Hi,

I want to go fishing/camping in my 1990 Nissan with a SMALL camper
(I think they're called "camperettes") on the back, towing my small boat
(12ft aluminum skiff, with some addons like a floor so I can't just heave
it on top).

The problem: even the smallest of campers are wider than the truck, and
I don't think I could see the boat at all behind me. How do you back it
down the ramp? REALLY wide mirrors (there goes the ol' fuel economy!)?
Closed-cct tv? Surely there are others that do this...

Lloyd Sumpter
"The Tin Boat" Mirrocraft 12

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,

I want to go fishing/camping in my 1990 Nissan with a SMALL camper
(I think they're called "camperettes") on the back, towing my small boat
(12ft aluminum skiff, with some addons like a floor so I can't just heave
it on top).

The problem: even the smallest of campers are wider than the truck, and
I don't think I could see the boat at all behind me. How do you back it
down the ramp? REALLY wide mirrors (there goes the ol' fuel economy!)?
Closed-cct tv? Surely there are others that do this...

Lloyd Sumpter
"The Tin Boat" Mirrocraft 12

You don't need the mirrors when tooling down the highway -- get a set
that clamp on, and use them only when backing. A couple of pieces of
plastic pipe painted red, and stuck to the rear corners of your trailer
)or boat) will help also

You don't need the mirrors when tooling down the highway --

Yes you do.

Gould 0738 wrote:
You don't need the mirrors when tooling down the highway --


Yes you do.
You don't need the optional trailer towing mirrors -- the stock ones
will see the red flashing light as quick as the wide ones. the boat is
narrow -- that's why he needs wide mirrors/

Go with the mirrors.

And not just for backing.

How would you plan to make a safe lane change if you can't see what may be
alongside your rig?

"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
Go with the mirrors.

And not just for backing.

How would you plan to make a safe lane change if you can't see what may be
alongside your rig?



For the past several years I've had a full sized 2500 series pickup for my
primary vehicle. Both of the trucks were equipped with large mirrors with
smaller wide angle inserts.

I recently traded to a smaller vehicle (2004 Durango - yup, it has a hemi)
and felt lost without the ability to see what was behind me. There is
actually a blind spot where, if someone is passing, you cannot see them at
all in the mirrors.

A trip to Auto Zone and the purchase of a couple of stick-on wide angle
mirrors solved the problem.

Eisboch

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 01:11:03 +0000, Gould 0738 wrote:

Go with the mirrors.

And not just for backing.

How would you plan to make a safe lane change if you can't see what may be
alongside your rig?

Yes, I WILL need larger mirrors for driving. But there's a big difference
between seeing what 50 ft behind you and seeing a boat that's narrower
than you are, 10 ft back.

Someone suggested removable clamp-on mirrors for launching/retrieving, of
course in addition to the wider mirrors I'd have for travelling. Trouble
is, the "travel" mirrors would have to be on all the time, even when I
DON'T have the camper on. Ever driven over the Putallo Bridge? I do it to
get to work each morning, and mirrors sticking out a ft on each side would
be torn off by opposing traffic.

Lloyd

Yes, I WILL need larger mirrors for driving. But there's a big difference
between seeing what 50 ft behind you and seeing a boat that's narrower
than you are, 10 ft back.

One of the useless skills I happened to learn in life is how to back a semi
trailer through a slalom course without knocking over any cones. :-)

If you're backing caddy whumpus, the trailer will show up in one mirror or the
other before the angle becomes too extreme. You can then correct accordingly,
(turn the wheel into the mirror with "too much" trailer showing).

If you feel as though you must keep track of both rear corners of the trailer
when backing up in a straight line (recommended), there is a little trick you
can use that won't involve bizarro mirrors.

Saw off a couple of lengths of old wooden broomstick. Hang a red plastic
pennant on each one. When you get to the ramp or some other backing situation,
insert these
broomsticks into the left and right sides of your trailer. They should stick
out far enough that you can see the flags in your mirror. As soon as you start
to turn, of course, one of the flags will disappear but they will provide a
useful reference to let you know when you are backing in a staright line. You
many have to rig up a couple of fittings on the trailer to accommodate the
broomsticks.

Mirrors will definetly help but everyone I know that has ever done tandem
towing disconnects before backing (back only one unit at a time). You could
get by w/ doing it if your really good at backing, recognize the back item
will go the opposite way of the center item, and as long as you cannot see
it - it is lined up. When you can just start to see the back unit you need
to go the other way.

Tony

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news
Hi,

I want to go fishing/camping in my 1990 Nissan with a SMALL camper
(I think they're called "camperettes") on the back, towing my small boat
(12ft aluminum skiff, with some addons like a floor so I can't just heave
it on top).

The problem: even the smallest of campers are wider than the truck, and
I don't think I could see the boat at all behind me. How do you back it
down the ramp? REALLY wide mirrors (there goes the ol' fuel economy!)?
Closed-cct tv? Surely there are others that do this...

Lloyd Sumpter
"The Tin Boat" Mirrocraft 12

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 01:30:15 +0000, Tony Thomas wrote:

Mirrors will definetly help but everyone I know that has ever done tandem
towing disconnects before backing (back only one unit at a time).

He he...

I've noticed that what we do for camping almost seems unique in North
America: we have "slide-in" campers that fit on the back of pickup trucks.
You see them EVERYWHERE in BC and the American "pacific northwest", but
rarely anywhere else.

The "camper" I'm referring to sits in the truckbed - it's not a separate
trailer. The problem with it is that it's wider than the truck (or the
boat!).

Here's what a "big one" looks like:
http://www.virtualproperties.ca/j1058/

and this is more what I have in mind:
http://cargobody.com/camper.htm

Lloyd