Clearly, this guy needed a weight distributing hitch.

What exactly is a weight distributing hitch, you ask? Well, in very simple terms, it’s extra equipment, including spring bars, that you use when hitching your really heavy trailer. What it does is distribute the tongue weight of your trailer to the axles of the trailer and the front axle of the tow vehicle to level things out when your tongue weight is too high for your hitch.

How do you know when you need a weight distributing hitch? Without hitching up your trailer and checking your vehicle for level, you can look at the numbers and figure it out. You need to know your tongue weight (TW). Compare the TW of your trailer with your hitch’s TW capacity, and if you are over that number, you need a weight distributing system.

Your receiver hitch (class IV and class V) comes with two weight limits for both TW and GTW (gross towing weight). The lower numbers is are the weight carrying limits (without weight distributing hitch) and the higher numbers are the capacity with weight distribution. Use those numbers to find the weight distributing system that has the capacities you need.

For example, a vehicle that can tow a trailer with up to 750 lbs. TW and up to 7,500 lbs. GTW with a standard Class IV weigh carrying hitch could possibly tow up to 1,200 lbs. TW and up to 12,000 lbs. GTW with a weight distributing hitch. However, please remember that these weights are hipothetical, and your towing capacity depends on your specific vehicle. Consult your owner’s manual for towing capacities of your vehicle.

With a weight distributing hitch, not only will you look a whole lot smarter than the guy with his front end up in the air, but you’ll find your ride is smoother and your braking and steering control better as you get down the road.

In one incident in Washington state, four would-be thieves were attempting to break the lock on a trailer holding two personal watercraft when the noise they were creating woke a neighbor who called police. After a chase into the woods, all four were captured and charged with a list of crimes. That’s the happy story and kudos to the trailer owners who had the sense to use a hitch pin lock and the alert neighbor who took the time to call police.

Less happy news includes a story out of Brunswick, GA where a five car accident started when a camping trailer came unhitched from it’s tow vehicle and crossed the center line into oncoming traffic. The trailer hit a semi which sent it back across the center line where it caused damage to three more cars. Fortunately, no one was injured. In an accident earlier this year, the driver of an SUV who was hit by a utility trailer that came unhitched was not so lucky, she died as a result of the accident and the driver of the vehicle towing the trailer was charged with second degree vehicular homicide.

In Colorado Springs last week, a woman was killed when the trailer of a cement mixer came unhitched and sheared off the left side of her vehicle.

As trailer owners, we all need to make safety a habit. Get a hitch lock and use it; it’s a simple way to secure your trailer and protect your family. And when you are towing, remember to go through your checklist to ensure your trailer is securely hitched. Keep your hitch and coupler equipment in top working order, make sure your lights are functioning, and use those safety chains!

Check out one of my personal favorites, the Everthere Cargo Carrier in black or silver which folds up and can be carried and stored in it’s own little storage case in the back of your car, van or SUV. If you don’t need something that folds up, try the Hitch Haul Sport which has a Z shaped mount to raise the carrier for added clearance.

If you’re in the market for a bike rack, be sure to look at our new bike carriers. We have several models that carry two bikes securely on a platform attached to your vehicle. Our bike racks can be mounted to your hitch, your bumper, your RV ladder, or on your tow bar as you haul a trailer.

Whatever accessory you need for your hitch, we hope we can help you find it here at www.TrailerHitchUniverse.com

Tow Bar Mounted Bike Carrier

RV Ladder Mounted Bike Carrier

The T@B is a micro travel trailer with exterior measurements of 15′ 6″ long, 6′ 7″ wide, and 7′ 9″ high. The only travel trailers smaller than that have to fold up before hitting the road. My only complaint is that at 5′ 9″, the interior height is awfully low. Beyond that, the T@B is packed with all the features you really need in a travel trailer including sink, 2 burner stove, a mini fridge, lots of storage space, up to a queen size bed, a five-person dinette, and fantastic windows with black out shades. And it’s all done with so much style! You can choose from four different floor plans, many exterior colors and designs and very 5 very hip fabric choices. Optional equipment includes air conditioning, a port-a-potty, an awning, screen room, bike rack, screen door, and a DVD/TV unit.

Now, the T@B is not, by any RV standards, a luxury travel trailer (remember, the port-a-potty’s an extra and the roof vent is manual), but it does cover all the necessities for a two people to camp for any amount of time. What I love is the fact that it can be towed by almost any vehicle with a trailer hitch and, as I read on the website, if you can’t get your T@B backed in just right, it’s light enough that you can unhitch it and move it where you want it by hand.

