Parking a pop-up in garage

[Momof4]

Parking a pop-up!

Hi all! My husband and I are tossing around the idea of purchasing a used pop-up trailer for our family of 6. We don’t want anything too large...probably a standard of 20 feet.

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Our biggest concern is our driveway! We live in a very hilly area and level driveways are rare. If you look at the pictures, you will see that our driveway is sloped (about 10 degrees then about 8 degrees on the parking pad). The parking pad is large enough for a camper trailer. Our ideal location for storage would be in our deep garage.
My question is...is it doable to back a trailer into our garage? Notice how our road splits and careens down to a lower road. Our back up plan is parking in the parking pad. Our third plan would be to find an alternative parking. Any advice would be appreciated. We are newbies here! Thank you.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Welcome to RVF @Momof4; glad to have you here. And, glad that you are considering an RV.

I guess I'm not quite sure what you are asking here. Assuming that the doors are high enough and wide enough, it is absolutely possible to back a trailer into the garage. Now, if you are asking whether you and/or your husband can do it, that depends on your backing ability, patience and communication skills.

With a bit of practice and more than a little patience (especially on the first attempt) you should be able to do it. Subsequent tries should get progressively easier. Once you get the angles figured out to get the trailer off the street and onto the driveway, it will be just a matter of getting things properly lined up. At least in the beginning, this will be a two-person job; one doing the backing and one acting as a guide and spotter.

If there is one potential complication, it is the ability of you and your husband to work together as a team without becoming frustrated. This is going to require getting two people on the same page and communicating well. It certainly can be done if you are both willing to make it happen. I'm thinking that a couple engaged in raising four children should be able to manage this.

Good luck.

TJ

 

[Momof4]

Welcome to RVF @Momof4; glad to have you here. And, glad that you are considering an RV.

I guess I'm not quite sure what you are asking here. Assuming that the doors are high enough and wide enough, it is absolutely possible to back a trailer into the garage. Now, if you are asking whether you and/or your husband can do it, that depends on your backing ability, patience and communication skills.

With a bit of practice and more than a little patience (especially on the first attempt) you should be able to do it. Subsequent tries should get progressively easier. Once you get the angles figured out to get the trailer off the street and onto the driveway, it will be just a matter of getting things properly lined up. At least in the beginning, this will be a two-person job; one doing the backing and one acting as a guide and spotter.

If there is one potential complication, it is the ability of you and your husband to work together as a team. Without becoming frustrated. This is going to require getting two people on the same page and communicating well. It certainly can be done if you are both willing to make it happen. I'm thinking that a couple engaged in raising four children should be able to manage this.

Good luck.

TJ

 

[Momof4]

My husbands biggest concern is the driveway slope and how that will affect the ease of backing a trailer into the garage!

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

My husbands biggest concern is the driveway slope and how that will affect the ease of backing a trailer into the garage!

I don't know what kind of vehicle you will be towing the trailer with, but I would think anything capable of pulling the trailer down the road should have enough power to push it up a 10% grade in reverse. Reverse gear in most vehicles is significantly lower than low gear, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Backing up a sloped driveway (even if the slope goes a couple of different directions) shouldn't be much different than backing across a flat one except that a bit more power would be required. All the angles would be the same. I guess the only concern I would have is whether anything would drag at the transition point, but that could probably be easily solved with a couple of pieces of 2X10 lumber placed at the low point.

I'm pretty sure I could do it, so there's no reason why he (or you) shouldn't be able to.

Good luck.

TJ

 

[Momof4]

I don't know what kind of vehicle you will be towing the trailer with, but I would think anything capable of pulling the trailer down the road should have enough power to push it up a 10% grade in reverse. Reverse gear in most vehicles is significantly lower than low gear, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Backing up a sloped driveway (even if the slope goes a couple of different directions) shouldn't be much different than backing across a flat one except that a bit more power would be required. All the angles would be the same. I guess the only concern I would have is whether anything would drag at the transition point, but that could probably be easing solved with a couple of pieces of 2X10 lumber placed at the low point.

I'm pretty sure I could do it, so there's no reason why he (or you) shouldn't be able to.

Good luck.

TJ

Thanks so much!

 

[Neal]

Welcome to RVForums @Momof4. Glad to have you join us and I hope things work out with your TT and driveway.

 

[MapNerd]

I agree with everything @TJ&LadyDi has said...as usual.

 

[Tjdave]

If the trailer you end up buying has surge brakes (our daughter's Jayco Eagle pop up has surge brakes), the brakes may engage as you back up the hill. There is a lever on the coupler to disable the surge mechanism for this purpose.

My biggest concern would be the width of your garage doors. Most modern day pop up campers are wider than a full size pick up. It may fit, but with only inches on each side. Challenging enough without backing up a hill at the same time.

I think I would use the pad, and get a cover for it. Good luck and happy camping. I love pop up trailers.