How Well Does The 2021 Ram TRX's Trailer Reverse Steer Control Actually WORK? I Put It To The Test! 

Nice Video. I wanted to know was this feature worth getting on a new Ram. You have answered my question. Thanks. No one has done a video like this. Thank you again.

I think the primary purpose of these trailer backup features are for those guys on the boat ramp who can’t keep the trailer straight. Then again, if you can’t back up a trailer, you probably shouldn’t be towing one in the first place.

I would be interested to see a contest between all TFL hosts, see who can back up a trailer fastest and most accurately. Nathan, Andre, Roman, Tommy, Kase.

I bought a used pop up trailer years ago from a guy that taught semi driver's how to drive for a large company. Trick from him was to keep right hand at 6 o'clock position on steering wheel. The direction the right hand moves is the direction the trailer moves. My house at the time had a fairly long driveway with a fence on one side and my house for a section on the other. This trick made it easy for a relative trailer novice like me to park my trailer in the back yard without trauma. My front street was fairly busy and this helped with the 90 degree in as well.

These guys actually give you useful facts about this hugely important truck, instead of lighting it on fire and destroying it like a bunch of irresponsible kids... Really shows how they value stewardship

videos like this make me thankful i learned how to drive with trailers attached to trucks. not trying to be a smart *** but literally my dad taught me how to do this at 15. i could back your flatbed to canada (from colorado) lol! not every knows how to do this which is why they load these trucks with seemingly useless tech, but taking the time to learn this would be much better than ramming something with a trailer because you used some dealer tech wrong.

Verdict: good for simple applications. For complex situations manually works best. Great video!

This is a fantastic real-world evaluation. I’d love to see more maneuverability tests.

I think the system is designed to help keep the trailer straight while backing up, would of loved to see the ford do the same test

This is the first time using my favorite hitch, this is not a paid advertisement

Now try using it with a short single axle trailer. That will prove its worth or not.

Great job Andre this is a fantastic truck we need to know everything about it.

Excellent work Andre!!!...tht was really good job...cool system!!.. Thanks Andre!😎

Run this test again with a newb who had never backed a trailer. Have them do a backing test that gets progressively harder as it goes. They should go until they hit a cone. The first run should be them on their own. The second test should be with the trailer assist. The third should be a skilled driver(Andre!) backing with no assist.

Regardless if one thinks that another shouldn't be driving a truck if they can't back up a trailer, this was an interesting video.

Great video that sheds a lot of light on this subject.

Finally a video on this! Great

I really wanted to see someone use this system in a controlled test, which you just did. Thank you Andre! Now I am anxiously waiting to see you use the Ford system and hear your views of its performance. GO TFL!!!

This system is just like parking assist features. It is only useful if you absolutely suck at doing it yourself. If you can do it at all, then you're going to be a lot better than the assist systems.

Nice backing skills especially with that car where it was .

Nice video It's nice to hear I'm not the only one who sometimes say "Sparking spot" Lol Thanks Andre!

Finally part 2 of a video you where making a few weeks back lol .

So it actually makes backing up somewhat HARDER because it won't turn as tightly? Wow. I've never backed up a trailer, but I have pushed back airplanes, and the motions and pivot points in that scenario are exactly the same as in Andre's test here. It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it's pretty easy.

I think you did a wonderful job reversing mate.👍

Thanks for this excellent review of the system. I agree that your course was completely doable, but it was an extreme challenge compared to most people backing into a spot in a lot, or down a ramp to the water. I appreciate that there will be some adjustments to the way we think about reversing, but based upon what I have seen, you can still use this if you adjust to the turn radius limits, and recalibrate your thinking about what sort of distance you need from corner obstacles and where to start relative to the tow axle. I am curious what it is like backing up a slope, as opposed to down one, like you might need to in a lane way alongside a farm field.

I'm impressed! You're quite a good driver.

Basically if you can't back a trailer the trailer control will help. If you can back a trailer you're better off doing it yourself.

Nice vid love the trx 🤣😎😎

It was hard to see exactly how you calibrated the system but it does not seem like you made 90 degree turns. I wonder if you made sharper turns during calibration if the truck would make sharper turns while using the Trailer Reverse Steering Control?

great video guys!

For those saying you shouldn’t drive a truck if you can’t back up a trailer. Try backing up a short trailer like a PWC trailer. I find them FAR more difficult to back up than my 32’ Jayco that I routinely park between 2 boats. My double PWC trailer on the other hand. Well, can def be embarrassing at times. SO, I use my F-150s back up system. Makes maneuvering those little trailers WAY easier. And for those macho types who NEVER have “moments” when backing up a trailer...I call BS unless you’re a pro driver. And even then, we are all human. I do agree you should know how to back up a trailer without these systems. They just make it easier at times. I don’t use mine all the time. But they are awesome for backing up straight for a long distance. Great review, Andre. Sounds like you picked up on all the nuances of these systems. Backing up straight is where they really make their money!

