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dtbw · 04-24-2003, 06:04 PM

Rickk48,
The tongue twister comes off the jack post as you raise the jack for travel. The jack post is just sitting in the "cup" of the tongue twister.

As for why we need a tongue twister...ratcheting the tongue over a little bit for a perfect alignment is a LOT easier that moving the whole tow vehicle, but to each his/her own.

david
02 Bambi LS
WBCCI # 7548

driftwood · 07-29-2005, 06:18 PM

My '65 Safari has (had) this mounted. Note in one pix that you can actually see the reflection of the tongue!

davidz71 · 07-29-2005, 07:56 PM

Looking over my right shoulder I have learned to line up the bolts on my closed tailgate with the 2 40 lb. tanks. As I get closer I get out to make final adjustments until I am over the ball. With the Hensley on my newly purchased '86 Sovereign I am just playing it by ear.

Pahaska · 07-29-2005, 10:15 PM

I always hook up by myself and prefer to do so.

I just threw away my convex mirror this week after not using it for a year or two. At the distance of the pickup bed, the image in the mirror was way to small for any accuracy. Add to that the fact that my truck cab is in bright sunlight and the hitch ball is in the shadow of the roof of the storage shed and what I could see in the mirror was usually so dark as to be useless.

I simply line up the knob on my bed cover with the little level in the center of the trailer.and back up until I am quite close. I get out once and check alignment and any needed angular correction. I then leave the door open and look down at the pavement to gage the distance I move back. I find that to be more accurate than looking back at the trailer.

I usually get out only once. Occasionally, I go a bit too far and gently bump the hitch. I then look down at the ground again to gage how much to pull forward.

R&SZinser · 07-30-2005, 10:46 AM

I'll pile on to the 'do it yourself' camp.

I've gotten pretty good... Only takes me 15 or so hops in-and-out of the truck to get it ready.

grizzy · 07-30-2005, 01:28 PM

My wife also hates helping guide me when hitching -- I picked one of these simple devices a few years ago. It works great!

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...=SRCH&tcode=37

Pahaska · 07-30-2005, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grizzy

My wife also hates helping guide me when hitching -- I picked one of these simple devices a few years ago. It works great!

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...=SRCH&tcode=37

This is exactly the thing that I threw in the garbage this week as being totally useless. I bought it at Camping World expecting big things for it, used it a dozen or so times, and found that I could line up better without it than with it. The image at that distance was so small that I practically needed a telescope to see anything in it. The shadow of the storage yard roof completed the problem by putting the user in the sun and the ball in the shade.

I once had a convex mirror mounted permanantly on the hitch of my gooseneck Scamp trailer. That worked fine since the ball was only about 4' from the driver's seat and the image ws plenty large. The only problem there was learning which way to turn since mounting the ball on the hitch gives a totally different effect than having it on the TV.

nickcrowhurst · 07-30-2005, 02:57 PM

I purchased a NAPA convex mirror with bracket for about $7 and permanently mounted it on the propane tank cover's lid. When the lid is fully open, the mirror is in the correct position. When the lid is closed, the mirror is discreetly tucked away behind the cover. Like John, I found it very difficult to see the ball on the pickup, until I fitted a fluorescent orange ball cover, purchased at my local Airstream dealer. This ball cover transforms the operation. Now I can view the whole operation perfectly clearly, and I back up until the orange ball just disappears from view under the hitch. I have also painted a couple of "leading marks" on the tailgate and the front of the Airstream. I have slit the front of the ball cover, so I can remove it without having to lift it a long way when the truck ball is immediately below the hitch. With this set-up, I can always hitch up first time. I must confess to a little of the sin of pride in this operation!

Nick.

flyfisher · 07-30-2005, 05:05 PM

My dear wife can't ever give clear verbal directions. She often says "go right" when she means "go left", and her 12" can often be as much as a yard.

However, after about 5 years of giving me directions to help with hitching up, I'll have to give her credit. Doggone, she is actually getting pretty good!

We almost always hitch up in the daytime, and our communication is exclusively done via her hand signals that I look at in my side view mirror.

As long as she's not talking, we do just fine!

John

Anon · 07-30-2005, 06:10 PM

When Candie, (the wife), is with me she and I work well toghether. We have been towing Argosys and Airstreams since we first met 18 years ago.
She does an excellent job in backing me up! It only took 17 years for her to master it!

uwe · 07-30-2005, 06:52 PM

I end up doing it myself....too much stress otherwise. I don't know what it is that becomes so irritating about getting lined up wrong. This needs professional analysis, in my opinion.

dmac · 07-30-2005, 09:46 PM

My wife has no idea how long a foot is, or an inch, etc. I hitch it myself. I do the exact process that Erwin described, but it usually takes me 2 or 3 tries before I get things aligned properly. I do not have a mirror or other cool devices, yet.

