There’s no question that taking an RV based road trip can be extremely exciting, and lead to the type of adventures that leave you a lifetime worth of memories. There is something special about any good road trip, and traveling in an RV allows you a level of luxury and convenience that isn’t available from conventional camping. You get this while you also save money compared with hitting half way decent hotels. While RV rental sounds great, and has many benefits, if you’ve never driven an RV before you’ll definitely want to follow these tips to make parking easier, because it’s not easy for the beginner.
Tip #1: Practice Drive
Even with conventional cars and trucks you want to take some time to get used to a new vehicle and figure out how exactly it handles, how reactive the steering is. An RV is even more so. Especially the larger ones provide a very different driving experience and you will want to practice to get comfortable.
Don’t only practice driving and parking with an RV in real life situations but also find an open area to set up orange cones and practice having to park, back into difficult spaces, and getting that first-hand look at how well you’re actually picking up on driving and parking the vehicle.
Tip #2: Avoid Tight Parking Spaces
One of the easiest ways to avoid difficult parking situations is avoid obviously tight parking spaces. If you have to walk a little bit further then you have to walk a bit further but avoid spots that involve parallel parking (good idea with an RV anyway), places where it is really difficult to fit, or where you can get hemmed in. If you stick with the types of parking spots where you can just pull out of the spot and go that is going to save a lot of time, headaches, and possibly a few fender benders and the resulting insurance hikes that go with them.
Tip #3: Open Window Technique
Don’t try to treat an RV like a car and just assume you can wiggle it in even when you have a blind spot or two. The moment you have a blind spot you need to realize that is larger with an RV than a car or truck. If you have the space for a passenger to get out and guide you back, that can work. Keep the windows down and let the other person direct you but make sure that person has a full view of every side of the RV before directing you.
Tip #4: Mirrors, Not Cameras
You need to learn how to use mirrors reliable when parking an RV, especially when backing up or dealing with blind spots. Using mirrors is a crucial part of parking an RV since you can’t just look over your shoulder. However, while rearview cameras seem like a great idea and can help to a certain extent, the angle of these cameras means there is actually a very small area of sight that you can actually use. There could be entire obstructions that you just aren’t going to see at all.
Follow these four tips and you will more quickly and easily become an outstanding RV driver.