Many folks, on “thinking” about getting their first Class A motorhome, are a bit intimidated. After all, they’re so BIG! However do you pilot that big thing down the road? How could you ever get comfortable maneuvering so much mass? Here’s some advice from those who’ve made the big leap and now are proud pilots of those big coaches.
Getting started
Like any other RV, one of the best things to do is to find a big empty parking lot and start “getting the feel for it.” Set up safety cones (or cardboard boxes) and get a firsthand feel for turning, backing and maneuvering.
If you’ve experienced other, “smaller” RVs, then you already have a handle on moving up to the bigger coach. Just understand that acceleration is a bit slower, stopping distances are longer, and gauging your turns is a bit different. With the longer wheelbase, the tendency of newbies is to “oversteer.” Practice moving the rig over and you may find out how little wheel movement it takes to actually move it – it just takes a little longer for the whole bus to come with you.
The rear-wheel overhang may be one of the biggest problems a Class A driver has to overcome. The distance from your rear axle out to the end of the coach makes for a much wider “tail swing.” In close quarters, like at a fuel station, it can make for a real problem. If you swing too narrow, you may find yourself hanging up the rear of your coach on the pump or other obstruction. It’s essential that you LOOK in the rearview mirror as you pull out away from an object while swinging a turn.
Have plenty of mirrors on the Class A
And on the subject of mirrors, hopefully you’ll have more than one per side on your rig. Adjust one of the right-side mirrors a bit “in” so you can spot people riding in your blind spot. Or add on a BIG convex mirror.
In the parking lot, find a straight curb you can park next to – passenger side to the curb. Look in the mirror to see your distance from the curb and get up close. Now, sitting at the wheel, look ahead and try to imagine how close you are to the edge of the lane at your right. You may find it helpful to have an assistant put a piece of tape on the bottom of your windshield at a point that lines up with your right side. By looking at the tape when on the road, you’ll have a good idea where the right side is. This is especially helpful on the road where there’s no shoulder or in a tight construction zone.
Before taking off on a long trip, try making a couple of short day trips. This will give you an opportunity to really get the feel of your rig without the pressure of time hanging over your head. Try and include different driving environments in these trips – straightaways, curves, and a little hill climbing/descending where possible.
On the road
With your position in the driver seat being a bit different than in a car, truck, or Class C motorhome, your perspective on turns is different, too. You’ll be able to run your nose ahead a little farther than you’re used to. One Class A pilot puts it this way: “Since your seat is ahead of the wheel, once your butt is past the corner, you can really crank the wheel.” Yeah, but watch that tail swing!
Lane placement is a bit different as your coach may be wider than what you’re accustomed to. This is particularly so if you’ve never driven an RV and are used to a car width. Again, keep an eye on your mirrors and see where your coach rides (hopefully) inside the white lines. When driving ahead, keeping your eye on the center of the lane ahead of you will help.
While some RVers, in an attempt to be “helpful,” suggest staying out of the far right lane on the freeway, you’ll find yourself better off in the right, except when passing. No matter how fast you drive, there’ll always be somebody who drives faster. Let ’em pass! Better to have them pass on your left than to zoom past on the right. Take a tip from the big commercial rigs. The only exception may be when there’s a huge amount of traffic merging onto the freeway or, of course, when your lane will soon become an “exit only.” And staying to the right prevents that sinking feeling of being “stuck between two trucks.”
Take your time making a turn
When the time comes to make a turn, you may find it much easier to make a left turn than a right turn. That’s OK – just slow down and be deliberate. If you have to stop in the turn, that’s fine too. Better to hold up traffic for a minute than to forge ahead and end up with a huge body repair bill.
Pay attention to the weather. Your rig has a much bigger profile, and that’s somehow attractive to high winds. Every year on Interstate 40 in Arizona near Winslow, you’ll find reports of semi-trucks being blown over by high winds. Don’t join them. If high winds threaten, pull off the highway and wait them out.
Look ahead – way ahead. This will help you with lane placement, and you’ll find you’re a lot less tired at the end of day by not fighting the wheel. And looking ahead helps with stopping distance – and you want plenty of that. If somebody drops in ahead of you, simply back off and recreate that big buffer space.
Parking your Class A at the campground
Always use a spotter when backing up. Go SLOW and swivel your head between side mirrors and backup camera. And don’t forget: You CANNOT back up with a “toad car.” If you need to back in, unhitch and “drop” the toad first.
Yes, it takes practice to get into a “back-in” site. At first, you may be best to use pull-though sites, if available, particularly when trying to set up camp after dark.
And if you’re in the shotgun seat
It can be a bit disconcerting to ride in the passenger seat – your perspective on lane placement can initially be nerve-wracking. You may feel that the driver has you “way off the road” and onto the shoulder. Don’t let your eyes fool you. If you can feel the rumble strips, yeah, it’s time to speak up.
