Chevrolet 2007 Monte Carlo, Owner'S Manual

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If You Do Decide To Pull A Trailer
If you do, here are some important points:
•
There are many different laws, including speed
limit restrictions, having to do with trailering.
Make sure your rig will be legal, not only
where you live but also where you’ll be driving.
A good source for this information can be
state or provincial police.
•
Consider using a sway control. You can ask
a hitch dealer about sway controls.
•
Don’t tow a trailer at all during the first
1,000 miles (1 600 km) your new vehicle is
driven. Your engine, axle or other parts could
be damaged.
•
Then, during the first 500 miles (800 km) that
you tow a trailer, don’t drive over 50 mph
(80 km/h) and don’t make starts at full throttle.
This helps your engine and other parts of
your vehicle wear in at the heavier loads.
•
Obey speed limit restrictions when towing a
trailer. Don’t drive faster than the maximum
posted speed for trailers, or no more than
55 mph (90 km/h), to save wear on your
vehicle’s parts.
Three important considerations have to do
with weight:
•
the weight of the trailer,
•
the weight of the trailer tongue
•
and the total weight on your vehicle’s tires.
Weight of the Trailer
How heavy can a trailer safely be?
It should never weigh more than 1,000 lbs
(454 kg). But even that can be too heavy.
It depends on how you plan to use your rig.
For example, speed, altitude, road grades, outside
temperature and how much your vehicle is used
to pull a trailer are all important. It can also depend
on any special equipment that you have on your
vehicle, and the amount of tongue weight the
vehicle can carry. See “Weight of the Trailer
Tongue” later in this section for more information.
Maximum trailer weight is calculated assuming
only the driver is in the tow vehicle and it has all
the required trailering equipment. The weight
of additional optional equipment, passengers and
cargo in the tow vehicle must be subtracted
from the maximum trailer weight.
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