Although I appreciate the new technology in vehicles today i can't help but think that its not only usless at the end of the day but makes people more inept in thier driving abilities. If you cant back up a trailer using your mirrors, you have no business pulling a trailer imo

If you need the knob then news flash.... don’t be driving with a trailer 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

Great test of the new tech, Andre! Do you think the calibration impacts the overly cautious limits on tight turns? In other words, if you do it exactly per the manual with turns exactly at 100 feet, etc., do you think that turning would improve? Just curious.

Seems like a couple hours in a wal mart parking lot with a trailer would save you the money this 'feature' costs.

That is a great video thank you. I wonder if the truck "thought" that the trailer was closer than it is because of the location of the spare tire. making it not able to turn tighter.

I bet it'd be great for a single jetski trailer that jackknifes on it's own in a heartbeat. Any large trailer you don't really need it.

I'm not a patent lawyer but I wonder if Ram can't use stickers from Ford's patent and therefore if it is limited on how aggressive it can jackknife. It would be really interesting to compare them back to back.

Good video Andre! First, I will say that I had higher expectations for you when backing it up. I doubt I would have been able to do it as easily a you did though. That said, at the beginning I was expecting the system to show you up. I'm glad I was wrong. It appears the trailer steer system is designed to keep the trailer from getting to an angle where it is unrecoverable without pulling forward. I expect this is to keep "newbies" out of trouble. As you proved though a veteran can still do it better. So to everyone out there that thinks this will prevent you from having to learn how to back up your trailer, well maybe it will, but you will still be well served to learn how to do it yourself because there may always be that situation where the computer won't save you. It does look like it would make it easy to back up a long distance in straight line.

That knob is a waste they should have put the money towards a front lsd differential

I wonder if the tire has any effect on the system because if the truck is using the back up camera the tire looks a lot closer than the trailer actually is. He had to calibrate it turning both ways so there could be a limit on available turning angle based on the trailers proximity to the truck.

Compare to fords now. I swear when I messed around with my f150 it lets you turn sharper. I usually don't use but backing up strait for a long stretch is useful. If it can see the dang sticker. Sometimes the sun messes it up or it's dirty

My guess is that it's user error and it's merely replicating the arc to wheel input you did when calibrating the system. You effectively made a "slow" arc durring the calibration turns! Try really cranking the steering wheel very quickly as you drive very slowly to increase system response durring the calibration corners. ( calibrate it using the "sharpest" 90 you can and try it again.)

Am I the only one who thinks that it's easier to traditionally reverse a trailer? I'm just used to it.

nice video. have you done the same with Ford F150 backup assist?

@TFLNow thanks for the great reviews! OK so now we know it is a tool. Like any tool it is useful in some situations but not every situation. Likewise I have a hammer, which isn’t useful for the same tasks as a screwdriver. And a flat blade screwdriver isn’t used in the same situation as a Phillips. And a #3 Phillips is different from a #1 Phillips. That doesn’t mean that my toolbox doesn’t have all of these tools if I want to be well prepared. Driving aids are a tool. I like to have more tools whenever my better half says I can afford them. 😀

A lot of these super macho people hate on these systems, but my dad is a commercial truck driver of 35+ years and loves the system on his 2018 F-150. He says that he’s backed up more trailers in one lifetime than some people will in 20, so he’s allowed to enjoy his technology and relax a little! Lol great video!

Can you over ride the knob for a tighter turn?

Are you guys seeing any wear in the rubber bits of that GenY hitch? Ive been thinking of getting one but I use all of gravel and crappy roads and I wonder if it will be as unreliable as a torsion suspension on trailers in those kind of situations?

I wonder if the degree of your turn during calibration determines how sharp the system turns the trailer. It specifically said turn 90° instead of just turn left and right. So if he only made say a 60° turn would that limit the trailers turning range

I haven’t set this feature up on my F150. I’m curious to see if I’ll like it or not. I have no problems backing up a trailer, but I’m curious to try it.

Is this feature only useful when backing up a flat trailer like you have in the video, or will it also work when backing up a travel trailer that's as tall or taller than the truck? I'm about to buy a 2023 Ram 1500 that has this feature.

All these cameras, sensors and driving aids and yet Andre still didn't see the sign that said "do not enter" hahaha!!!!!

Western Express needs this in their trucks.

If this question has been asked, I missed it, but can you help the knob with the steering wheel if you want it to turn a bit sharper than the knob will let you?

So. Much. Want. Must figure out how to get a TRX of my own!!!

