How To Hook Up A Trailer To Your Truck Hitch

Hooking up your trailer to your truck or SUVs trailer hitch can be accomplished in a few easy steps. Before beginning to hook up your trailer, you must be sure that the equipment that you have is correct for the job. Be sure that you have the proper hitch ball for the trailer coupler and that your trailer hitch capacity exceeds what you are towing.

How To Hook Up A Trailer To Your Truck Hitch

Step 1 - Backing up your truck to the trailer

The first step for hitching up your trailer is to back your pickup truck to the trailer. It is always easier if you have someone to assist you while you line up the trailer to your truck. Make sure to have clear signals on which way you should turn, when to back up and when to stop. Have your assistant on the driver's side of the trailer even with the tongue and make sure you have a clear path of communication with them.

Line up your vehicle with your trailer. Having a straight line to the trailer makes it much easier to line up than trying to adjust your path on the way backward. Your spotter should stand off to the side and give you signals of which direction you need to go.

When you are close to the trailer, stop and adjust the coupler height. Make sure that your coupler is high enough to clear the trailer ball. You only need an inch or two of clearance to make the alignment of the ball and trailer coupler easier.

Back your vehicle up the rest of the way. The coupler should be perfectly lined up with the trailer ball. If the alignment of the trailer ball and coupler isn't right, pull forward and readjust until the ball and coupler are in the correct position.

Step 2 - Connect the coupler to the trailer ball

Lower the coupler onto the trailer ball so that it is all the way down and the ball is positioned inside of the coupler. With the vehicle in park, use the trailer jack to slowly lower the coupler until it is resting on the ball. Make sure the coupler latch is in the upright, unlocked position before lowering or damage to the coupler could occur. If you find that the coupler isn't lining up properly, raise the trailer jack again and repeat the previous step.

Once the coupler is properly seated on the ball, latch the coupler and secure it. Once the coupler latch engaged and locked, lift up and down on the trailer tongue to test the connection. If it comes off the ball the coupler was not properly set and you must raise the trailer up, unlatch it and try again. Once you have varified that the coupler is secure, retract the trailer jack and secure with a coupler pin.

Attach the safety chains to your towing vehicle with a crisscross pattern. This is a very important step since safety chains are required by law.  Attaching them in a crisscross pattern underneath the coupler provides a cradle to catch the coupler if it ever becomes disconnected from your hitch. Always be sure that the safety chains are rated to meet or exceed the gross trailer weight and that they are not dragging on the ground once they are attached.

Step 3 - Hook up your trailer lights before towing

Plug in the electrical connector from your trailer into your towing vehicle. Be sure that you don't have an excess amount of wire between the vehicle. If you do, wrap the wires around the trailer tongue and ensure that they will not be touching the ground. Once you've established the proper amount of wire length, insert the trailer plug firmly into the vehicle lighting socket.

Check the function of your trailer lights. Activate your trailer lights and use the assistance of a friend to verify that your lights are functioning properly by turning them on one at a time to make sure they are working. You should check your right turn signal, left turn signal, hazards, running lights and brake lights. If a light is not working, use an electrical tester to verify that there is power being supplied to the bulb location and replace or repair if necessary.

Choosing the proper equipment is essential to a safe towing job. We have many great products available to make your towing job safe and easy. Curt Manufacturing is one of the industry leaders in high-quality towing produts. You can find them here at SharpTruck.com!

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