Mock up 27 for testing ?

[Belbein]

By now you all know that I'm trying to figure out if we should buy a 25 or a 27. It comes down to the question of whether I can get it in my driveway. I'd love to buy the 27, but: I live on a narrow street and have to back into a narrow area bounded by a lightpole and a tree.


I can't find a 27 to rent in Atlanta to test access.* So I'm seeking good creative ideas about how I might create a mock-up to check backability. Any ideas?


----------
*Even if I could find a 27 to rent, or if I could find a volunteer to try it with their 27, the problem is going to be planning for failure. There would be no way to turn the 27 test vehicle around if the experiment failed: if the driveway isn't accessible, it can't be turned there. And at the end of my street is a cul de sac, which isn't big enough to turn around a 27.

[pteck]

I personally don't think you're going to find many opportunities to put someone's else's trailer in harms way for a test. At least not an airstream.

I would say to try to rent an SOB trailer, representatively long, and give her a whirl. Perhaps a shorter one just in case and assess the clearance and difficulty of that to understand if a larger one is manageable.

Perhaps you can take a bird eye screen shot of the situation and we could give you an idea whether the layout could be managed?

[Lumatic]

This educational video will tell you all you need to know:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6CbffjZ6fI

[SSquared]

A couple thoughts.

The key measurements are the width of the driveway and the width of the street. Plus the trailer length and vehicle turning circle.

We were invited to moochdock at my brother-in-law's house. He has a fence in his front yard, and there is a fence across the way, making it pretty tight. Before we arrived, we did a maximum turning angle parking maneuver in a dirt parking lot and measured the tire tracks. It turns out we need a 27 foot wide street to back into a 13 foot driveway. That's with a 25FB trailer and a GMC Yukon TV. The Yukon has a good turning circle: 39.5 feet. For HD pickups the circle can be much larger, like 55 feet or even more.

With a wider driveway, the street could be a little narrower.

The other thought is to get a powered trailer parking dolly.

[Belbein]

I learned two things from that video when I first saw it years and years ago. (1) Don't let Ricky Ricardo drive; (2) don't ever try to back anything up when a bunch of people are watching. I've actually gotten out of my truck and campgrounds and shooed "helpful" people away when I was trying to back into a spot.

[kpm]

Originally Posted by Belbein

By now you all know that I'm trying to figure out if we should buy a 25 or a 27. It comes down to the question of whether I can get it in my driveway. I'd love to buy the 27, but: I live on a narrow street and have to back into a narrow area bounded by a lightpole and a tree.
[...]
*Even if I could find a 27 to rent, or if I could find a volunteer to try it with their 27, the problem is going to be planning for failure. There would be no way to turn the 27 test vehicle around if the experiment failed: if the driveway isn't accessible, it can't be turned there. And at the end of my street is a cul de sac, which isn't big enough to turn around a 27.

I can't tell if you are intending to back down your street, or if not, I'm not understanding your comment about turning around.

I second pteck's suggestion to post a bird's-eye view. Perhaps a google earth screen shot?

[Acheron2010]

not a 26?

[mikeinca]

This method worked when I was trying to figure out whether and by how much I would have to modify my driveway entrance in order to get the 30' Classic we were considering up to the house.

I used C-clamps to attach 1" x 2" wooden strips to the metal skids under the back bumper of the 25' Flying Cloud we had at the time to simulate the added length of a 30' trailer. My main concern was whether the longer overhang of the bigger trailer would make contact with the driveway. (It did and we had to modify the driveway).

I don't know whether your worries are with clearance or turning radius (or both), but with the wood strips hanging off the back of your 22' Sport to model the length of a 27 footer it might give you some idea of what to expect on both counts.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

One as yet unmentioned solution is to back the trailer with something other than the tow vehicle. There are several cute little "power units" that you can put on the ball and push the trailer around. Unless you have a significant slope involved, they will do a fine job moving it. There are a lot of models and approaches (electric / gas ....). The prices also have a fairly wide range. None are a significant fraction of the price of a new AS.

The advantage is that you can "pivot" much more sharply when a TV is not involved. You can also do a lot of fiddly back and forth stuff that would drive you nuts with a truck.

Most basic way to check is to grab a tape measure and some random objects. See if they can be placed in a "right sized" rectangle at the intended parking point. If not .... back to the 25'. Then grab a stick that is about 12' long (= wider than the trailer) and "sweep out" (= walk along) the route into the space. You will find the pinch points and then can lay out another rectangle there.

Considering that the 25' is 25' 11" and the 27' is 27' 11", there really isn't a lot of difference between the two.

Bob

[nuttinbutxs]

Also, a front hitch on your TT makes manuvering easier. I use a ball mounted on the bucket of a front end loader and I can easily swivel the trailer on a dime.

[Ronman]

I have a 27’ and tow with a 1997 F350 crew long bed. I back down the cul-de-sac. Really pretty easy. It’s the initial angle and then hitting the line down to our driveway.
I also agree with renting an SOB for the initial run to your landing pad.

[tbashin]

Can you cut the tree down and widen the driveway? Having it at home is a big deal to us. I keep our 31' in the barn but we are in it for one reason or the other several times a week at minimum.