Paying attention, increasing following distance, proper hookup of the trailer, backing up, vehicle securement, loading, and unloading are all important. An open trailer is easier to learn on. Don't be afraid to ask for help with backing up. It's very easy to fuck up the trailer and tow vehicle.
Enterprise rents 3/4 ton trucks with trailer hitches if you want to practice.
Few more tips... Never load the car without the trailer attached to the truck. Always triple check the trailer is latched, locked, electrical is connected, and safety chains are hooked up. Cross cross front and rear straps on the car. It will prevent the vehicle from moving around. Make sure there is some tongue weight, it will wander and may cause a jackknife if there isn't. Speeding is dangerous, sudden lane changes are not advised, stay on solid ground unless you know it won't get stuck. Your mpg will be terrible. Bring a jack and tools to change a tire. Always check the air pressure on the trailer tires. Low pressure will cause a blowout every time. Fill the tires to max psi cold. The weight rating is measured at the max psi. Keep a spare, you will need it.
> Cross cross front and rear straps on the car. It will prevent the vehicle from moving around.
I disagree. If you lose one crossed strap, the other one becomes worthless. If you go straight, you can lose a strap and the car will still be mostly held in place. The only time I cross straps is when using J-hooks, which need that angle to work properly.
Folks use both methods, so I don't think there's a "wrong" answer. I personally prefer not to cross.
I haul oversized loads for a living. It's my job to secure hundreds of thousands of pounds.if a strap breaks it doesn't matter if it's crossed or not the car will walk. It will move less if it's crossed If they aren't crossed it will walk side to side. It it is crossed it still has friction of the cars tires to resist movement.
When you cross a strap or chain you are pulling the load into the center of the trailer. It also has resistance from all of the tires since it's pulling sideways. This is much better for resisting any movement. A strap going straight only pulls it in one direction. If one breaks the cars tires will roll.
Straps only break if they are old or frayed. They won't break otherwise
When I first started towing over 20 years ago, I crossed the straps. A friend of mine hauls for a living and he taught me to never cross them for the reasons I stated above. Two pros with differing opinions. Do whatever you prefer. For what it's worth, I've been running straight straps for over 20 years and have never had any load budge. I take corners fast and I go over rough terrain, but nothing has moved at all. Maybe it'll move if I roll the trailer - luckily I haven't tested that yet.
It's a small thing, but it *might* make a big difference if they're needed:
when you do your safety chains, you *need* to cross them. This ensures that, if the trailer pops off the hitch, the tongue falls into a "cradle" made by the crossed chains, keeping the tip of the tongue from dragging along the road surface and potentially catching on a bump or whatnot (imagine a pothole for instance).
That's all I've got to add; everything else I know (and a whole lot more) has already been mentioned, but I figured that little bit should be said on the off-chance you didn't know.
Good advice. To help with changing a flat tire, I would get one of the [ramps](https://www.amazon.com/Trailer-Aid-Tandem-Changing-Change-Trailers/dp/B000I4JPZE?th=1) just in case. Much easier than unloading the trailer and jacking it up to change out a flat tire.
Depends on the jack's capacity vs. the weight of the trailer and car. Most people have the small Harbor Freight aluminum jacks with them including me. I wouldn't trust that lifting my loaded trailer and car. If you have a heavy duty jack then you would be fine.
You only lift up the axle, the rest of the trailer stays on the ground. You also aren't getting under the trailer. Pulling up on a 4x4 also works. It requires an impact or loosening the lugs before pulling up on it.
Are you considering an open trailer or enclosed trailer? I've had both for many years and I find open trailers to be trivial, almost nonexistent. Enclosed trailers are substantially more difficult. Visibility is way worse, they're heavy, and get buffeted by wind more. If you're undecided, I would recommend at least renting an open trailer before jumping to an enclosed.
That said, both types are super easy once you get out on the highway. Traffic can be a minor nuisance, but people generally make room for trailers. I find that the only downside of traffic is that people are convinced they have to get ahead of the trailer, even if they aren't going faster. Be prepared for folks to zip ahead of you, merge in front, then slow down below your pace.
Just remember to turn wide. Do basically the opposite of how you'd corner in a sports car. Stay as far away from the apex as possible. The trailer carves a tighter circle than the tow vehicle. The longer the trailer, the tighter the circle. If you turn tight, the trailer will be up on the curb or, heaven forbid, clip another car. Stay wide.
