If you are planning on buying a trailer and planning to tow it out to the lake or the wilderness for a bit of fun, there are things you need to know first. Towing a trailer can lead to certain issues if not done right. Minor details like adding a couple of hundred pounds to your rear can make profound changes in the rig’s stability. But by following a few simple guidelines, you can stay on track and tow the trailer with the utmost ease and safety.
Towing a trailer can be scary at first but if done right you will feel confident and comfortable behind the wheel. In this blog post, we will discuss the basics you need to know to safely tow a trailer.
Hitch Your Vehicle Correctly
In order to drive safely, you need to hitch your vehicle safely. Make sure your hitch is on, locked in, and your cables are connected and working properly. Pay attention to your weight distribution. Look at your tow vehicle and trailer, you should observe a nice flat plane between the two. If it is tipping towards the hitch, or tipping away from it, then it is not well balanced. The best way to check for weight distribution is to go to a truck scale and have them measure the weight on all tires. This will give you an idea about the weight distribution of each tire on your vehicle.
Check Your Visibility
It’s important to check your visibility while driving your vehicle with a trailer. If you don’t have a rearview camera for your trailer, your rearview will be limited to the side mirrors of your tow vehicle. In that case, install side mirror extensions that will give you a wide-angle view along with your normal mirror view. To drive safely you need to make sure that you can see behind your vehicle with the trailer. Compromised vision can lead to an accident.
Check Your Brakes And Brake Controller
Before you get on the road make sure that your brakes and brake controller are working properly. A brake controller controls the brakes of the trailer, it turns on the brakes of the trailer when you hit the tow vehicles’ brakes. There is a setting in the brake controller that will allow you to set how hard it applies the trailers’ brakes.
You can test the brakes by driving at 10mph and then apply the brakes as you would for a normal stop. The trailer should tug back at the vehicle just a tiny bit before you come to a full stop. But if you don’t feel the trailer tug, or worse, you feel it pushing you, then you need to turn the brake controller setting higher. If your stop is super jerky then you need to lower the brake setting.
Know Your Height
It’s important that you know the height of your trailer. As you would not want to hit the bottom of a sign while traveling on the road or scrap your trailer’s top while going under a bridge. Hence, it is important that you measure the height of your trailer to avoid any passage marked with a lower clearance than that value.
Final Word
Towing a trailer can be a difficult job if you follow the above-mentioned tips you will be able to tow your trailer safely. However, you are not alone on the road. You can still get into an accident. In that case, you will need a professional towing company to safely tow your vehicle.
About Ontario Towing
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Ontario Towing, operating from Ottawa, offers unparalleled towing, car lockout, and roadside care. Their holistic suite encompasses services like mobile tire adjustments and gas delivery, ensuring top-notch support throughout Ottawa and nearby regions.