From O'Connor RV
Hooking up your trailer to your vehicle for the first time can be intimidating but with some patience and attention to detail, you can be towing in no time.
The very first step hitching up a trailer is to back your vehicle up to the trailer. We recommend that you have a forgiving friend help you do this. (Perhaps not your husband or your wife for your first attempt as it can be a little frustrating at first).
Make sure you agree before you start on some signals for turning right and left, back up more, and stop. If your friend stays on your side of the trailer, even with the trailer’s tongue, you will be able to see him or her clearly while backing up.
Backing Up
The first thing to do is to position your vehicle in a straight line with the trailer. Trying to zigzag your way backwards to the couple will just make life more frustrating for you and your helper. Have your friend signal to you when you are in the correct spot.
When you have backed up to about a 30 cm away from the trailer, stop and get out to adjust the coupler height. You want to check that the coupler will clear the trailer ball. Adjust the coupler, if needed, so it is 5 cm higher than the ball.
Once the coupler is adjusted back up your vehicle the rest of the way, making sure that the coupler is perfectly lined up with the trailer ball. Don’t rush to get this done. Go slow and allow your friend to guide you where the vehicle needs to be. If you aren’t lined up, pull forward and try again.
Connecting
Once you are in the correct position, lower the coupler onto the trailer ball. Put the vehicle in park and the emergency brake on, then use the trailer jack to lower the coupler until it is resting on the ball. The coupler latch should be in the upright position before lowering. Raise the jack again and repeat if you find the coupler is offset from the ball,
Once the coupler is perfectly on the ball, latch and secure it. To test the connection, lift up on the trailer tongue. If it comes off the ball, you can be certain you didn’t get it right - just try again. Once everything is secure, you can remove the trailer jack.
The next step is to attach the safety chains. The chains should be attached in a crisscross pattern to create a cradle underneath the coupler. This will “catch” the couple if it ever happened to become disconnected from the hitch. Chains are required by law and are a very important step to hooking up your trailer. Make sure they are rated to meet or exceed your gross trailer weight. Chains should not touch the ground.
Hooking Up Your Trailer Lights
One of the last steps plug in the electrical connector - press the trailer-side plug firmly into the vehicle-side socket. Make sure there is not an excess of wire running between the vehicle and trailer by wrapping them around the trailer tongue. They should not touching the ground either.
Before you celebrate your first trailer hook up, make sure everything works. Check your trailer lights. Stay in the vehicle and test the lights while asking your friend if your right turn signal, left turn signal, hazards, running lights and brake lights works. If one of your lights does not work, you can use an electrical tester to make sure the vehicle-to-trailer wiring connection is correct. If you can’t figure out where or what the issue is, let the experts at your RV dealership check your system for you.
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