What Towing Equipment Will I Need to Pick Up My Tiny House Trailer?
Checklist
- Suitable towing vehicle for towing up to 1000kgs ‘braked’.
- Electric brake controller unit installed in vehicle.
- 70mm Tow Ball for 4500kgs tiny house trailers (or 50mm Ball for 3500kgs rated trailers or Pintle Hook if you ordered a Pintle Ring).
- Tow Ball Mount for 70mm tow ball connection to your tow bar.
- Shackles for connecting the safety chain to your vehicle.
1. Suitable Towing Vehicle
You’ll need a ute or suitable car for towing yout tiny house trailer.
Your trailer may weigh between 640-990kg, which is more than what a typical car or ute can tow “unbraked” (maximum is usually ~750kg as “unbraked” even for a Toyota Landcruiser for instance).
Check your vehicle’s towing capacity ‘braked’ and ‘unbraked’ in the owners manual.
(Vehicle pictured is just an example).
2. Electric Brake Controller Unit
Get your pick up vehicle fitted with an electric brake controller.
Some recent model utes come with a brake controller integrated into their dash board.
For all other vehicles, an auto electrician can install an after-market brake controller under your dash board.
Once your Brake Controller Unit is installed and connected to your trailer, your vehicle will be able to tow up to it’s ‘braked’ capacity.
Brake controller pictured is just an example. All the companies mentioned below are for your convenience only. We are not recommending them, nor do we receive any “affiliate” or “kick back” fees if you buy something from them.
3. 70mm Tow Ball (or as needed)
4500kgs
For 4500kgs rated tiny house trailers, you will need a 70mm tow ball.
Alternatively, if you have made a custom request for a Pintle Ring coupling on your tiny house trailer, you will need a Pintle Hook on your tow vehicle.
Both a 70mm tow ball and a Pintle Hook are rated to carry a 4500kgs trailer.
3500kgs
For 3500kgs rated tiny house trailers, you can use a standard 50mm tow ball.
70mm Tow Ball pictured is just an example. All the companies mentioned below are for your convenience only. We are not recommending them, nor do we receive any “affiliate” or “kick back” fees if you buy something from them.
4. Tow Ball Mount
A Tow Ball Mount is what the the tow ball goes into.
You might need to factor in some lead time to source this product.
Try:
- Huntsman Products, or
- SuperCheap Auto or
- Hayman Reese parts supplier (part number 21314).
Please note that a Tow Ball Mount for a 50mm ball will not work with a 70mm ball, because the shaft is too narrow. The Tow Ball Mount for a 70mm ball can be a special order item for most caravan parts suppliers, but easily gotten with a bit of time. Will run >$200, so just expect that.
5. Shackles
The shackles you will receive will be appropriate to the weight rating for your trailer.
These shackles can be either ‘Bow Shackles’ (image shown below suitable for a 4500kg rated trailer) or “D-shackles”.
The red pin on this bow shackle image below is 1/2 inch (or 12.7mm) in diameter.
For 4500kg rated trailers, please check that your tow bar will accept a 1/2” (or 12.7mm) diameter pin.
If your tow bar will not accept this size pin you will need to buy a suitable (smaller) bow shackle or D-shackle to fit your particular tow bar.
