A Simple Demonstration of Why You Need to Pack a Trailer Correctly

Weight distribution is crucial.


The first rule of packing a U-Haul or pretty much any other trailer you pull behind your car is to load all the heaviest stuff up towards the front. It's not just an idle suggestion; it's a crucial piece of advice that could save your life, or at least save you a lot of trouble.

Basically, if the bulk of the weight is close to your car or truck, it's relatively easy to keep it under control because it's almost like an extension of the vehicle itself. If the weight is far away, it's more like a pendulum, and once it gets going, the oscillation can get fierce.

But this demonstration from U-Haul is worth a thousand words:

Given recently at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's 2016 annual conference, this tight little demo shows both the best and worst case scenarios for a trailer load, and how bad fishtailing can get if just a little bit of force is applied to a back-loaded trailer.

Putting all of your heaviest stuff at or in front of your trailer's axles is a good rule of thumb to keep this from happening to you while you are pulling a full-sized trailer with a full-sized vehicle. And if it does start happening, lay off the gas but don't slam the brakes.

Also, you only want the bulk of the weight at the front, not all of it, or you'll end up putting a ton of pressure on the hitch. U-Haul recommends a 60/40 front/back split, but make sure you're loading to the specifications of your specific trailer. Whatever the scenario, always take care when you're packing up. Now you know exactly how fast things can go wrong.

Source: OPCVC via Reddit

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