What should I check on my travel trailer before towing it on PCS orders?

Answered by RV Parts Giant · Upland, CA · October 4, 2026

Short answer: Start four weeks out. Repack the bearings with new seals, inspect brake shoes and magnets while the hubs are off, test the breakaway battery under load, check tire age by the DOT code, test every light on the 7-pin, then weigh the loaded trailer. A trailer that sat in storage for years fails at the bearings and breakaway first.

A PCS tow is long, heavy and on a fixed date, and the trailer has often sat in storage since the last orders. The common advice covers paperwork, weight and tires. What strands people is bearings, brakes, the breakaway system and batteries. Start four weeks out so there is time to pull a hub, identify the part, order it and fit it before the movers arrive.

1. Bearings, repacked with new seals

Grease separates and seals take a set after two years unturned. Pull each hub, clean out the old grease, check the races for pitting or bluing, hand-pack each bearing, and fit a new seal and cotter pin. Never top up over old grease. Match the numbers stamped on your old cones and cups, then order the Timken set: 10 inch drums or 12 inch drums.

2. Brakes, while the hubs are off

Check lining thickness and even wear, the magnet face for grooves or exposed windings, and the magnet wires where they flex at the backing plate. Grease on the linings means a failed seal and a finished assembly. Replace in axle pairs with an electric brake pair.

3. The breakaway battery

After years with no charge it is usually dead, and nothing in the truck tells you. With the trailer chocked and unhitched, pull the pin and confirm the magnets draw current; a test light on the pin only proves the switch closed. If the battery will not hold, replace the kit: the CURT 12V breakaway kit comes with the battery and an LED test light.

4. Tire age

Read the DOT code: the last four digits are week and year, so 2721 is week 27 of 2021. Common industry guidance is to replace trailer tires at five to seven years regardless of tread. Inflate cold to the trailer placard, and check the spare.

5. Lights and the 7-pin

Test running, both turns, brake and reverse, the brake circuit with the controller, and the auxiliary feed that charges the breakaway battery. Corrosion after storage shows as lights that cut out over bumps. A 7-way plug and junction box replaces a corroded one.

6. Coupler, chains and weight

Check the latch locks on the ball and the ball size matches. Cross the chains. Weigh the loaded trailer at a public scale: household goods push people over the axle rating. Aim for the usual 10 to 15 percent of loaded weight on the tongue.

Retorque the lug nuts after the first 50 miles, and send us your drum size, lug pattern and departure date if you want a second check on what to order.