Hi all,


I've just purchased a 34' Denali 5th wheel and I'm trying to decide which way to park in my driveway so it's the most accessible. My driveway has somewhat of a slope and backing it in down hill is no problem. But the the door to the camper is on the opposite side from my house & the slides will open into the driveway. If I pull in truck first then I will be backing up the driveway into the street when I leave. My question is will this put to much of a strain on the truck (Dodge 2500 CTD 4X4) and transmission to back it up the driveway each time?

Thanks!
Bill

 

If you wont be turning much, you could put it in 4-Low.

 

As you may know the tranny will only cool itself in forward gears and neutral. I would think you would be fine as long as your driveway isn't five miles long. Just put the tranny in neutral (set the parking brack and chaulk the trailor tire) for a minute or two when finished. this will help cool the tranny back down.

 

Great, that's what I thought. I forgot to mention I'm only backing up about 80' or so maybe less.

 

I would much rather back it in and deal with the doors and slides than have to back out onto the street with a trailer.

I have to back my fiver in too, but it is much easier to get out when I want to go.

 

That does bring up a good point, if I ever need to back out by myself I can't do it without a spotter when backing it out the driveway. If I back it in then I can just hop in and drive off on my own.

 

I'm with you on backing in, not out of the driveway.............I know the whole thing with the doors on opposite side of house is a pain in the a@#!! But overall much better to leave by puttin' her in "D"

 

Definately agree. I block traffic, throw the hazzards on and back in a 30ft boat down a gravel drive for 50+ feet (all level ground). There's no way I would want to back that thing out into traffic going by @ 30mph+. In TX I believe it's illegal to back out into traffic.

 

I back onto my drive without any problems. But one time I had a hard time trying to back upgrade on gravel. The trans heat light would come on and I would have to stop and shift to netural and let the trans cool. It does not take very long for the trans to heat up when backing upgrade. The tires were spinning in the gravel. Just glad I got out of there.

 

That's what I do, makes a world of difference when backing up a steep grade.

 

Be sure and put your truck in 4-low in order to put less strain on your TC and trans.
My friend has a 2004 Ram 3500 dually with 6spd manual. He was backing a 37 foot Avion 5th wheel up a steep grade to get it in a camp site. When he finally got it in the site, you could REALLY smell the clutch. FYI---my friend has many years of experience driving a Dodge Cummins (both 6spd and auto) and has pulled ALL types of RV's over the years. In other words, he is not a green horn when it comes to backing/pulling a RV..

 

I back my 12500lb 5ver in more than 90 deg and it's a steep climb, I use 2 wd to get it pretty straight then select 4 low to back it up the hill. I like the idea of using a cable shift to engage the front axle that way you could select low range and keep 2WD for maneuvering. I plan on installing one of these, here's the link for the cable http://www.amazon.com/Posi-Lok-PSL40.../dp/B000FPXSY0

 

Same thing here also, once I get off the road and get my line straight I put it in 4lo. I have a 6-7% grade to back up and my tranny temp would go from 180* to 250* immediately, putting it in 4lo solved that issue.


Tim