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If You Do Decide To Pull A Trailer
If you do, here are some important points:
• There are many different laws, including speed
limit restrictions, having to do with trailering.
Make sure your rig will be legal, not only where
you live but also where you will be driving.
A good source for this information can be state
or provincial police.
• Consider using a sway control. You can ask a
hitch dealer about sway controls.
• Do not tow a trailer at all during the first
1,000 miles (1 600 km) your new vehicle
is driven. Your engine, axle or other parts
could be damaged.
• Then, during the first 500 miles (800 km) that
you tow a trailer, do not drive over 50 mph
(80 km/h) and do not make starts at full
throttle. This helps your engine and other parts
of your vehicle wear in at the heavier loads.
• Obey speed limit restrictions when towing a
trailer. Do not drive faster than the maximum
posted speed for trailers, or no more than
55 mph (90 km/h), to save wear on your
vehicle’s parts.
• Do not tow when the outside air temperature
is above 100°F (38°C).
• Do not tow more than 1,000 miles (1 600 km)
per year.
Three important considerations have to do with
weight:
• The weight of the trailer
• The weight of the trailer tongue
• The total weight on your vehicle’s tires
Weight of the Trailer
How heavy can a trailer safely be?
It should never weigh more than 1,000 lbs
(450 kg). But even that can be too heavy.
It depends on how you plan to use your rig. For
example, speed, altitude, road grades, outside
temperature and how much your vehicle is used to
pull a trailer are all important. It can also depend
on any special equipment that you have on
your vehicle, and the amount of tongue weight the
vehicle can carry. See “Weight of the Trailer
Tongue” later in this section for more information.
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