Towing a 3.5t car trailer: Everything you need to know!
- thomasjamesbridge
- Mar 3
- 3 min read
Towing a 3.5t car trailer can be daunting at the best of times, so here's our definitive guide to help you go from a newbie to novice to a jedi master!
What equipment do I need to tow a 3.5t car trailer?
Lifting sling A lifting sling connects the end of the winch line to your car. Lifting slings are preferable to hooking the end of the line onto your car directly as that can often cause damage to the car and the hook can also get stuck inside the panels.
Adjustable towbar
Because the trailer is so long, there's a chance that when going down steep hills that the back of the trailer scrapes on the ground. To minimise or eliminate this, use an adjustable towbar on the lowest setting.
3.5t+ tow capacity car
A 3.5t car trailer weighs around 1.2t and can carry up to a 2.3t vehicle, which means fully laden it's 3.5t and your car needs to be able to pull this. Generally this means you need a large ute or 4x4, such as a Ford Ranger, Land Rover Discovery, Toyota Hilux, Prado and Landcruiser.
Power Adaptor / Connector
Most car trailers are a 7 pin flat connector, so if your car has a small or large round connector you'll need an adaptor to pair the two - this ensures that things like brake lights and indicators are replicated from your car to the trailer.
Shackles
These should come with the trailer at the end of the chains but if not, you'll need some heavy duty ones to attach the chains to your car - always remember to cross them!
Electric Brakes To tow any load above 2t your car needs electric brakes. This ensures that when fully laden, your car is supplying power to brakes on the trailer so that all 8 brakes in your set up and are used and applied at the same time.
How to tow a 3.5t car trailer
Towing a 3.5t is essentially the same as towing any trailer - it's just bigger! This means that you'll need to watch your mirrors more when driving, to check that you're all inside the lane lines on the highway for example. Make sure you take bends nice and wide just like a bendy bus would. As the trailer is so heavy you'll use more fuel, so make sure you've filled up before any long trips into the bush.
How to mount a car onto a 3.5t car trailer
Put the ramps onto the back of the trailer.
Connect the winch to the car.
Ensure there is someone in the car to apply the brakes
Undo the latches at the front of the trailer to enable the tilt function.
Use the 3 speed hand winch to pull the car onto the trailer.
Ensure the driver applies the brakes when the trailer becomes horizontal again.
Close the lilt function latches.
Strap all 4 wheels to the car trailer.
What types of 3.5t car trailers are there?
Beavertail
Flat
Tilting
What size car trailers are there?
Car trailers generally start at about 2t and go all the way up to 3.5t. 2t car trailers can only carry a car up to about 1t so their usefulness is fairly limited - they are mostly owned by private individuals with very light sports cars to be raced at the weekend. At the other end of the scale, any trailer above 3.5t needs a 70mm tow ball rather than the standard 50mm, and a car that can tow over 3.5t like a Dodge Ram or Chevrolet Silverado - so again their is limited usefulness above 3.5t. In short, go with a 3.5t car trailer and you can pretty much carry anything.
What else can I use a car trailer for?
Flat bed / deck car trailers are the perfect vehicle for all manner of construction materials such as roofing, garage doors, metal cladding and so forth.
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