Do you take turns driving?

[Grey Ghost]

Good luck with that! I tried that too, but to no avail. Just doesn't trust herself

X2 for me. I wish Carrie would try driving but she is intimidated. She can do tear down and set up. I almost have her talked into a little practice in an empty parking lot.


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Steve and Carrie
HOC# 2252
2007 GMC 2500HD Duramax
B&W Companion Hitch
2012 Sundance 3300CK

 

[Grey Ghost]

101 Airborne 67-69 All the Way!

DW used to tow the TT when we were on divided highways and relatively simple wide roads, but I do most of the driving. She is not ready to step up to pulling the fiver with the dually yet (nor am I as I think I need to have more experience before I can tutor her), but she will after we get more experience with our current setup. As to hook up and unhitching, DW runs the check list and helps where needed. I think it is important that we are both capable of doing it and is also important to have a second person check to make sure everything is done.

 

[jassson007]

My DW will willingly drive and tow the BC because the dually is usually her daily driver so she is used to the truck. Did not take her long to catch on from the tt to the fifth wheel. She is even good at backing it up which we both had to relearn.


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[Speedy]

My wife is very capable and has no issues with taking the wheel but since we ravel with two vehicles she's got her hands full driving the mini-van while I follow.

 

[whp4262]

My wife could do it but she doesn't want to so I do all of the driving. I never liked riding so I guess for us this arrangement works pretty well.


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[Gaffer]

The "what if" happened to us on the way home to central Oregon from Arizona this spring. I had a fever but otherwise felt ok when we left Lake Havasu. I drove to Bakersfield the first day then north on I-5 to Lodi where I went to urgent care in the afternoon and was admitted the next day with a fever of 104. I ended up in the ICU and was not released for over a week. I was weak and not up to driving. Karol had only pulled the Bighorn once and that was between rest stops on a rural section of the interstate in Wyoming. She was in no way ready to drive through Sacramento traffic or the narrow bridges and winding grades along Shasta Lake. I made a few calls and our Heartland family came to our rescue. One pulled us from Lodi to Redding, another from Redding to Klamath Falls and another from Klamath Falls home. We feel truly blessed to have made such great friends at the rallys. We can't thank you all enough. Karol is ready to start towing a bit more just in case the "what if" strikes twice and we will likely get the SkyMed insurance like Ziggy.

I do some of the driving, but Mark does most of it. I've driven both in town and on freeways, but prefer the freeways or back roads. I can do the set up and take down stuff too, but we each have our usual chores and check each others work.

We've thought about that "what if" question. We bought a subscription to SkyMed at last years PNW Regional Rally. If all else fails, we know we have friends we can call to help us out. Many of them pull Heartland products!

Kristy

 

[Theresau]

I have towed the smaller stuff but not the 5'ers. We've talked about it and feel pretty certain that I could do it if needed to do so in an emergency - I have no prob driving the truck and know how to work the brake controller, use the mirrors, etc Would need to pull through - I never even backed in the pop up when we had it . Usually had my dad do this if I towed as I typically joined them for a trip without Joe.

He likes to drive and I like to be a passenger - has always worked for us.

Theresa

 

[Birchwood]

My wife loves the RV Lifestyle but not the driving and navigation part and I respect that.Thats the way it is with us! She has no interest in the two but contributes so many other things.

 

[Mrsfish]

My husband loves to drive and hates to ride. So over the years he does all of the driving, I do all of the navigating to make his driving easier and keep him entertained. Once at destination, I check the spot and back him in -all with hand signals. He drove large lineman trucks and trailers and has done a good job of teaching me where to be so I can be the most help to him. Once in our spot, I run the hydrolics while he sets the chocks. He drives out, I then level and set the rear stabilizers. He sets up the power and water while I set up the inside. We are completely set in 10 minutes and everyone participated equally. This has worked for us for years. While I don't drive I would if I needed to.

 

[Wmnmy]

My wife loves the RV Lifestyle but not the driving and navigation part and I respect that.Thats the way it is with us! She has no interest in the two but contributes so many other things.

