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Saturday, 14 August 2021 16:30

Key Range Rover Accessories for a Safe Towing Experience

If you're someone who often needs to lug more cargo than your Range Rover Sport allows, you're probably considering getting a trailer. But you can't just get a trailer and hit the road.

You need to consider some important factors to preserve your safety and the safety of everyone on the road. For instance, you must have a towing hitch assembly, and your vehicle needs to be rated for the proper class or weight of the trailer. On top of that, you'll need a few towing Range Rover Sport accessories. 

But before I get into the essential Range Rover Sport accessories for a safe towing experience, let's discuss how the trailer is connected to your Range Rover. Basically, the connection point is called a hitch, which is mounted on your Rover's chassis. There are removable and permanent hitches. The permanent ones feature a fixed ball mount, whereas the removable ones feature a removable ball mount. The ball mount ensures the trailer swivels and turns together with your vehicle. The ball mount is secured to the hitch using a ball mount lock. 

Then, there's the tongue, which fits over the ball mount and takes on the force exerted by the trailer. A coupler and tongue lock secure the tongue to the ball mount. Further, use safety chains to attach the trailer to your Land Rover that will serve as a backup attachment should the hitch malfunction. Lastly, you can connect the wiring of the trailer to the wiring of your Rover with a wiring harness. 

Besides the aforementioned essential towing 4x4 accessories, you should also consider towing mirrors, brakes, alarms and cameras, loading ramps and tools to install and connect the trailer, as well as straps, chains and other antitheft equipment to secure your trailer and your belongings. Here's how these 4x4 accessories will help you tow your trailer safely.

4x4 accessories

4x4 accessories

Towing Mirrors & Reverse Cameras

Seeing behind you when towing a trailer can be difficult. The same can be said about seeing around you. That's why towing mirrors that extend beyond your vehicle's side mirrors come in handy. More often than not, towing mirrors are attached to your stock mirrors with the use of clamps. Some vehicles have built-in extendable side mirrors. Some towing mirrors are plain, whereas others come with a variety of features, such as turn and brake lights, auto-dimming glass, etc. 

Alternatively, you can get a reverse camera system that will allow you to see behind you without too much effort. This can help you align your Ranger with the hitch of the trailer tongue and when trying to see obstacles when backing up. There are some reverse camera systems that are wireless and are magnetically mounted to the trailer or vehicle. The image taken by the camera is sent to a handheld receiver in the cabin of the ranger. Some cameras can transmit over a 100-metre range with a night vision range of up to 5 metres. Unfortunately, towing mirrors and cameras are prone to theft, especially if they're removable fixtures that are attached only by clamps. This is where securing your things with antitheft devices comes in handy.

Antitheft Devices

Your trailer is easy to hitch and unhitch, so it can get stolen quite easily. There are a few popular antitheft devices to choose from like locks used fasten to the wheels, locking the tyre of the trailer and preventing it from being moved. These locks won't break your bank, as they cost $100 at most, which is extremely cheap when you think about the value they provide, protecting your thousands of dollars worth of investment. But if you don't have $100 to spend, you can get even more affordable devices, such as locks that attach to the ball mount of your hitch. If you want to take it further, you can get an alarm, cameras and door locks.

Tongue Weight

Tongue weight refers to the pressure the coupler applies on the hitch ball. The weight can change based on how much you load up your trailer, and knowing the weight is important. If the weight surpasses the recommended weight of the hitch, the trailer can become uncoupled. To prevent this, you can use a bathroom scale to measure the tongue weight. 

towing brakes

towing brakes

Towing Brakes

Towing a trailer will add to the overall weight of your Range Rover, and as a result, it will need more stopping power and a better response time to acceleration and deceleration. Furthermore, your brake pads will wear faster, which is why a lot of trailer owners go for independent electronic braking systems that ensure the towing vehicle and the trailer brake simultaneously. There are three types of towing brakes, and they work on different principles. 

The first type operates with the help of timed controls that apply braking over time. The second type operates with the help of inertia controls that apply a fixed rate braking, but override controls for higher speed spots. Lastly, there are proportional controls that apply the same amount of braking power as your Rover.

Weight Distribution Hitch & Antisway Bars

The biggest problem with trailers is that they can sometimes sway. Wind turbulence and changes in air pressure can shift the trailer in the opposite direction of your Rover. To negate this, you can get a weight distribution hitch and antisway bar. These two devices join the trailer and your Rover in more places than the ball mount. As a result, you get a more stable trailer. 

Basically, think of it as holding a hanging person from a cliff with one hand. The person can easily rotate about your hand, whereas if it were two or three people holding them, the suspended person will be more restricted in how they can move. Antisway bars work in a similar fashion, and you can get kits that add antisway bars to your existing hitch. Depending on the antisway bar, their price can range from $200 to $800 or more.