How to Tow a Golf Cart on a Trailer

Towing a golf cart or moving it from one course to another is simple enough when you’re aware of the steps that you need to follow.

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Fortunately for you, I have performed this task multiple times. I will now share with you my best techniques on how you too can tow your golf cart from one location to another.

The Best Way to Tow your Golf Cart

At some point you’ll have to tow your golf cart from your home to the golf course. Other situations when towing a cart would arise is when you’re travelling to an interstate course, or taking your cart in for maintenance.

Towing a golf cart is a moderately easy procedure, but you will need to take care of your cart and follow a procedure.

Here are some simple steps which explain the best way to your golf cart you understand the process better.

These are the steps on how to tow a golf cart on a trailer:

First, it’s mandatory to connect a durable trailer to your towing vehicle. Then you need to attach a ball receiver over the top of the available hitch ball. Then attach hitch ball is to the tow hitch of the trailer. Don’t forget to lift the hitch latch present found on the trailers ball receiver.
Now it’s time to secure the ball receiver. You can do this by pulling down the latch. Make sure to secure the latch with a pin or a lock, through the small hole which is located at the front part of the latch. This will secure your trailer and keep it “locked in”.
Next you have to connect a wired harness from the tow vehicle to that of the trailer. If required, make sure to drop the ramp gate of the trailer. For that, it is vital to remove side latch pins. Doing this helps in releasing the trailer gate. If there is no sign of a gate, then place two ramps at the edge of the trailer and then just drive your golf cart in.
Now the time has come to load in your cart. For this step you have to push the golf cart right towards the front portion of the trailer’s rail. Make sure to set your parking brake on the trailer. You need to use a ratchet or the tie-down straps to ensure that your golf cart is securely placed on the trailer.
The final step is to close the ramp and secure it using latch pins. It’s now time to tow the trailer just below the allowable speed limit. If you have to make a turn or pass any vehicle, be sure to drive very careful. Avoid any sharp turns or lane changes.

What Is the Best Trailer Size for Towing Golf Carts

If you own a normal golf cart, then you can fit it in a utility trailer of around five feet to ten feet in size. In my experience, a trailer that is 5 to 10 ft is the best size to tow the average golf cart.

For smaller trailers, remember to load them backwards to ensure that the back seat foot region projects at the front portion of the trailer.

Remember to face your golf cart in the hauling vehicle’s direction while loading it on the truck bed. Next, flip the windshield down and fasten the string around it. Before you end up hiring a towing truck, remember to measure the size and weight of your golf cart.

What Happens if you Tow a Golf Cart in Run Mode

If you’re not aware of tow run switches, then towing your golf cart on a trailer in running mode is a seriously dangerous task.

If you can keep the towing cart in running mode, it can lower manual labor as there is no need to push the golf cart onto the truck’s bed. However, for that, you need to learn about tow run switches first.

These switches are also known as tow maintenance switches and are available in most of the newer models of golf carts available these days. The golf carts with separate motors might find these switches in-built in them.

These switches help in creating regenerative braking. You can find these switches located inside the battery chamber.

These tow switches come in handy with separate motors along with their corresponding controller. The controllers are known to have logic memory, mostly similar to that of a car stereo. The controller here helps in drawing minimal power all the time, even when you are not using your golf cart.

By turning on the switches, you can automatically get the golf cart rolling enough to tow right onto the trailer or truck bed, without causing the vehicle any sort of damage.

How to Tow a Golf Cart with a Roof

If your golf cart has a roof on it, then you might be worried about the speed required for towing the cart on the trailer. In reality, you don’t need to think about the speed at all.

In its place, place a strap on top of the golf cart’s roof. If you’re still worried about the roof, you can tow golf cart at a speed of 60 or 70 mph without getting into any kind of trouble.

There really is no need to worry as long as you have the straps holding the roof in place. The only thing that you need to worry about is the windshield, which has a chance of breaking off while towing. This is why I recommend removing the windshield before towing.

How to Tow a Car and Golf Cart Together

There is not much of a difference when planning to tow a car or a golf cart. The methods remain more or less the same.

However, if you have plans to tow both golf cart and car together, then be specific of the load capacity of the trailer.

Your towing device must be able to withstand the power and weight of two vehicles at once.

Follow the steps below to tow both your car and golf cart together:

How to Use a Tow Dolly

Thanks to a tow dolly, now you can tow your golf cart and your car onto the trailers bed. The rear wheels of the car and golf cart will remain on the ground when you start the towing procedure. This procedure will work perfectly if you’re towing vehicles coming with front wheel drives.
First, try to connect the trailer with a tow dolly. Now, it’s time to tow the vehicles on top of the dolly ramp. Don’t forget to secure the golf cart and the car! There is no other way but to drive the dolly till the time when the vehicle’s front tires are set firmly against the wheel.
To avoid damaging the transmission of towed vehicles, remember to cut off the drive shaft first. To do this, you need to crawl just under the vehicle and locate the position where driveshaft is well connected to the differential.

Once you have come across the connecting point, it’s now time to find the U-joint to hold the driveshaft to a separate housing.

How To Use a Trailer to Tow a Golf Cart

If you don’t like the idea of using a tow dolly, you can instead use a trailer to tow tour golf cart.

Here are the steps to tow your golf cart using a trailer:

Initially, you can attach your trailer to the tow vehicle’s hitch ball. You need to attach a coupler to hitch carefully by driving tow vehicle forward. Later, get the car and golf cart attached to the trailer using safety chains.
Now, make sure to load your vehicle and golf cart, one at a time. You might have to extend the ramp for this service.
Once done, it is time to secure vehicles, which are on top of the trailer you hired for the service. For that, you can easily use nylon strips or wheel nets.

You have to place these straps on top of the front wheels of your vehicle. Later, fasten those chains to the front and back side of the vehicle for its secured hold.

Towing a Golf Cart behind an RV/Camper

Here are three ways of towing a golf cart behind a camper or an RV. Learn about these steps first, and then choose one that suits your needs.

Flatbed or enclosed trailer: This is a unique trailer type which makes towing golf cart a lot easier behind your RV. Even after towing the golf cart onto the trailer, it will have enough storage space to bring on some additional items for towing.
Tow bar: With the help of this tow bar, you can quickly get the golf cart on top of your camper or RV. There are some cables and safety chains made available between the tow bar and cart for establishing stability.

Sometimes, you may need a supplemental brake system to alert others on the road. This is especially true when you’re about to take a turn to reach your destination.
Tow Dolly: In terms of tow dolly, two of the vehicle’s front wheels will be on the road. If you don’t want to invest a lot of money on an enclosed trailer or flatbed, then this option is the one to choose.

Towing a Golf Cart with a Windshield

It has been found out that while towing the golf cart, the windshield of the vehicle might snap off.

I highly recommend that you fold your windshield while transporting the vehicle or completely remove it.

You can remove or fold windshield quite easily as newer golf carts have this feature. Upon arriving at your location, you can put the windshield right back on the golf cart and go for a ride!

If you enjoyed this article you’ll also want to read my other guide on Golf Cart Weight and Size