Never towed, buying a trailer

[DCPHOENIX]

We are moving in with my in-laws in a month or so which is going to involve a 1200 mile drive from Phoenix to Houston.

My wife initially thought we could all fit in the Gladiator (wife, child, me, dog, tortoise) and take everything she wants for a year HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Once she started listing which potted plants she wanted to take I had to stop her lol.

Thought about just hiring a trailer but I also have stuff to move into storage before hand. Renting adds up to the point where I may as well just buy something.

Looking at something like the Big Tex 30SA 5x10. Pretty dinky trailer but should do for what I'm wanting. Will be able to put plastic storage boxes on the trailer and the bed of the truck can be used for the less heavy, more valuable, junk.

Any tips for doing a long drive with a small trailer?

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[jeepers29]

Your Glady will have no problems with a 5x10 unless it is full of lead or gold. Not enough room to get to heavy.

 

[DCPHOENIX]

Your Glady will have no problems with a 5x10 unless it is full of lead or gold. Not enough room to get to heavy.

Gold is a problem I wish I had. And I am actually taking a fairly large amount of lead haha

 

[kevman65]

Short tongue trailers tend to get a little squirrelly. Pay attention to how you load the trailer. You want about 15% of the total trailer weight on the tongue. Highway ruts and road crowns are going to give you a little pucker. Semi's passing you are going to give you a big pucker.

Keep a good distance between you and vehicle in front of you. You're going to need a lot more room to get it stopped when towing. That trailer is going to push you when you hit the brakes.
Until you learn how much room you need for turns, give yourself plenty of extra room. No sharp turns.

Check your hitch connections, chains, trailer lug nuts at every stop. It's all new, never know if it's tightened to where it should be.

Don't forget to plug in your trailer lights and check that lights, brake lights, turn signals all work.

 

[dcmdon]

If you are a novice trailer backer, pay attention and always plan so you can get out without backing.

Short trailers are harder than long trailers. So avoid backing until you've practiced and know exactly what you are capable of.

If you practice with an empty trailer, if you get stuck, you can just unhitch it and walk it around.

That and make sure you have enough tongue weight. If the trailer swings back and forth or feels unstable, you dont' have enough tongue weight.

Better too much than too little.

 

[USMC_1Wire6337]

If you are a novice trailer backer, pay attention and always plan so you can get out without backing.

Short trailers are harder than long trailers. So avoid backing until you've practiced and know exactly what you are capable of.

If you practice with an empty trailer, if you get stuck, you can just unhitch it and walk it around.

That and make sure you have enough tongue weight. If the trailer swings back and forth or feels unstable, you dont' have enough tongue weight.

Better too much than too little.

I second everything @dcmdon said. I will add that when backing, a small steering wheel turn will make a large trailer turn if you are going too fast.

Since it is long times between towing for me sometimes, I always do a small turn and short backward movement to make sure trailer is going the direction I want before committing.

 

[DCPHOENIX]

All sounds like solid advice!

There’s a video out there where some guys have a toy car and trailer hooked up to a treadmill. Really shows how not loading properly can ruin your day!

 

[Kevin_D]

Remember when you're towing you should obey truck speed limits.
I'm constantly amazed by guys with 40' fifth wheels doing 80+.
If anything goes wrong, it'll happen VERY QUICKLY, even at 65mph!

Kevin

 

[Sprinkler-Fitter]

Remember when you're towing you should obey truck speed limits.
I'm constantly amazed by guys with 40' fifth wheels doing 80+.
If anything goes wrong, it'll happen VERY QUICKLY, even at 65mph!

Kevin

Do you think you would have less damage at 65mph than 80mph?

 

[Kevin_D]

Do you think you would have less damage at 65mph than 80mph?

Probably, simply because the kinetic energy is less at 65mph.
But it's still gonna really fuck up your day.

Kevin

 

[bleda2002]

Shouldn't be too bad. I towed a slightly overloaded 8x12 enclosed from MN to Florida with a midsize Mercedes SUV with out too much trouble.

Just make sure you keep the right amount of weight on the tongue.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I second everything @dcmdon said. I will add that when backing, a small steering wheel turn will make a large trailer turn if you are going too fast.

Since it is long times between towing for me sometimes, I always do a small turn and short backward movement to make sure trailer is going the direction I want before committing.

Yep. Things break less when going slow. I’ve been trailering since I was 16, so I made almost all of the mistakes early on. Trailering is fun. Don’t be discouraged. I recommend practicing backing in an empty section of a parking lot. Try to back into a lined spot from several full rig lengths away. One difficult thing to learn is to not jack knife your trailer when backing. Use the tow vehicle to start the trailer turn, then correct and practice following it. If it’s not going where you want. Move forward a few feet, which will straighten the load. Then continue back.

 

[dcmdon]

Probably, simply because the kinetic energy is less at 65mph.
But it's still gonna really fuck up your day.

Kevin

(80/65)^2 = 1.51

So yes, a vehicle, actually anything going 80 mph has 50% more kinetic energy than something going 65 mph.

 

[dcmdon]

One other trick I just remembered. Well 2 tricks.

1) use your mirrors. Resist the urge to turn around when backing. I dont' know why but people tend to turn the wheel the wrong way backing less when using the mirrors.

2) hold the wheel at the bottom. Push the bottom of the wheel the direction you want the trailer to go.

Other advice:

--Watch your front fenders. I've seen several people, and done it once myself, run the front of the tow vehicle into something while backing a trailer. You are so focused on the trailer you don't realize you are going to run the front into something.

--Every few feet stop and look around. Look at where the trailer is in relation to what you want. Look at the back of your truck. Look down Both side mirrors.

****If you have any doubt, stop the truck, get out and walk around the truck and trailer.

--If you are backing up a driveway you know is clear, focus only on the drivers side of the trailer. Trust that if you put the drivers side wheels in the right place, there will be enough room for the right side wheels.

Its ok to check the right mirror. Just do it while stopped. You get screwed up when going back and forth between mirrors when you are new at it.

 

[Kevin_D]

The truck speed limit is 75-80 mph out here in the wild wild west

It varies by State. MT & ID, both with 80mph limits, have 70mph truck limits. Other states, like UT, WY, AZ, TX have the same speed limits for all vehicles. WA & OR are stuck at 70/60 trucks, and CA is 70/55 trucks.
Just look at the signs, and use common sense.
An 80,000 lb. truck going 80mph will go a LOOOOONNNGGG way before it stops.

/rant

Kevin

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