What You Should Know Before You Begin Towing

Owning or renting an RV or trailer can make for a great getaway option. You will get to hit the open road and see all that the country can offer you, with a few home amenities to make it comfortable.

But there is a bit of prep that goes into a trailer vacation. There is a lot to think about. The route you’re taking, the state laws you have to adhere to and more. For all the details on what you should do to prepare for your RV trip, read on.

Check your trailer tires

Don’t just stop at your car or truck tires and call it a day. Your front vehicle will be no use with essentially a boulder dragging behind it. Take a look at your trailer tires for any cuts, holes, slashes, or any other damage. Check the tire pressure and the tread depth to ensure that everything is safe for takeoff.

Go over your tow vehicle’s maintenance

Pulling a vehicle behind it would put pressure on any vehicle, so it’s important to make sure the maintenance is up to date so it’s working to its best. Make sure the oil and filter have been changed recently, test the brake pads and check that the engine coolant is filled.

When you are hooking up your trailer to the tow vehicle, add some safety chains as a backup to ensure that your vehicle doesn’t pull you off the road if the hitch were to fail.

Keep a safety kit in the trunk

Should the worst happen on the open road, you’ll want to make sure you’re safe until you can get out of the situation. Keep a spare tire in the trunk along with a safety kit. It should have a first aid kit, and a sign or light to indicate to passing drivers to go around and even a yellow jacket to ensure you can be seen at night.

Plus, for the sake of pulling an RV specifically, you should keep a recovery car tow strap in the trunk to ensure that you can pull your car or your trailer back onto the road, should one pull the other off, and use wheel chocks whenever you are unhooking the trailer to ensure it doesn’t roll away.

Get tow mirrors

Your wing mirrors might not be enough to see well with a large bulky vehicle behind you, so look into getting some tow mirrors for your car. This will help you see around blind spots and are usually very simple to install.

Check your lights

Make sure your electrical system is properly hooked up to the tow vehicle so that the back trailer lights respond when you brake, indicate, or reverse. It can be easy to cause an accident that way.

In the same vein, make sure your license plate is clear on the back. Just like any other vehicle, it’s illegal to block or distort the license plate, so when your car or truck’s plate is blocked by the trailer, the trailer’s license plate better stay clear.