How Many Wives Do the Towing

[StrvnMrvn]

When it's the ute with the CT, I drive, but the misso can take over at any time.

But when it comes to her car........ I WOULDN'T EVEN DARE!!!!

[prodigyrf]

I do most the driving. My wife is good driver and have full confidence in her ability. But I get bored sitting in the passenger seat.
I also made sure she was able to drive for safety reasons.

Pretty much the same but I had to coax the missus to take the wheel towing at first and now she's comfortable on the tar but won't on the dirt unless it was an emergency.

I'd say the difference with blokes is we hoon around in cars as young fellers until the point we either come unstuck or scare ourselves badly and in that sense know the limits of speed and traction on different surfaces, whereas the girls don't generally (it's why more boys are born than girls but the numbers are pretty equal by adulthood)
I've also found the missus is not as spatially aware when it comes to overtaking or judging those wide/oversize trucks coming at us and she'll grip the armrest when I've got it all under control and there's no way she'll overtake anyone while towing but simply slow down behind them.

One thing I did demand (much to her initial strong reluctance) is she learned how to drop the LH wheels off the bitumen and over in the dirt deliberately and steadily and not panic wrenching the wheel back suddenly. First solo and then towing to show her how the vehicle is still very stable with one set of wheels on the tarmac still. Too many rollovers/accidents occur with the inexperienced panicking and overreacting if they drop their wheels off the tarmac shoulder so it's important they practice it and feel comfortable with it. Short of that perhaps we should get our girls to do defensive driving courses where they get to push cars around sideways a bit like we do as boys.

[Kit_e_kat9]

He drives mostly.  It's his car and he has this thing about how I drive ... apparently.      

But I get to navigate ... I'm the NavWoman you see ... I get to tell him where to go and when!  So we are both happy I guess.   

Besides ... how could I take 1,000 photos for my blog if I was driving?   

Kit_e

[prodigyrf]

I should add she pulls up to change over to drive around town or pull into the servo for fuel and as for backing the rig anywhere, forget it.

[cloakle]

I do all the driving since getting the 4x4 she wont get behind the wheel

[camper1234]

Get him to a GP and an optometrist for a once over,  some men don't let you know whats going on with health you may find there is something worrying him that can be fixed easily,  I do however share the towing.

[pauljygrant]

On long trips, we take mutual turns changing every 2 hours.
Ideally, I drive in towns etc since I'm more confident towing in traffic than she is, and she is a better navigator. On the open road, both are happy driving.
Only area that she has been reluctant to tow is with reversing.....

Paul

[Swogjb]

I do the bulk of the driving, but SWMBO is more than capable in towing and backing the trailer.
I have not compared towing fuel figures, but she consistently get 1 1/2 litres per 100 better fuel economy in the Landcruiser than what I get.
She drove home from Mildura earlier this week and averaged 11.4 per 100.

I will give her the gig next time we have the camper on and see what the results are.

 

[Pog]

I do all the driving while my wife generally sleeps on long trips. I am a bad front seat passenger. I am confident that she could tow without any problems, however I don't think I could trust her to stay awake!

[Andymac]

For a very nervous  driver normally, my wife does a great job towing when on long trips.

One of her proudest moments was having the nerve to overtake a 4 trailer road train on the way out to Birdsville.

Her ability and confidence doesn't extend to reversing though.

[Stozz]

Only area that she has been reluctant to tow is with reversing.....

It's interesting that so many women worry about reversing campers / trailers. 

When I first learnt to drive, my dad took me with the boat trailer (no boat) and taught me to reverse it around the block in a vacant land subdivision area. It was the best lesson ever - there was no pressure, no audience, no risk of damage and plenty of time to practise.  Ever since I have been really comfortable with reversing and it's me that reverses the boat down the ramp or the camper into a spot/garage/driveway etc.

Just remembering some of the simple things like 'turn and follow' and turning the steering wheel towards the side mirror where you see the trailer are good lessons to learn.  Once you can do these things confidently you tend to forget the mechanics and do it intuitively. This then makes it harder to teach others, especially your spouse!

My advice to the fellas is to take the time to help your wives/girlfriends to learn the nuts and bolts of reversing by breaking it all down into little steps and in a no pressure, no audience environment.  It will help build confidence, reduce stress and prevent WWIII in a caravan park.  It will also be important in an emergency situation and is a critical part of knowing how a trailer performs under tow.

Hope this helps.

[ozstickman]

I drive for a living so when we go away I'm quite happy for my wife to drive. She is fully capable to do so aswell, she also has a MC license and is quite good behind the wheel when we use to two up every now and then in the truck.

[Garfish]

We share, but I prefer to drive, but back to the OP

My mum has driven everywhere for as long as I can remember and Dad was the passenger and now refuses to drive any long distance or further than the shops.  even then if mum was going He would go with her.  It is a confidence thing but he also refuses to wear his glasses and as a result I believe he has given up driving over the vanity of wearing glasses the silly old coot..