I hate the sound of chains dragging on the road behind a truck! And I just have to wonder, what is that guy thinking?

The safety chains on your trailer near the coupler are there to “catch” your trailer tongue and keep it attached to your vehicle should the hitch ball somehow fail. To use your chains properly, be sure to cross the them below the trailer tongue and attach each to the corresponding opening on either side of your hitch. The S-hooks need to be attached from under the hitch so that the “S” is actually backwards as you look at the hitch from the side. The chains should be short enough to keep the trailer tongue off the ground, but have enough slack to allow the whole rig to turn well. The chains should never drag! Not only is this annoying to other drivers, but it will weaken your chains and make them less likely to do their job should the need arise.

Safety chains are rated according to their strength; make sure yours are rated for more weight that the gross weight of your fully loaded trailer.

-jumper cables
-roadside flares or an emergency reflective triangle
-basic tools, including philips and flathead screwdrivers, pliers, vice grips, and an -adjustable wrench
-a tire inflator, such as fix-a-flat
-tire pressure guage
-hand wipes, or at least a roll of paper towels
-pen and paper

Other things you might want to include in your kit:
-gloves
-a rain poncho
-a pocket or utility knife
-an ice scraper
-a bungee cord
-duct tape
-a multipurpose tool, such as a Leatherman

And to be really prepared, add:
-two quarts of oil
-antifreeze
-wiper fluid in a spray bottle
-extra fuses
-an emergency car care guide

Stick all of this in a tool box or a duffle bag, and keep it in your vehicle or your camping trailers, just in case. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use this kit, but should you or someone on the side of the road need it, you’ll be glad you were prepared.

By the way, there are several companies out there that are happy to send you the Emergency Roadside kit they’ve assembled for you! Check out http://www.batterysavers.com/Emergency-Road-side-kit.html

And be careful out there! The last thing you want is to be stuck in bad weather with no emergency gear and no way to contact the people who can help you.

According to www.edmunds.com, the top three most fuel efficient suv and truck models of 2007 are:

1. Ford Escape Hybrid mpg: 36 city / 31 highway

2. Mercury Mariner Hybrid mpg: 32 city / 29 highway

3. Lexus RX 400h mpg: 32 city / 27 highway
Toyota Highlander Hybrid mpg: 32 city / 27 highway

It would seem what you gain in fuel efficiency however, you lose in towing capacity, even if your pulling a light tent trailer Case in point, the conventional V6 Ford Escape (24 mpg city / 29 mpg highway) with towing package and the Premier Mercury Mariner (19 city / 23 highway), each tow 3500 lbs, while their sister hybrids have only a 1000 lb towing capability.

There is some good news though, in the Lexus RX 400h, a hybrid, you will find 3500 lbs towing capacity. And, even better is that next year’s (2008) Toyota Highlander Hybrid with tow package can tow up to 5000 lbs! Three cheers for Toyota’s engineers whose work increased the highlander’s safety ratings, brought the horsepower up to 270 hp and maintained excellent SUV mpg at 31 city and 27 highway.

We have a couple of huge Jazz fans in the family. My mother in law has season tickets and several of her relatives fight over who gets to go to the games with her. Regardless of who attends the game, that person is always calling the others to talk the game over after it’s done, win or lose.

If you have an NBA fan among your friends or family, keep in mind that an NBA trailer hitch cover makes a great gift, (even if you have to give it to yourself!) Our trailer hitch covers are useful, durable, good looking, a great way to show your support for your team, and, during the month of May, all NBA hitch covers are 15% off! So, if you’ve been thinking about getting a hitch cover for your truck or SUV, now is a great time to do it.

Happy trailering, and best of luck to your team, unless of course they’re playing the Jazz, and then I’ll just have to offer my condolences.

The text of the bill reads :

“A person may not display on a motor vehicle any model, sign, sticker, or other item that depicts or resembles anatomically correct, less than completely and opaquely covered, human or animal genitals, human buttocks, or human female breasts.”

While I haven’t found Bull Balls anything more than a crude form of humor, as a mother, I would fully support removing the playboy bunny and similar depictions of the famale form from mud flaps and bumper stickers, so I guess I’m up in the air on this one.

To read the full article, click here.