Safe Towing - Tow, Chase, Haul!

If you're like us, you sometimes need to tow a trailer -- be it for a boat, off-road toys, or just plain cargo of some sort. It seems simple enough to latch on the wheeled appendage behind your tow vehicle and hit the road. However, a little knowledge of the equipment needed, towing practices, and safety procedures can serve you well to ensure your trip is successful.

The first thing you'll want to consider when planning to tow is that the vehicle you plan to tow with has sufficient capacity to pull, turn and stop the trailer you're attaching to it. As a start, consult your owner's manual where you'll find the recommended maximum tow load weight. It will often list both gross trailer weight (weight of trailer plus cargo weight) and tongue weight that can be placed on the bumper or frame mounted hitch.

Choosing A Hitch
Most step bumpers will accept a tow ball but are often only rated as a Class I hitch. This is fine for towing a light trailer with some off-road toys. But, if you plan to tow a decent sized boat or a good-sized four-wheeled vehicle, you'll want to upgrade to a beefier frame mounted hitch. The table below details the trailer class ratings:

When choosing a trailer hitch for your tow vehicle, choose one that exceeds the expected load of your trailer, but does not exceed the tow rating of your tow vehicle. Recommended tongue weight is usually 10 percent of the loaded trailer weight.

Class I trailers typically mate to a 1 7/8-inch trailer ball, while Class II and III trailers match up to a 2-inch ball. Class IV trailers usually require the even larger 2 5/16-inch size. Never mount a trailer to a vehicle with a smaller sized ball as this will both damage the coupler and cause a safety risk.

Also, consider the wheelbase of the tow vehicle and of the trailer behind. We're amazed when we see rigs such as a Jeep TJ towing a 24-foot trailered boat behind it. The sheer trailer length of that combination can make steering and stopping very tricky behind such a short wheelbase vehicle. Terrain in your area may also dictate what tow/trailer combination is reasonable. Pulling up and down hills safely takes greater engine power and substantial braking to keep tow vehicle and loads safely under control.

Capacity & Braking
As trailer weights and loads rise so do the needs for greater trailer strength and braking abilities. The trailer frame structure must be beefier and rolling hardware may need to grow to a two-axle or three-axle setup. Both of these upgrades further increase the weight of the trailer you're pulling.

Most tandem axle and larger trailers add electric actuated brakes or surge braking systems that utilize a hitch sensing device to actuate a brake master cylinder to apply the trailer brakes when the tow vehicle slows or stops.

Maintenance & Mishaps
Trailers may seem simple and many are. However, they're often abused and neglected, and doing so can leave you with a broken down trailer or a damaged vehicle. We spoke with Eric Schouten at Lewis Hitches in Chandler, Arizona, about the kinds of mistakes and troubles they see in regards to the trailers they service and rebuild for customers.

With his everyday view of numerous trailers, he's found that neglected bearing service can lead to bearing failure and that common scene we see of a trailer stopped on the side of the highway. Bearings that haven't been greased from time to time can seize and fail, often heating up and ruining the axle spindle or other nearby components as well.

Eric also mentioned the most common causes for trailer accidents. These conditions may not cause severe damage or injury but there's always the possibility. Common mishaps are: forgetting to latch the coupler, using the wrong ball size, or forgetting to raise the trailer jack, resulting in a bent jack frame at a minimum.

Securing Your Towed Rig
Any time you load a vehicle on a trailer, be it flat bed or enclosed box trailer, you'll need to secure it to the deck to prevent it from moving about or causing any weight shift on the trailer. Most days of trailering will go well and you'll get to and from your destination without incident. However, consider a condition where you're forced to brake quickly, perform an unexpected evasive maneuver, or make a sharp turn at a higher than prudent speed. That's when you'll want your trailered rig secure and stable on the deck, and contributing no other unwanted movement during the event.

We gained some further knowledge on proper securing techniques from Colin McLemore of Mac's Custom Tie-Downs, a specialty company that provides high quality tie-down systems for trailers and truck beds. He commented that the method of vehicle tie-down is often much more an intuitive decision on the part of the vehicle owner, rather than a decision based on safety knowledge.

Colin urges that the correct method of securing a vehicle is from the axles and not the chassis or body. There are two significant reasons for this. First, when a chain or strap is used on the suspended body it can go slack and possibly disconnect when the trailer hits a bump and the towed vehicle suspension is compressed. Second, this action causes impact loads on the chain or strap. This impact can damage strap rachet mechanisms and fracture strap hooks or attachment points.

Vehicles should be secured with a four-point system that captures the axles, lower control arms, or the tires. In other words four separate straps or chains (your preference) should be used. With two used on each end of the vehicle, you have a backup should one of them fail. If you have a vehicle with a tall, soft suspension then consider supplementing the four-point system with several additional straps to compress the suspension a bit and stabilize the body lean and bounce.

Choosing the right trailer, hitch, braking, and other safety gear will help ensure your precious cargo makes it to your destination without incident. With some regular preventive care, your trailer should work reliably and keep you from being stranded by the roadside. Most of all, keep your trailering safe as an out-of-control trailer careening down the highway is a sure way to ruin the rest of your day, at a minimum.

This is a common Class III frame mounted hitch that would fit a -ton pickup. It provides a receiver and accepts a slide-in ball mount that supports the ball. This type of hitch is secured to the inside of the frame rails of a truck frame using a number of bolts. Such a hitch offers greater load capacity than a simple ball mounted on a step bumper. Photo courtesy of Draw-Tite.

This display shows a Valley Industries Husky weight distribution hitch. Such a hitch can be used when pulling heavy loads and uses an attachment that slides into the receiver and redistributes the weight on the tongue. Two spring bars (below) on the hitch are used to apply leverage back onto the tow vehicle. This setup helps to redistribute weight over the entire length of the tow vehicle and trailer to provide improved towing stability.

On every manufactured trailer you'll find a tire and loading decal that specifies the recommended tire size, tire inflation pressure, and the maximum load rating for the trailer. This information is useful to prevent overloading of the trailer, which is one of the primary causes of tire and trailer axle failures.

On every manufactured trailer you'll find a tire and loading decal that specifies the recommended tire size, tire inflation pressure, and the maximum load rating for the trailer. This information is useful to prevent overloading of the trailer, which is one of the primary causes of tire and trailer axle failures.

This is a clamshell style or Bulldog coupler. It has a forged ball receptacle that is hinged and locks in place over the hitch ball with the use of a sliding circular collar. These couplers offer the advantages of long wear and a more secure coupling due to the full spherical ball capture mechanism. This coupler is attached to a hitch that has a ball height adjustment. It's also important to reasonably match the trailer tongue height to the tow vehicle hitch height to keep the trailer fairly level during towing. This will balance the trailer better for improved handling and keep one end or the other from dragging on the ground when you go over uneven terrain.

There has been various trailer connectors, spanning from four- to seven-connector pins. The basic four-way type can provide running lights, braking, and turn signals. Additional pins in larger connectors can provide a signal for electric braking, a 12-volt power source, or other functions. Recent model trucks come with the latest seven-way round connector as shown here.