4 Simple Yet Essential Items You Should Have When Towing A Trailer Or Camper

Owning a camper or trailer gives you different types of freedom, whether you realize it or not. You can hit the road and stay at a nearby campground as a weekend getaway. You can also go pick up furniture without having to ask a friend to borrow their truck. However, towing can be a dangerous job if you don't have the proper equipment to hitch it up and make sure everything is stable during the drive. You'll want to take the proper steps to make sure your vehicle, your trailer, and you are safe.

There are multiple items needed when towing from the main pieces like a proper hitch depending on what class your vehicle would be in to essential towing accessories. Based on our own hands-on experience, as well as a variety of reviews from users, here are four simple yet essential items you should have when towing a trailer or camper. A more in-depth explanation of our methodology can be found at the end of this list.

Safety chains are a crucial component of towing to make sure the trailer and vehicle do not separate in the event of an accident. Just ask the couple who found themselves in their truck dangling from an Idaho bridge in 2021. As reported by The Guardian, the safety chains were still connected to the camper that was on the other side of the guardrail and were the only thing that saved their lives. With a 4.7 out of five-star rating and used personally for towing a small camper, the Curt 48" Trailer Safety Chains with 3/8" S-Hooks are a great, affordable option.

These chains are thick, durable, and easy to hook and unhook from your trailer hitch. Just make sure they meet or exceed the gross trailer weight. If these 2,000 lb chains aren't enough for your trailer, upgrade to a higher break strength like these Curt 7,000 lbs Break Strength Safety Chains. Every state has a chain law, but some are more strict than others. For example, some states only require one chain while others require two. Make sure to check out the chain laws of every state that you plan on towing through before trekking across the country.

When you're towing, you'll find yourself driving over many bumps and the occasional pothole. When this happens, you may hear a strange rattle coming from the coupler. Most of the time, it's only the ball mount moving with the bumps and the coupler pulling it in other directions. Your ball mount isn't in danger of coming out of the receiver, as long as you have a strong pin and lock in place. However, that noise can be both unsettling and very annoying.

Harbor Freight sells many travel trailer essentials and one of them is listed as a customer favorite and has a 4.8 out of five star rating. It is the Haul-Master Anti-Rattle Hitch Tightener. It's an incredibly simple design that comes with a big impact by eliminating rattling and vastly reducing any ball mount movement. There is a pressure plate that sits underneath the hitch receiver and the ball mount. A U-bolt will go over the ball mount and lock everything in place. To help make sure the bolts are secure, use thread lock for peace of mind.

There are some Harbor Freight tools you should think twice about before purchasing, but the retailer sells many products with high ratings you should consider before dropping more money on another brand. The Haul-Master 10,000 lb. Capacity Weight-Distributing Hitch sounds like something you'd want to buy from a big name, but with a 4.5 out of five-star rating from over 900 customers who have actively used it on their trailers, it may be worth looking into.

The point of a weight-distributing hitch is to help prevent dangerous trailer sway and improve braking by keeping the trailer tongue weight evenly distributed relative to the trailer's gross weight. In other words, you'll have more control over your trailer while driving. This weight-distributing hitch can handle up to a 10,000 lb gross vehicle weight and a 1000 lb max tongue weight. It's also made for Class III and Class IV hitches, which tend to cover standard crossovers, vans, SUVs, and trucks.

If you're by yourself, it is no small task to hitch up a trailer or camper if you do not have a backup camera. However, you may not want to deal with the hassle of running wires through your vehicle and drilling holes to permanently place a camera. Instead, you could opt for a magnetic and wireless backup camera. With a 4.5 out of five-star rating, the DoHonest Store Wireless Magnetic Backup Camera is a viable solution to turn a headache of a job into a fairly painless one.

There are multiple features to this camera that make it a must-have. First, it uses a phone app and wifi to transmit the image of wherever the camera is pointing to your phone. Be aware that these apps, available on both the App Store and Google Play, are not compatible with Google Pixel, Kyocera, and Motorola phones. Another cool feature is the magnet. You can attach it to your car to point down or the trailer — wherever is easier for you to get the job done.

In terms of how this camera holds its power, it's rechargeable. You can charge it using a 12V cigarette lighter charger, a USB cable, or through solar. It does have a rubber insert for the USB port making the camera waterproof, so you can use it in the rain if you need to.

A couple of the items selected for this article are personal recommendations from experience towing a camper back and forth across the US. However, all of these towing essentials have high ratings and positive reviews from satisfied consumers. Each item has at least a 4.5 out of five star rating and three out of four are under $100, making them realizable and affordable.

Keep in mind that some of these products have weight limitations on them. We highly encourage you for your own safety and peace of mind to do extra research to ensure that any items you purchase are rated for your vehicle's hitch class and what you will be hauling. You or someone you know with the proper towing equipment can always safely bring your trailer or camper to a Cat Scale to get an accurate weight, so you'll have a better understanding of what you should purchase.