Towing a boat trailer requires planning

Once you’re confident your boat trailer is roadworthy after a thorough safety inspection there a few more important steps to keep in mind before you Get Out And Go Boating.

Explore Torklift Central’s complete hitch and tow services here.

How to tow a boat trailer:

Know your vehicle’s tow weight ratings

Respecting tow weight ratings avoids dangerous situations

Just because you bought an awesome boat doesn’t mean that your tow vehicle is rated to tow it. The first place to check what your vehicle is rated to tow is your vehicle tow weight ratings in your owner’s manual.  You can also download Torklift Central’s Towing App that includes complete tow ratings from 1979 to present. 

Keep in mind that when you’re calculating the weight of your boat, you need to add the weight of your boat trailer and at least several hundred pounds to the boat’s dry weight to account for the weight of the fuel and cargo on board. 

Know your trailer hitch weight ratings

Educate yourself on trailer hitch weight ratings
Your trailer hitch has two weight ratings:

Tongue weight rating – the maximum downward force that should be put on the trailer hitch receiver.

Tow weight rating - the maximum pull force that should be applied to the trailer hitch.

Consult your trailer hitch manufacturer to make sure that your fully loaded boat is within your trailer hitch weight ratings. 

  
Consider necessary towing accessories

Towing accessories are not luxury items
Once you are sure your vehicle is rated to handle the weight of your fully loaded boat and trailer there are a number of aftermarket accessories that make your travel experience much safer.  Although you cannot increase your vehicle’s towing capacity, boat trailer accessories can drastically improve your vehicle’s handling characteristics and your comfort behind the wheel.   

Mirrors

Simple as it may seem, aftermarket mirrors are an important safety upgrade.  If you can’t see down the full side of your boat through your current vehicle mirrors when towing you need to upgrade to aftermarket vehicle mirrors.  Extended towing mirrors available at Torklift Central can eliminate blind spots while towing your boat. Towing mirrors can also dramatically help you back up when parking or launching your boat at a boat launch.

Weight distribution systems

Even if your fully loaded boat trailer is within your vehicle’s towing capacity, your trailer may still make your vehicle not handle optimally or need help maintaining proper weight distribution between your tow vehicle and boat trailer.

Weight distribution systems available at Torklift Central are specially designed to eliminate poor handling and keep your load evenly distributed between your tow vehicle and boat trailer. 

Suspension upgrades 

StableLoad is a suspension upgrade that maximizes your hauling stability 

The most affordable and effective suspension upgrade you can make is StableLoad from Torklift International, available at Torklift Central.

Designed specially for vehicles with leaf spring suspension, StableLoad keeps your factory overload leaf springs activated to maximize your hauling stability as your vehicle’s engineers intended.  StableLoad dramatically reduces side-to-side sway, body roll, up and down suspension waffling and greatly improves your vehicle’s overall handling characteristics when hauling a load.

Available in quick disconnect models for lower leaf spring applications, StableLoad disengages in a matter of seconds to return your vehicle’s suspension to its normal operating condition.  Talk about off on switch comments first then engage/disengage

Trailer wiring troubleshooting is essential

Inspect your lighting system

After completing a full trailer wiring inspection  to ensure all components of your trailer’s lights are functioning properly, you should always make another inspection of the lights before hitting the road.

Have someone stand behind the boat trailer and verify that your turn signals, brake lights, running lights and brake lights are all working as they should.  This check should be performed before each trip as boat trailer wiring systems are particularly susceptible to failure after the trailer is dunked in water.

Pretend you’re driving Miss Daisy when towing a boat trailer

 Slow down

Regardless of what size boat you are towing one thing is guaranteed:  your tow vehicle is going to accelerate slower, take longer to stop, have increased blind-spot areas and handle like there is a boat attached to it. 

Allow yourself enough area between your tow vehicle and the back of the car in front of you to make a complete emergency stop with room to spare.  If your boat trailer is equipped with trailer brakes, never travel before performing a trailer brake safety inspection. 

If possible, keep to the far right lane during highway and freeway travel.  There’s a reason big rigs drive there – the slower you are able to go the safer you are able to haul a significant load.  

Proper boat trailering starts with an expert safety inspection.  To learn more about how you can Get Out And Go Boating like a pro, visit Torklift Central.

Torklift Central

315 Central Ave N 
Kent, Wash. 98032  
877-343-6933


[email protected]


www.torkliftcentral.com