This 2-inch hitch ball is...
This 2-inch hitch ball is Class III, meaning it can carry a load up to 6,000 pounds. Hitch balls are defined by their shank diameter, shank length, and ball diameter and can look similar but vary widely in strength. It is essential to ensure that the hitch ball is rated for the same weight as your hitch, or higher. Ratings are usually stamped onto the ball.
Tongue weight is actually the hardest requirement to address and one of the most important to get right. Too much tongue weight overloads the rear axle, which could blow a rear tire or melt down the axle gears. With the front end pointing to the sky, steering and braking will be sketchy.
On the other hand, with too little tongue weight, the trailer will haul up on the rear axle of your truck, so you'll overload the front axle and front brakes and have almost no rear brake effect at all. And the hitch could come off the ball with a single bounce.
As a rule, manufacturers specify that the tongue weight be 10-15 percent of the total load. If your trailer weighs 5,000 pounds, tongue weight should be 500-750 pounds. This could be too much to check using a bathroom scale but too light to check at the truck scales. There is a way to use a bathroom scale to check tongue weight. It involves taking a 3-foot board with a brick at one end and the scale at the other. If you place the coupler 1 foot away from the brick and 2 feet away from the scale, the scale will show 33 percent of the tongue weight. Multiply the number by three to get the tongue weight.
While it is possible to approximate tongue weight that way, the most practical solution is to go by how level the tow vehicle sits. You can do this visually, or you can actually measure from the top of the wheelwells to the ground, loaded and unloaded. If you find the tow truck sitting at an unlevel attitude, move cargo around until the combination is leveled out. The goal is to distribute the load so that all the tires share an equal part.
Step 5: Visit the Scales
Once you have your rig loaded to your satisfaction, it's time to visit the scales. Most people have no idea what the actual weight of their trailer is or how much their gear weighs. Remember, the weight of everything in your tow vehicle-passengers, food, tools, gear-takes away from the amount of trailer weight you can safely manage. You'd be surprised how much weight a pickup truck or SUV can gain when a family hits the road.
Underinflated tires generate...
Underinflated tires generate heat and are prone to failure. It's essential that they be pressurized to the maximum shown on the sidewall and that you use a reliable tire gauge to check them. Trailer tires are rated by miles, not tread wear. Usually 5,000 miles is the limit, so they should be replaced even if the tire appears to have good tread, or whenever cracks appear on the sidewall. To reduce the tendency for sidewall cracking if your trailer sits during the week, make sure the trailer rests with tires at full pressure on level ground. For long-term storage, put the trailer on blocks, and reduce inflation pressure.
To tow safely, do what the...
To tow safely, do what the pros do: Visit a certified scales. For $15 or $20 you can find out what your truck weighs loaded, what your trailer weighs with everything in it, and the two together weigh. With that, you can compare to the manufacturer's published capacities and plan accordingly.
Tongue load is difficult to...
Tongue load is difficult to measure accurately, but you can get a rough idea by noticing how level the tow vehicle sits. Here we see a tow vehicle and a trailer that appear to be well balanced front to rear. To be more precise, measure the distance from wheelwell to ground before and after hooking up the trailer, to see how the trailer's weight alters the tow vehicle's stance.
You could weigh all your gear piece-by-piece on a bathroom scale as you load up, but the easy way to know what your truck and trailer actually weighs is to visit the certified truck scales. You can find the nearest one in the phonebook or on the web. When you get there, talk to the scale's operator so he understands you want to weigh the trailer alone (Gross Trailer Weight), the truck alone (Gross Vehicle Weight), and finally the combination (Gross Combined Weight). That's three weights, which will require that you unhook the trailer, so you may want to bring some help when you go. This sounds like a lot of trouble, but it will only take half an hour and cost about $20.
Once you have weighed your trailer, you will get receipts to prove that you are in compliance with recommended weight limits. Those could be handy in case your transmission or axle burns up, for warranty reasons, or in a court of law in case of an accident.
Step 6: Know Your State Laws
It doesn't seem fair, but numerous conflicting state laws govern trailer length, weight, brake standards, width, height, and towing speeds, among other things. You might talk with your trailer vendor to make sure you are in compliance when you buy your trailer. Problem is, even if your trailer complies with the laws of your home state, it might be a ticket waiting to happen the next state over. The solution is to check the regulations both in your state and the states you might tow through. An Internet search for "towing regulations" will call up all the information you need. You'll find a hodge-podge of laws with little rhyme or reason.
As a rule, the maximum trailer height is 13 feet 6 inches, but 17 states do permit 14-foot height. One state, Nebraska, allows trailers to be 14 feet 6 inches tall.
In most places the maximum trailer width is 8 feet 6 inches, but in three states it is 8 feet, and in one state, Hawaii, it is OK to be 9 feet wide.
Maximum trailer length ranges anywhere from 40 feet (13 states) to 53 feet (5 states). In 12 states there is no maximum length at all. Maximum combined rig length varies from 85 feet in Wyoming to 55 feet in Maryland, and ranges widely in between.