Ford has proven that mirrors, spotters and looking over your shoulder are continuing to become a thing of the past when it comes to backing up a trailer.
At a media drive in Denver, reporters had a chance to use Ford’s new trailer reverse guidance system available on 2017 Super Duty trucks.
Admittedly, I’m accustomed to using mirrors and looking over my shoulder when backing up a trailer. So at first I thought I might be compelled to do the same inside the 2017 F-250 Lariat 4×4. But that wasn’t the case. Credit goes to an easy-to-use touch screen monitor.
It was just a matter of keeping an eye on the screen and watching for the system’s steering cues while backing up the trailer.
The straight-line backup guidance feature places the image of a steering wheel on the center of the screen and directs the driver, if necessary, to either turn to the left or to the right when attempting to back the trailer straight back.
When it comes to turning the trailer while in reverse, the guidance system posts an overhead, computer generated image of the truck and trailer on the screen. The image responds to the movements of the truck and trailer itself, thus revealing the angle of the trailer while it moves in reverse.
