Back Up A Trailer Into A 90 Degree Spot | How To Tow
Well, Autumn, I keep trying to trip you up and you keep succeeding at every challenge I throw your way. So,
trying. Should we take it to the next level and see how you do?
Let’s do it. I think I’m ready.
Awesome. We’re going to attempt a 90° backup maneuver. We’re going to head towards these cones over here to the right. And I’m going to talk you through each step uh when it comes to backing in a trailer into a tight spot.
All right.
So, the first thing we’re going to do is pull in perpendicular to our spot. So, we’re pulling along these cones up here to our right. That’s excellent. Make that nose point straight ahead. And we’re going to pull past the spot. So, keep going in a straight line.
Okay. As soon as the edge of our trailer, the very back edge gets past these second set of cones, we’re going to turn our steering wheel to the left, but we can keep going forward a little bit further. Okay. All right. Let’s turn our wheel to the left, please.
Okay.
We’re going to continue to walk forward.
All the way to the left.
Yeah.
All right. We’ll continue going forward a little bit further.
Let’s stop right there. So, we can just barely make out those last two cones on the right hand side. Right. So now we’re going to reverse the motion and we’re going to turn our wheel all the way to the right hand side.
Okay.
Which is in effect going to make our trailer turn right. Gotcha. Okay.
Let’s go ahead and go in reverse. Reverse.
Excellent.
Okay.
So, we’re going to slowly walk backwards and we’re going to watch what the back edge of the trailer does. We may have to go forward a couple times to get it right. That’s all part of learning.
All right. Let’s try it. Going back some. Keep going.
Okay,
keep rolling with it. We’ll stop right there. So, you can see in your mirrors, we probably overshot our space a little bit. So, let’s turn that steering wheel all the way left and keep creeping forward. There we go. Good job. Now, we’re going to go in reverse.
Okay.
And we’re going to turn our steering wheel left till it won’t go left any further.
All right. And keep going backwards.
Yep. Exactly. Okay. You got it.
All right.
The magic’s happening back there. It’s happening. Awesome. We’re making moves. We’re getting close. See? Keep going.
All right. and we’ll stop right there. And we’re going to start to turn our steering wheel the other direction. So, spin it all the way to the right for me.
Okay. Turning to the right.
Excellent. Remember to be checking our mirrors as we’re going backwards.
We’re going to walk back as slowly as we can.
Okay, you got it. You got it. That’s fantastic. I think you cleared it. Looks like it.
Mhm. Okay.
This is not fair. This is supposed to be three or four tries down the road, not on your second try. Let’s stop right here and let’s talk about what we can and can’t see. So,
you can’t see your lefthand side cones yet, can you? No. That’s because we’ve got a really wide angle. your trailer and the back of your truck are blocking all those. We can see our right hand side, our passenger side cones. Yep. You can see all four of them, right?
Yep.
So, it would be to reason that if you wanted to, you could actually pull forward, align the truck and trailer, and then back it up into its spot, right?
All right.
So, let’s do that. Yeah. Let’s go on a drive.
Okay. Excellent. We’re going to move nice and slow. Just keep that steering wheel turned all the way left.
Gotcha.
See how quickly that trailer starts to straighten out behind us? And I see my front cones there.
Excellent. They’re still standing.
Yeah,
that’s great. And we’ll stop right there.
Okay,
let’s go in reverse.
All right.
Now, you remember this part of the exercise? We just did it over here. Soon as you see more of the trailer appearing in one or other mirror, steer in that direction. Got it? Kind of see it on the side. So, we’re going to start that direction. Excellent. And then it’s over here.
I keep turning left. Yeah. Okay, you got it. Keep coming back.
Okay, keep going.
Okay,
straight wheel. Okay, with time patience.
Hey, you did it. That’s over. You are in the middle of the spot. Job done.
Look at that.
That was that was great driving
on my first day.
Honestly, I I expected much less. You succeeded all expectations and you’re a more confident tower.
I am. What can you ask for?
Yeah. Thank you very much, Chris. This was awesome.
Of course, it’s my pleasure.
This video breaks down a complex maneuver into manageable steps, helping you gain the confidence to tackle backing a trailer into tight 90-degree spaces.
For other helpful towing tools check out: Towing 101
https://www.ford.com/support/towing-demystified/
