Backing into narrow driveway. - Page 2 - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 01-09-2012, 11:13 PM   #21
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2008 21 ft Bigfoot Rear Bed
Posts: 629
Thank you for all great ideas. Steel pipe guides would likely work very well, the issue could be a high cost and reselling of the residential property. Winch and pulley sounds very intriguing, it would require 3 wheel guidance system (jack and trailer wheels). PVC over wood as guides could be a good option. I will keep you posted on the progress.


I removed the gate today to increase the clearance by a few inches and will begin tests tomorrow. The original dual inward swing gate will have to be changed to a single outward swing gate capable to swing up the hill with 1’ flipped bottom. I will begin the gate project after the reality test of getting the trailer somewhere in the driveway.



Thank you again,


George.



PS, This forum is very innovative, love it.
GeorgeR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2012, 09:07 PM   #22
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2008 21 ft Bigfoot Rear Bed
Posts: 629
Some progress.

Thank you all for your feedback. My wife and I parked our trailer with just walkie-talkies. It was a pain, so I am looking for possible options. In addition; due to clearance I need to replace a 2 part gate to a single one mounted on the fence post able to swing uphill which is another cost of a most likely custom gate, I had to remove the gate to get the trailer in. The following options with some variations are left for my final decision:

1. Push with my truck and mount a camera Rear View Camera on the rear trailer's bumper which would be connected to my currently installed rearview system. I still have one available channel on current installation. Align the camera with the concrete expansion joint. Adding a quick trailer connector would speed-up set-ups.

2. Push with my truck and mount wireless SenseStat sensors on the trailer SenseStat Obstacle Detection Sensor System Wireless - $254.09
Due to 80 degree sensor ultrasonic cone shaped beam and minimum working distance of about 6”, sensors would have to be mounted about 20” above the ground, 18” in from the trailer sidewall and 7” behind the rear bumper.

3. Utilizing the driveway slope, use a custom 4’x4’ trailer dolly with an offset shaft allowing me to see side clearance during controlling trailer direction while winching. Use a winch mounted on either dolly or the truck to let the trailer go down and up.

I am leaning towards SenseStat due to accuracy.

One of the options I evaluated was to use a very expensive EU style trailer movers permanently attached to the trailer capable of moving single or dual axle trailers Compare Caravan Movers. They would fit perfectly my application of 2-3% slope. These movers are popular in the EU, but the only company which distributed one of them in the US is out of business - Powrtouch Trailer Mover so I asked myself why. The trailer movers which are popular in US are under trailer tongue movers. I think that the reason is that weight of hitches in the US is much higher than in the EU increasing the turning moment in consequence overwhelming the movers. So, I dropped that expensive option early in the process.
George.
Attached Thumbnails
GR234878.jpg   GR234879.JPG  

GR234880.JPG   Last options.jpg  

GeorgeR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2012, 11:35 PM   #23
Senior Member
 
Daniel V.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: 1974 Trillium 13 ft
Posts: 495
More out-of-the-box ideas...

- A pulled trailer always goes straight. It is when backing up (i.e. pushing it from the front) that it tends to have a mind of its own. Did you consider coming up with a way to pull it from behind?

- Mounting stick-on laser levels on house and/or trailer that you can then line up and monitor from truck.

- Mount camera on house high above trailer looking downwards, overseeing the entire scene.
__________________
Driving on parkways and parking in driveways.
Daniel V. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2012, 08:29 PM   #24
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2008 21 ft Bigfoot Rear Bed
Posts: 629
Thank you for your new out of the box ideas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel V. View Post
- A pulled trailer always goes straight. It is when backing up (i.e. pushing it from the front) that it tends to have a mind of its own. Did you consider coming up with a way to pull it from behind?
I agree with your judgment than trailer pulled will go in straight line. My driveway has 2-3% down slope which would require some way of controlling potential freewheeling down, so this option could be complex.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel V. View Post
More
- Mounting stick-on laser levels on house and/or trailer that you can then line up and monitor from truck.
Definitely possible, but to get some analog measurement result would likely be complex.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel V. View Post
- Mount camera on house high above trailer looking downwards, overseeing the entire scene.
This one could possibly solve my problem. I am looking into wireless 110VAC or 12 VDC cameras and 12VDC monitor for the truck. I will not be able to see the fence clearance side but the house side is more critical in case of oopsie. Thank you.
George.
GeorgeR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2012, 10:27 PM   #25
Senior Member
 
Daniel V.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: 1974 Trillium 13 ft
Posts: 495
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeorgeR View Post
trailer pulled will go in straight line.
Sorry, I somehow managed to miss Greybeard's posts above that pretty much explain this same idea.
__________________
Driving on parkways and parking in driveways.
Daniel V. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2012, 06:19 PM   #26
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2008 21 ft Bigfoot Rear Bed
Posts: 629
Aluminum gate

The new aluminum gate project is done. The lower panel can swing up allowing the gate to swing up the hill resulting with widest possible access to the driveway. The previous gate had to be removed to park the trailer. Old gate went as a freebie on Craigslist in 3 min.

