Guide
to reversing while towing
Reversing
while towing a trailer can be a daunting task but like most things
in life practice makes perfect. Remember that to make a trailer
turn in a particular direction you have to make the back of the
car turn in the opposite direction.
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Lets
say we want the trailer to turn in a particular direction.
If you had hold of the tow hook and where walking with the
trailer pushing it backwards you would push the back of
the trailer in the opposite direction so that the front
would going the direction you desired. If you now think
of the back of the towing car you need to make the back
of your car push the back of the trailer in the same. You
would turn the wheels of the car to the opposite direction
that you wished the trailer to take. When you reversed this
would make the back of the car move away from the direction
you wished to reverse to but that in turn would turn the
trailer in the desired direction.
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Practice
makes perfect! |
However as you continue to reverse the car would continue to increase
its direction away from the corner and therefore your trailer
would continue in the opposite direction until the side of your
car would touch the side of your trailer. This is called jackknifing
and needs to be avoided. We need to take off the lock to reduce
this and then follow the trailer in reverse.
It all sounds complicated but below is a diagram to explain the
different stages of reversing with a trailer or caravan.
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