Looks like it works like it’s supposed to be just needs more practice with it

Will this work with a big box trailer (car trailer)?

You will always be more precise than accurate in manual IMHO.

Andre with the tough “passenger side back”

I wonder if you recalibrated the trailer and did tighter turns in forward if it would help

Andre,,,,,I wonder if the TRX sees the spare tire thats sticking up on the front of the trailer while it`s trying to turn, and it cannot compensate enough in the turns because it sees the spare tire ?

It seems that it's a system that you need to get used to it and turn earlier to compensate for the less radius it's giving you. It could be used, but like everyone stating the obvious, if you trailer often enough you don't need it (don't remember how much extra did it cost).

What tires are those on the trx?

One more comment, based on your video and Roman's Moab video, it would appear that the massive TRX really does need the 360 deg. camera option. B-)

Those features are kinda finicky, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. But trust me if you do keep it on don’t be surprised if it saves you a couple of times. All it takes is some one in your blind spot and the mirrors have the amber light on or you hear a chime telling you not to shift or some guy breaks in front of you and you get a alert on the dash for you to hit the breaks. Then some times the features get in the way of spirited driving. By any chance is there any extra added charge for co - pilot 360 I’m trying to see if FORD is gonna try and bump up that base price since it’s a standard feature now.

Very cool demonstration. Will be a nice comparison against how the Ford system works.

I like it better to backup by myself!

Even when I took my cdl driver test on the alley dock section they allow you one pullup to straighten out. The all wheel steering system is great for backing trailers in tight spots, but honestly real drivers don't need computers to back their trailer up.

Thanks for showing this off. I like to think of these tech features as "rich people beta tests". Eventually they'll be useful (airbags, cruise control, ride adjustment, etc...) so I'll wait until they are standard equipment and actually improve the driving experience.

After Andre's comments I thinking the sticker system on the ford will be allot easier. If it has to be calibrated for with and without the load it sounds like a convoluted mess to keep track of.

Any chance that during the calibration process you didn't turn a sharp enough corner and therefore the system thinks it's at full turn when it's actually not? That would be my guess.

You have had hundreds of hours experience backing up manually but only this initial try with the steering control. Maybe with more time it would be more effective. Are you able to override the steering wheel to make a sharper turn?

I happy that the trx isn’t destroyed yet

That sort of feature is way too fancy for my taste...nice vid regardless 👌

Thanks for doing this! To me, (and similar to other posts), it seems a bit ‘gimmicky’. Also, when you said it would have to be calibrated with a boat on and off, it made me wonder about flat utility trailers where you haul items that are a variety of size and shape.

I wanted this truck but now I’m thinking the new Escalade which is price comparable. The Cadillac has amazing technology.

How about RAM vs Ford backup cameras?

That's a pretty cool feature and all but it's something I personally think I would never use, I can see from this day on with younger drivers getting a truck and towing for the first time making use of this but us old school guys that has been backing trailers up for over 30 years not so much lol!

My verdict, Andra is a better driver than the fancy new system.

You should do a test with and without the system and some one who doesn't knows how to back a trailer. I think that would be more apples to apples. As someone who backs trailers daily I think the backing assistance would make it harder for me.

Steering with your knob went about as well as I would Figure. I think a lot of these Driver aids aren’t there yet

if you don’t know how to backup a trailer, learn the manual way, if you need to rely on these automagical system, you have no business towing a trailer

Hmm, thanks, Andre. I am not a fan of the trailering tech. Your skill backing a trailer is awesome.

Interesting

I wonder how this system would work with the 360 Surround camera system?

I’m interested in seeing how a single axle trailer will act because they usually are more difficult to steer

I think he did better than the computer

The position of the spare wheel on the trailer may have obscured the camera's view.

Can you make manual inputs with the wheel without the system shutting off? Or does that cancel out the assist mode?

I just saw that if you in Ontario that I saw a trx for $155,000 before taxes and licensing fees. And that goes up to $180,000

Now try the Raptor system please

I see the many reviews, and wonder if it needs recalibrating. I'm disappointed that the system let the trailer hit a cone. I would like a warning device. This would be great for a small trailer that is narrower than the truck.

Andre. You’re far better at holding your own knob than the Rams!

it seems like a good system for people who don't tow a lot but its going to be a long time before its as good as people who do it all the time

At least you're not breaking the truck unlike that other gm guy

It appeared in the video that your calibration turns were not very tight, I wonder if you recalibrated with tighter turns if the truck would be willing to turn harder? or it might be that they just programmed in a safety net so they get fewer lawsuits :P.

Meh. Seems like just another gimmick to increase profit margin.

you should compare the back-up system in the Raptor vs TRX!

Our German Friend can't back up a trailer and apparently our new Italian Friends can't back up a trailer.