Over the past three or four years I have become increasingly more aware of what it means to build a tiny house. It isn’t just about a pretty product or clever storage or size of house. It isn’t about parking legally or illegally or how to gain a certificate of occupancy. It isn’t about building on a foundation or piers or a trailer. It is about ALL of those things. For us building a tiny house meant designing our own very simple structure with a few custom, (what we thought were) clever storage methods, room for our family, adding axles and wheels to it, and then toting it across multiple state lines; under bridges, over overpasses, through gas stations, etc.
Before building we devoured blog posts, emails, and the like on how to build a THOW. Looking back though the one part I was painfully unaware of was the entire trailer setup. I can’t say that our weight distribution was a good as it could be. I can’t say I ever spent a minute thinking about the actual towing of the THOW. In fact, at the time we drove a Dodge Caliber sport wagon and didn’t even have a means of transporting our home. But after almost begging my father to help us and to use his Chevy 2500 extended cab to do the towing he agreed on one condition: I had to help drive. That meant I had to learn how to tow our 7,800 pound tiny house.
What I learned in preparing for that maiden voyage has stuck with me and is something I want to share. In fact, I want it to be our first in a line of weekly videos. I want everyone to be aware that no matter how under-suited their trailer may be right now there are ways to assure transport of your THOW safely and effectively. This includes the use of safety chains, stabilizer bars, a sway bar, coupler locks, and trailer brakes. I invite you to spend the next 3 minutes watching this short video on how to properly hook up your THOW or travel trailer to your town vehicle. Just click on the standard YouTube play button below.
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I do not see any recommendation to test drive the tow prior to starting your travel. You should test the brakes as you first start out, and take the trailer up to highway speeds to ensure you will not have any sway. You only demonstrate one of many types of good hitches, which can all be adjusted to prevent sway. You also will be testing the tow vehicle in the process.
Hi Ericc. This video is a very specific 2-minute (or so) glimpse into one aspect of trailering. It was not meant to document the whole process. That would take an hour or better and that is simply not the goal of our Tiny r(E)volution videos. You are correct in that there are a number of things. In fact, within 5 miles of driving I stop twice to do checks, adjustments, walk-arounds, etc.
We timed hooking up the tiny house and moving it on to the driveway across the street with leveling. It took 2 hours start to finish:).
Ericc, I would recommend driving the trailer and home the to nearest trailer dealer and pay for a full inspection of the trailer. They will check it for any for any problems and will make adjustments if it is a used trailer.