Maneuverability and safety should be of prime consideration when towing any non-powered vehicle or trailer. Whether you choose a fixed hitch or one that pivots to enhance enhance or unloading material, special care must be taken to ensure the trailer is attached safely and securely to the vehicle that is towing it. All utility trailers should be attached by a backup security chain in case the hitch and ball fail.

Nearly all Utility Trailers have a floating axle construction to allow adjustments to various load requirements. A few come in single axle for smaller, shorter trips, but for longer hauls and larger loads tandem axles offer greater security and ease of towing.

utility trailer

Other safety features include heavy-duty spring suspension, adequate tires engineered to hold the manufacturers suggested weight requirements and side and rear LED trailer light mechanisms that can be wired to the controlling vehicle. An aluminum utility trailer must also be equipped with a secure bumper, reliable tow bar and larger trailers must have a competent braking system.

An aluminum utility trailer that is welded together far surpasses one that is designed to stay together with bolts. The constant jarring a aluminum utility trailer receives during transport could easily loosen bolted parts, thus making the vehicle unstable and a safety risk; a utility trailer that is welded together can tremendously decrease chances of this happening. Make sure to inspect welded joints on a regular basis with particular attention being paid to small, undersized welds, which can sometimes compromise the safety and durability of the trailer.

Another huge factor to consider before loading a utility trailer is to pay particular attention to its recommended load capacity. All utility trailers are engineered with a maximum load in mind and its construction should be relative to the intended weight – that is, the heavier the anticipated load, the stronger its construction should be.

Really, load distribution should be of the utmost importance. Materials that are not evenly distributed can result in risky damage to the trailer not to mention the auto towing it. Trailers that are overloaded or those with weight not evenly distributed can also lead to instability on the road, and has the potential to become a very costly safety hazard.

In short, utility trailers offer a versatile and economical way of transporting a wide diversity of goods; nonetheless, care must be taken not only in the choosing of the utility trailer, but also in its safe operation. Making sensible choices and adhering to standard safety practices can go a long way in making sure all your towing experiences are successful.

Chad M.
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/aluminum-utility-trailer-basics-and-some-points-of-concern-68741.html

http://www.etrailer.com/tv-demo_trailer_wiring.aspx

Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer
installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Today we’re going to be replacing the wiring on this trailer. We’ll be replacing a 4 pole flat, as you can tell this one is pretty beat up and worn, so it has to be replaced. We’re going to cut this wire off and we’re going to replace this brown wire also. We’re going to cut this loose and pull the rest of our wire through, on this trailer here it’s pretty open so we can reach the wiring. Just in case though, if your wiring was run in conduit and you’re replacing it, don’t pull all of this out yet. We’ll actually tie on the new wires and use these wires to pull them through. We’re going to cut off all of this old wire here, and we’re going to take off this old light too. I would like to point something out on this 4 pole flat, you’ll notice there’s actually 5 wires coming out of it. What’s happening is on the inside of this pin, which is for the running lights, has two wires coming out.

The reason for that is we can split the running light circuit to both sides of the trailer. Mainly that’s used on boat trailers and other light duty ones. What’s nice about that if you have a running light on the side, chances are your running wire right next to it. You can tap into your wiring without having to make a wire go all the way across. It basically provides a short cut. This case we’re going to run it all the way on one side and jump over since we have a small trailer and no running lights. Now we’re going to tape our new wires to the old ones and pull it through the frame. It doesn’t take much, just enough to make it smooth so it doesn’t snag anywhere. Now we simply pull the wire through. Before we pull everything through, we’re going to make sure we have enough leader to hang out. This unit comes with a pre-wired ground wire so we’re going to leave it at its maximum length and this is where we’re going to ground it at and we’ll have a good idea of how much slack we need to leave. At this point it’s a good idea to tape up all the wires together that way it will keep them from getting tangled with anything else. Since we have our ground here we’re going to ground it but before that we’re going to take this loop off for a smaller one. Since we have an existing ground that works pretty good, we’ll use a smaller screw. Always give it a twist when you crimp it down it will make a nice tight fit. We’ll re-install our screw but first we’ll put a pit of dielectric grease on there to help protect it a little bit, electricity still flows on the ground and the less rust the better. Now we can pull the rest of our slack out.

We have our lights pulled over to the left hand side, we’re using the yellow and the brown, yellow for left turn. We need to cut this wire to length about 1/2 to 3/8 inch. The wires then get stuck inside here there’s a little strip in here that pulls against it and when you pull it back it catches so it can’t come out and makes electrical contact. You bottom out the plastic and give it a little bit of a pull back and it catches. Same thing with the left turn signal. If you notice there’s two holes side by side here. You could actually jump another wire from this hole here to another light, so it acts like a miniature junction box. This little channel here hides the wire so when you push it up against your frame it won’t get mashed. Your light gets installed just like that. Before we bolt on our light we’re going to clean this area out where the holes are that way it makes a good metal to metal contact with no rust and corrosion. You can use a file or scrape it if you’re in a hurry but if you can use something more abrasive. You don’t have to get these super tight, just snug them down and they’ll be fine. Again we’re going to use the old wire to pull the new wire through. Now we’re back on the right side of the trailer and we’ll do the same thing, we’ll run the wires and install a new light. Now we’ll install our wiring, green for the right turn and brown for the running light. One more final touch will be to run some loom clamps to the wire to keep it up closest to the bed. It doesn’t touch anything, but it’s better to keep it out of the way. At this point we’ll reassemble our trailer and test out the lighting. We have our trailer wired up, lets give it a test run. Notice we didn’t connect our truck to the trailer so we can make sure our ground wire is working. It’s not a good idea to ground through the ball because it can be intermittent from bouncing around going down the road. First we’ll test the running lights then the turn signals, then the brake lights. We’ll do this for both sides. There you have it for our install of our trailer wiring harness. We used part # 475550, 440-L, and 440.

Duration : 0:6:52

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Duration : 0:0:48

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Duration : 0:3:1

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