The Art and Science of Rear Steer: A Deep Dive into the Recreational Vehicle's Most Important Function

As we set out on our Saturday morning adventure, our trusty recreational vehicle (RV) was equipped with an impressive array of features. One of the most exciting aspects of this beast is its rear steer system, which allows it to navigate even the most challenging terrain with ease. The switch that controls this function is cleverly designed, allowing us to quickly toggle between self-centering and off-center steering modes.

When we flip the switch, the self-centering function is disabled, and the RV's behavior changes dramatically. This mode of operation is perfect for when you want to control every aspect of your journey, whether that's navigating tight spaces or simply cruising down a paved road. However, once you learn how to harness the power of rear steer, you'll discover just how much potential this system holds.

One of the most significant advantages of rear steer is its ability to make the RV "dance" over obstacles and through challenging terrain. This feature is particularly useful in low-traction situations or when faced with big obstacles that would normally hold us back. With the rear steer, we can effortlessly navigate rough terrain, making our journey a whole lot more enjoyable.

The secret behind rear steer's impressive capabilities lies in its completely separate steering system. Unlike traditional RVs, which often have their steering linked to the front wheels, our RV has a dedicated rear steer system that operates independently. This design allows for incredibly precise control and agility, enabling us to transition seamlessly between different driving modes – including crab walking and sharp U-turns.

One of the most impressive features of rear steer is its ability to transition from crab walking to sharp U-turns in an instant. Without this separate steering system, we would need to take a crucial second to adjust our driving mode, which would be a significant disadvantage. With rear steer, however, we can make these transitions with ease and precision.

Now that we've explored the intricacies of rear steer, it's time to put it into practice. We'll be hooking up a vehicle stuck in a snowdrift on Bumblebee Road, just above New Harmony. The area is called Snowy Mountain, and the conditions are expected to be quite challenging – but our trusty RV is ready for whatever comes our way.

As we begin our ascent, we notice that it's actually been raining recently, leaving behind a thick layer of snow. We'll need to use our skills and expertise to carefully navigate this terrain and get our stuck vehicle out safely. With the rear steer system at our disposal, we're confident that we can conquer even the most daunting challenges.

We take a deep breath and begin our ascent, carefully making our way up the mountain. The snow crunches beneath our tires as we drive over the drifts, using the rear steer to expertly navigate the treacherous terrain. As we reach the top, we spot a vehicle stuck in the snowdrift below – it's time to put our skills to the test.

With the rear steer system engaged, we carefully make our way down the mountain, using our precise control to avoid any obstacles or hazards. We hook up our trusty tow vehicle and begin to pull, slowly but surely making progress on extracting the stuck vehicle from its snowy prison.

As we work, we marvel at the beauty of the surrounding landscape – the snow-covered trees glisten in the sunlight, and the air is crisp with the scent of pine. Our rear steer system allows us to maintain control even as we're working against the force of gravity, which would normally make it much more difficult to pull a stuck vehicle.

With gentle but firm pressure, we slowly coax the stuck vehicle back onto solid ground, using our superior control and expertise to ensure a safe and successful outcome. As we finally complete the task, we take a moment to admire our handiwork – the snowdrift is gone, and the vehicle is safely on its way.

As we begin our descent, we can't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. Our trusty RV has performed flawlessly, thanks in no small part to the impressive rear steer system that makes it so capable. We take one final glance at the snow-covered landscape before setting off into the distance, ready for our next adventure.

In the days following our successful rescue mission, we can't help but think about just how much of a difference the rear steer system has made in our driving experience. It's a truly remarkable feature that allows us to tackle even the most challenging terrain with ease and precision.

As we settle back into the driver's seat, we notice Peanut – our trusty water dog – trying to squeeze onto our laps for comfort. She always seems to know when we're feeling relaxed, and her wagging tail is a sure sign of contentment. With a gentle pat on the head, we welcome Peanut aboard, ready to continue our adventure in style.

