Tow With Confidence

The Flat-Towing Checklist

Flat towing is the most intimidating part of this lifestyle, and it stops being scary the day it becomes a sequence. This is ours, run before every single travel day. Print it, laminate it, tape it inside a basement door.

One rule before the list: your owner's manuals win every argument. The towed vehicle's manual dictates transmission, transfer case, and ignition settings for flat towing, and your tow bar and braking system manuals dictate their own procedures. This checklist is the order of operations we use, not a substitute for either.

Before you hook up

  • Level ground, straight line behind the motorhome, room to pull forward
  • Towed vehicle: fuel enough for the day trips at the other end
  • Base plate hardware: visual check for cracks, loose bolts, bent tabs
  • Tow bar: arms extend and lock smoothly, no unusual play at the pivots
  • Electrical cord, safety cables, and breakaway cable present and undamaged
  • Tire pressures on the towed vehicle set to spec

Hooking up

  • Attach tow bar to base plate: pins seated, clips locked
  • Cross the safety cables under the tongue, hook to the motorhome, no dragging slack
  • Connect the electrical umbilical; route it so it can't rub or drag
  • Connect and arm the supplemental braking system per its manual
  • Attach the breakaway cable to the motorhome, not to the safety cable loops
  • Set the towed vehicle per the owner's manual: transmission, transfer case, ignition position, steering unlocked
  • Check that the parking brake on the towed vehicle is OFF

Before you pull away

  • Lights check with a helper or camera: running, brake, left turn, right turn, hazards
  • Supplemental brake test: confirm it actuates (most systems have a test mode)
  • Pull forward slowly a few feet, stop, and confirm both tow bar arms are locked
  • Full walk-around: pins, clips, cables, cords, nothing on the roof of either vehicle, steps in, bay doors latched
  • Mirrors and camera set so you can see the towed vehicle's tires

The ten-mile re-check

  • Stop somewhere safe within the first 10 to 20 miles
  • Touch-test the towed vehicle's wheel hubs: warm is normal, hot means a dragging brake
  • Re-check pins, clips, cables, and the electrical cord
  • Confirm the braking system status on its monitor
  • Then relax. The sequence held. It almost always does when it's a sequence.

Why we run it every time, even in the rain, even when the kids are melting down: the one hookup you skip-check is the one that finds the pothole. Season 1 covers this entire sequence on camera, mistakes included.

From the family behind Basecamp Bound. Free to print and share. Full episodes and guides: basecampbound.com/plan

Get new tools and guides as they ship.

One email when a new planning tool, checklist, or episode lands. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.