Quick question about Fords pro back up assist.

[dodge man]

I have an F150 with it. I’m somewhere fair to poor at backing a trailer. I have a 600 foot paved driveway that’s just a little wider than my trailer. Sometimes when I use it I back it down the driveway just to practice. To set up the backup pro you put some reflective stickers in specific places on the trailer and then set it up. I’ve never used it.

 

[KennyG]

I have it on my F-150. It works pretty well. The biggest advantage I see is that it won't let you jack knife with a trailer you can't see well in the mirrors. You have to get used to gently using the knob. If you get aggressive with it you will zig zag all over the place. It does sometimes have a problem with losing the target in sun/shade conditions.

How essential is it for experienced users? I traded trailers a year ago and haven't got around to setting the new one up yet.

 

[dfkrug]

Funny, but its easier to back up my 30’ gooseneck horse trailer that it is to back up my jet ski trailer.

I would think a gooseneck trailer would be about the easiest to back up, but it is more about where the wheels pivot. The distance between center of rotation of the trailer wheels and the rear axle of the tow vehicle.

I have 2 trailers for my PU truck, and 2 for the ATV. The ones for the ATV are almost impossible to back them up in a straight path.

I once had a boat trailer that I converted to a flatbed. The trailer axle was really far back towards the end of the trailer. Easiest to back up.

 

[Paystar]

My first tractor trailer was a long wheelbase high rise sleeper International 9300 Eagle that I pulled a 24 foot tandem dump trailer with. Once you learn how to reverse a trailer that is shorter than the tow vehicle you can back anything up, LOL

The longer the trailer the easier it is.

 

[CH4Ohio]

It won’t lock anything down. Worse that could happen is the system would give an error message and you’d back manually as usual.

I never use mine but did set it up on one trailer. Took a few minutes to take measurements, attach the sticker, and input the info. But it’s all pretty simple really.

Here is the Ford supplied sticker that goes on the trailer tongue that is tracked by the system.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

My first tractor trailer was a long wheelbase high rise sleeper International 9300 Eagle that I pulled a 24 foot tandem dump trailer with. Once you learn how to reverse a trailer that is shorter than the tow vehicle you can back anything up, LOL

The longer the trailer the easier it is.

I still remember the joy of backing up a trailer dolly with a 3 axle Pete. Still hate to even see a set of doubles going down the road. Lol.

 

[Paystar]

I still remember the joy of backing up a trailer dolly with a 3 axle Pete. Still hate to even see a set of doubles going down the road. Lol.

Ya, I was never a pro with trains. Just because I never spent any real time driving one. I always had single trailers.

Nothing impressed me more in life than seeing the Labatt's beer drivers back their B-trains up at the bottling plants! Those guys drove in, had to blind side 90* into the docks between other trucks and they did it one shot, no pull aheads!

 

[Snezzy]

I have a very safe method for teaching people how to back a trailer. Tell 'em to back a small trailer that's attached to a riding lawnmower. An error instantly become a jackknife but nobody gets hurt.

The most difficult way to do backing is to have someone yelling instructions at you. "Now cut it! CUT IT! No! THE OTHER WAY!!! No, the OTHER other way, you efffin iddiott. Aren't you listening to me?"

If you do need to give instructions to the driver, simply point the direction the trailer should go, and do not tell him how to turn the steering wheel.

 

[neilpaku]

I have a very safe method for teaching people how to back a trailer. Tell 'em to back a small trailer that's attached to a riding lawnmower. An error instantly become a jackknife but nobody gets hurt.

The most difficult way to do backing is to have someone yelling instructions at you. "Now cut it! CUT IT! No! THE OTHER WAY!!! No, the OTHER other way, you efffin iddiott. Aren't you listening to me?"

If you do need to give instructions to the driver, simply point the direction the trailer should go, and do not tell him how to turn the steering wheel.

Snezzy has it - I taught my wife and kids to back using the lawn tractor and its trailer. I pointed out a couple of basic facts, had them try a couple of times, and then walked away while they practiced on the lawn. They got it. It's easy to see what's going on when the front steering wheels and the trailer and hitch can be easily seen. I think there are many people that don't do well backing trailers are only wanting for some good instruction (rather than derision which doesn't usually help....)

 

[D&D]

I have a very safe method for teaching people how to back a trailer. Tell 'em to back a small trailer that's attached to a riding lawnmower. An error instantly become a jackknife but nobody gets hurt.

The most difficult way to do backing is to have someone yelling instructions at you. "Now cut it! CUT IT! No! THE OTHER WAY!!! No, the OTHER other way, you efffin iddiott. Aren't you listening to me?"

If you do need to give instructions to the driver, simply point the direction the trailer should go, and do not tell him how to turn the steering wheel.

An even easier method is to use your cellphones to actually talk to each other. A lot of people dont understand they have to stay in the drivers mirrors to give hand signals. They also dont understand that waving their hand in front of their body is VERY hard to see.