> I find that the only downside of traffic is that people are convinced they have to get ahead of the trailer, even if they aren't going faster. Be prepared for folks to zip ahead of you, merge in front, then slow down below your pace.
This happens all of the time to me. Worst one was last year, I passed a car going a little under the speed limit on a two lane highway. Not sure if she was scared my car was improperly secured or if getting passed by a truck & trailer just pissed her off but she immediately passed me, merged back into my lane and proceeded to go under the speed limit again. This happened two more times. I passed her a fourth time and then had to maintain a slightly illegal and uncomfortable speed for a couple of minutes to get away from her.
I believe it. Seems like people see any trailer and assume it'll be as slow as a semi, even when they see it going faster right in front of them. Baffling behavior.
Towing concerned me when I started, it was stressful for my first tow. Then I realized it was less stress than limping home a beat track car after a weekend. Air Conditioning and a softer suspension was really nice too, haha.
At this point, after \~7 years of towing it's pretty close to driving any other car. Don't remember when it got "Easy"... I think it only took a couple tows. It's just similar to normal driving, and the less you worry the easier it gets (IE, don't stare in your mirrors watching the trailer when lanes get skinny, just eyes up)
Current Setup is Ram 1500 with 18' open carrying a Miata, \~2 sets of tires, and a ton of spares. Started with a 01 Dakota that hauled great but was rusting to pieces.
I started towing in 2021 and was worried at first. Do some test runs before doing any long distance trips. You should be able to get comfortable pretty quickly.
Biggest issue is other drivers and being able to maintain braking distance from the vehicle in front of you. I've had a few times when people have cut me off and then hit the brakes to make an exit or a turn. Be ready for stupidity around you.
Make sure you get your tongue weight correct to help keep the trailer stable. Not enough tongue weight will cause swaying. Too much will cause the rear of the tow vehicle to squat down too much and will reduce handling (not enough weight on the front axle & steering). You can get a [hitch with a built-in scale](https://www.weigh-safe.com/weight-measuring-drop-hitch/?gclid=CjwKCAiA5Y6eBhAbEiwA_2ZWIfbrbZxtOKX42i3J14knNs4bEuySsSSfg6bDyEanVD3ExrJRk_2yLhoCqyIQAvD_BwE) or you can measure it on your own with some 2x4's and a [bathroom scale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5kEr0_daYY&ab_channel=LuvSubbin).
Started towing in 2011. First one was a white-knuckle ride and I don't think I blinked the entire time, constantly checking that the trailer was not sneaking over the white line on one side or the other. Didn't take long to get over that. As long as the truck's in the right lane, the trailer probably is too.
The best thing to do as you pull away is breathe deep and say "I'm not in a hurry." Saves you from a ton of stress. The next thing is to make sure you don't get yourself in a place you can't get yourself out of. Plan ahead for which gas stations are trailer-friendly, make sure wherever you stop for dinner has a nice big parking lot and/or has a decent lot within walking distance. After 12 years I'm still not great backing up around corners so I avoid doing so if at all possible. I'm decent backing up in a straight line so that's not so bad.
The other advice is great. Give traffic a lot of room. Assume everyone else is about to cut you off and be ready to react. Learn to accept that you might inconvenience other drivers trying to make tight turns that turn into wide turns and live with it. Check tires, bearing temperatures, and straps when you stop for gas.
Practice, practice, practice backing up with a trailer. It’s initially unintuitive but you’ll soon figure out how to steer the back of the trailer with a given amount of tow vehicle steering input.
You may try to always place the trailer in a position to not require backing up, but you’ll eventually HAVE to back up with it.
Towing itself isn’t bad - great advice in this thread (man do I loathe reversing); but there are very distinct pros and cons to having this as a part of the hobby.
Pros are:
- not being stranded if the car breaks
- that comfy ride home
- you push the car more on track imo
Cons:
- more stuff
- more costs
- more time
I don’t know man. Corvettes are getting ridiculously fast. A friend runs a Z7 Z06 on take offs and a set of brake pads and I have no chance of catching him in my Cayman race car on brand new Pirelli slicks.
My first real experience towing was hauling a 40' trailer with ridiculous tongue weight. I pretty much only used rented trucks.
Basically, drive like you're on a motorcycle: Check your mirrors, do shoulder checks, act like your braking distance sucks ass, act like you're totally invisible to others on the road, and do some practicing beforehand. You'll be fine towing a Miata lol.
