First time trailering

[jfdube999]

Will be hooking up a 5 x 10 utility trailer with my ATV sitting on it onto my brand new F-150. I never pulled a trailer before and this is my first truck.

Any recommendations/tips from the veterans out there? I'm mostly concerned about how to determine if my ATV is loaded properly to give me my 10-15% tongue weight, and how level should the trailer be.

If it helps, this is my trailer: https://www.remeq.com/en/trailers/utility/item/ug-64120

It has no built-in brakes.

The ATV weighs about 1200 lbs when fully loaded with fluids and cargo. Trailer is 584 lbs + 1 spare tire.

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[daemonic3]

Honestly I wouldn't even worry about it haha. If you can lift the tongue manually and wheel your trailer around, the tongue weight might be light, just move the ATV forward. If it hurts to lift, you are probably good! The truck won't even feel it either way. Didn't you get a powerboost? These things are over 6000# of curb weight vs that 2k pound trailer.

When I have my utility trailer on, I find myself constantly looking back to see if it is still there! It feels like nothing.

 

[jfdube999]

Honestly I wouldn't even worry about it haha. If you can lift the tongue manually and wheel your trailer around, the tongue weight might be light, just move the ATV forward. If it hurts to lift, you are probably good! The truck won't even feel it either way. Didn't you get a powerboost? These things are over 6000# of curb weight vs that 2k pound trailer.

When I have my utility trailer on, I find myself constantly looking back to see if it is still there! It feels like nothing.

Haha! Somehow, I was hoping you'd chime in

I have the 3.5L EB (no PowerBoost). Although I knew I wasn't going to give the F-150 any sort of challenge with my < 2000 lbs trailer setup, I wanted to know if there was any special technique to determine if the tongue weight is in the 10-15% range.

I guess I've seen too many YT videos where they all talk about trailer sway and how it could have been avoided with the proper tongue weight. Just want to make sure I do this right.

 

[jfdube999]

What would be a good hitch drop to begin with? I know it varies depending on trailers and such, but I'd like to get started with an educated guess. I have 3 hitches on hand right now: 2", 3 1/2" and 5" drop. Not sure which one to try first.

 

[spud_41]

Cross your chains, make sure you turn the jack completely horizontal before driving, and the coupler is locked. You shouldn't have to swing wide with that trailer but just check where it goes on your first couple turns. The weight shouldn't be a problem at all.

Wrap your straps where they won't be able to shift while you're driving otherwise they can come loose. If you have metal racks on your ATV the strap can slide so if it's wrapped somewhere the strap slides and gets loose choose a different spot, if that makes sense. Some people like to fully depress the shocks when strapping vehicles down, I do it with motorcycles because they only have two wheels but with a quad you don't have to worry about it tipping over. If the shocks are depressed a bit and the straps are taut you should be fine, unless you're just strapping the tires. Wrap up the extra strap, we usually just layer it back on the strap and then wrap it with electric tape, but if you tie it off somewhere so it doesn't flap outside the area of the trailer you'll be fine.

 

[jfdube999]

Cross your chains, make sure you turn the jack completely horizontal before driving, and the coupler is locked. You shouldn't have to swing wide with that trailer but just check where it goes on your first couple turns. The weight shouldn't be a problem at all.

Wrap your straps where they won't be able to shift while you're driving otherwise they can come loose. If you have metal racks on your ATV the strap can slide so if it's wrapped somewhere the strap slides and gets loose choose a different spot, if that makes sense. Some people like to fully depress the shocks when strapping vehicles down, I do it with motorcycles because they only have two wheels but with a quad you don't have to worry about it tipping over. If the shocks are depressed a bit and the straps are taut you should be fine, unless you're just strapping the tires. Wrap up the extra strap, we usually just layer it back on the strap and then wrap it with electric tape, but if you tie it off somewhere so it doesn't flap outside the area of the trailer you'll be fine.

Thank you, great tips there! The quad is brand new too (so is the trailer and truck lol), so I have to see where I can find some appropriate strapping points on it, front and back. I asked my dealer to install D-ring anchors on all 4 corners of the trailer deck, so this should be easy to work with.

I just don't know how much towards the front or back I should park the quad to achieve proper tongue weight though.

 

[Hugo]

Just gonna repeat what's already been posted. Make sure you're using the correct size ball, cross your chains, make sure your load is secure. Check your trailer, make sure the hubs are greased and lights work.

 

[jfdube999]

Just gonna repeat what's already been posted. Make sure you're using the correct size ball, cross your chains, make sure your load is secure. Check your trailer, make sure the hubs are greased and lights work.

Thanks! Looking forward to using Fordpass's "check trailer lights" feature

Guess I'm a little nervous, this being my first time. Just want to make sure the whole contraption doesn't go flying while driving at speed on the highway, nor do I want to experience trailer sway.

 

[spud_41]

With that weight I'm guessing it's a UTV side by side? Park it closer to the front, you don't want most of the weight on the back end, that's where you'd run into trailer sway.

 

[jfdube999]

With that weight I'm guessing it's a UTV side by side? Park it closer to the front, you don't want most of the weight on the back end, that's where you'd run into trailer sway.

It's a regular quad, but a 2-up model. Quite large. Lots of stuff in the cargo bins too. ATV 'wet' weight is at 1100 lbs. I added an extra 100 lbs for all the cargo stored on it, to be sure. Adding the 584 lbs trailer weight and about 25 lbs for the spare tire, I'm looking at a little over 1,800 lbs total weight, plus the straps and some gas. Perhaps 1,850 lbs at most.

 

[Egilson1]

Looks like the trailer isn’t that much larger than the ATV, which if this is the case I would center the ATV on the bed, strap it down well using multiple straps, and then check the straps after the first 10 miles or so to see what shifted. If nothing moved, keep going. As others have said, based on the size you won’t have a lot of variables to play with in moving the ATV to dramatically change the tongue weight.

 

[spud_41]

If you park somewhere, just give the hook up a quick look over in case someone felt like being a dick and unhooked something. Not common but 5 seconds saved me who knows how much of a disaster it would have been.

 

[jfdube999]

Looks like the trailer isn’t that much larger than the ATV, which if this is the case I would center the ATV on the bed, strap it down well using multiple straps, and then check the straps after the first 10 miles or so to see what shifted. If nothing moved, keep going. As others have said, based on the size you won’t have a lot of variables to play with in moving the ATV to dramatically change the tongue weight.

Right! The trailer is 5x10 and the quad is roughly 4x8. There isn't that much room. Guess I'll simply drive it as forward as it can go and hope for the best lol!

 

[daemonic3]

What would be a good hitch drop to begin with? I know it varies depending on trailers and such, but I'd like to get started with an educated guess. I have 3 hitches on hand right now: 2", 3 1/2" and 5" drop. Not sure which one to try first.

You won't really know the right hitch height until you know your trailer's level hitch height as well. But with a 4x4 I think drop hitch is probably correct and 3 sizes handy is good!

Are they all the correct ball size? There are 3 standard ball sizes and it is really annoying having to have all these different heights and ball sizes for different trailers!

 

[jfdube999]

You won't really know the right hitch height until you know your trailer's level hitch height as well. But with a 4x4 I think drop hitch is probably correct and 3 sizes handy is good!

Are they all the correct ball size? There are 3 standard ball sizes and it is really annoying having to have all these different heights and ball sizes for different trailers!

Yep, the 3 I have here are all 2" ball size, and so it the trailer. Only question now, which one to try first

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