How to Hitch Up Your Travel Trailer Safely
When you’re new to towing a travel trailer, there’s something important you need to know: how to secure the hitch connection between the trailer and your towing vehicle. Without a secure connection, your travel trailer can easily break away from your vehicle while you’re cruising down the highway, causing a serious accident. Here are the steps to follow to make sure everything is done correctly.
1. Getting Into Position
Your towing vehicle and travel trailer should be on relatively flat ground several feet apart. You’ll also need to remove the hitch lock, if your hitch has one, and position the receiver latch vertically so it’s open. Use your jack to lift up the front of your travel trailer while it’s kept in place with wheel chocks.
2. Inserting Lock Pin
Place the hitch close to your receiver and slide it in. You may need to check your owner’s manual to determine whether your hitch has a removable sway arm that can make it easier to move, or if there are any other concerns specific to your type of hitch. Insert and secure your locking pin carefully.
3. Line Up Your Vehicles
Now you should line up the vehicles so that the hitch can hook them together. You should have one of your traveling companions spot you on this to help you; if you have an RV camera, you can also try using that. Some owners who have cameras on their RV find that lining up their vehicles askew in the camera view means they’re perfectly lined up in reality. You’ll have to do some practicing to get the hang of the right angle for yours. Otherwise, you’ll need to carefully back up the towing vehicle until your spotter says that the hitch is in the right place.
4. Close the Latch
Park carefully and get out so you can lower the trailer on its jacks until the hitch ball and receiver connect. Close your receiver latch, then raise up the jack and remove the jack blocks. Now is also a good time to hook up the brake and light cables between your towing vehicle and trailer.
5. Connect Your Towing Chains
Finally, once everything is in place, you need to grab your towing chains and connect them securely between the towing vehicle’s bumper and the front of your travel trailer. The chains are a stopgap measure that will help keep your trailer connected to your vehicle should the hitch fail, giving you sufficient time to get out of the way of surrounding traffic. Ensure that the chains are securely in place before you remove the wheel chocks.
Drop by our dealership near Indianola, IA, to check out our fine selection of new and used travel trailers for sale. Talk to our sales team if you need help with financing. Herold Trailer Sales proudly serves the metro areas of Des Moines, IA, and Omaha, NE.