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Mark Polk with RV Education 101 provides a brief overview of the Travel Trailer Towing & Backing RV training DVD.

*NOTE this dvd has been discontinued buy the updated online version HERE

 

Dawn, I have enjoyed the RV101 videos (TT 4 DVD Box Set) and found them to be extremely useful for a brand new RV’er such as myself. I have watched the videos more than once to help some of the topics thoroughly sink in. The demonstration on “backing up” a trailer was very helpful and made my very first backing attempt go very smoothly to everyone’s amazement. Thanks again! ~Marc Levine

Nothing will ruin a camping trip quicker than having a bad experience towing a trailer. Nine out of ten times, the reason you have a bad experience is because there is a problem with the tow vehicle or the trailer. It could be a weight problem. Mark Polk has been an expert witness in a few legal cases, where people were paralyzed and killed. The common factor in these cases involved improperly matched tow vehicles and trailers. Don’t depend on automobile dealerships and RV dealerships to always give you 100% accurate information. Do your homework before purchasing a tow vehicle and trailer.

The trailer might be too heavy for the tow vehicle or maybe you are exceeding a weight rating which can be extremely dangerous. It could be a problem with the hitch work. It might not be adjusted properly, or maybe you weren’t informed on the proper hitch work for your needs. It could be that you’re just nervous because this is all new to you. You aren’t really sure about how to tow a 30-foot trailer, or what is going to happen the first time you have to back the trailer in at the campground.

Just the thought of towing a thirty foot long, three ton trailer down the Interstate can be somewhat intimidating, not to mention dangerous if it’s not done properly. The last thing we want to do is to put our family in harms way. So, whether you have already purchased an RV, or you are thinking about it, this video/DVD will teach you every thing you need to know before you tow.

The host of the video Mark Polk has dealt with these types of concerns over and over again when he was a sales manager for an RV dealership. He felt that a DVD was the perfect way to address the RV consumers concerns. With this kind of thorough visual training, you can now relax and watch the DVD as many times as it takes to address all of your questions and concerns.

With charts and easy to understand hands on instruction this video starts by teaching you how to properly match the tow vehicle and trailer. It discusses all of the weight ratings involved for the trailer and tow vehicle. Did you know that any weight you add to the tow vehicle takes that same amount of weight off of the tow vehicle rating, to include the weight of passengers? Do you know what the Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) is for your tow vehicle? You will after watching the video.

Now that you understand all of the weight issues the next step is to learn what hitch work is required to safely and properly tow your trailer. Did you know that you could have a tow rating of 7,500 pounds but if the hitch receiver on your tow vehicle is rated for 5,000 pounds that is the most you can tow? Polk starts with the hitch receiver and then covers the hitch ball, ball mount, weight distribution hitches, sway controls, safety chains and brake controls. After a thorough explanation of each component he demonstrates how to properly hitch and unhitch the trailer to the tow vehicle.

Towing the Trailer: Polk starts with pre-departure safety checks to include properly adjusting your mirrors. Then he demonstrates towing, making turns, towing speeds, stopping, passing vehicles, upgrades, downgrades and much more. Perhaps one of the biggest concerns he addresses is what causes a trailer to sway and what you can do to control it!

After the towing segment Polk wraps up the video by teaching you two easy methods to back the trailer. He calls them the assisted and unassisted methods. With a little practice you’ll be backing like a pro.

After watching this video, what seemed to be intimidating at one time, is now just a matter of doing things properly. This video will make you feel 100% better about safely towing your trailer.

“Thank you Mark, you are a wiz at explaining complicated things. As an owner of three of your videos, I am a very satisfied customer. When I first got my Bantam – I’d never towed anything in my life and your towing video gave me the extra confidence I needed to get started!! The other two were travel trailer 101 and winterizing & storing. All of the videos have been a great help to me by both explaining the technical aspects of the camper, as well as just taking the edge off of the fear of the unknown. Just seeing it done with ease, makes me feel more confident that I can do it too. I can’t give you enough praise. Nancy Cote from Massachusetts….

56 minutes

 

UPDATED ONLINE VIDEO BUY HERE

Posted by on 2012 in Family RVing, Helpful RV Tips, RV Accessories, RV Chassis, RV DVDs and Online Videos and Ebooks, RV How To Videos, RV Maintenance, RV Online Training Programs, RV Product Videos, RV safety, RV Tires, RV Training, Trailer Towing and tagged , , , , , .

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About Mark Polk

Mark is an RVer and has a very extensive background in the RV industry. He began at age 15, washing RVs at a dealership in North Central Pennsylvania. It wasn't long before he was working as an apprentice RV technician under the guidance of the RV service manager. Mark then entered and served a full career as a ‎Maintenance Warrant Officer in the United States Army. He managed the operation of the motor pool, where he not only had ‎to understand vehicle maintenance, he had to teach young soldiers how to maintain and operate ‎motor pool vehicles. These soldiers came to him from very different backgrounds, and their prior experience with heavy equipment and mechanical skills were similarly varied. Mark had to learn how to ‎communicate with all of them clearly, concisely, and effectively, and he found that he had a ‎talent for teaching. The Army agreed, and eventually he was asked to produce written ‎instructional materials, including driver training manuals and operating procedures for motor ‎pools.‎ When he retired from the Army in 1996, Mark went to work for an RV dealership in ‎sales and service. He talked to customers about their needs and desires and helped them select ‎the right RV for them. He inspected used RVs for trade-in, he serviced customer RVs, and he ‎educated customers how to operate and enjoy their vehicles. As an RVer himself, through out the years, he has owned and used all the classifications of RVs (travel trailer, motorhome, pop up, 5th wheel and truck camper). He even restored from the ground up, a 67 Yellowstone travel trailer. It became clear to him that there ‎were limited resources available to RV owners who wanted to learn more about how to maintain ‎and operate their vehicles. Owners’ manuals provide limited information, and most consumers ‎find them confusing. Anecdotal information learned around campfires from other RV owners is ‎incomplete and can be unreliable. Mark realized that he had the knowledge and teaching ability ‎to fill that gap, and so in 1999, he began writing articles and books about how to choose, buy, ‎maintain, repair, and operate a variety of RVs. To date, he has authored more than 500 educational ‎videos, 15 e-books, 3 paperback books, and more than 1,600 articles educating millions of RVers. His best-selling book, ‎entitled The RV Book, has sold over 50,000 copies to date. ‎Mark's first priority is the safety of his audience. To Mark, ‎this means anticipating the risks and challenges RVers will encounter when following his ‎instructions, ensuring that the information he provides is complete and accurate, and providing ‎enough information so that his audience can make informed decisions about when to tackle ‎maintenance tasks themselves and when to take their vehicles to professionals. His second ‎priority is his audience’ empowerment. He sends his students out onto the road with confidence that they are equipped, prepared, ‎informed, and ready to enjoy themselves.‎Producing material that achieves those goals is a very difficult thing to do. RVs come in ‎a bewildering variety of different types, makes, models, and vintages, and when Mark writes ‎about tasks such as winterizing a water system, as we know there are many ways to winterize an RV, his instructions, need to guide his readers through the process ‎regardless of which RV his reader happens to own. Like his soldiers, his RV students come to him ‎with widely disparate levels of expertise, experience, talent, and motivation, and his instructions ‎must speak to all of them. Mark’s writing and video presentations are accurate and comprehensive. It is also clear, ‎concise, and easy to understand. He breaks complex, intimidating tasks down to easy steps.

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