Mum learnt to drive as a young teenager going over the toowoomba range to pick up and drive backs cars Pop bought for the second hand dealer.  When she went in for her license the local cop said, about time you've been driving long enough. He did not cross of anything on her license and was licensed for any bike or truck in Australia until at 60 she gave up her bike licenses

[weeds]

timely post

my bride asked this question yesterday on the last leg of our trip..........she mentioned she has not seen another chicky babe twing either camper trailers or caravans. must admit i rarely see the girls behind the wheel

my bride typically drives the middle section of the days drive.....we normally stopped of a break mid morning and around 1pm for lunch so maybe three hours max. behind the wheel

a few weeks ago she took the camper to north stradbroke lsland, reversed it into the spot and set up the camper....... i turned up three days later

[Memem284]

It's interesting that so many women worry about reversing campers / trailers. 

When I first learnt to drive, my dad took me with the boat trailer (no boat) and taught me to reverse it around the block in a vacant land subdivision area. It was the best lesson ever - there was no pressure, no audience, no risk of damage and plenty of time to practise.  Ever since I have been really comfortable with reversing and it's me that reverses the boat down the ramp or the camper into a spot/garage/driveway etc.

Just remembering some of the simple things like 'turn and follow' and turning the steering wheel towards the side mirror where you see the trailer are good lessons to learn.  Once you can do these things confidently you tend to forget the mechanics and do it intuitively. This then makes it harder to teach others, especially your spouse!

My advice to the fellas is to take the time to help your wives/girlfriends to learn the nuts and bolts of reversing by breaking it all down into little steps and in a no pressure, no audience environment.  It will help build confidence, reduce stress and prevent WWIII in a caravan park.  It will also be important in an emergency situation and is a critical part of knowing how a trailer performs under tow.

Hope this helps.

Agree.
Before we had horses, I had never even towed a box trailer but I had to learn very quickly as the ex soon lost interest in running kids/horses to Pony Club/comps etc. I learnt to back the float by doing it in stages. First just parked it out the front, next did a circle around the house and then did a quick backup to the shed, then leant to back it straight down the drive into the shed. I did it without an audience, and nutted it out myself - no stress!!!!

Also, necessity it a great motivator. If your partner is unwell etc, sometimes you just HAVE to do it.

[Bunyip]

We share the driving when towing or not. Like lots have said LB will not reverse the trailer, and prefers not to drive through towns. I know she could reverse the trailer just as well if not better than me if she would give it  a go.

I love driving whereas LB drives to get somewhere.

When I was a kid our neighbours were very funny. He insisted on driving everywhere, they had a huge boat and he wouldn't "trust" his wife to tow it. As soon as it came to reversing the trailer he got out and let her do it. He would be screaming directions, she would be ignoring them and would get it in place first time every time.

Bunyip

[Rumpig]

Lol.. Funny this thread has started cause my wife drove all the way from the national meet back to the Gold Coast today..she did a wonderful job, from now on she can drive everywhere..

are you just saying that because you enjoyed driving my 105 series so much, it'd be hard to go back to driving the 80 now? 

[flindersroses]

I usually break it up between the 3 of them. One for "offroad", one for "the black stuff" and one to back it in.............

[Clouty]

are you just saying that because you enjoyed driving my 105 series so much, it'd be hard to go back to driving the 80 now? 

Lol 
No mate. I'll have the 80 any day of the week.. Lol

[lindamc]

I do most of the driving, all of the reversing. She directs when hitching up, but it always involves me getting in and out of the car 100 times. I also seem to be delegated the job of filling up at the petrol station.

[Bird]

I'd rather drive over a cliff myself

[Stozz]

I'd rather drive over a cliff myself

LOL. Have fun with that. Once all us chicks have nailed reversing the camper you might be a bit superfluous to camping trips anyway.

* runs and ducks for cover before war breaks out *

[Bird]

LOL. Have fun with that. Once all us chicks have nailed reversing the camper <snip>

mankind will be long extinct by then. Most struggle with driving forward.

[Dillonator]

Hi Suziq
For us, my wife drives about 1/2 of the highway time and not much of the short trips. She's really good at reversing and will jump behind the wheel to show off.
She claims that she hates the off road work, until she drives and has great fun. Then I don't get to drive for the rest of that day.
Whomever drives is up to each individual. I'm sure you'll work it out.

[smartyingreen]

I'm the worlds worst passenger so I do all the driving.

I enjoy doing the driving and my wife enjoys being the passenger so that works for us

She is allowed to drive when we go out and I 'have' to drink, I'm generous like that but it doesn't improve my passenger skills when I've been drinking

x2

She can do it, and is ok at it and will try the backward thing too,  but then again refer DannyG's post!