9 Towing Tips to Help Build Confidence and Keep You Safe

TOW THE LINE WITH YOUR TRAILER

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of cruising down the road, the wind in your hair…and a trailer weighing a couple of tons rattling along behind you. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, and it kind of kills the mood, doesn’t it?

Towing a trailer can be a tricky business, so if you’re a beginner, you’d probably welcome some tips to help you tow safely and with confidence.

We’ve got your back. Here’s a list of towing tips and tricks for you to know before you start pulling a trailer, from preparation essentials to specific towing techniques to use on the road.

Preparing to tow your trailer

1. Check your vehicle's weight capacity.

There are a couple of numbers you'll probably want to consider.

First is your GVWR, or gross vehicle weight rating. This is the total weight your vehicle can carry, including passengers and cargo. It also includes the weight of the trailer tongue but not the trailer itself. (However, your trailer may have its own GVWR.)

When determining how much you can load onto (or into) your trailer, you'll want to look at the GCWR, or the gross combined weight rating, for your towing vehicle. This number is similar to the GVWR in that it incorporates the weight of your vehicle, passengers, and cargo, but it also accounts for the weight of the trailer and its contents.

Be sure never to exceed the rating numbers for your vehicle or your trailer.

2. Get the right hitch for your trailer.

This one seems pretty common sense, but there are lots of hitch options out there that vary by type (for example, receiver vs gooseneck), towing capacity, and size. Make sure you use the proper one for your vehicle, purpose, and cargo.

3. Load your trailer's cargo properly.

This is a crucial step for towing. If you don't distribute cargo weight across your trailer properly, you might find your trailer or vehicle pulls precariously to one side or the other, making steering more difficult.

Generally, you'll want to ensure that 60% of your trailer's weight is distributed in the front half of the trailer, that the left and right sides are balanced, and that your trailer tongue makes up 10-15% of the total trailer weight. ¹

4. Check vehicle and trailer components.

Before heading out on the road, make sure that essential functions are all working properly. This includes testing your lights (like turn signals and brake lights), making sure your tire pressure is within the acceptable range, and generally replacing any broken or worrisome parts.

If you think you need them, you can also add accessories like extension mirrors, which increase your range of vision.

Taking time check (and double-check) your trailer might sound like a lot of trouble when you’re itching to get on the road. But if there’s anything wrong with your vehicle or trailer, you want to find out now instead of when you’re zooming down the highway.

5. Practice, practice, practice.

Grab a friend to spot you and head out into an empty parking lot with your vehicle and trailer to try out your technique. This is a fairly risk-free way to get a feel for towing and iron out any issues in your driving. Use this time to practice the following tips.

Trailer towing tips for the road

1. Leave plenty of space to stop.

It’s pretty basic physics that heavier objects take longer to stop than lighter ones. That applies to your trailer—once you add the weight of your trailer (and its contents) to your vehicle’s weight, you suddenly have a lot more mass that will require more time to come to a stop.

This means you need to maintain extra distance between yourself and other vehicles on the road. U-Haul recommends 4 seconds’ worth of space as a baseline, and you should increase that number if the weather or road conditions are bad.

2. Make wider turns.

You may have to unlearn some of your previous driving habits when you're towing a trailer, and this is one of them. Give yourself space, and start your turn later than you typically would to avoid hitting curbs.

3. Take it slow.

You’ll want to drive extra carefully anyways when you’re towing, but specifically you want to take it slow. It’s great to get to your destination early, but it’s most important to get there safely.

4. Reverse carefully.

Reversing isn't the most intuitive process when you're pulling a trailer behind you.

Think of it like this: if you're turning while you back up, put your hand at the six o'clock position on the wheel. From there, if you want to turn right, move your hand to the right, and vice versa. ³

Bonus: take advantage of new trailer technology.

You’ve probably heard that there’s an app for everything, but you might not realize that extends to towing. Now there are Bluetooth trailer brake controllers, like the CURT Echo® mobile trailer brake controller, which claims to be the first of its kind. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys handling everything from their phone, a product like this might be for you.

Currently, we don’t offer mobile trailer brake controllers at The ROP Shop, but if this is a product you’d like to see on our site, let us know!

Towing a trailer: final thoughts

Whether you’re towing a trailer for the first time or you’ve done it many times and just wanted to brush up on your technique, we hope these tips for towing have been helpful. Stay safe out there!

Don’t forget to check out our selection of trailer parts before you hit the road.

[REVISED 4/2023]