Alden Miller · 08-09-2005, 05:45 AM

I've got the hookup part down pretty good. Usually quicker if I do it myself. I line up the center of my bedliner with the rivets on the propane cover. Once I get reasonably close I check alignment and distance. Then I leave the drivers door of the truck open and mark the edge of it against a reference point on the ground. Back up until the door edge is over the reference point and drop the trailer on the ball.

Now, when it comes to parking the trailer... My wife likes to tell me to "move the trailer over", "watch out for the tree", "it's crooked". I keep working on her to give me reference points (driver's left, driver's right...). We use the radio's but I am still working with her to get her to hold the transmit button down before she starts talking...

-Alden

**azflycaster** · 08-09-2005, 06:22 AM

The problem I had was understanding my wife's signals. Was I too far left or an illegal receiver downfield? We always got it close enough when we had a small tent trailer (we could wheel it around some). When we got the Airstream I bought one of these:
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...m?skunum=21332
It makes the ride home much more enjoyable!

dscluchfc · 08-09-2005, 08:56 AM

You have an easy hitch up the same way you get to Carnegie Hall......practice!

**Janet H** · 08-09-2005, 09:36 AM

Embarrassing confession:

One of my favorite campground activities is surreptitiously watching folks parks. I know I shouldn't watch but just so dang entertaining! Pulling a lawn chair over to the event and popping open a cold one would complete the experience but whenever I suggest it, I'm told in horror by my saner than I husband, that it's just not done. I am continually amazed by "parking helpers" who fail to stand where they can be seen in the drivers mirrors. Hanging head in shame now.......

Inland RV Center, In · 08-09-2005, 09:55 AM

What is the greatest cause for divorces amoung Airstream owners????????

Parking "misguiders".

Turn this way, no turn that way, has not quite made it to Mr. Websters dictonary, along with "that rock wasn't there a minute ago", and "where in the devil did that tree come from?"

Andy

wahoonc · 08-09-2005, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janet

Embarrassing confession:

One of my favorite campground activities is surreptitiously watching folks parks. I know I shouldn't watch but just so dang entertaining! Pulling a lawn chair over to the event and popping open a cold one would complete the experience but whenever I suggest it, I'm told in horror by my saner than I husband, that it's just not done. I am continually amazed by "parking helpers" who fail to stand where they can be seen in the drivers mirrors. Hanging head in shame now.......

Gee Janet...maybe we need to camp together...my wife and your hubby can hide out and pretend they don't know us...I'll bring the cooler if you have chairs

Aaron

markparker22 · 08-09-2005, 12:15 PM

Having bought the convex mirror product at Camping World I was frustrated with getting it to stay mounted on the back of my Suburban (with barn doors). The suction cup method was not satisfactory. Having read the posts in this string about mounting mirrors to the propane tank cover lead me to merely mount the convex mirror "legs" with screws into a sufficiently wide piece of plywood (1' x 2 1/2') and then temporarily place it on top of the propane trank cover. Granted it does not fold up into a small configuration anymore but it works.

Foiled Again · 08-09-2005, 02:29 PM

There are two rivets on the propane tank cover that I can see through the rear view mirror in my barn door suburban. I got it lined up right, but did not drop the hitch down, then drew two 2 inch diameter circles on the outside back windows of the 'burb where I thought the rivets would appear to be centered in. I jumped back in the cab, checked the actual alignment, jumped out and corrected it a couple of times until I had it perfect, then lowered the trailer and successfully got the ball locked on, THEN I DREW THE CIRCLES ON THE INSIDE OF THE WINDOW and wiped them off of the outside. This actually works for both left and right and distance. The "eyes" look crosseyed if I'm too far away.

I'm a single woman in my 50's, and lots of nice men offer to hitch it for me or help me (usually a "God help me" experience). Then they just drop their jaws because I can often back up and drop the hitch on in one try.

With the smoked glass you can't see my black magic marker circles from the outside.

I get the "I wish my wife was coordinated enough to to that" has led me to confess my guilty little secret to more than one....

PS I like the gooseneck mirror idea too. If you can't see the hitch in the mirror because the trailer is in the shade put a flashlight on the A-frame pointing at the ball.

Tin Lizzie