As we make our way back down the mountain, taking one last look at the snow-covered peaks behind us, we can't help but feel grateful for this incredible RV and its impressive array of features – including that clever rear steer system. With it by our side, we're ready to take on whatever the world throws our way.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit are we so we got a call for a Suburban that is stuck in a wash up by hildale we got uh R here with the weather it's about 50° mostly cloudy but it's a beautiful day we got peanut here smile for the camera so we just met up with the customer and we're following them in we'll get them out there it is right there that's exciting okay well that don't look that stuck I'm just kidding it looks did pretty good looking at this there's a couple ways we could do this we could grab the wheel on the back and pick it up and kind of set it down but there's a chance that the front end would slide over if we did that if we had a second vehicle here maybe we'd try it so in light of that I think we're going to just park up here and pull it back up onto the road right there all right I think we're going to grab this with both of these all right so this is already broke off I don't want to break this one off we're not going to use it so that's why we're going to go straight to this lower a AR let's do the same thing here all right moving it are we all right you want to jump in it see if it'll start yeah it's dead all right well put it in neutral oh boy oh there we go that tire is folded man I just don't want to come let's see here that's a lot of weight we're kind of deadlifting it we could just pivot it right around well now that now we're straighter too so pulling it straight back doesn't have as much of a risk of it slipping around you got a hitch there hook too yeah we got a hitch to pick up off from we don't want it to come down and rip anything off the front got a I guess it's got a steel bumper on it yeah yeah let's just do that okay let's just pull it straight back now all right so originally when this was this way pulling it backwards I was scared of this falling off here but now we're straightened out here we'll just be able to pull it straight back off of here hopefully there's still some gas in it hopefully if not we'll just pull it back do some digging here see what we got got a nice hitch right here all right okay how you driving it out of here I'm thinking about trying the hill again I would last night he was trying to climb this hill didn't make it went to back down and went off sideways today in the daylight with the advantage of Clear Vision think he's going to make it come here peanut we got to stay out of the way piece of cake there's where it was right there that was a good show there you gock yeah thank you no I appreciate you I appreciate you too we've been getting a lot of questions about how the rear steer works on the wrecker So today we're going to show you both of the steering systems front and rear are completely isolated from each other so the front as you might well imagine is very typical you turn the steering wheel it turns the wheels the difference between the vehicles you're probably familiar with is this is full hydraulic steering this is how you steer with the rear steer just a little switch so you just use your thumb right here to toggle this back and forth left to right that's one way that's the other there's a couple functions that make this more user friendly so we have the steering set so it it centers so as soon as you let off of this switch it goes back to straight so it's got a self-c centering function if you push this button in the self- centering function goes away so you can just hold it somewhere while you get around an obstacle or something and then you let it go and it goes back to self-c centering now this switch right here if you turn it off now the self- centering function is disabled so this will stay wherever you put it now Rett is going to flip that switch and what's going to happen back to self-centering and that's pretty much it once you learn how to run that thing you can make this truck dance over obstacles around things up things it really changes how capable the wrecker is at rock crawling or mud bogging or anything any low traction situation or where big obstacles are in the way the rear steer is one of the most important functions on this truck if it didn't have rear steer this truck would just be a a large rolling piece of art and not that functional when he's using the rear steer it's not really obvious that he's even using the rear steer other than his hand is on the grip so it's like a lightsaber it's an elegant weapon one of the advantages of having the rear steer completely separate is you can transition from crab walking to Sharp U-turn like that really fast if you if it wasn't that way you would have to take a second to change modes that is what is known as the crab walk all right so hopefully the that helps you understand how the rear steer works and why we made it that way Rett you're going to have to put this in four-wheel drive I recommend turning on that air compressor so you have lockers and drive up this hill this is a pretty formidable climb out of here I don't know if the recer will do it actually not going to happen