The most likely next step is purchasing and installation of wireless ultrasound sensors so I can monitor trailer position between the fence and the wall while pushing it. I am drawing the mounts, the issue is that the minimum working sensor distance to obstacle is 8.7", minimum height is 1.3', and beam cone is 80 degree so it is a challenge for sensor mounting.

SenseStat Obstacle Detection Sensor System Wireless - $254.09

My wife is beginning to discuss a possible change to a smaller, single axle trailer or a Sprinter conversion both of which would be easier to maneuver. Smaller trailers and the Sprinter are less than 7’ wide. Time will tell where this discussion will go.

George.
Attached Thumbnails
Gate reduced size.jpg   Gate reduced size-2.jpg  

GeorgeR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2012, 02:48 PM   #27
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2008 21 ft Bigfoot Rear Bed
Posts: 629
Beginning of the end of the parking saga.

The parking saga continues. In preparation for our 1-2 month trip, we just removed the trailer from our driveway; it was a challenge especially to clear a Verizon green box which reduces the clearance by an additional 6”. It was more difficult to get it out than to get it in. I used rear a hitch and at one point I thought I will have to re-hitch the trailer to either the front or rear hitch. I cleared the rear canopy arm by less than an inch with great help from my wife. After this hard process my wife and I decided to sadly sell the trailer after our trip. The task of parking is overwhelming impeding camping trips.
George.
GeorgeR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2012, 03:03 PM   #28
Senior Member
 
cpaharley2008's Avatar
 
Name: jim
Trailer: 2022 Escape19 pulled by 2014 Dodge Ram Hemi Sport
Pennsylvania
Posts: 6,710
Registry
If that were my driveway, that Verizon box would be hit everyday until they moved it!!
After all that work you put into this project, don't give up so soon. Maybe Verizon can be persuaded to move that box.
cpaharley2008 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2012, 03:40 PM   #29
Senior Member
 
DaveK's Avatar
 
Trailer: 1994 Lil Bigfoot and 1967 Traveleze Royal Traveler
Posts: 184
I hadn't noticed this thread before but I can sure feel for the frustration.

As I was reading I thought the winch idea had merit and was certain the slope could be overcome. Then the post about towing the trailer out made me think that maybe 2 winches could solve the problem. One permamounted to haul the trailer in, and another that could be temporarily placed at the curb or therabouts anytime you want to haul out. Or maybe a winch on your tow rig? You would even be able use winch number 2 to brake the trailer as it's hauled down the slope to park.

Hate to see you lose a trailer you love over parking issues.
__________________
Dave
DaveK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2012, 09:15 PM   #30
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2008 21 ft Bigfoot Rear Bed
Posts: 629
Thank you.

Thank you for your feedback. I am certain that there are ways to park our trailer in our driveway, what I am realizing is that none of them are easy. Power dollies, winches, rails, cameras, etc. are all potentially good options but all are burdensome. The deeper I was getting into this project the entropy was going up just like in our mother nature.

Back in the seventies and eighties I remember calling my wife on Friday afternoons to decide if we should go to Yosemite. If yes, four hours later we were looking for a campsite on the valley floor with our VW Westfalia. This was simple.

We would like to go back to these spontaneous simple decisions to go to Timothy Lake Park or Beachside, or even Yosemite without the burden of parking. Our recent paid parking was expensive and sometimes not easy to park if other RV’s parked too close.

Our hearts are in camping, not in its carrier, so we plan to go with the simplest solution possible. Whether it will be a narrower and smaller trailer or a Sprinter like conversion time will tell.

George.
GeorgeR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-19-2012, 07:49 AM   #31
Senior Member
 
Name: Ron
Trailer: Trillium 13 ft (green grape)
Ontario
Posts: 442
Hey Geo

Is there no trailer storage close at hand? That would be better then selling.
Same since you've put sooooo much into this problem now.

Ron
RRJR is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Driveway Friends jaye580 General Chat 8 08-03-2011 02:37 PM
Storage--where & how for someone without a driveway in L.A.? Erik B Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 7 12-09-2006 01:14 PM
A Narrow Escape? Legacy Posts Care and Feeding of Molded Fiberglass Trailers 3 01-16-2003 05:02 PM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:45 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.