When the sun is shining and birds are singing, driving around is much more pleasant than through the snow and ice in winter. As the ideal driving conditions make way for the colder months, driving becomes tougher. If you haul a lot of cargo frequently, you know winter is not the best time to pull a trailer.
Towing a trailer is already tough when the weather is perfect. If you add snow, ice, and poor visibility into the mix, pulling a trailer can be downright dangerous. To avoid any unpleasant surprises, storing your trailer away for the winter is better. When it comes to storing your trailer for the winter, simply parking and covering it with a tarp is not enough. This trailer maintenance guide will tell you how to store your trailer safely in the winter the right way.
When storing your trailer for months, you must ensure it is roadworthy when towing season comes. If you do not put it away properly, you must deal with several repairs to get it running again. By taking all the necessary precautions with its storage, you can have your trailer ready to tow as soon as you need it. Whether you use it around your property, for your business, or as a trailer rental, taking care of your trailer will help you make the most of your investment.
This trailer maintenance guide will cover a few essential tips on storing your trailer in the winter. By following a few simple winter storage tips, you can make your life much easier for the next towing season.
Trailer Maintenance Guide | The Importance of Proper Storage for Your Trailer in Winter
If you are a new trailer owner, it is very easy to assume that storing your trailer for the winter is as simple as finding a corner on your property and parking it there. However, leaving your trailer to deal with the harsh weather will have consequences.
If you leave your trailer exposed to snow and ice, the moisture can set in and cause irreparable damage to your trailer. While a trailer is durable, it is made of metal. When metal interacts with oxygen in the ice and snow, it will begin to rust.
If you leave it exposed to the elements for too long, the rust can cause structural damage to your trailer’s frame. Left unaddressed, rusting can deteriorate the frame to a point where the trailer will be dangerous to drive.
To avoid paying for expensive repairs down the line, it is better to store your trailer properly in the first place. The next section of the trailer maintenance guide will tell you how to store your trailer properly in the winter.
Trailer Maintenance Guide | How to Store Your Trailer in the Winter, The Right Way
This section of the trailer maintenance guide will give you an overview of storing your trailer safely in the winter.
1. Identify a Good Location to Park Your Trailer
When storing your trailer for winter, the first order of business is to find a good place to park it. Ideally, you should find an indoor space. By storing it indoors, keeping your trailer safe from the moisture in the ice and snow will be easier. Besides protecting it from moisture, indoor storage will also protect your trailer from any UV damage from the sun.
If you do not have an indoor space available, you can still work around it. Since it will be parked for several weeks, you should identify a location you will not need to use through the winter. This way, you can leave your trailer undisturbed during the winter.
2. Cover Your Trailer Properly
When storing it indoors is not an option, you must take steps to protect your trailer from the elements. If you can, park your trailer in a location that can cover it from the top. If even that is impossible, you must invest in a tarp large enough to cover the entire trailer. To prevent moisture from snow from seeping through, you must get a waterproof tarp.
Besides protecting your trailer from moisture, a tarp will also keep it safe from UV damage. If you have a custom-fitted cover for your trailer, it can be good. However, you do not need to invest in a specialized cover. As long as you have a tarp large enough to cover it from all sides, you will be good to go. To prevent the tarp from flying away, secure it onto the trailer using bungee cords.
3. Elevate Your Trailer
Since your trailer will stay in one place for a long time, it has no use for its tires. You should use it as an opportunity to take the load off its wheels and suspension. If you leave the trailer parked as it is, its weight will wear down the suspension and damage the tires. Instead of leaving it like this, use cinder blocks to elevate the trailer. This way, you can avoid unnecessary wear and tear on its tires, wheels, and suspension.
4. Protect the Trailer Tires
Dry rot is the worst enemy of trailer tires. While designed to be tougher than standard tires, trailer tires are not immune to UV damage. Left unused and exposed to the sun, trailer tires can begin drying out and forming cracks. To keep the tires safe from dry rot, spray a coat of rubber on them.
Giving the tires a protective coating will prevent them from drying up and forming cracks. If you are parking the trailer outdoors and propping it up on cinder blocks, you should remove the tires and keep them indoors. If you cannot remove them and keep the tires indoors, make sure you cover them properly to protect them from the sun.
5. Lubricate Your Trailer’s Moving Components
Trailers have self-lubricating moving parts. However, self-lubrication only works when the trailer is in use. If you leave it parked long, you must manually lubricate its moving components. Apply grease to its moving components before storing away your trailer to keep them safe and protected. To protect the wheel bearings, you should reapply grease on them every two weeks. This way, your trailer will only need a quick tune-up before you can use it in the next towing season.
Trailer Maintenance Guide | How to Use Your Trailer to Earn Extra Money
If you are a seasoned trailer owner, you are no stranger to the fact that it is an expensive investment. Besides what you must pay to buy it, you must also keep investing in its routine maintenance and repairs. Over its lifespan, a trailer of any kind can rack up a hefty bill. If you do not tow your trailer regularly, it might not make sense to spend that much money on it.
However, skipping its maintenance can lead to a bigger bill down the line for extensive repairs. Instead of saving short-term costs by ignoring its maintenance, a better way to recover ownership costs is to list it as a trailer rental.
Just think about it: If you don’t use it to haul cargo daily, your trailer might sit around on your property collecting dust. To make the most of the next towing season, consider listing it as a trailer for rent. By letting businesses and individuals in your area rent it from you, you can turn your trailer into a money-making machine.
Depending on its type, make, and model, you can charge up to $200 per day for your trailer. Since renting is a fraction of the cost of buying a trailer, people needing one occasionally will be happy to pay top dollar for a good trailer rental. With platforms like Neighbors Trailer, finding good renters to book your trailer will be easy.
The P2P trailer rental marketplace generates over 1,000 leads for trailer rentals on a daily basis. If you list yours on their platform, you will have no trouble finding more than enough renters to cover your trailer’s maintenance costs.
Thinker| Writer| Doer