Towing your Gear Trailer

Deciding to use a trailer to carry your gear is just the beginning. You have to wire both the tow vehicle and the trailer to communicate with each other. See our wiring page for tips on this and than make sure you read these tip for safe towing as hauling a ton or more behind your vehicle has some complications. 

Tow vehicle considerations: 
The vehicle with which you intend to use for the purpose of towing the gear trailer must be rated for towing and for towing the amount of weight that you calculate the trailer will be when fully loaded.  If you do not use an appropriate vehicle  you will likely over tax the motor and the transmission, which can and almost certainly cause a breakdown. Also you may find it difficult to maintain your way while on the road. 

Braking: Most location will require brakes on any trailer that may exceeds a a particular gross weight. Virtually all manufactured trailers with a gross weight of 3500 pounds or more will come with brakes installed and are generally pre-wired. Check with your local police department to see if brakes will be required on the trailer you plan to use.

When you apply the brakes the tow vehicle will respond by decelerating but without properly installed and calibrated trailer brakes you will likely feel the trailer pushing from behind. This can be very disconcerting and dangerous especially if the trailer is equal to or greater than 1/2 of the weight of the tow vehicle. When emergency braking or braking while in a turn, you must be able to also control the trailer. With a light trailer connected to a heavy tow vehicle this is not much of a problem, but for a heavier trailer, trailer brakes are an absolute necessity. Not just brakes but a properly installed and tuned controller on the tow vehicle. Your controller should have a manual slide switch on it that will permit you to apply more brakes to the trailer to help keep your rig straight and not jackknifing.  

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