Tech Talk - How To Properly Hook Up A Trailer
In this episode of Tech Talk, Technical Sales Rep, Chase takes you through the essential steps of properly hooking up a trailer to your truck. Whether you're a seasoned trailer pro or a newbie, you'll find Chase's expert guidance invaluable. He'll walk you through each step with precision, ensuring that your trailer is securely attached, and you're ready for a safe and stress-free towing experience.
It may seem like common knowledge, especially if you're a boat owner. However, a quick refresher is never a bad thing and for those who are new this may be your first lesson on the topic. So, what's the proper way to hook up a trailer? It's very important we get all of these steps correctly so we are safe on the road and don't break any laws.
Hooking up a trailer is a fairly easy process with just a few steps and it's becoming easier and easier as new technology is brought to life in modern vehicles. This is easily done with one person if you have a backup camera, if you're new and don't have a camera you may want to enlist the help of a family member or neighbor for this one because no one wants the tongue of their trailer to hit their bumper or even worse the tailgate of their truck.
Follow Chase's steps and you're going to be good to go.
1) Backup to the trailer tongue and ensure it's raised high enough that the ball on your trailer hitch sits just below the tongue.
2) Make sure the ball and tongue size are the same, in the case of this video we are using a 2" trailer and ball.
3) Get out the muscles and start lower that trailer with the attached jack onto the ball.
4) Once it's seated lock the coupler in place on the ball.
5) Insert the safety pin into the coupler. This will keep the coupler from opening while going down the highway.
6) Hook your safety chains to the receiver on your vehicle. We recommend crossing them for added safety.
7) Connect the emergency trailer brake cord to the vehicles receiver as well.
8) Lastly, connect your electronic trailer plug to the vehicle.
These are the simple steps to connecting a trailer to your vehicle. For added safety we recommend doing a quick double check of everything then walking around your vehicle and trailer to make sure all lights are working, tires have good tire pressure and any safety straps are tight. With that complete you're ready for a safe towing experience on your way to the boat ramp.