F150 Trailer Park assist

[BigGrey]

Can the trailer park assist be used with an airstream? Propane tanks do not allow sticker placement between 7-22 inches as manual requires ???
Help !!!

[Mikenbern]

Yes -- I just put it on the tongue right in front of the propane cover. It works great. I have a 27 FB (2017) with a 2016 Ford F150 Platinum SuperCrew

[BigGrey]

Thank You
Does it matter which side of the tongue it is placed on

[uncle_bob]

Hi

You can place it on either side.

Bob

[BigGrey]

Thank You

[daleyocum]

On my 25’ Flying Cloud and 2016 F150 I had to do a lot of experimentation. Putting it on the hitch in front of the tank didn’t always work. I finally ended up with this kludgy solution. Works all the time and the truck seldom looses the sticker. It may be later model F150s have better technology making this unnecessary.

[ElliotA]

I just bought a new F150 and Park Assist works excellently with my 2006 28 foot S/O.


Takes some practice and getting used to.

[Imasailor]

Originally Posted by daleyocum

On my 25’ Flying Cloud and 2016 F150 I had to do a lot of experimentation. Putting it on the hitch in front of the tank didn’t always work. I finally ended up with this kludgy solution. Works all the time and the truck seldom looses the sticker. It may be later model F150s have better technology making this unnecessary.

have a 2016 F150 XLT.

[Toasterlife]

Perhaps an ignorant question but is the Trailer Park Assist limited to the F150 trucks or can I buy it or a similar add on for a Dodge Ram - our current TV? Backing into spots is the most stressful part of our whole camping experience. Also we favor National and State Parks rather than campgrounds so spaces can be a bit tight and sometimes gnarly.

[Labaree]

Has anyone used it with the pro pride hitch? I’ve got a 25’ AS and have not been able to set it up using this hitch.

[xyzabe]

Originally Posted by Toasterlife

Perhaps an ignorant question but is the Trailer Park Assist limited to the F150 trucks or can I buy it or a similar add on for a Dodge Ram - our current TV? Backing into spots is the most stressful part of our whole camping experience. Also we favor National and State Parks rather than campgrounds so spaces can be a bit tight and sometimes gnarly.

Only available as a factory option on Ford trucks. On F-150s 2015 and newer. On the newest Super Duty (250) if I remember right.

[daleyocum]

Originally Posted by Labaree

Has anyone used it with the pro pride hitch? I’ve got a 25’ AS and have not been able to set it up using this hitch.

Ford makes a point in the manual of saying it is only designed for conventional ball hitches. The problem is in your case the trailer doesn’t pivot at the ball. I don’t know if you could fake the backup system out to work well enough by using my trick and mounting the sticker farther out and away from the ball (see picture above.) The idea is to have the sticker as far away from the ball as Ford will allow decreasing the effect of the usual geometry of the Pro pride hitch.

[daleyocum]

Originally Posted by BigGrey

Thank You
Does it matter which side of the tongue it is placed on

At sharp turns the hitch jack may block the sticker. For that reason I put mine on the curb side of the trailer because backing in that direction is harder to do manually should I lose sticker contact. On my trailer is it’s also away from the the emergency brake cable.

Ford doesn’t care which side. I haven’t tried two stickers, I suspect confused software would result.

[mikeinca]

Originally Posted by xyzabe

Only available as a factory option on Ford trucks. On F-150s 2015 and newer. On the newest Super Duty (250) if I remember right.

The new Super Duty models (2017-) have a version of the back up assist feature which uses cameras and a sticker to display guidance lines in the Synch display, but there is no control knob and you can't work the steering wheel remotely like you can with the F-150.

The reason is that while the F150 uses the motor of the electrically assisted steering to manipulate the wheel with hands-off, the F-250 still has hydraulic steering assist and requires a human driver to turn the wheel manually.

I have the same frustrating, hit and miss issues with the F-250 BUA feature as I had with the one on my F-150; it cuts out with sharp turns and also in sun/shade situations where the camera loses the sticker. I don't even bother with it anymore.

[Leilanisteve]

I just watched some videos on this technology. I don’t think I would pay extra for this feature. I’ve always thought it helped guide the trailer in reverse for you but you still have to twist a knob to steer and park it. I want my hand on the wheel and just go with the steering hand at 6 o’clock on the wheel and the trailer will move in the same direction. That’s how my brain is learning all this anyway.
Steve

[mikeinca]

Originally Posted by Leilanisteve

I just watched some videos on this technology. I don’t think I would pay extra for this feature. I’ve always thought it helped guide the trailer in reverse for you but you still have to twist a knob to steer and park it. I want my hand on the wheel and just go with the steering hand at 6 o’clock on the wheel and the trailer will move in the same direction. That’s how my brain is learning all this anyway.
Steve

When the feature is working properly it's actually pretty cool and makes backing up really easy, so those that have had no issues with the system are fortunate. But when it cuts out in mid-operation, either from inadvertently touching the steering wheel or losing synch with the sticker, you have to mentally recalibrate since you now need to turn the wheel in the opposite direction you were turning the control knob. Meanwhile, you're cursing the fact that the knob is no longer responding to your inputs and having to reboot the feature in the middle of a tricky backing maneuver. Your brain is probably better off learning the old fashioned method.

[mrsretail6]

Darn! I wished I knew this before. I just bought my F150 last week with the Trail park assist. It has not worked correct for me either. It will work , sometime then it wil say sticker not located. Most of the time. I wished I had not purchase this option. I just starting to learn to tow byself and thought this would help me , and make me fell more comfortable. Not the case!

[daleyocum]

Originally Posted by mrsretail6

Darn! I wished I knew this before. I just bought my F150 last week with the Trail park assist. It has not worked correct for me either. It will work , sometime then it wil say sticker not located. Most of the time. I wished I had not purchase this option. I just starting to learn to tow byself and thought this would help me , and make me fell more comfortable. Not the case!

The problem is Airstream short hitches and propane tank mounting are just at the edge of what the system can handle. That can result in a lot of frustration where it works sometimes and sometimes not. It worked great on my previous Camplite trailer but not with the stickers on the frame of the AS.

Most of my problems went away when I mounted the sticker as shown in the photo in post #6. The pickup’s software just isn’t optimized for Airstream geometry and needs a little help. You can make that with 1.5” or 2” aluminum L from Home Depot, Lowes, or Ace.

Also, the system really needs the camera, light, and sticker to be clean. Wipe those off once a day.

This backup feature is worth every penny. The way we use it is my wife is behind the wheel and I direct her with simple instructions over walkie talkie like “Driver partial”, “passenger partial”, “driver full”, “passenger full”, “straight back”. We almost always make it into every spot the first try and are still married! Bystanders are amazed when we just slide into tight spots in just a minute or two on our first try.

[ForestStranger]

Originally Posted by Labaree

Has anyone used it with the pro pride hitch? I’ve got a 25’ AS and have not been able to set it up using this hitch.

Yes. Put your sticker here, enter 16" max distance and take measurements from the license plate.

Seems to work, but I feel more comfortable doing it the old fashioned way.

[mrsretail6]

Thanks, I will give that a try!👍