you got to go back down there well that was a pretty fun little job to do on a Saturday morning plus we got to show you how the rear steer works it was fun to drive the recer I love using the rear steer I'd say it's a pretty good day so far it's probably just going to get better so we got to call for a vehicle that is stuck in a snow drift up in the mountains just above New Harmony the area is called Bumblebee Road or something like that we've got the record today and the ever lovely Jamie is going to be our pilot it's about 70° outside but we're supposed to hit some snow but we'll find it we'll get it out we have been gaining a lot of elevation really fast I don't know why we haven't found snow yet what you doing there using the rear steer I love driving the record rear steer is pretty fun to play with hey there's some snow right there that's been a totally different Mountain there's one up there and then there's two right here yeah it's my favorite thing about coming to the mountains is watching for deer drive over the snow with that tire and then straight yep stay out of the sauce out of the juice Jamie loves to flip mud on me when we go on these jobs like this and she's like oops did I do that she's being so careful not to flip mud in my window you're welcome she's a nice lady oh we see him right there eyes on the prize oh man this is going to be easy well you're stuck yeah look at that we were following tracks and so we went down and we thought oh we can get back up this no problem and yeah I was able to wch out a little bit but I couldn't get it up and out that's good we're just going to hook it up here nice gentle pull all right what have we got on the front of this that's substantial oh that's plenty all right you want to jump in it and start it up can you spin your wheels and get get your wheels turned hard to the right oh you're perfect it's exactly what we need you want me in neutral you want me in drive in drive just for low just help just a little no digging just keep it kind of rolling okay just goes nice and slow stop back up can you turn this way give it a little bit of gas let's see what that looks like okay that's that's what I want all right that work pick up your trash people I'm glad we didn't roll yet yeah that was good thing this was a little bit like bringing a tank to a knife fight but it definitely ensured our Victory did you push the gas not too hard oh thank you there you go thank you very much yeah you guys are great thank you all right we got off the mountain in one piece Jamie got the see a bunch of deer it's just been a beautiful drive we're back at the truck thanks for bringing me oh you're welcome thanks for watching you water dog you think you're going to sit on my lap on the way back huh peanut this is what happens when peanut gets wet she doesn't get to sit on my lapit are we so we got a call for a Suburban that is stuck in a wash up by hildale we got uh R here with the weather it's about 50° mostly cloudy but it's a beautiful day we got peanut here smile for the camera so we just met up with the customer and we're following them in we'll get them out there it is right there that's exciting okay well that don't look that stuck I'm just kidding it looks did pretty good looking at this there's a couple ways we could do this we could grab the wheel on the back and pick it up and kind of set it down but there's a chance that the front end would slide over if we did that if we had a second vehicle here maybe we'd try it so in light of that I think we're going to just park up here and pull it back up onto the road right there all right I think we're going to grab this with both of these all right so this is already broke off I don't want to break this one off we're not going to use it so that's why we're going to go straight to this lower a AR let's do the same thing here all right moving it are we all right you want to jump in it see if it'll start yeah it's dead all right well put it in neutral oh boy oh there we go that tire is folded man I just don't want to come let's see here that's a lot of weight we're kind of deadlifting it we could just pivot it right around well now that now we're straighter too so pulling it straight back doesn't have as much of a risk of it slipping around you got a hitch there hook too yeah we got a hitch to pick up off from we don't want it to come down and rip anything off the front got a I guess it's got a steel bumper on it yeah yeah let's just do that okay let's just pull it straight back now all right so originally when this was this way pulling it backwards I was scared of this falling off here but now we're straightened out here we'll just be able to pull it straight back off of here hopefully there's still some gas in it hopefully if not we'll just pull it back do some digging here see what we got got a nice hitch right here all right okay how you driving it out of here I'm thinking about trying the hill again I would last night he was trying to climb this hill didn't make it went to back down and went off sideways today in the daylight with the advantage of Clear Vision think he's going to make it come here peanut we got to stay out of the way piece of cake there's where it was right there that was a good show there you gock yeah thank you no I appreciate you I appreciate