Video Transcript for “Pete’s RV Quick Tips | Towing Safety Checks”
Randal Murray: 00:00 Hey guys, Randy from with Petes RV TV today, another quick tips segment for you. Today I want to show you what I do when I get out of the vehicle to get fuel or go use the restroom while I’m towing, or just to stop and grab something to eat. So the first thing I do is I obviously pull up in the parking lot, and then there’s a couple of things that I check immediately after getting out of the vehicle. And this is just going to tell me if I may have some problems down the road, and if I can, do these quick checks it may save me some time and some money as well. So the first thing I do when I get out of my vehicle is I come check the tires. And what I’m checking for is heat. So I’m going to actually feel each tire.
00:48 And I just want to see if the tire is hot. And what I’m also feeling for is irregularity. I want them to all to feel the same, so if I feel one that’s hotter than the other I may want to check that for low air pressure. You may have even seen the 18 wheeler drivers that have billy clubs that come around and hit their tires when they get to the truck stop. They’re listening for an audible change. Some people will even kick the tire and see if it feels different or if it sounds different. If one sounds different than the other three, I want to check that air pressure. I want to make sure that that’s going to be equal to the other ones. If it’s warmer or sounds different when I give it a little kick that’s something I definitely want to check.
01:21 The other thing that I check for, because we’ve got independent brakes on every wheel, is I’m going to check the hub. I’m going to feel the wheel to see if I get an excessive heat in the middle. If a brake is dragging it’s going to take that heat and it’s going to push it out to the wheel out to a piece of aluminum. That aluminum’s going to soak up that heat really good, so if I feel one that feels at a different heat or a different temperature than the other I may have a problem. I might have a brake dragging or I might have an issue with a wheel bearing or something like that. And if we can address this before we get on the road or have an issue on the side of the road, (chuckles), if you’re with me, it’ll be on the side of the road in the middle of the night in a rainstorm. But if we can check these things it will save us some time and maybe a hazard down the way.
01:59 So check the tires. Make sure they sound the same. Make sure one doesn’t feel hotter than the other. I also look for uneven wear, especially if I’m doing lots of traveling. I’m also going to feel the wheel. If something feels really hot then I’m going to think maybe I do have an issue and I need someone to take a look at that. So definitely you should be able to touch it, but if it’s so hot you can’t touch it, you definitely have a problem. But if they all feel the same I think we’re going to be okay.
02:22 One of the other things that I do too, usually after I’ve gone and used the restroom or gotten a bite to eat, went in the store where I have left my vehicle, is I want to check my gear. I want to make sure no one tampered with it while I was away from the vehicle. And so what I do is I come up here. I also want to make sure nothing happened while I was towing it before, you know, before I arrived. So I usually check the coupler, make sure I still got good positive lock here. Some people even run locks or clips through here, so not a bad idea. I make sure all my hitch gear looks good. I make sure my chains are in good working order. I just want to look for anything that looks out of place. I want to make sure it looks the same way it did when I hooked up.
02:58 I want to make sure my break away cable isn’t coming in contact with any of my hitch gear if I was running weight distribution on here. I just want to make sure everything looked good, everything is hooked up appropriately, and everything is safe for travel. If it’s not, great time to combat it or take care of it in a parking lot in a controlled environment rather than on the side of an interstate somewhere. Um, you can also check your lights as well. If you have somebody else with you, you can go in and just check the lights very quickly.
03:20 But do check those tires. Make sure everything sounds the same, feels the same on all four tires. Do check each brake, just give it a heat check. Just feel it with your hand. If something feels different than the other four, or other three, we probably want to have that looked at. So if you do those quick checks when you get out of the vehicle and before you start hauling again when you return to the vehicle after leaving, you’re probably not going to have any problems and it may save you some time and some money down the road. So thanks again for thinking Petes RV. I look forward to seeing you on the road, and happy camping.
The video of this presentation by Pete’s RV Center is available here
