Everything You Need To Know About Your Most Important Trailer Parts

So you’re excited to get everything you need ready for your next camping trip.You’ve got the trip mapped out, the fridge is fully stocked, the water tanks are full and the whole family is ready for an exciting adventure and, and some quality bonding time in the outdoors of the Great White North. Before you hit the pavement, far from home and your trailer parts experts, it’s important to know a thing or two about your trailer parts. Here’s everything you could ever want to know about your most important of trailer parts; the hitch.

You’re excited to take the trailer out for your very first camping trip. You hit the road and notice that the back bumper is inches from touching the pavement underneath! You steer, and the front wheels are not responding and barely on the ground before rumbling to and fro, taking up the entire lane and then some. This means that it either wasn’t rigged properly,hasn’t been loaded properly, or potentially that the trailer parts (like the hitch!) need a second look. Your hitch is an essential trailer parts to your large trailer that mounts to your truck or pulling vehicle.

Regardless of the kind of hitch your trailer parts have, the weight ratings are important. Consider the Gross Towed weight, incorporating the weight on the title as well as the weight of all the cargo, propane, water and refrigerator contents – really any weight that you may have added goes into that calculation. Weigh everything you can, and make a decent assessment of the trailer parts you need for that amount – or use a scale at a truck stop! Secondly, is the Tongue Weight – another trailer parts importance – that incorporates the weight that the trailer coupler adds to the hitch. If your rig is swaying out of control behind the trailer, this is one of the trailer parts you may want to take a closer look at. You shouldn’t ever have less than a 10% TW, which includes the weight of the truck bed and tailgate. Thirdly, the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is an important trailer parts weight to consider. This is the maximum entire weight of the whole setup that goes on the road. You can look up the GVWR in the owner’s manual.