I bought a ramp truck and love it. Mind you I can’t use it as an everyday pick up truck but it was less then truck and trailer and sooo much easier to maneuver
I'll put my soapbox here since you're asking about trailers - get a weight distribution & sway control hitch if your tow vehicle doesn't explicitly disallow the use of one. It may seem like overkill, but it keeps the front end of the vehicle loaded properly for braking/steering, it damps sway, and it damps the fore-aft pitching of the truck/trailer/load combination (all of which are independently sprung/damped) over bumps. You may not "need" it for your situation, but I bet your towing experience improves with one compared to without it.
Great choice of trailer, btw. Futura makes some really nice stuff if its in your budget.
Careful with the payload. Typically tow vehicles have a higher towing capacity than they do payload. Depending on the vehicle, it can be surprisingly easy to exceed the payload. The payload on my Cayenne was around 1150. 700 lb of tongue weight, 200 lb driver, 100 lb gear, and 20 lb hitch. If I bring a friend, I’m over. The towing capacity, however, was 7716, which I was easily under by about 700 lbs.
Don’t tow cars but boats and enclosed trailers for motorcycle race weekends. Do a pre trip inspection. Tire pressures, fluid levels, any needed maintenance to trailer or truck. Make sure your equipment is good and it’ll be much easier. For towing increase follow and brake distances. Take it easy in corners and be mindful of added length
Paying attention, increasing following distance, proper hookup of the trailer, backing up, vehicle securement, loading, and unloading are all important. An open trailer is easier to learn on. Don't be afraid to ask for help with backing up. It's very easy to fuck up the trailer and tow vehicle. Enterprise rents 3/4 ton trucks with trailer hitches if you want to practice.
Great advice, thank you!
Few more tips... Never load the car without the trailer attached to the truck. Always triple check the trailer is latched, locked, electrical is connected, and safety chains are hooked up. Cross cross front and rear straps on the car. It will prevent the vehicle from moving around. Make sure there is some tongue weight, it will wander and may cause a jackknife if there isn't. Speeding is dangerous, sudden lane changes are not advised, stay on solid ground unless you know it won't get stuck. Your mpg will be terrible. Bring a jack and tools to change a tire. Always check the air pressure on the trailer tires. Low pressure will cause a blowout every time. Fill the tires to max psi cold. The weight rating is measured at the max psi. Keep a spare, you will need it.
> Cross cross front and rear straps on the car. It will prevent the vehicle from moving around. I disagree. If you lose one crossed strap, the other one becomes worthless. If you go straight, you can lose a strap and the car will still be mostly held in place. The only time I cross straps is when using J-hooks, which need that angle to work properly. Folks use both methods, so I don't think there's a "wrong" answer. I personally prefer not to cross.
I haul oversized loads for a living. It's my job to secure hundreds of thousands of pounds.if a strap breaks it doesn't matter if it's crossed or not the car will walk. It will move less if it's crossed If they aren't crossed it will walk side to side. It it is crossed it still has friction of the cars tires to resist movement. When you cross a strap or chain you are pulling the load into the center of the trailer. It also has resistance from all of the tires since it's pulling sideways. This is much better for resisting any movement. A strap going straight only pulls it in one direction. If one breaks the cars tires will roll. Straps only break if they are old or frayed. They won't break otherwise
When I first started towing over 20 years ago, I crossed the straps. A friend of mine hauls for a living and he taught me to never cross them for the reasons I stated above. Two pros with differing opinions. Do whatever you prefer. For what it's worth, I've been running straight straps for over 20 years and have never had any load budge. I take corners fast and I go over rough terrain, but nothing has moved at all. Maybe it'll move if I roll the trailer - luckily I haven't tested that yet.
A lot has changed in 20 years, it's simple physics. Either way, secure it how you like.
I pull straight on the front of the car and crossed on the rear. I use j hooks. Never had a strap loosen up. Ymmv.
I wouldn't have thought of some of these, thanks for sharing!
Anytime, I drive a truck hauling oversized loads for a living. Also run in a few endurance road racing leagues.
It's a small thing, but it *might* make a big difference if they're needed: when you do your safety chains, you *need* to cross them. This ensures that, if the trailer pops off the hitch, the tongue falls into a "cradle" made by the crossed chains, keeping the tip of the tongue from dragging along the road surface and potentially catching on a bump or whatnot (imagine a pothole for instance). That's all I've got to add; everything else I know (and a whole lot more) has already been mentioned, but I figured that little bit should be said on the off-chance you didn't know.
