Trailer Towing Mistakes to Avoid
Towing a cargo trailer is fairly straightforward, but it does require you to exercise care when you’re driving. Many a trailer mechanic has seen the misfortunes that have befallen people who were careless while towing their trailers and ended up damaging them significantly. There are a number of rookie mistakes that a driver can make when towing that result in damage, including failing to air up tires, not distributing weight evenly, and failing to maintain the trailer or towing vehicle. Don’t be one of those folks! Follow these tips to tow your cargo trailer with care.
1. Driving on Bad Tires
The tires on both your towing vehicle and your cargo trailer need to be in good condition at all times. Trying to drive on balding tires or tires that aren’t properly inflated will likely result in a blowout that can send you and your trailer careening into oncoming traffic or off the road entirely.
Before each drive, use a tire-pressure gauge to check the psi levels of your tires and air them up accordingly. While you’re doing this, inspect your tires on both vehicles to make sure they have sufficient tread depth and that there aren’t bald spots, embedded objects, or cracks in the sidewalls. Replace any tires that have seen better days.
2. Failing to Even Out Weight Distribution
If you fail to load your cargo into your trailer correctly, it’s liable to shift around while you’re driving, which can cause trailer sway that unbalances the entire towing setup. To this end, you should exercise caution when loading up cargo on your trailer.
Place about 10% of the total cargo weight at the hitch and make sure that all weight is balanced evenly from left to right. Next, secure anything in place that might shift or slide around while the trailer is in motion, using ropes, ratchet straps, or other means at your disposal.
3. Letting Maintenance Fall By the Wayside
Finally, another common cause of problems while towing a cargo trailer is a disregard for regular maintenance. Keeping both your vehicle and your trailer well-maintained, with regular brake pad inspections, oil changes, signal and light tests, and battery checks will ensure that you don’t experience significant issues on the highway.
If you ever need assistance with maintaining your cargo trailer, be sure to contact the service department here at Glenn’s Trailer Sales so we can help you out.
Stop by our Hobe Sound, FL, dealership location today to view our selection of new and used cargo trailers for sale. We also offer trailer financing options, in addition to providing price quotes and trade-in values. Glenn's Trailer Sales serves our Florida customers in Jupiter and West Palm Beach.