How to Pull That New Camp Trailer Down the Road Safely!!

Most of us some time in our life have been going down the highway behind a pickup or suv pulling a camp trailer or a cargo trailer, or some other kind of trailer and watched it start swinging side to side slowly, and then a little faster, until you wondered if it was going to pull the tow vehicle right off the road!

There are different reasons that a trailer will fishtail and here are a few:

-#1 The trailer was loaded improperly
-#2 The trailer has axles that are out of alignment
-#3 The trailer has tires that are inflated to different pressures
-#4 The trailer is too large for the tow vehicle pulling it
-#5 The trailer doesn't have good enough brakes

#1 These are some of the most common reasons a trailer will "fishtail" when it has a problem. The most common reason is that it is loaded improperly. When you load a trailer, you should load at least 75% of your load in front of the axles on the trailer. This will put some of the weight of your load on the back of the tow vehicle thus making the trailer follow the tow vehicle. When there is no weight on the tongue of the trailer, it tends to not follow the tow vehicle very well.

#2 Another reason a trailer will "Fishtail" is because the trailer axles are out of alignment. Only larger trailers have the ability to align their axles, so this might not work on smaller camp trailers. Any alignment shop should be able to align your axles if it has that capability

#3 When the tires of your trailer are at different pressure levels, very often it will not pull straight behind your vehicle. If your trailer is not pulling straight, and you make a sharp turn, it can make your trailer start to fishtail when you are going down the highway. So the best fix is to make sure the tires on your trailer are up to pressure before you leave on a trip.

#4 If you pull a trailer that is too heavy, it can throw the tow vehicle around just with the weight of the trailer, so make sure that the tow vehicle has the ability to properly pull and stop the trailer that it is pulling.

#5 The best way to stop a trailer from fishtailing after it has started swinging side to side when you are driving down the road is to reach down and push the brakes on your trailer only with your trailer brake commander that you should have if you are pulling a very large trailer. When you do this it will make the trailer fall right back into line behind the tow vehicle.

So in summary, the key is to make sure your trailer has good brakes, is loaded properly, has good air pressure in the tires, and the axles are aligned if possible before you set out on your next journey with a trailer. If you follow these tips, the chances for you arriving safely will be greatly increased

Good Luck Traveling this Year!!

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