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How To Prepare Your Vehicle For Towing

Whether you’re an experienced tower who’s been hauling loads for years, or you’re preparing to tow cross-country for the first time, it’s important to prepare your vehicle for towing. Towing shouldn’t be taken lightly. Hauling heavy loads can increase the risk of accidents and injury. When you’re out on the road, you’re not only responsible for your own safety, but also the safety of those around you on the road. 

Skipping over the preparation phase of towing can lead to accidents and mistakes on the road that can have deadly consequences. To avoid these mistakes, there are a few tips you can apply that will help ensure you have a safe and enjoyable towing experience. Here’s what you need to know!

How To Prepare Your Vehicle For Towing

One of the safest ways to tow a trailer is to make sure you are well-prepared ahead of time. Even the most experienced towers should still follow these tips to ensure a safe towing experience. 

Check Your Tires

Low air pressure can cause accidents or blowouts. When traveling down the highway, this is extremely dangerous. In order to help prevent this, take time to check the air pressure in your vehicle’s tires as well as your tow vehicle’s tires. This precaution may clue you in about an air leak before you ever get on the road.

Make Sure Your Vehicle’s Maintenance Is Up To Date

Towing heavy loads puts a lot of stress and pressure on your vehicle. Over time this can result in parts wearing out faster than normal, require more frequent maintenance. Before going on a trip or towing a trailer, go over your vehicle and make sure your maintenance is up to date. 

Double Check The Size Of Your Hitch Ball

The wrong-sized hitch ball is one of the leading causes of towing accidents. Your hitch ball and trailer coupler need to match. A hitch ball that’s too small will certainly fit in the coupler, but also runs the risk of falling out while on the road. 

Make Sure Your Lights Are Working

When you wire up your trailer, make sure you have someone help check that all of your lights and signals are working. Even if you’ve been towing for years, remember that wires wear out over time and lights need to be replaced periodically. Getting a spotter to help check your lights will help you make sure that everything is working properly.

How To Stay Safe While On The Road

Once you’ve prepared your vehicle for the road, it’s important to stay safe ON the road. In order to do this, there are a few things you need to know.

Practice

If you’ve never driven a trailer before, take time to practice. This is important to prepare your vehicle for towing. Sure, you’ll probably feel like you’re 16 again driving around an empty parking lot, feeling embarrassed at your lack of experience. But taking time to get comfortable and practice could be the difference between a safe towing experience and a disaster on the road. 

Give Yourself Plenty Of Space To Stop

Trailers are heavy. This means that they don’t stop as quickly as the little smart car you zip around town in. To accommodate this extra weight, you need to give yourself more space to stop. This will keep you from losing control or plowing into the car in front of you at a stoplight. 

Stay To The Right

Losing control of your trailer on the road could spell disaster not just for you, but for all of the cars around you. When towing a heavy load it’s a good idea to stay in the right lane if possible. While you’ll end up going a little slower, it makes it much easier to safely get to the shoulder should something go wrong with your towing setup or if you start to lose control. 

We Can Help You!

Our goal is to better the lives of our customers by providing only the best products possible. We never sacrifice quality for profit and we strive to provide you with exactly what you need. Contact us today with any questions you may have!

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GEN-Y Hitch Limited Lifetime Warranty

This Limited Lifetime Warranty covers defects in the materials or workmanship of All GEN-Y manufactured products and is limited to the repair or replacement of the product by GEN-Y Hitch. The decision as to whether the solution is replacement or repair shall be at GEN-Y Hitch’s sole determination. This Limited Lifetime Warranty is provided only to the original purchaser and applies only to the original installation.

TORSION-FLEX Hitches

All rubber components for TORSION-FLEX Hitches are assured for 5 years from the date the unit was purchased.

Click HERE to purchase a TORSION-FLEX Lifetime Warranty  

This Limited Lifetime Warranty Warranty is expressly IN LIEU of any other express warranty and is further IN LIEU of any implied warranty, including, but not limited to, any implied WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE except as may otherwise be required by applicable Federal or State law at the time the hitch was manufactured.

This Limited Lifetime Warranty does not cover the following:

  • normal wear and tear 
  • the finish on the product  →  wear around the shank of the hitch, the ball mount & the pintle saddle is inevitable and should be expected with normal use of the hitch due to metal on metal contact from trailer couplers / lunette rings
  • replacement of the product by any person or entity other than GEN-Y Hitch
  • any consequential or incidental damages including, but not limited to: commercial loss, loss of time, loss or damage to personal property, lodging, meals or other related travel costs or any other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of the product, the inability to use the product or for any other reasonable delay in performance under this Lifetime Warranty
  • service or labor charges for:
    • installing the product 
    • removing the product
    • returning the product to GEN-Y Hitch or replacing the product by anyone other than GEN-Y Hitch
    • damages caused by abuse, neglect, misuse, misapplication, overloading or improper installation, improper maintenance, repair, negligence or acts of God
    • alteration of the product in any way other than by GEN-Y Hitch
    • failure to utilize the product in compliance with it’s User Manual
    • failure of any product to which the GEN-Y product was attached

GEN-Y Hitch shall not be held responsible for any or all “compatible parts or products” being used or being utilized for towing with or around a GEN-Y Hitch product. GEN-Y Hitch products shall never be altered in any circumstance or for any reason and will void any warranties if done so.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Limited Lifetime Warranty gives you specific legals right, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. The laws applicable to any litigation, dispute, mediation, arbitration, or any claim whatsoever arising from the sale, purchase, or use of the product shall be the laws of the State of Indiana, without regard to rules pertaining to conflicts of law. The exclusive jurisdiction for deciding any claims, demands or causes of action relating in any way, from the sale, purchase, or use of the product shall be with the courts of the Circuit or Superior Courts of Elkhart County, Indiana.

Changes in the Design of and/or Improvements to GEN-Y Hitch products and substitution of parts or components

GEN-Y Hitch reserves the unrestricted right at any time and from time to time to make changes in the design of and/or improvements upon GEN-Y Hitch products without thereby imposing any obligation upon itself to make corresponding changes or improvements in or upon GEN-Y Hitch products already manufactured. GEN-Y Hitch further reserves the right to substitute parts or components of substantially equal quality in any warranty service required by the operation of this Limited Warranty.

If your GEN-Y product was involved in an accident, do not continue to tow with it. There may be structural damage to the hitch that you cannot see that could result in product failure