When preparing your vehicle for a long haul drive, towing a trailer or secondary vehicle can be a new learning process for many vehicle owners. Here are some quick tips to avoid damage to your vehicle, as well as any towed cargo.
How Drive Wheels Are Affected By Towing
The wheels that control the drive of the vehicle shouldn’t be on the ground, as this will cause transmission damage to the vehicle in many cases. This obviously won’t happen for any flatbeds or cargo trailers, but it’s something to be aware of when you’re bringing along an extra off-roading vehicle for a trip or similar instance.
Engine and Brake Damage
This arises when the strain on the towing vehicle’s engine is sustained for an extended period of time. Unfortunately, there’s not really any getting around this for longer trips. Unless the owner is willing to take more frequent stops and extend their trip, which will be impacted by the load weight as well. You never want to exceed the capacity of the vehicle towing which should be easily able to be found for your make and model.
Brakes are more avoidable damage, as this will depend on the driver’s capabilities. However, if the weight of the load exceeds the limit of the vehicle, or the trailer is inefficiently attached, there could be issues with more than adequate braking.
How do I know if my vehicle sustained damage?
Check in on how your vehicle is doing throughout the trip and in each interval of stoppage. It very rarely will be evident that you’ve sustained damage, unless the severity of the damage is high. Minor fixes are easily fixable following the trip.
To avoid these issues as best you can, be sure that you have the proper equipment for tying down your load and preparing your trailer to be towed. This will improve the probability of your vehicle avoiding long term issues with its engine, breaks, and general wear.
