TrailersPlus Blog

Before you tow your trailer to the job site or haul your ATVs to the trails, it’s important to check a few things to ensure that you, your vehicle and trailer arrive at your destination safely.

Mark McClelland, a regional manager at TrailersPlus, says the No. 1 thing is to make sure of the tow rating of the vehicle that will be pulling the trailer.

“I find that a lot of customers do come on the lot and don’t know what their vehicle’s tow rating is,” McClelland says. “Obviously, if you have a big truck, you can pretty much pull anything. But it’s the people who show up in a small four-wheel drive, four-cylinder car that don’t know how much weight they can pull.”

Attempting to pull a trailer that is heavier than the vehicle’s tow rating is a recipe for disaster. You can find the tow rating in your vehicle’s owner’s manual or by checking with the dealer. You also can check with any of the 38 TrailersPlus locations across the country.

“You don’t want to risk burning out your clutch or transmission,” McClelland says. “It’s better safe than sorry. You don’t want to be stranded on the side of the road with a major, major expense.”

Something that people often overlook is checking the tire pressure of wheels on their trailer. Tires should be inflated to manufacturer’s specifications, which are stamped onto the side of the tire. If you can’t locate the correct pressure, you can contact TrailersPlus to get the proper number.

Not only is having the correct tire pressure a safety issue, it also can be an economical one.

“Inflating the tires definitely has a lot to do with the life of the tires,” McClelland points out. “Remember that tires lose pressure as they sit. Tire pressure is what justifies the life of the tire.”

McClelland also reminds people to hook up their safety chains correctly before starting to tow. Remember: safety chains always should be crossed before being connected.

“You cross the chains so that if the trailer bounces off the ball, the chains are going to be like a set of hands and coddle that trailer tongue and keep it hooked to the vehicle,” McClelland explains. “If the chains are vertical, the trailer is just going to hit the ground.”

And finally before you take off, remember to make sure that the coupler latch is locked and engaged to the ball. Most TrailersPlus trailers come equipped with an automatic locking coupler, but some have a slide that must be moved into the locked position.

“If that isn’t locked, you can lose your load,” McClelland says.

Have an idea that you want featured in a future Tips & Trick post? Contact us at experts@trailersplus.com and one of our experts will answer your questions in a future blog post or email.

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