Pre-Towing Checklist For Your Trailer And Towing Vehicle

Towing is among the tasks that demand you to observe all the safety guidelines. If anything goes wrong during towing, you will incur high repair costs. Have the following on your checklist before your towing service provider tows your car.

Towing Vehicle

You have to ensure your tow vehicle has enough power and fuel. Balance and adequately inflate the tires. Also, replace excessively damaged or worn-out tires. The wheel fasteners should be rust-free and tight enough. Finally, ensure the wheel rims are okay.

If you undertake the towing at night, ensure all the lights are in place. These lights include:

• Reflector lights

• directional signal lights

• high beams hazard lights

• brake lights

• clearance lights

• dash lights

• tail lights

• headlights

Also, ensure the brakes are in order and that the side view mirrors provide a clear view on both sides.

Regular maintenance of your towing vehicle ensures everything is in good condition and ready for towing. However, you can't inspect and maintain all of these on your own. Instead, hire a towing expert to help you with regular maintenance and servicing.

Towing Hitch

A tow hitch connects the tow vehicle to the trailer. Your towing expert must ensure the following tow hitch components are in good condition:

• Hitch ball

• Drawbar

• Receiver

• Coupler

• Spring bars

• Power connection wiring

• Sway control device

• Safety chains

These components should also be compatible with the tow vehicle and trailer. Ensure the hitch ball and coupler are of the same size. Also, mount the receiver appropriately on your towing vehicle.

The safety chains connect the trailer and the tow vehicle and provide adequate slack for turning. In addition, your towing auto repair expert should securely attach the chains to the tow vehicle and the trailer. The chains should cross under the trailer tongue to form an X pattern.

If your hitch is a fifth-wheel trailer, ensure the following are in good condition:

• plate jaw and handle

• pin and pin box

• side rails

• hatch plate

• fifth wheel plate

Your tow vehicle is now ready for towing service if all the above factors are okay.

Trailer and Load Distribution

The trailer should have all the lights in place. You should also have well-inflated and balanced trailer tires. Your loaded trailer must also be at the same level as the vehicle when attaching them. If you have running boards and winches, they should be in good working condition.

Distribute the load so that the trailer has a low center of gravity to prevent loosely attached items from falling off. Ensure that your towing expert helps you check all these to ascertain correctness.

Conclusion

Towing is a difficult task that your towing service expert has mastered. Lack of safety precautions may put lives at risk and cause further accidents. You may also incur losses as a result. Have the precautions listed above on your checklist to guide proper navigation. If you find them okay, you can hit the road.

Make sure to contact a towing service for more information.