tips to prepare rig for road, how to get trailer ready, trailer prep, trailering tips, trailer tips
By tom Scheve Hauling Hints
Use these tips to
thoroughly prepare
your rig — trailer
and tow vehicle —
for grand adven-
tures on the road.
When putting your rig together,
it’s always horses first, trailer second,
tow vehicle third. In other words, you
choose the trailer to fit your horses, and
your tow vehicle to fit the fully loaded
trailer.
In recent issues of Hitch Up! (see
Summer 2009 and Fall 2009), we’ve
talked about choosing trailers, so now
let’s talk about readying your rig for the
road.
It’s always horses
first, trailer second,
tow vehicle third
when putting your
rig together. heIdI NylaNd Photo
Ready Your Rig for the Road
Tow Vehicle
your tow vehicle has to have the right
pulling power, curb weight, and wheel
base to haul your trailer safely. the
simplest way to determine if you have
enough towing capacity to pull your
trailer is to match it to the Gross vehicle
Weight Rating. this information can
be found on the certificate of origin,
the title, or on an information sticker
located somewhere on the trailer.
most two-horse tag-along (bumper
pull) trailers will have a GvWR of 7,000
pounds. this means the trailer has
two 3,500-pound axles. most standard
two-horse gooseneck trailers will have a
GvWR of either 7,000 or 10,400 pounds.
the larger/heavier the trailer, the
stronger the axles need to be, making
the GvWR higher. It’s a good idea to
have your fully loaded trailer weighed
so you know the actual weight. If you
use this actual weight when choosing
your tow vehicle, add at least 15 percent
to give you a safety margin.
Now that you’re sure your tow
18
vehicle is a good match, check the oil
and all fluids and make sure your truck
is in good operating condition. Perform
these tasks the day before you leave.
Hitch
For a tag-along trailer, always use
a frame-mounted hitch, not just a ball
attached to the bumper. the framemounted
hitch has ratings on how much
weight it can hold (tongue weight) and
how much weight it can pull (carrying
weight) that are separate from what the
tow vehicle can haul.
For example, say your tow vehicle
could pull 16,000 pounds, while the
frame-mounted hitch on it might only
be rated to carry 4,000 pounds. the ratings
are usually located on a sticker on
the hitch itself. the sticker will list two
sets of ratings: weight-carrying ratings
and weight-distribution ratings.
Use the weight-carrying rating if you
have a slide-in bumper ball mount.
Use the weight-distribution-rating
when you use a larger slide-in weight
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