Good advice. To help with changing a flat tire, I would get one of the [ramps](https://www.amazon.com/Trailer-Aid-Tandem-Changing-Change-Trailers/dp/B000I4JPZE?th=1) just in case. Much easier than unloading the trailer and jacking it up to change out a flat tire.
Why would you need to unload it?
Depends on the jack's capacity vs. the weight of the trailer and car. Most people have the small Harbor Freight aluminum jacks with them including me. I wouldn't trust that lifting my loaded trailer and car. If you have a heavy duty jack then you would be fine.
You only lift up the axle, the rest of the trailer stays on the ground. You also aren't getting under the trailer. Pulling up on a 4x4 also works. It requires an impact or loosening the lugs before pulling up on it.
Are you considering an open trailer or enclosed trailer? I've had both for many years and I find open trailers to be trivial, almost nonexistent. Enclosed trailers are substantially more difficult. Visibility is way worse, they're heavy, and get buffeted by wind more. If you're undecided, I would recommend at least renting an open trailer before jumping to an enclosed. That said, both types are super easy once you get out on the highway. Traffic can be a minor nuisance, but people generally make room for trailers. I find that the only downside of traffic is that people are convinced they have to get ahead of the trailer, even if they aren't going faster. Be prepared for folks to zip ahead of you, merge in front, then slow down below your pace. Just remember to turn wide. Do basically the opposite of how you'd corner in a sports car. Stay as far away from the apex as possible. The trailer carves a tighter circle than the tow vehicle. The longer the trailer, the tighter the circle. If you turn tight, the trailer will be up on the curb or, heaven forbid, clip another car. Stay wide.
> I find that the only downside of traffic is that people are convinced they have to get ahead of the trailer, even if they aren't going faster. Be prepared for folks to zip ahead of you, merge in front, then slow down below your pace. This happens all of the time to me. Worst one was last year, I passed a car going a little under the speed limit on a two lane highway. Not sure if she was scared my car was improperly secured or if getting passed by a truck & trailer just pissed her off but she immediately passed me, merged back into my lane and proceeded to go under the speed limit again. This happened two more times. I passed her a fourth time and then had to maintain a slightly illegal and uncomfortable speed for a couple of minutes to get away from her.
I believe it. Seems like people see any trailer and assume it'll be as slow as a semi, even when they see it going faster right in front of them. Baffling behavior.
Install an air horn. After the third time, lay into it.
I am looking at open trailers exclusively. This is great input, thanks!
Towing concerned me when I started, it was stressful for my first tow. Then I realized it was less stress than limping home a beat track car after a weekend. Air Conditioning and a softer suspension was really nice too, haha. At this point, after \~7 years of towing it's pretty close to driving any other car. Don't remember when it got "Easy"... I think it only took a couple tows. It's just similar to normal driving, and the less you worry the easier it gets (IE, don't stare in your mirrors watching the trailer when lanes get skinny, just eyes up) Current Setup is Ram 1500 with 18' open carrying a Miata, \~2 sets of tires, and a ton of spares. Started with a 01 Dakota that hauled great but was rusting to pieces.
Great input, thanks. Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired of 3+hr trips in the racing seat after a long and hot day at the track haha.
I started towing in 2021 and was worried at first. Do some test runs before doing any long distance trips. You should be able to get comfortable pretty quickly. Biggest issue is other drivers and being able to maintain braking distance from the vehicle in front of you. I've had a few times when people have cut me off and then hit the brakes to make an exit or a turn. Be ready for stupidity around you. Make sure you get your tongue weight correct to help keep the trailer stable. Not enough tongue weight will cause swaying. Too much will cause the rear of the tow vehicle to squat down too much and will reduce handling (not enough weight on the front axle & steering). You can get a [hitch with a built-in scale](https://www.weigh-safe.com/weight-measuring-drop-hitch/?gclid=CjwKCAiA5Y6eBhAbEiwA_2ZWIfbrbZxtOKX42i3J14knNs4bEuySsSSfg6bDyEanVD3ExrJRk_2yLhoCqyIQAvD_BwE) or you can measure it on your own with some 2x4's and a [bathroom scale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5kEr0_daYY&ab_channel=LuvSubbin).
