Travel Trailer Trip Safety

Towing your camping trailer for the first time can be a challenge in some places and downright dangerous in others if you haven’t practiced a little first. There are some things you need to know to make your trip safe, enjoyable and stress free. I drove semi truck throughout the United States for years (and even into Canada a few times) and my advice is to learn what the truckers do to stay safe, and practice those techniques.

Towing Capacity: The first thing you should know is what your towing vehicle is capable of handling. You cannot just hook the thing up to a trailer and take off. Some vehicles are not meant to tow at all and some can carry considerable weight and pull big trailers. Towing capacity refers to how much weight your vehicle can both carry and tow and still be road safe. The vehicle maker will have screwed a little metal tag on your vehicle that tells you what your total vehicle weight rating is. It is called gross vehicle weight rating and will be abbreviated GVWR. This is the maximum (that means absolute total) weight you can put in the vehicle and tow behind it. It is based on the structure of the frame, the suspension, the springs, the tires and the torque and transmission. Changing any of these factors can change how much weight your vehicle can safely handle. If anything on your vehicle has been changed you should check with your dealership to see if the limits have been altered.