Spousal driving

[pconroy]

The other thread made me remember an incident with our first RV.


My wife will drive as much, or more, than me. She often asks "Can I drive now?" 45 minutes after I just sat in the drivers seat.


A few years ago, she was driving our first RV.
I was napping/nodding in the dinette.


For some reason, I opened my eyes just in time to see the yellow sign whiz by:


Tunnel
Height 10' 3"
I think it took my sleepy brain a second to do the math.
But my mouth wouldn't cooperate.

"We, we, waaaa, no, no!"
"Won't! Fit, We Fit, Won't! No!"
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"
"WE WON'T FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"



Decided to put a post it note on the visor with our dimensions after that one.

[norty1]

My wife drives the truck when towing. She can not back worth a toot and leaves that to me. I have tried letting her practice with my lawn tractor and utility trailer. No dice. Her brain does not work that way!

[Kim Gass]

I drive the truck when towing as well as hubby. We have a theoretical agreement to stop every two hours and switch drivers.

He forgets that.

I back less than he does so he does all of the in campground maneuvering. If I have room I am fine. If I don't I am not.

He has made more backing errors than I but that is due to more time in tricky situations. The rear camera helps and lessens the entertainment we provide to other campers.

[Lake Huron]

My wife has driven the dually 2 or maybe 3 times by itself. She 'used to" drive from the right seat until I made her drive it. That lasted about 600' from the check in station at our local campground down the straight road to the first turn. She gently stopped the truck, got out and said she'd had enough. Her shotgun side driving has completely changed, for the better, for the both of us.
As far as height clearances go, she, and I, are both always watching. To me its second nature since I drive a company truck every day that has a tall overhead.

[Marcm157]

My wife will not even drive my truck when we are not towing. She is completely intimidated when we are towing. All driving and backing involving camping is on me...

[BigDaddy6290]

My wife doesn't even drive my truck on it's own. She never towed our TT a single foot, Including 3 round-trips from WA to MI in the last decade. This is one of the big reasons we now have a MH. She has promised to share the driving, but has yet (only been one month and 2 camping trips) to take the wheel.

[RAurand]

My wife has no problem pulling the trailer. I have been teaching my 18 year old daughter. She has been enjoying it.

[Camper_bob]

It's always a good idea to cross-train some of the more critical functions in RVing.

DW will drive, and she would tow the trailer too. She likes driving the MH more than she enjoyed towing the trailer, but she'll do either if she has to.

The reason I say it's important is that if the person who always does the driving gets sick or injured, you need to be able to get home. I hurt my back once while breaking camp. So DW had to hookup the trailer and drive it home basically on her own while I sat in the truck barely able to move. Thankfully I was still able to speak, so I could walk her through the connection process and my pre-flight check, and she's towed boats a lot, so towing the TT was okay for her even though she was a little uncomfortable. Worst part was trying to get her to slow down; I constantly caught her creeping up on her speed... She still does it in the MH these days too...

[CAG]

I think I mentioned in another thread that being a farm/ranch girl heavy equipment and trailers have never intimidated my wife.

[tallcott]

We switch drivers every hour , with out stopping got rid of 5th wheel for that reason, just keep rolling down the road

[TaftCoach]

My wife’s first time towing was through a hilly, winding, no shoulder, two lane road. We wish we had practiced a bit before.

As others noted be prepared for when the primary driver is sick.

[RetiredOne]

The only time I can see my wife driving our rig, is if she is transporting me to the E.R.

[Mark S]

My wife is 5’0”. Her feet don’t even reach the floor of our Seneca. I had to make her a platform so her feet don’t dangle while we are driving. I just can’t understand why she won’t try driving. Lol.

On a serious note, if something happens where I cannot drive, we have FMCA who will provide a professional driver to get the RV home.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by TaftCoach

My wife’s first time towing was through a hilly, winding, no shoulder, two lane road. We wish we had practiced a bit before.

As others noted be prepared for when the primary driver is sick.

DW drew Raton pass going into Colorado a few years ago for her driving stint. I offered to keep driving so she wouldn't have to do it. She said no, "I'm fully as capable of driving this rig as you are!" She did great, though she was a little intimidated. We were still dragging around a trailer back then.

On the way home, same trip, she drove across Northern NM with a helluva cross wind. Things got a little squirrely, and I had to tell her constantly to just slow down. That time, she let me take over after only a short shift at the wheel; she was worn out.

I'm not sure if you guys know this, but she's got a heavy foot...

[norty1]

We had a member of our club have a mild heart attack when camping 300 miles from home. I volunteered to drive his rig home and my wife drove ours solo behind us for 6 hours.
No backing involved.

[NC Roamer]

Originally Posted by pconroy

The other thread made me remember an incident with our first RV.

My wife will drive as much, or more, than me. She often asks "Can I drive now?" 45 minutes after I just sat in the drivers seat.

A few years ago, she was driving our first RV.
I was napping/nodding in the dinette.

For some reason, I opened my eyes just in time to see the yellow sign whiz by:

Tunnel
Height 10' 3"
I think it took my sleepy brain a second to do the math.
But my mouth wouldn't cooperate.

"We, we, waaaa, no, no!"
"Won't! Fit, We Fit, Won't! No!"
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"
"WE WON'T FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"



Decided to put a post it note on the visor with our dimensions after that one.

I used mailbox numbers to stick our Greyhawk’s 11-6 height on the upper left of the windshield for quick reference.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

DW drew Raton pass going into Colorado a few years ago for her driving stint. I offered to keep driving so she wouldn't have to do it. She said no, "I'm fully as capable of driving this rig as you are!" She did great, though she was a little intimidated. We were still dragging around a trailer back then.

On the way home, same trip, she drove across Northern NM with a helluva cross wind. Things got a little squirrely, and I had to tell her constantly to just slow down. That time, she let me take over after only a short shift at the wheel; she was worn out.

I'm not sure if you guys know this, but she's got a heavy foot...

Do that, in a rain storm, at 9PM with major construction going on both up the pass and down. That scared the bejeebers out of me and I am fearless!

[2nOZ]

My DW pulled our previous TT on several occasions, by herself, to the dealership for maintenance. She has pulled the FW on one occasion from the campground to the house and always offers to relieve me on long trips. She does refuse to back because it is just not within her ability.

[Nodaker]

My wife takes a turn towing the 5er on most of our trips (I tend to get a drowsy spell after lunch). She hasn't had to back the 5er yet.

However, backing the boat trailer at the ramps is her responsibility. I get lots of envy from other fishermen as they see me in the boat while she backs down to launch or to pick up.

Yup, she's a farm girl!

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I'm not sure if you guys know this, but she's got a heavy foot...

Mine too.
I'm the one constantly whining "Slow down dammit!"