Tips For Towing Your Travel Trailer

Your travel trailer provides you with a convenient way to travel to tourist attractions, campgrounds, and the homes of your friends and family who live far away. If you’re new to the concept of towing a trailer, though, you may find it to be a bit challenging. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to learn how to tow a travel trailer safely. Check out the guidelines below.

Be Prepared

It’s a good idea to make note of the measurements of your travel trailer in advance so that you can stay under length limits and know which bridges and underpasses you can access with your trailer in tow. You don’t want to get stuck because you underestimated the height of your camper!

Keep your trailer well-maintained and walk around it before you depart to check that all slide-ins are secured, doors and windows are latched, nothing is sticking out, and the hitch and towing chains are tightly secured.

Backing Up

Reversing with a trailer in tow is probably the most challenging part of towing, because if you don’t do it correctly, you can jackknife the trailer in the direction you didn’t want it to go, forcing you to straighten back out and try again. When you’re trying to reverse into a parking spot or camping area, it’s helpful to have one of your passengers stand outside at a safe distance to guide you with gestures and commands.

Remember that your trailer will go in the opposite direction of how you turn; in order to move it to the left, you need to rotate your steering wheel to the right, and vice versa. Take it slowly and keep an eye on your rear-view mirrors.

General Tips

Keep your speed under 55 miles per hour on the highway when towing a trailer. You’re going to need extra time to bring all that weight to a complete stop, and higher speeds also increase the risk of trailer sway.

Stick to your lane as much as you can and signal turns or lane-changes well in advance to allow other motorists to see you. Try to maintain a large distance between yourself and the vehicles ahead of you.

When you’re ready to buy a travel trailer, visit our dealership in El Cajon, CA. MYRV is proud to serve greater San Diego, CA.