Summer travel season is upon us, and many have eager to get out of Queens city and enjoy the great outdoors. Like many people, you’ve traded in your sedan for a crossover or SUV because they’re more versatile. Light towing has one of the things many compact and midsize crossover SUVs can do. In the face of this shift in vehicle preference, a host of suitable light-duty trailers are appearing. But what if you’ve never towed a trailer before? How to start if you have never towed before? Maybe you rented a U-Haul once, and the attendant fixed everything for you. Maybe your dad let you drive his truck for an hour or so on family vacations a few times. But he drove the trailer in tight spots and made all the connections. Towing is not too difficult and does not require a special license. But it’s not a trivial pursuit either, and there are several things you need to know to tow safely and with confidence. Towing has a wide-ranging topic with many permutations. But for now, we’re focusing on the lighter end of the spectrum where compact and midsize SUV’s reside.
The first step is to see if your vehicle is rated to tow and, if so, how much. The Towing or Towing Trailer section of your owner’s manual is the best place to start. However, you may need to adapt to your automaker’s specific terminology. On its own, the Towing section can refer to emergency towing behind a tow truck, while Dinghy Towing involves towing your vehicle behind an RV. Once you find the right section, you may need to know your vehicle’s engine size, transmission type, drive type, and even your trim level in case your model has more than one possible trailer rating. Specific options have also mentioned. Full-size truck trailer ratings can be tricky to pin down, but compact and midsize SUVs have much more straightforward.
Once you know your towing capacity, you need to consider your particular situation to determine your practical towing limit. This is because the published towing ratings have the best-case maximums assumed to be an unmodified towing vehicle with light options piloted by a 150-pound driver traveling alone with no luggage or cargo. Your practical towing limit is therefore situational and will be lower than the towing rating to the extent you weigh more than 150 pounds, travel with others, carry cargo or carry-on luggage, and own a towing vehicle. That is loaded with all the available options or equipped with heavy plugins. All of that weight needs to be subtracted so that, in total, your vehicle’s actual tow rating has hundreds of pounds lighter than what’s advertised.
Proper trailer hitches may or may not be standard on vehicles rated to tow a load. In cases with a towing rating but no hitch, the manufacturer will almost always offer a factory-developed accessory that can be purchased from the dealer. These hitches are made to fit the vehicle precisely and often include a trailer wiring adapter that’s easy to install. You can buy your hitch from a third-party hitch manufacturer, but they may or may not be as well contoured to the vehicle and inconspicuous to the eye as the factory-designed unit. Additionally, third-party hitch sellers offer hitches for vehicles that do not have towing capabilities. Because receiver hitches are good mounting points for bike racks and other accessories. This distinction isn’t always obvious, but in no case should the availability of a hitch override the automaker’s towing recommendations.
Hooks are made up of three parts. The receiver has a frame with a square socket permanently attached to the vehicle. A ball mount has designed to plug in and hold securely to the receiver when it’s time to tow and remove and set aside when it’s not. The trailer ball will remain permanently bolted to the ball mount after being selected to meet specific trailer requirements (three diameters are available). All three components will be stamped or labeled with their weight ratings, and all three ratings must meet or exceed the vehicle’s towing rating. It’s important to note that overrated components do not increase a vehicle’s towing capacity. But undersized components represent the weakest link and, therefore, should reduce it.
It has often impossible to weigh a trailer before buying or renting it. The most conservative approach has to follow the trailer’s GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating). This can often be found on the spec sheet but permanently stamped on a plate affixed to the trailer body. The trailer’s GVWR (not to be confused with the GVWR of your towing vehicle) represents the maximum amount the trailer must weigh. But that number might discourage you from trailers your vehicle can tow because trailer GVWRs sometimes significantly exceed their actual towed weight. I once rented a 1,000-pound trailer with a 3,500-pound gross weight, but it only weighed about 1,700 pounds after loading it up. Be careful because cargo considerations vary by trailer type, not to mention individual habits. My advice here: You should check out the trailer’s empty weight, compare it to the GVWR, and consider what you’ll be carrying inside the trailer.
