BACKING RANGE HELP
 

:?: I am currently attending a C D L school. Myself and another student are having trouble on the backing range. We both are left handed, we both are average or above on all other driving. The right handers are days ahead of us, instructor is baffled. Straight line backing o k, parallel parking not so good. Both having trouble setting up straight. Most left handers do right handed things backwards, such as writing or tying knots. Any help or advise welcome. thanks lifetime lefty.

Practice, Practice, Practice. There is not a pill I can give you to make you understand backing, you just need to do it more. You are at school because nobody can back without practice. Get out and look so you understand how the trailer moves when you turn the wheel. Take every minute you can to get behind the wheel.

There also must be a formula, like turn the wheel so many times, back up so far, turn the wheel back, etc. Discover the formula and you can do it the same every time, the key is in getting set up properly.

If I had to take a guess I would say you are over thinking things. I am left handed and IMHO unlike other things we come across there really is not any adaptation for being left handed when it comes to driving a truck.

There are several methods you can try that may help you in figuring out which way to turn the wheel to get the trailer to go in the direction you want it to go in.

Hand at top of wheel: Steer towards trouble. In other words in which ever mirror you see too much trailer in or the trailer going to the wrong side or to the side you don't wish to the trailer to go.

Hand at the bottom of wheel: Turn the wheel in the direction you want the trailer to go.

Hand at top of wheel: Turn in the opposite direction you want to go in.

Try them all and see which works best for you.

Also remember to go slow and that it takes time for the trailer to respond to what you do upfront. Oversteering in a common big problem for newbies during backing.

Finally relax. Play around with things until they click for you. When I went through school, each and every one of us progressed at a different rate. We all had backs that just clicked quickly and others that took some time and one thing we all had in common is that we found the advice from our instructors was a starting point and that in the end we had to find our own way of doing it so that it made sense to both our minds and bodies.

I worked at a driving school for a couple of years, and most of my time was spent on the backing range. What I am going to tell you is not something I came up with, but taught to me from a man who had 30 years experience.

But I found it to be so true.

When you are backing up get use to holding the steering wheel and not looking in the mirror, out the window, and then back at the steering wheel. Do look out the window and mirror, but don't look at the steering wheel because it does not let your brain get used to working without seeing what your hand is doing.

When I had new students I would get on the running board with them in the drivers seat (We had a big range) and have them just back the truck up (not trying to get it in a hole or straight line) just get use to backing the truck up by looking in the mirrors and not the steering wheel.

There is no formula for turn the wheel so many times and then turn it back. Reason is that you will never ever be in the exact same spot every time you back.

You just have to get use to working your hand, eye, and brain together.

Not everyone I had learned the same.

It takes 8 feet from the time the steering wheel starts to turn until your trailer tires make the turn.

One last thing, the people who had the most problem backing were people who had pulled boats, trailers, etc... behind their vehicles prior to coming to school. This was due to the fact that there is alot of difference between a boar and 53 trailer.

Actually I would say its more of the 'Ohh I know how to do this' attitude, same thing with people who drive manual tranny cars and go to drive a truck, tend to have a lot of probs ;)

lifetime lefty
 

hey there, i just finished school, and there are some tricks i can pass along. are you having trouble with your parallel, your str. lime backing or both?? 8)

Another thing to think about or consider when trying to "steer" a semi trailer. (forward or backward). A semi trailer, unlike a full trailer, does not have a steer axle, per say. (not till its coupled to the power unit). Guess where the steer axle is for the trailer when coupled. The power units Drive axle(s). (not the power units steer axle). As you practice backing on the range, "visualize" the "cut" the drive axle is giving the trailer, the more "cut" the tighter the turn...also the more cut the longer it will take to recover the trailer from the turn. Once I understood that concept it got a whole lot simpler. Also...dont disregard the power units steer axle as this must also be kept in mind, you are steering the power unit to steer the trailer, you are always steering two units, at all times. To this day, I still "think" about my drive axles acting as the "steer" axle for the trailer, and it works great.
Practice....Practice....Practice.

I remember the range...shudder...shudder...

The thing that helped me most, in finally "getting it" on the backing, was the moment I realized that there really is a period between the time I made an adjustment and when the trailer responded (like the one poster mentioned above.)
I would turn the wheel really hard, trying to make the turn as sharp as I thought it needed to be to put my trailer in place. What always happened was that I'd turned or cut it too much!! And would end up practically jack-knifed!!
This'll probably sound weird, but I started "aiming" the back end of my trailer at a point just outside where I wanted it to go---because that drift period would drop it into place if I let it! It started working consistently once I realized I could use that drift to my advantage!
Good luck. Getting out and looking, at each point of the maneuver, also helps you visualize problem spots. Just keep at it, though. It'll actually become a matter of pride, someday!

another thing to consider is?

are you left EYE dominate?

Thats the way I remembered how to correct