Trailer tug test revisited

Back in 2004, I put tongue in cheek and wrote about the trailer tug test: Hook up the trailer, drive off and look in the rear view mirror, if it’s still following you, carry on.

Yesterday I found myself behind a couple of vehicles pulling trailers, and wondered if their drivers had read about the trailer tug test and missed the fact that I was being facetious. Neither trailer had any functioning lights, and I can only guess what else had been overlooked.

Capacity, hitch ball size, and safety chains

The entire hitch assembly must be strong enough to handle the gross trailer weight. 

The diameter of the ball must match the size of the coupler on the trailer. 

The lock must be locked. 

Safety chains must be strong enough, and if two are present, crossed like a cradle under the hitch.

Make sure that the electrical connection between the tow vehicle and trailer is clean and undamaged. Plug it in.

Simple enough you say? Well, sometimes we forget about this. Just ask the RV technician who coupled a holiday trailer up to an undersized ball for delivery to a customer after doing repairs. After bouncing over the railroad tracks, the coupler pulled off the ball, the safety chains didn’t hold, and the tech was left to explain to the customer why his trailer was in the ditch.

Now that we’re hitched up, it’s time to worry about the trailer brakes

In certain circumstances, brakes are not needed, but if the trailer is equipped with them, they must work properly.

Check that the brake fluid is clear, straw coloured, and full if the trailer has hydraulic brakes. 

Activate the breakaway brake, and try to move forward.

The brake should prevent you from doing this. Reconnect the breakaway, and if you can apply only the trailer brakes from the driver’s position, do so, then try the tug test again.

While we’re in the driver’s seat, let’s take a look back

Are your mirrors adequate and adjusted properly to see behind you as required?

A circle check of the entire combination should be done

Do all the lights light? 

Are any of them missing, broken, or obscured by the load? 

Do the tires have sufficient tread, are they properly inflated? 

Are the wheel nuts tight?

If you are using the trailer to carry a load, is it secured properly? Gravity is not an acceptable method of load security. 

Is the total weight of the trailer and load less than or equal to both the manufacturer’s maximum capacity and it is licensed for with ICBC? Many Ubilt utility trailers are licensed for 700 kg GVW, the total weight of the load and the trailer. Often these trailers are significantly overloaded.

Having reached this point, if all is well you are probably ready to go. There are other things that you might want to check, though, and a suggested pre-trip inspection routine can be found in ICBC’s publication Towing a Recreational Trailer. http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/Documents/towing-trailer-full-mv2024.pdf

One last thought: You are no longer a shorter, more agile vehicle. Longer braking and following distances are needed, along with careful consideration of your new turning radius.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.