You could then pull the 50 amp cord over to the electric post. This would alleviate you from having to crawl under the rig. Hopefully with one or two throws, you could have the rope under the rig and make it a lot easier for you. The lightweight rope will be easy to throw, but you want to make sure it’s heavy enough to get all the way across the rig. should save you some work and still accomplish the task.
Scott,Orlando
 
Scottro said:
If you don’t have a 10 to 20‘ 1/4 inch piece of rope in your rig maybe you could go out and purchase a length and tie it off on the end of the 50 amp cord… roll the rope up and throw it underneath the rig to the other side. You could then pull the 50 amp cord over to the electric post. This would alleviate you from having to crawl under the rig. Hopefully with one or two throws, you could have the rope under the rig and make it a lot easier for you. The lightweight rope will be easy to throw, but you want to make sure it’s heavy enough to get all the way across the rig. should save you some work and still accomplish the task.
Scott,Orlando
Click to expand...
Great idea, Scott! A piece of wood or something else with a bit of weight tied to the end of the rope will make it easier to throw it all the way across under the RV.
 
Scottro said:
If you don’t have a 10 to 20‘ 1/4 inch piece of rope in your rig maybe you could go out and purchase a length and tie it off on the end of the 50 amp cord… roll the rope up and throw it underneath the rig to the other side. You could then pull the 50 amp cord over to the electric post. This would alleviate you from having to crawl under the rig. Hopefully with one or two throws, you could have the rope under the rig and make it a lot easier for you. The lightweight rope will be easy to throw, but you want to make sure it’s heavy enough to get all the way across the rig. should save you some work and still accomplish the task.
Scott,Orlando
Click to expand...
Really good idea!
 
Professor David said:
We are headed up to the Big Horn Mountains in WY next week at Sibley lake...
Click to expand...
We lived in Cheyenne, WY for 18 years and Sibley Lake was a favorite place to our family! We used to carry a canoe on the top of a pop-up and had many a trout dinner or breakfast from that lake.

On the rope idea (which is a great one!), when I was in the Navy we had light ropes that we used as a throwing line to the pier when arriving to get the mooring lines over. The weight in the end of the line was called a "monkey's fist." It had about 6-8 oz lead weight in the end.
1718042530438.png
 
Kirk said:
We lived in Cheyenne, WY for 18 years and Sibley Lake was a favorite place to our family! We used to carry a canoe on the top of a pop-up and had many a trout dinner or breakfast from that lake.

On the rope idea (which is a great one!), when I was in the Navy we had light ropes that we used as a throwing line to the pier when arriving to get the mooring lines over. The weight in the end of the line was called a "monkey's fist." It had about 6-8 oz lead weight in the end.
View attachment 173470
Click to expand...
Nice rope work!
 
If your camper is a 50 amp camper, then do the right thing and get a 50 amp RV extension cord. If it is a 30 amp camper, then get a 30 amp RV extension cord.

Note: Check the 50 amp extension cord carefully before you just pick one up and run. They are easy to confuse with the standard bayonet mount (female) end that plugs into your camper with the actual 4 prong male and female ends that is an actual 50 amp RV extension cord.

I purchased a 25 foot extension and after getting it home realized it had the bayonet end. I'm just hanging on to it for a back-up. I then spent another $200 for a 25 foot, actual extension.

I've used the extension multiple times over the 5 years we've owned this camper. If you travel, you will encounter odd-ball campsites with odd-ball utility hook-up locations.

We were at a Mississippi State Park a couple months ago. They have 1 electric box shared between 2 camp sites. The box has one - 50 amp, one 30 amp, and one 20 amp outlet. Whoever gets the campsite first, get's the 50 amp. The camp site we were on, the other site already took the 50 amp, AND the box was still too far away for even my 30 amp RV cords to reach. I called the park office and they let me move to an empty spot across the road. I was then able to reach the electric box with my 50 amp extension and, since there was no one else parked on the other spot, I got the 50 amp plug.

It pays to be prepared.

If you travel and are not camping stationary at one spot, then you will encounter odd-ball campsites.

Its best to have a 50 amp extension cord.

Its best to have a 30 to 50 amp adapter.

It's best to have a 30 to 50 amp adapter.

Its best to have at least one 35 foot length of 30 amp RV cord.

(we also have a 30 amp Hughes Autoformer and a 50 amp Progressive portable EMS).

It pays to be prepared if you travel!
 
If you need to get out in a hurry being backed in is quicker and probably safer. I'm sure that's the reason I've seen somewhere.
 
Excalibur said:
Just last week DW and I were in an Ohio state park campground that didn't allow head in parking. Pretty common in state campgrounds.
Click to expand...
Oddly, two of our favorite head in sites are in state parks. Site 187 at Robert Moses State Park near Massena, NY is one, with a great view of the St Lawrence Seaway and one end of the Eisenhower lock. The other is site 10 on the Beach loop at Ft Clinch State Park near Fernandina Beach FL with a nice view of the ocean and the deer herd that passes by every day. Unfortunately, our current health conditions make it unlikely we'll ever see either one again.
 
Back in my sailboat days I learned how to and made a number of the monkey fists. Turks head knots etc. Marlinspike skills are fun. Small monkeyfists are great for keychains.
 
Ray-IN said:
The trouble with driving in vs backing into a normal back-in site is, your door opens into the adjoining site, for which you did not pay rent.
Click to expand...
It took me a minute, but are you saying if you front in, you have to step across the boundary between the two sites to get in the door?

The same thing would happen if you back in, if you position the RV way over on that side. The solution is to position the RV so that you don't encroach, either with the RV or on foot, into adjacent sites, no matter which way you're facing.
 
I went to the Sumbelt Ag Expo three or four years ago and the RVs are parked side by side in several rows. There are power poles with receptacles on them about every second RV (lots of room between the RVs. The way the guy guided me in was perfect, put the power connector near the pole, but the junky old motorhome on my awning/door side was facing me (door toward me) and in the evening they were partying with the RV on the far side of them. They were raised in a barn, about every five minutes someone would run around the front of the motorhome and go inside, slamming the door, then whenever they retrieved whatever they went for, they would come back out, slamming the door again. I sat in my chair under the awning for an hour listening to this crap. I debated going over and offering to help them disconnect and turn the MH around, it would have been easy, lots of room in the driving lanes between the rows, and would not have taken 5 minutes, but I finally just got up and went for a walk around the grounds.

Charles
 
Ray-IN said:
The trouble with driving in vs backing into a normal back-in site is, your door opens into the adjoining site, for which you did not pay rent.
Click to expand...
Trivet said:
It took me a minute, but are you saying if you front in, you have to step across the boundary between the two sites to get in the door?

The same thing would happen if you back in, if you position the RV way over on that side. The solution is to position the RV so that you don't encroach, either with the RV or on foot, into adjacent sites, no matter which way you're facing.
Click to expand...
If you back the motorhome in, your door opens onto your own site pad. If you pull in forward, your door opens away from your own site pad and you will have to walk around your rig to get to yours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 804 (members: 15, guests: 789)

Forum statistics

Threads
132,806
Posts
1,400,960
Members
138,422
Latest member
Bridger
Back
Top Bottom