Car trailers are one of the most commonly used trailers in the market. They are considered quite valuable because of how useful they are for transporting vehicles, equipment, and various loads.
Doesn’t matter whether you use your car trailer for personal use, recreational adventures, or professional hauling work. Keeping them in good condition is quite essential to ensure their safety, longevity, and cost-effectiveness.
A well-maintained trailer not only prevents breakdowns but also ensures smooth and legal operation on the road. In this blog, we will discuss the five most effective ways from the top trailer manufacturers in Melbourne to keep your car trailer in its peak condition.
1. Perform Regular Inspection:
The first step towards taking good care of your car trailer. And keeping them in their original good condition is to conduct regular inspections. Before and after you use your car trailer for towing or transporting material goods. Make sure you go through the entire trailer thoroughly and check every part after a long road journey.
Don’t overlook, and make sure to check the following areas of your car trailer:
Tires: Tires are the most used part of the trailer during the entire journey and their entire shelf-life. So, make sure to check for the signs of wear and tear, cracking, punctures, and low pressure.
Lights: Lights are about the technical part of the trailer, the important parts- brake, indicator, and the tail lights. These are primarily to be checked after every use, to ensure proper safety during the transportation journey.
Coupling and Hitch: It refers to the connection between your vehicle and your car trailer. So, check whether there are any rusty areas, cracks, or wear. Make sure that your trailer is securely connected to your vehicle.
Brakes: If your car trailer has its very own braking system, then it is important to check its working condition periodically. In order to ensure the safety standards are not compromised.
Wiring: It is important to look for worn-out or damaged wires and replace them with proper ones.
Frame and Structures: It is pretty obvious that after continuous use of trailers, the frames get worn out, and start cracking. It is very important to address these cracks, check for corrosion, and structural weakness and get them repaired.
These are some important parts that need to be regularly inspected in order to avoid heavy and costly repairs, and accidents later. Make sure you document every inspection in your logbook. This helps a lot especially when you are to put your hydraulic tipper trailer for sale, or filling for insurance claims.
2. Maintain the Tires Properly:
The tires of your trailers are what keeps your trailer on the ground, and working. And are some of the most important elements that ensure your trailer’s performance and safety, & these need to be addressed.
To ensure your car trailer’s tires are perfectly fine, make sure to check for the following factors:
Correct tire pressure: The trailers need to have correct tire pressure. The under-inflated tires are prone to accidents and also wear out, and blow out faster than you expect. And over-inflated tires can reduce traction. So, make sure they have the correct air pressure in them.
Proper loading rate: The tires that you use in your car trailer must match the load-carrying capacity of your business. Carrying overweight on incompetent tires.
Regular rotation: If you use your trailer quite frequently, then rotating your trailer tires will help distribute the wear on them evenly.
Wheel lug nuts: Before you drive your trailer, make sure to check for tightness of the tires, in order to avoid wheel detachment while driving.
It is important to replace your car trailer’s tires every 3-5 years, to ensure no compromise is done with the safety standards. Even if the tread looks good, change them, as the rubber deteriorates over time.
Investing in a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) can help you keep tabs on the pressure in real-time, especially during long trips.
3. Lubricate Moving Parts:
Lubrication reduces the unnecessary wear and tear on your trailer’s moving parts. Proper lubrication prevents your trailer from getting attacked by the rust and worn-out game.
Make sure you focus more on:
Hinges and Latches: The hinges and latches are hardware components used to operate and secure doors, ramps, or panels. You need to keep these parts greased and lubricated in order to ensure they operate smoothly.
Wheel Bearings: You need to repack the wheel bearings every 12 months. Or when your trailer completes its road journey of 12,000 miles, whichever comes.
Jack and Coupler mechanism: The jack helps lift the trailer off the ground, while the coupler locks it onto the towing vehicle for safe transport. You need to keep them properly lubricated to ensure an easy hitching and unhitching process.
It is better to use high-quality lubricant and grease, as it ensures better performance and durability of your car trailer. Lubrication not only improves functionality but also extends the life of your components.
4. Clean Your Trailer Regularly:
If you use your car trailer quite frequently, then you must have noticed the unduly mud, rock salt, and debris. That usually gets accumulated on the tires and across the lower body of the trailer.
So, remember to clean your trailer after each use, especially if it has been exposed to water or salt.
Make use of a pressure washer to remove mud, and dirt from hard-to-reach areas, and don’t forget the undercarriage. After you are done with cleaning the trailer:
- Let your trailer dry completely.
- And apply a rust inhibitor or protective spray on vulnerable parts.
This procedure from expert trailer manufacturers in Melbourne helps maintain the integrity of your trailer’s structure, and appearance is the same as it was in its initial days. You may also consider waxing your trailer or applying ceramic coating to metal surfaces for added protection.
5. Store the Trailer Properly:
Not keeping your car trailer in a proper place can reduce the length of its life. Make sure, you store your precious car trailer using the following guidelines:
Cover your trailer: Make sure you use a water-resistant cover to protect your car trailer from different weather conditions. Be it rain, UV rays, or dust.
Elevate your trailer: Your car trailer’s tires can get flattened if you leave them on the ground for too long. Make use of elevators and tire cradles to lift your trailers.
Secure Location: Store your car trailer in a garage or use a carport if possible.
Use wheel Locks: The wheel locks are used to add a layer of security and work to prevent theft.
Also, disconnect the battery if your trailer has electronic components, to prevent battery drain during long periods of inactivity. If you are keeping your car trailer outside, in an open space, then check for your trailer every few weeks. As there might be signs of animal nesting, moisture buildup, or tampering.
Conclusion:
Taking good care of your car trailer is not just about adding length to its life. It is rather about ensuring your safety, reducing repair costs, and optimizing performance. A simple routine of inspections, cleaning, lubrication, and timely part replacements can make a significant difference.
In this blog, we discussed the 5 different ways you can keep your car trailer in good condition, the same as it was in its initial days. Remember to follow the guidelines from the trailer experts mentioned above, and make the best out of your trailer.
