Send out your spotter even in the rain

NewBlackDak · 10-14-2013, 09:33 PM

We got a 10 ft crease in the side of trailer this weekend. Not through the paint, but it's dented and ugly.

I pulled into new camp spot on BLM land, and caught a branch on a juniper bush that I just did not see. It was dark, and raining when we got there, and I was trying to save DW from getting completely soaked. Moral of the story is send out the spotter, especially in bad weather. It was a great 5 night trip other that that mishap.

clutch · 10-15-2013, 08:34 PM

Spotters are very important. I have a small ding on the back bumper of our trailer because I wasn't paying enough attention to the spotter.

Donr827 · 10-16-2013, 03:35 AM

I will get out and check out the site first looking for any potential problems. When I am ready to start backing in I will have her get out and just watch to make sure I am not about to hit something. She is not good at giving backing instructions so she just spots.
Don

maromeo · 10-16-2013, 04:22 AM

I am the spotter. I'm out there whether it is calm, raining, snowing, sleet or the dark of night. I have experienced all types of weather and tight maneuvering into various sites and next to the side of our home. I started spotting after my father caught the topside of his MH on the side of our home and had to repair a 6" gash. Sometime it is tricky but it works for us. We use our cell phones or if no signal, I use hand gestures. LOL.

Mary Anne

cekkk · 10-16-2013, 05:15 AM

DW is good at both spotting and backing. We use hand signals or 2-ways, so there's very little fun for our "neighbors" to enjoy. The only trouble we have is when some well-meaning chap decides he has to help. I don't need company then or when I'm setting up or breaking down.

33 RLDS · 10-16-2013, 05:47 AM

I am my own spotter. I get out and check if I have to. I see too many couples yelling at each other. Its just less stressful for us this way..

Camper_bob · 10-16-2013, 07:40 AM

We use radios. Luckily we haven't had to do it in bad weather yet, but that's what rain coats and umbrellas are for. The DW spots (she won't even drive, let alone back up), but she has done it for years, just new to TT spotting. She knows to use her voice if she can't see my eyes in the mirrors for any reason. After our last trip when I was trying to talk into the 2-way at the same time she was, I'm not allowed to talk any more (she didn't want to learn proper radio protocol). I just tell her what I want, and I leave my radio in the cup holder for the whole process, except for the occasional question. This arrangement results in an experience with a much lower decibel level...

Tail_gunner · 10-16-2013, 10:13 AM

I don't use a spotter. The Mrs bought a couple of walkie-talkie radios and would stand totally out of sight directly behind the camper. She'd tell me over the radio (and I quote) "you need to come this way, now come the other way". Since I couldn't see her, I had no idea where I needed to go. Needless to say, that didn't work very good.

Then on a RV show on TV, I saw an idea I liked a lot. I bought 6 small orange cones. When I get to our campsite, I place them on the campsite exactly where I want to park it. I then back the camper in and all I have to do is keep it between the cones. As long as I do that, I won't bump into anything.

usmc616 · 10-18-2013, 06:47 AM

My teenage son is my spotter. No matter what he always is willing to help me back in. Sometimes he uses an umbrella and sometimes a flashlight, but so far he has never tried to get out of his responsibility.

dmax_83 · 10-18-2013, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33 RLDS

I am my own spotter. I get out and check if I have to. I see too many couples yelling at each other. Its just less stressful for us this way..

Same here. No damage yet and no fighting. Lol

slabat · 10-20-2013, 06:27 PM

I like to get out and check my spot as well. If I know something is tight I will have my wife watch that item for me while I am backing in.

Seann45 · 10-21-2013, 06:22 AM

Whats a spotter? I travel solo... so I get out and check every few feet backing up.. Just added a back up cam on the rear of the RV to help.. photos will be put on the mods section as soon as I do a few finishing touches..

Iraqvet05 · 10-21-2013, 01:14 PM

I use a spotter (DW) and we do argue a bit at times but she has prevent me from side-swiping trees, electric posts and a picnic table or two. I've worked in crowded Army motorpools with heavy equipment for years and learned the value of a spotter (ground guide)....I don't want to run anything or anyone over backing up my rig. If I'm solo and dropping my TT of at the storage lot, I get out and check a few times.

bigbird · 10-21-2013, 02:08 PM

Remember the back up beepers. I put one on my full size van in the 80's. I guess they were to intimidating or annoying because I don't see them in use anymore but they alerted anybody when I came out of my driveway.

eldermike · 10-21-2013, 02:20 PM

I get out and look for myself and visualize the needed track for my inside trailer wheels, I drop a stack of plastic blocks where I want my wheel to end up, get back in the truck and follow that visual in my head until my closest inside wheel is in position. My wife gets out and her only instruction is yell stop if I am about to hit something. But there is never anything to hit. Most of backing issues are taken care of by driving your rig forward to the proper starting point. Most people look at the whole trailer, I look at one wheel. I know how big, how wide I am so I know that my wheel has to track where I want it to track. If I lose my image of what I am doing I get back out and replace it in my head.

msturtz · 10-21-2013, 02:28 PM

I always ask my DW to get out and look even in the dark and or rain. It isn't worth hitting something. I also check the location myself and explain where I want to be. I also had to train her on what I need her to look for so she knows how to communicate to me. We even have a system using light signals to use when it is dark.

cekkk · 10-21-2013, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbird

Remember the back up beepers. I put one on my full size van in the 80's. I guess they were to intimidating or annoying because I don't see them in use anymore but they alerted anybody when I came out of my driveway.

http://www.amazon.com/Allison-13-964...2405498&sr=1-9

bigbird · 10-21-2013, 07:55 PM

Back up beeper, can't beat the price and now even easier to install.

cekkk · 10-21-2013, 08:32 PM

My wife's new Expedition has a rear camera and I've had occasion to hook up to two cargo trailers we have several times now. I've learned it to the point that I can back under the coupler the nearly perfectly. Got to get one for my TV.

Siamese · 06-18-2018, 06:49 PM

She'll use a golf umbrella for spotting and for getting the trailer level side to side. She puts the level on the side of the trailer and tells me how far to back up onto the Anderson levelers. As soon as that's done, she'll go inside.

Usually I'm in charge of leveling fore and aft, and undoing the WDH and stowing it's parts, while she's in charge of the utilities (water, sewer, electric, and cable). But, when it's raining there's no point in having two wet rain-suits, so I'll just do it all.

This makes rain pretty much a non issue for us.

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