you too we've been getting a lot of questions about how the rear steer works on the wrecker So today we're going to show you both of the steering systems front and rear are completely isolated from each other so the front as you might well imagine is very typical you turn the steering wheel it turns the wheels the difference between the vehicles you're probably familiar with is this is full hydraulic steering this is how you steer with the rear steer just a little switch so you just use your thumb right here to toggle this back and forth left to right that's one way that's the other there's a couple functions that make this more user friendly so we have the steering set so it it centers so as soon as you let off of this switch it goes back to straight so it's got a self-c centering function if you push this button in the self- centering function goes away so you can just hold it somewhere while you get around an obstacle or something and then you let it go and it goes back to self-c centering now this switch right here if you turn it off now the self- centering function is disabled so this will stay wherever you put it now Rett is going to flip that switch and what's going to happen back to self-centering and that's pretty much it once you learn how to run that thing you can make this truck dance over obstacles around things up things it really changes how capable the wrecker is at rock crawling or mud bogging or anything any low traction situation or where big obstacles are in the way the rear steer is one of the most important functions on this truck if it didn't have rear steer this truck would just be a a large rolling piece of art and not that functional when he's using the rear steer it's not really obvious that he's even using the rear steer other than his hand is on the grip so it's like a lightsaber it's an elegant weapon one of the advantages of having the rear steer completely separate is you can transition from crab walking to Sharp U-turn like that really fast if you if it wasn't that way you would have to take a second to change modes that is what is known as the crab walk all right so hopefully the that helps you understand how the rear steer works and why we made it that way Rett you're going to have to put this in four-wheel drive I recommend turning on that air compressor so you have lockers and drive up this hill this is a pretty formidable climb out of here I don't know if the recer will do it actually not going to happen you got to go back down there well that was a pretty fun little job to do on a Saturday morning plus we got to show you how the rear steer works it was fun to drive the recer I love using the rear steer I'd say it's a pretty good day so far it's probably just going to get better so we got to call for a vehicle that is stuck in a snow drift up in the mountains just above New Harmony the area is called Bumblebee Road or something like that we've got the record today and the ever lovely Jamie is going to be our pilot it's about 70° outside but we're supposed to hit some snow but we'll find it we'll get it out we have been gaining a lot of elevation really fast I don't know why we haven't found snow yet what you doing there using the rear steer I love driving the record rear steer is pretty fun to play with hey there's some snow right there that's been a totally different Mountain there's one up there and then there's two right here yeah it's my favorite thing about coming to the mountains is watching for deer drive over the snow with that tire and then straight yep stay out of the sauce out of the juice Jamie loves to flip mud on me when we go on these jobs like this and she's like oops did I do that she's being so careful not to flip mud in my window you're welcome she's a nice lady oh we see him right there eyes on the prize oh man this is going to be easy well you're stuck yeah look at that we were following tracks and so we went down and we thought oh we can get back up this no problem and yeah I was able to wch out a little bit but I couldn't get it up and out that's good we're just going to hook it up here nice gentle pull all right what have we got on the front of this that's substantial oh that's plenty all right you want to jump in it and start it up can you spin your wheels and get get your wheels turned hard to the right oh you're perfect it's exactly what we need you want me in neutral you want me in drive in drive just for low just help just a little no digging just keep it kind of rolling okay just goes nice and slow stop back up can you turn this way give it a little bit of gas let's see what that looks like okay that's that's what I want all right that work pick up your trash people I'm glad we didn't roll yet yeah that was good thing this was a little bit like bringing a tank to a knife fight but it definitely ensured our Victory did you push the gas not too hard oh thank you there you go thank you very much yeah you guys are great thank you all right we got off the mountain in one piece Jamie got the see a bunch of deer it's just been a beautiful drive we're back at the truck thanks for bringing me oh you're welcome thanks for watching you water dog you think you're going to sit on my lap on the way back huh peanut this is what happens when peanut gets wet she doesn't get to sit on my lap\n"