How to Maintain your Equipment Trailer
Your equipment trailer works hard day in and day out to make sure your projects never hit a wall, but you’ll need to take care of it if you want it to keep performing this way. Basic maintenance is an essential part of owning any large equipment if you want to avoid big repairs that suck up all your time and money. To give you a place to start, Mountain West Trailers has provided some tips to maintaining your equipment trailer. If you need more help, stop by our location in Heber City, Utah to chat with one of our experienced professionals. We’re near SLC, Provo, Wasatch, and Summit County.
Regular Inspection
The most basic and important thing you can do for your trailer is to regularly perform thorough inspections of the entire thing. Even if you encounter a problem you don’t have a hope of fixing yourself, it’s better to know something’s wrong so you can start making a plan to get it repaired, rather than have it blow up in your face.
This probably means performing an inspection once before every major trip or project. After all, you don’t want to crash and burn while you’re trying to work. We also highly recommend doing this several days in advance so you have more time to get any problem areas addressed in time. You’ll want to check the brakes and hydraulic hoses so there are no worn or leaking parts, and also top off any fluids that might need it to ensure your entire unit is going to run safely and efficiently.
One of the most important checks you’ll want to include is your tires. Even if you decide other problem areas can wait until after your job is done, you should never drive with compromised tires. Take out your tire pressure gauge and check the psi level to make sure it lines up with the manufacturer’s recommendations. Next, check the treads. If it looks like they’re starting to wear down too much or if you notice any damage, then you’ll want to think about getting them replaced. If you notice they’re wearing unevenly, as in faster on one side of the trailer than the other, there might be a few solutions you can try. Try better balancing your cargo so the weight is more evenly distributed. If that doesn’t work, then there might be a mechanical issue with the hitch.
Postpone Wear and Tear
General wear and tear is inevitable, but if you make a conscious effort to be careful when you’re using your equipment trailer, you can put this off for quite a while. Start by getting a proper trailer to begin with. Cheaper trailers can save you money initially, but they’ll wear down faster and you’ll have to replace them sooner.
Secondly, make sure you’re properly distributing the weight so you’re not overloading one side of your trailer. It’s very important to never exceed any weight limitations your trailer has. Finally, avoid driving like a maniac. Just like cars wear down faster if you abuse the brakes and other moving parts, the same will happen to your equipment trailer, so take it easy when you’re on the road. It’ll make other drivers less nervous as well.
While there are lots of ways you can maintain your equipment trailer on your own, you’ll also want a professional technician on standby for all those repairs and maintenance concerns you won’t be able to tackle yourself. Consider Mountain West Trailers for all your trailer servicing, no matter how simple or complex. We proudly serve Heber City, SLC, Provo, Wasatch, and Summit County, Utah.