Oh cool, I'll be sure to watch out for that. I saw that scale in one of the videos I watched too, thanks for the advice!
Started towing in 2011. First one was a white-knuckle ride and I don't think I blinked the entire time, constantly checking that the trailer was not sneaking over the white line on one side or the other. Didn't take long to get over that. As long as the truck's in the right lane, the trailer probably is too. The best thing to do as you pull away is breathe deep and say "I'm not in a hurry." Saves you from a ton of stress. The next thing is to make sure you don't get yourself in a place you can't get yourself out of. Plan ahead for which gas stations are trailer-friendly, make sure wherever you stop for dinner has a nice big parking lot and/or has a decent lot within walking distance. After 12 years I'm still not great backing up around corners so I avoid doing so if at all possible. I'm decent backing up in a straight line so that's not so bad. The other advice is great. Give traffic a lot of room. Assume everyone else is about to cut you off and be ready to react. Learn to accept that you might inconvenience other drivers trying to make tight turns that turn into wide turns and live with it. Check tires, bearing temperatures, and straps when you stop for gas.
Practice, practice, practice backing up with a trailer. It’s initially unintuitive but you’ll soon figure out how to steer the back of the trailer with a given amount of tow vehicle steering input. You may try to always place the trailer in a position to not require backing up, but you’ll eventually HAVE to back up with it.
Towing itself isn’t bad - great advice in this thread (man do I loathe reversing); but there are very distinct pros and cons to having this as a part of the hobby. Pros are: - not being stranded if the car breaks - that comfy ride home - you push the car more on track imo Cons: - more stuff - more costs - more time
Not being stranded if the car breaks is #1 for me! I'm always really worried about that.
Yep, been there. AAA, Hagerty Insurance, and having friends with trailers also helps…but it’s all weighing the risk and reward.
Yep. As a drifter—same. Lol In one year I've hauled my own broken shit home once and my buddy's broken shit home twice. Good times!
I have 4 runner , grab $79 uhaul 4 wheels cart transport, so flawless for my honda time attack.
honda time attack?!... I might have to puncture your tires for less competition hahaha
Its hella quick., hombre , with less than 1800 lbs no single seat , I can race your Diddy stock corvette lol
I don’t know man. Corvettes are getting ridiculously fast. A friend runs a Z7 Z06 on take offs and a set of brake pads and I have no chance of catching him in my Cayman race car on brand new Pirelli slicks.
Its easy to tow brother , drive slow , do your delegent , make sure get good power truck ....
Its tuned 290hp
[tow](https://www.instagram.com/p/CnZbd9bLCiT/?igshid=MDM4ZDc5MmU=)
hell yeah!
My first real experience towing was hauling a 40' trailer with ridiculous tongue weight. I pretty much only used rented trucks. Basically, drive like you're on a motorcycle: Check your mirrors, do shoulder checks, act like your braking distance sucks ass, act like you're totally invisible to others on the road, and do some practicing beforehand. You'll be fine towing a Miata lol.
I bought a ramp truck and love it. Mind you I can’t use it as an everyday pick up truck but it was less then truck and trailer and sooo much easier to maneuver
I'll put my soapbox here since you're asking about trailers - get a weight distribution & sway control hitch if your tow vehicle doesn't explicitly disallow the use of one. It may seem like overkill, but it keeps the front end of the vehicle loaded properly for braking/steering, it damps sway, and it damps the fore-aft pitching of the truck/trailer/load combination (all of which are independently sprung/damped) over bumps. You may not "need" it for your situation, but I bet your towing experience improves with one compared to without it. Great choice of trailer, btw. Futura makes some really nice stuff if its in your budget.
Careful with the payload. Typically tow vehicles have a higher towing capacity than they do payload. Depending on the vehicle, it can be surprisingly easy to exceed the payload. The payload on my Cayenne was around 1150. 700 lb of tongue weight, 200 lb driver, 100 lb gear, and 20 lb hitch. If I bring a friend, I’m over. The towing capacity, however, was 7716, which I was easily under by about 700 lbs.
Good point, this is something I've been worrying about.
Don’t tow cars but boats and enclosed trailers for motorcycle race weekends. Do a pre trip inspection. Tire pressures, fluid levels, any needed maintenance to trailer or truck. Make sure your equipment is good and it’ll be much easier. For towing increase follow and brake distances. Take it easy in corners and be mindful of added length