I ditto that my wife could drive our rig straight but has no interest in towing I love driving and she love telling me where to go she even did that before we married at work hehehe

 

[Garypowell]

Our story is that we went full time in mid 1996. We had only camped once in 1970 but we bought a 38 foot 5vr. We pulled out of Kansas City on our first trip and stopped at the first rest stop to see how the inside looked. Being green we still used the state facilities. Walking back towards the unit I pulled the keys out of my pocket and extended my hand out as if to give them to Linda. We had not spoken about driving. You would have thought from the look in her eyes I was handing her a snake. She started to rattle off a list of things she would do....like all the cooking, dishes, laundry, cleaning. Each time she mentioned an area I pulled my hand back until it was at my side. So it was a fairly good deal then.

Now as we work on the road she works harder than I do.....(not the way it was back in 1996).....so I reverted back to helping with the dishes and laundry. Of course I installed a dish and clothes washer to help me

She did drive once in TX for about 10 minutes just to get the feel. She said that's all she needed....and is ready when called upon.

We do all the set up and tear down together....double checking each other with a list we have developed. She is very capable and I know she could do it on her own if needed.

 

[2TrakR]

We take turns - She sleeps while I drive and then I drive while she sleeps.

 

[BHEWITTJR]

My DW always ask if I want her to drive, but I usually tell no, that's ok I'm fine. She is not intimidated by the size since she been driving a school bus for 30 years. It's just that I like to have control so if any thing would ever go wrong I wouldn't be able to blame her. I have let her drive a couple of times on the interstate between fuel stops just so she would not be completely blind to it if we had a situation where I wasn't able to drive. As far as hooking and unhooking she has never tried it. I think it would be a little hard because she is short and don't know if she would be able to pull the handle for the hitch. Once parked either one of us can do inside or out, but usually she's inside and I'm outside.

 

[DesertThumper]

My DW always ask if I want her to drive, but I usually tell no, that's ok I'm fine. She is not intimidated by the size since she been driving a school bus for 30 years. It's just that I like to have control so if any thing would ever go wrong I wouldn't be able to blame her. I have let her drive a couple of times on the interstate between fuel stops just so she would not be completely blind to it if we had a situation where I wasn't able to drive. As far as hooking and unhooking she has never tried it. I think it would be a little hard because she is short and don't know if she would be able to pull the handle for the hitch. Once parked either one of us can do inside or out, but usually she's inside and I'm outside.

Hi Bob,

I hear ya loud and clear. To make you feel at ease, my wife is 5 feet 2 inches tall and we did some cross training this past weekend with un-hook and hook the trailer to hitch plate. It was a little difficult when she pulled the handle the first time, but then we paired up and with ideas and then she was able to pull the handle and release the locking jaw.

 

[JohnDar]

Wife is not interested in driving the truck with the trailer on it. Not a big deal since I've driven from our seasonal site to Goshen by myself and that's about as far as I would want to travel in a day (7 hours, ~350 miles). Even when we take the Equinox on a road trip, sharing the driving, we try to keep it under 10 hours before stopping for the night. What's the rush?

 

[ramdually4100king]

You know when I owned SOB with good tires my response would have been "**** NO! I want to actually get to our destination this year". But now with the worries of when is the towmax tires going to blow may be its time to let her drive. Slower is now better.

Edit: ha after 20 years in the navy I wouldn't have never guessed that word would ever have been censored. I will just let your all imaginations run wild on which word it was.

 

[Mizmary]

You know when I owned SOB with good tires my response would have been "**** NO! I want to actually get to our destination this year". But now with the worries of when is the towmax tires going to blow may be its time to let her drive. Slower is now better.

Edit: ha after 20 years in the navy I wouldn't have never guessed that word would ever have been censored. I will just let your all imaginations run wild on which word it was.

It wasn't h*** no to me, it was more like. "Yes, you can drive when I'm dead." I regret not being more forceful about wanting to learn to drive when we had much smaller, lighter, and less expensive trailers riding behind us.

I guess when the time comes (sometime NOT in california), I will just remember what my dad taught me about pulling the boat- "don't worry, it follows YOU."

 

[sengli]

No, my DW has absolutely no interest in attempting to drive the truck, with the fiver attached. She would and has driven a motorhome before, but not this truck and camper combo?