Driving Tips
5-16
• After your odometer indicates 500 miles or more,
you can tow a trailer. For the first 500 miles that
you tow a trailer, don’t drive over 50 mph (80
km/h) and don’t make starts at full throttle. This
helps your engine and other parts of your vehicle
“wear” in at the heavier loads.
• Always drive your vehicle at a moderate speed
(less than 60 mph (100 km/h)).
• Three important considerations have to do with
weight:
Weight of the Trailer
How heavy can a trailer safely be? It should never
weigh more than 3,500 pounds (1,590 kg). But
even that can be too heavy depending on the
number of passengers.
It depends on how you plan to use your trailer. For
example, speed, altitude, road grades, outside
temperature and how much your vehicle is used to
pull a trailer are all important. The ideal trailer
weight can also depend on any special equipment
that you have on your vehicle.
Load-pulling components such as the engine,
transaxle, wheel assemblies, and tires are forced
to work harder against the load of the added
weight. The engine is required to operate at
relatively higher speeds and under greater loads.
This additional burden generates extra heat. The
trailer also adds considerably to wind resistance,
further increasing the pulling requirements.
If You Do Decide to Pull a Trailer
Here are some important points if you decide to
pull a trailer:
• State, provincial, county and municipal
government have varying trailering laws. Make
sure your hitch, mirrors, lights and wiring
arrangements are legal, not only where you live,
but also where you’ll be driving. A good source
for this information is state or local law
enforcement agencies.
• Consider using a sway control. You can ask a
hitch dealer about sway control.
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