The Art of Loading a Small Trailer

It’s something no traveler wants to see: a trailer swaying back and forth on its hitch, bouncing between highway lines—first slightly, then vigorously, each lateral movement growing more pronounced until the camper topples. 

There’s a reason people like small travel trailers. They’re affordable, you don’t need an enormous truck to tow them, and they can go places larger rigs won’t fit. But they can also be a menace on the road because they’re sensitive to wind and weight distribution. 

Ultimately, a smooth ride can come down to where you place your belongings. So, here we’ve examined the best practices for loading a small trailer and avoiding highway catastrophes. 

Follow the 60/40 Rule

A general guideline when packing a small trailer is the 60/40 rule, which stipulates that 60 percent of your cargo weight should be loaded in front of the axle, with 40 percent behind it. Loading a trailer this way helps balance the trailer and ensure proper tongue weight—the downward force the trailer exerts on your vehicle’s hitch. 

Ideally, tongue weight should be between 10 and 15 percent of a trailer’s total weight. If you want to be precise, you can use a tongue-weight scale, but as a general rule: pack your trailer with more weight up front, center your heaviest cargo over the axle, and avoid overloading the rear. Following these precautions will prevent fishtailing at highway speeds. 

Read More: A Beginner's Guide to Towing a Travel Trailer

Know Thy Specs

Before you load a trailer, it’s essential to know its carrying capacity. On most modern trailers, specifications can be found on a sticker inside the door. Those figures will tell you the trailer’s unloaded vehicle weight (how much it weighs empty), as well as the gross vehicle weight rating (how much it weighs fully loaded). If you subtract the unloaded weight from the gross vehicle weight, you’ll know how many pounds of cargo you can load. 

Water tanks must be factored in, too. For instance, if you have a 30-gallon fresh-water tank, it will weigh about 250 pounds when full—so, you need to subtract that from your carrying capacity. Moreover, look beneath your trailer and note where tanks are located. If the fresh water tank is centered over the axle, that will create balance. But if the black and grey water tanks are behind the axle, be careful about towing when they’re full. 

Create a System

Even if you’ve followed the 60/40 rule, belongings can slide out of place and create imbalance when a trailer is barreling down the road. Every camper is different, but many people use straps, bungies, and other restraints to keep cargo where it belongs. This is especially important if you’re loading heavy belongings over the axle. Centering cargo is smart, but make sure it can’t move around in transit. 

Moreover, while most trailers feature overhead cabinetry and storage compartments, loading heavy goods on or near the floor is safest. A low center of gravity creates stability, which will counteract sway and reduce the risk of tipping. Be sure to spread weight laterally, too, ensuring each side of your camper carries equal weight.

Consider Anti-Sway Tech

If the task of loading a camper is beginning to feel like a high school physics worksheet, you might be wondering: Isn’t there after-market technology that makes this all easier? The short answer is yes. 

Weight-distribution hitches, which use spring bars to take pressure off the tow-vehicle's real axle and shift it to the front, provide balance and improve steering control and braking. And an anti-sway bar system, a budget-friendly alternative, will help prevent side-to-side movement, as well. But even if you opt for one of these tools, loading a trailer safely is the best way to maintain a balanced ride.

Read More: Ready to hit the road? Check out our 10 tips for RV travel in National Parks.