How to hitch a trailer by yourself

Hitching and unhitching a trailer alone can be challenging. It’s a good idea to have at least one other person to assist, but that’s not always possible. While some vehicles have backup cameras that make lining up your trailer a lot easier, many do not. Follow this guide if you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to hitch a trailer to your vehicle without any help.

1. Walk around your vehicle and trailer to make sure nothing will obstruct your view or get in your way while backing up.

2. Line up the centre of your towing vehicle with the centre of the trailer. Having a straight shot when backing up makes it easy to adjust your position without zigzagging.

3. When your vehicle is about a foot away from the trailer hitch, unlock the coupler. Then, use the built-in jack to adjust the coupler height. The trailer coupler should be raised until it’s about five to seven centimetres higher than your vehicle’s hitch.

4. Slowly back up the rest of the way until the coupler and trailer hitch ball are aligned. Even if you can manually push or pull your trailer a short distance, it’s not recommended. Picking up or moving a trailer by yourself can cause serious injury.

5. Once the coupler is directly over the ball hitch, use the trailer jack to lower the coupler onto the tow ball. You want the ball clamp below the ball, not on top of it.

6. Once everything is secure, latch the coupler and make sure it’s locked in place. Use a coupler pin or lock to keep the coupler firmly closed.

7. Attach the breakaway cable or safety chains to your tow vehicle. If using chains, intersect them under the trailer coupler to provide a cradle. Make sure to leave a bit of slack in the chains for going around tight corners.

8. Fully retract the trailer jack, making sure it’s up and out of the way.

9. Connect the trailer light wiring system to the connector on your tow vehicle. Check the left and right turn signals, hazards, brake and reverse lights.

If everything is working and secure, you’re ready to hit the road with your trailer in tow.

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