First Time Towing A Trailer

[sweefu]

Hey all,
my mum has just bought a new car with a tow bar, so I am now able to tow my motorbike out to places to ride. I plan to buy a trailer soon, most likely a 6x4' box trailer. The bike will fit diagonally across, the bike only weighs 87kg so all up i think it shouldnt weigh much.

Does anyone have any tips or advice on towing a small trailer? Car is 08 Toyota Aurion.

Thanks.

[Reaper]

When reversing it, watch your wing mirrors. To go straight back, trailer get's bigger, steer towards it, trailer gets smaller, steer away.

Reaper

[TVR-190]

practise makes perfect, just try revering your driveway plenty of times

[sweefu]

Thanks for the help guys. a 6x4 foot trailer on primarily highway shouldnt be too hard though should it?

[vr94ss]

Thanks for the help guys. a 6x4 foot trailer on primarily highway shouldnt be too hard though should it?

Piss easy going forward.. Just remember your car is twice as long and a bit heavier to stop

[wamboin23]

just stick to the 80kph speed limit while towing a trailer

just remember your longer with it on, so you gotta allow for it when crossing roads etc.

and don't get caught out not knowing how to reverse it.

[greenacc]

As he said ^^ trailer just follows wherever you go, just remember to brake a bit earlier, and don't cut corners too fine. Carefull at the servo too, plenty of bowsers have been wiped out by trailers people forgot they were towing ...

[Trevor 062]

Keep a look out for a 7' x 4' trailer..Bikes fit length ways & can you can fit 3 bikes if needed.

[con7502003]

rhs down make it go left lhs make it go right a little can be a lot wiff 6b4 so go easy all be good if you get further each time ya making progress. just for curve ball b/double turn right go right b trailer.

[TVR-190]

rhs down make it go left lhs make it go right a little can be a lot wiff 6b4 so go easy all be good if you get further each time ya making progress. just for curve ball b/double turn right go right b trailer.

what ?

[sweefu]

Thanks for all the help!

Trevor: Are these very common? i've been keeping an eye out and it seems that for every 20 6x4 trailers i see there is one 7x4?

[DANNY8]

Or put ya hand on the bottom of the steering wheel......then if u turn right, the trailer goes right, turn left, yep u guessed it, the trailer goes left.

But yeah everything takes a bit of getting use to.....like everyone else said, practice.

[HAZZA-VN]

My first time towing a trailer was going to the servo with a car load of mates filling up driving across adelaide, on the freeway and drove to melbourne lol, 4 in the morning after being up almost 24 hours driving through the streets of melbourne no idea in the middle of the city cutting lanes and then in maccas drive through was a good 24 hours wouldn't go back over there again lol,

[jakbob]

Yep as been said, don't forget its there and take your corners nice and wide. Always make sure your lights work and you have everything hooked up properly. I heard a tale at work of a couple of blokes who lost a work trailer because they cable tied the safety chains on! It was a big heavy tandem trailer as well, so they were bloody lucky it didn't wind up getting a little too friendly with oncoming traffic or parked in someones lounge room.

[tmerivale]

take it to an empty car park late at night and practice when no one is around. you wont hit nothing and you have plenty of room for stuff ups :-D perfect for learning to reverse a trailer

[tomslick]

But watch out for those silver SS Shopping trollies.

[brockee]

rhs down make it go left lhs make it go right a little can be a lot wiff 6b4 so go easy all be good if you get further each time ya making progress. just for curve ball b/double turn right go right b trailer.

uuuuuuuuuummmm well i think your on the right track lol

[no-doof]

When I started working in a hire shop a month after I go my licence the boss threw me in the deep end and said hook that trailer up you're going for a drive. After driving everyday with a trailer for a few months I was the best at reversing one in the place.

Just remember if you're turning like you normally would...while reversing the trailer goes the opposite way to the way you turn. If you turn full lock to the left...the trailer will go the right. Just don't forget to correct the steering again before you jackknife the trailer!

[Commydoor]

look for a trailer with a longer drawbar...the longer the drawbar the easier it is to reverse...a couple of flexible poles (old aerials) about 1-1.5ft high on each rear corner help when over-the-shoulder reversing so you know when the corners are cause you cant always use the mirrors...

[tmerivale]

the old aerials or other flexible poles is a top idea!

[xstatic]

since you won't have much weight in the back it will bounce around abit, nothing to be worried about but you might just wanna try and miss any big bumps.

6x4's are the hardest damn things to reverse. I couldn't stop laughing when i was watching a interstate b double driver trying to reverse a 6x4 into his drive way haha took him about 10 go's

cheers

scott

[Julie]

Keep a look out for a 7' x 4' trailer..Bikes fit length ways & can you can fit 3 bikes if needed.

I'd definately spend the little extra and go this option too, we fit 3 bikes no problems in ours. It will be handy later if you want to ride with mates.

As for advice I don't know I never tow, never had to because the hubby always does lol but one thing I can advise you is to not to ever forget you are towing a trailer. In a rush one day hubby jumped in car, forgot the trailer was on backed out and jack knifed the trailer and screwed up the rear bar lol.

[me&myVZ]

Make sure you take your time hooking it up! I have seen heaps of people driving along and it falls off the towball. Take it slow at start and make sure you give yourself enough room when turning to allow for the trailer. Also practise reversing up your driveway, theres nothing worse then having to reverse it when you haven't a clue how to LOL!

[Trevor 062]

Thanks for all the help!

Trevor: Are these very common? i've been keeping an eye out and it seems that for every 20 6x4 trailers i see there is one 7x4?

Found mine on Ebay a few years back..Not to sure if hard to come by or not..
Depending On How much you got to spend, you could order from manufacturer
made to size.. Cheers Trevor