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A couple things that need to be mentioned. Use 2 way radios when backing in. Another option is your cell phones. TRAIN your passenger how to use hand signals and practice. Backup person needs to roam around the back and watch overhead clearances as well. Spotting too close to utilities makes it difficult to open compartment doors. Practice makes perfect! I always get out and do a walk around before backing in, and consult my boss! Part of my past Firefighter experiences…..
Always use G.O.A.L.Get out and look. These decals for your mirrors are available at any truck stop and are a handy reminder.
Don’t forget the looking UP, along with the other views…
Generally good advice. But please note; if the passenger can “feel” the rumble strips, so can the driver. He/she doesn’t need assistance from the co-pilot seat to correct that… PLEASE.
Just a quick reminder on mirror adjustment, hopefully you know what the side of your RV looks like so there really isn’t any reason to adjust your mirror so you can see the side of the RV. Your mirror should be adjusted so that tilting your head a few degrees left or right the side of the unit will be visible in the mirror, this will give you the best view of traffic coming up beside you and to the rear. Also monitor the rear view camera to monitor traffic behind you. SIL wasn’t monitoring his rear view camera and missed seeing their toad separating from the hitch and drifting harmlessly onto the shoulder, someone behind them waved them down to tell them, he watched the camera display then.
After many near misses with so called “drivers” of class A RV’s I feel these people need to have a class A drivers license or be made to stop driving them. I await the arguments.
I’m in agreement. Special endorsements should be required for rigs over a set weight, and size (some states are considering this). I believe it should be a National standard requirement, so everyone plays by the same rules. Most states require a special endorsement for motorcycles, where one has to demonstrate the ability to operate one safely. You can do a LOT more damage with an RV! A DMV road test (minimally), or completion of a certified driving school (preferably), with periodic re-testing/training, would be my recommendations.
Some states do have this requirement. In Maryland, for example, if your MH exceeds 20,000 (?) pounds, then a CDL-type license is required. California requires a special license for any MH, also CDL-like. Tennessee, where I am licensed, requires only a standard drver license. Completing a certified driving school course gets a 3-year discount with FMCA. Extending the discount requires taking a course every three years.
Drive it like a truck, not a car.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! Our first RV was a 43′ DP and our dealer offered no driving course. Consequently, I watched and read several things ahead of sitting behind the wheel the first time. Specifically, the RV Geeks have two excellent videos (https://youtu.be/y5MSGqfh8z0? And https://youtu.be/ldekjpYQ7Qw?). Also, someone videoed and shared at least some of the Lazy Days RV driving course (https://youtu.be/4CeThR_A4VI?). I did spend over an hour driving the roads at the dealer before I had the temerity to get on a road. I also had the benefit of a skilled truck driver as my co-pilot. Our 12,000 mile trip to Alaska two years later helped a lot, too; frequent driving at low speeds.
I also took a 4-hour driving course from an RV Basic Training (https://rvbasictraining.com/) instructor at the Ramblin’ Pushers’ Maintenance Session in 2018. That got us a discount on my RV insurance for 3 years.
A tip for backing a MH into a campsite that we got somewhere is to cheat toward the same side of the road as the campsite you will back into. For example, if the campsite is on the left, the farther left from which you begin to back into the site, the more room on the right for the MH to move without hitting an obstruction.
One way to place your coach in the center of a lane is to line up your toad in the center of the lane as it appears on your dash monitor.
The only time this passenger yells is if the car on the right is about to make contact! However, a Youtube tip has been very helpful: when practicing in the parking lot, find where you want to be in the lane and draw lines that continue the line marking the edges of the lane on your windshield (we use red nail polish). I always know I will be in my safe-lane-zone following those lines, even in construction zones. This way, you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to check mirrors as often. Of course, mirrors are a must for gauging where surrounding traffic is.
I agree with Neal Davis below, We watched videos from the RV Geeks and RV Masters over and over, they are very well done. We have tape on the windshield, let me tell you, when you are driving through tight construction, you’re damn glad to have it. The video will tell you how to go about deciding where to place it. Go to a large parking lot to practice and practice. We never back without a spotter. We never back unless the spotter is in our mirror. Most importantly, watch this video on how to deal with a front tire blowout!! while this is an older video the information is still very relevant, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwOE1yKY5c&t=21s
When my late wife, girlfriends before her and my sister were riding in the copilot’s seat and freaked out a bit, I just told them the lanes are built to fit us into each one. So don’t sweat it.
53′ trailers hauled by semi drivers are larger than my Winnie, they fit, just keep checking mirrors, and enjoy the view from up here with a great picture window…
Regarding “tail swing” if you are driving a diesel pusher there’s not a lot of tail swing as the rear axle(s) are directly in front of the engine/transmission. However in a front engine unit there can be many feet of tail behind the the rear axle creating the tail swing problem. Entering a fuel stop you should stay 4-5’ away from the pump island leaving plenty of room for tail swing as you depart. In the same type of thinking if you are making a right turn at an intersection check your mirrors before making the turn to ensure no one is close to the left rear when you make the turn. The rear will swing into the lane beside you, if necessary wait for that lane to clear out.