I think I might have put this up before but, seeing it is a boring Sat night and not much happening, I will repeat myself.
Sorry it that upsets anybody, but watching people have half a dozen goes at it, stirs my pot.
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BACKING your van in beside a slab is, "EASY"
Simmo's Tip of the day
(A) Measure the over all width of your van tires from outside to outside.
(B) Get your hands onto a piece of rope about 8 Ft to 10 Ft long.
(C) Lay the rope on the ground the same distance as (A), from the slab.
(D) Now it is a simple exercise to back in putting your Van wheels on the rope, looking out of your drivers side instead, of trying to follow the Mrs confusing signals, on the passengers side.
Lancelot, I just use the passenger side mirror angled so I can see the tires and the slab. But I have a MH and its probably not so simple backing a CV.
Earlier this year, I was at a club function, and the discussion of backing the van came up with my sitting neighbor at the table. He said his wife always backs the van, and he went on to tell me about it. Here's me thinking those at the caravan parks were so clever guiding you in, but it all makes perfect logical sense to me now, and it sounds so easy.
The wife is in the drivers seat, and all she has to do is know her LH hand from the RH hand, something I have great difficulty with myself.
You standing facing to the rear, but standing near the vehicle door with windows open, or with a walkie-talkie, and you can move about.
You can easily see what is going on, and so you want the van to swing to the right, you say right hand down, swing to the left, left hand down, and so on, as long as you are facing the rear, and she is following your instructions (ha ha) all will be well. Haven't tried it yet, but it sounds so simple it should work.
OK there are a lot of clever GNs out there, but I have spent 18 years (since Feb 99) in a caravan Park and would like a doller for every caravanner I have watched take 5 or more goes at it, and my way keeps it to one go.
My wife also backs the van in with me outside the driver's side window giving directions. The owners of the Skennars Head caravan park at Ballina put us onto that about 12 years ago. Sometimes it does take a couple of goes but that doesn't matter to us.
My wife and I have a simple system that works well. She stands near the rear of the van where she can see my eyes in the mirror. She points which way she wants me to go, or straight up if I should keep coming back straight. A "stop" signal means she wants a brief consultation. No words needed most of the time. We use this both to get into a park or to line the ball up with the coupling. No more tense words or confusion. We usually get it right on the first or second go.
Cheers
Good idea Aussie and simpler than other similar methods. It's basically impossible to reverse alongside a slab on the drivers side with mirrors as they cannot see round corners.
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