Pre-towing tips

- Be certain your vehicle maintains a level position when a loaded or unloaded trailer is hitched. Do not drive the vehicle if it has an abnormal nose-up or nose-down condition; check for improper tongue load, overload, worn suspension or other possible causes of either condition.

- Always secure items in the trailer to prevent load shift while driving.

- Keep the cargo load as low as possible in the trailer to keep the trailer center of gravity low.

- Load the trailer so approximately 60% of the trailer load is in the front half and 40% is in the back half. Also make sure the load is balanced side to side.

- Check your hitch, trailer tire pressure, vehicle tire pressure, trailer light operation, and trailer wheel lug nuts every time you attach a trailer to the vehicle.

- Be certain your rearview mirrors conform to all federal, state or local regulations. If not, install any mirrors required for towing before driving the vehicle.

- Determine the overall height of the vehicle and trailer so the required clearance is known.

    See also:

    Flat towing
    Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the ground is sometimes called flat towing. This method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor home. ...

    SAFETY
    My kids' booster seats fit like a charm in the backseat. The seat belt buckles were a little floppy, but older kids won't struggle with them. Younger ones may need a little help buckling up on the ...

    Tongue load
    When using a weight carrying or a weight distributing hitch, keep the tongue load between 10 to 15% of the total trailer load within the maximum tongue load limits shown in the following â ...