Tips for towing a trailer | Get you and your tribe to your destination safely

It’s school holidays, which means hitching your caravan to your wheels and hitting the road. And while we’re all for a road trip, it’s important to remember that towing heavy objects is not something we do every week. It might be a trailer or caravan you don’t own, whether you’ve rented one, or borrowed from a friend. Many factors can intervene and make what seems to be a simple task into something frustrating and potentially expensive.

Tips for towing a trailer - how to reverse and park

Do a quality check

Look carefully at the tow-hitch, safety chains and the tow-bar and ball on your own vehicle. Make sure they all secure with no cracked welds, serious rust or damage. When connected, the trailer coupling should fit snugly on the tow-ball. Some have screw fittings to tighten the coupling. The safety chain connects via a 'D' shackle to a bracket on the tow-bar. Make sure before leaving that the shackle is secure and is rated to take the load of the trailer should it become unhitched.

Trailer tyres need to be legal just like those on the tow-car. They also need to be suited to load-carrying, so light-truck rubber is preferable. Make sure the trailer comes with a suitable spare wheel and you have a jack that will lift it when laden. Your car jack is unlikely to do the job.

Lights are connected to your car via cable supplied by the trailer owner. If it doesn't fit the plug on your car you will need an adaptor.

Change your driving style

Vehicles towing trailers can behave very differently and drivers need to recognise any change in the messages being transmitted through the steering wheel and 'seat of the pants'.

The most vital adjustment you must make is to your following distance. A trailer, even with brakes of its own, will exert load on the towing vehicle; pushing the nose lower, making the rear end unstable and increasing stopping distances. The last thing you need if braking hard is having the trailer 'jack-knife' into the side of your car.

Wind, bumpy roads and wet weather can all cause problems for people with loads to tow. Travelling 20 per cent below the speed you would normally travel on a given road is a common strategy.

Practise your reversing

Very few of us can claim true expertise in the art of reversing a trailer. Some days it goes exactly where aimed, on others the simple act of backing into a slot at the Council dump can provide several minutes of amusement for onlookers.

The basic theory of reversing a trailer is very simple. If you turn the back of the tow vehicle to the left the back of the trailer will move to the right and vice versa. In practice, of course, it’s not so easy.

Large trailers and caravans where your rearward vision is restricted, have someone positioned so they can see the rear of the trailer and signal you to stop if a collision is imminent. It’s always a good idea to invest in extendable towing mirrors to help you see where you’re going, when driving and when parking.

Need to get your wheels checked before hitting the road? We can help with that.

These tips and more at Carsales.com.au.