In short, the trailer must be coupled to the towing vehicle. Before you start charging it. Why? Trailers need to be adequately balanced to be stable when being towed, which happens when the trailer’s tongue presses down on the hitch point of the trailer. But the balance changes as you load a trailer, and it is possible for the tongue weight to go negative momentarily and the tongue to tilt suddenly while loading a heavy object from the rear.
Backup cameras help a lot here, but nothing better than a helpful friend looking for you as you gain experience. Ensure trailer wheels have chocked, trailer tongue has raised high enough, and trailer receptacle is open. Carefully back under the tow ball until it has centered, set the parking brake, and shift into the park. Use the trailer jack to lower the tongue socket over the ball until it has fully engaged, then close the latch.
Remember to insert a pin, bolt, or specially made padlock to prevent the latch from opening while driving.
Now connect the safety chain hooks to the holes or loops already made in the receiver. Being careful to cross from left to right and back to create a base under the coupling that could prevent the trailer neck from hitting and potentially digging in. . on the floor. Care taken that there is enough slack to prevent the chains from tightening when cornering, but not so much that it drags on the ground when driving straight. Next, you’ll connect the trailer light harness, keeping in mind the same issues with your slack. Finally, if the trailer has electric brakes and a broken switch, you’ll do the same when you park it.
As mentioned above, a certain amount of downward pressure on the hitch ball, called the tongue weight. It is necessary to ensure the trailer pulls straight and remains stable. That amount has almost always 10% of the total trailer weight, although some heavier trailers require more. The tow vehicle’s rear suspension will compress a little under this load. Which has been expected and factored into the rating. In all cases, it has not the weight itself that matters, it has what it represents: that the trailer’s center of mass has located in front of its axle. We rarely have access to scales when loading, but some rules apply. Load heavier items forward of the trailer axle, but not to the extreme, leading edge. Center heavy items from left to the right and place them as low as possible. Secure loose items, particularly heavier ones, so they can’t shift and upset the weight of the trailer’s tongue while it’s in motion. The goal is to have 60% of your cargo mass in front of the trailer axle and 40% behind.
Trailers do not always have their brakes. Brakes have more likely on heavier trailers and have sometimes required by law. The automaker may also have a trailer rating cut-off point, above which they recommend trailer brakes. Check your owner’s manual for the vehicle’s recommendation, but also check your state’s requirements using the AAA’s Digest of Motor Laws. Of trailers that have brakes, there are two types. Hydraulic surge brakes are self-contained within the trailer tongue and use natural hitch compression when the vehicle speed has been reduced to apply a proportional amount of trailer braking. These have primarily been found in boat trailers submerged in water and rental trailers rented by moving companies. Electric brakes require a signal from the tow vehicle and are, therefore, more complicated. These are more common on larger camping trailers towed by full-size pickup trucks, so electronic trailer brake controllers are often optional on such vehicles (pictured above). But some midsize pickup trucks and crossovers have prewired to interface with an aftermarket trailer brake controller that may need to be added later. The weight threshold at which such brakes come into play overlaps with the high end of some crossover SUV towing ratings.
There were numerous trailer lighting plugs in the past. But today we seem to have settled for just two: the four-pin flat connector and the seven-pin round connector. Vehicles with factory hitches may be prewired for both, but many add-on wiring kits are of the four-flat variety. You’ll need to know what’s in the trailer to understand which one you’ll need. The flat-four connector deals only with essential trailer lighting: running lights, brake lights, and turn signals. These are common on trailers that lack brakes or employ surge brakes. The seven-pin connector adds three possible functions to the list, the main one being a signal for the electric trailer brakes. If your trailer has electric brakes, it most likely has a round seven-pin connector at the end of your umbilical.
Check your vehicle carefully. Make sure your tires have fully aerated on your tow vehicle and trailer. Also check the trailer’s spare tire pressure, which has often been neglected. Take care of fluid fill-ups and fill your tank just before you make the initial trailer hookup at the start of your trip. Once on the road, pull over within the first 10-15 minutes to ensure trailer connections have intact and cargo remains secure.
