If it is time for you to hitch a trailer to your SUV or truck as you hit the road, you need to check it out, if your vehicle is ready for it.
As suggested by the experts of the GMC dealer Carlsbad, here are five points you must consider to ensure your safety, when you are assigning your vehicle the task of towing.
- Know Your Limits
Reviewing the towing capacity of your vehicle should be the first step. The maximum towing capacity should never be exceeded as it can result in serious damage to the suspension, engine and drivetrain of the vehicle. Moreover, it is mandatory to make sure that your trailer hitch is in good shape and is capable of handling the weight of the given load.
- Pack your trailer properly
Next comes the placing and positioning of the cargo that directly effects the balance of the vehicle. One should place 60% of the load of the trailer at the front half, in a way that would result in a tongue weight between 10 to 15% of the weight of the trailer in total. The weight should be evenly distributed through all the sides.
- Checking out the tires
Tires are the parts on which the entire load is dependent upon. Thus, checking the tire pressure as well as their condition shouldn’t be ignored under any circumstances. Improperly inflated tires can affect the vehicle handling negatively creating more resistance in rolling and force the engine to work more. All this result in consuming more fuel and increasing the tire temperatures which might lead to the blow-out of the tires. Simultaneously, checking out the speed rating of the tires are equally necessary for both the tow vehicle and the trailer should never exceed the maximum designated speed limit.
- Check your lights.
While it might appear superfluous, but the tail lights and marker lamps on the trailer, are major safety features for a towing vehicle. They are the primary signals of their presence on the roads. In most cases big trailers obscure the tail lights of the towing vehicle. And in that case only the illuminated tail lights of the trailers can make its presence visible to other cars, especially at night.
- Check Your Brakes and Adjust Your Mirrors
Trailers that carry heavy loads, needs to essentially incorporate trailer brake system. GMC as an auto making brand makes sure that the trailer brakes are used on trailers that are weighing 2,000 pounds or more. Additionally, for every kind of trailer brakes, one must check out if the emergency “breakaway” cable is attached properly to the towing vehicle. According to the GMC dealership Carlsbad, in case of a disconnection from the hitch, this cable would trigger the brakes and apply a halt immediately.
Finally, when you are ready to start off, adjust the side view mirrors to ensure a clear angle that shows the end of the trailer. For this, GMC offers mirrors specifically designed for a particular towing vehicle that expands the field of vision of every mirror installed in the vehicle.
