Whoever says that towing and trailering products don’t make great gifts, isn’t paying attention. Santa’s sled would be sitting in a garage at the North Pole on Christmas Eve if it wasn’t for towing products. His trailer (sled) is a bit unique, so for the purposes of this article, I’m going to stick to more common trailer types.  Below you’ll find several towing products that make great gift ideas for the tow-man in your life!

Towing Products = Great Gifts

Coupler and Hitch Pin Locks:

The beauty of trailers is that you can take so much fun stuff with you when you hit the road. So it would be especially ugly to have a trailer stolen. BOLT™ makes a variety of locks that are designed to protect your trailer and it’s contents. What’s great about BOLT locks is that they unlock with your ignition key! Simply insert your ignition key into the lock cylinder and BOLT’s Vehicle Match technology “keys” itself to your key and your key only.  Now you have the peace of mind that your gear will always be safe, and the simplicity of only needing to carry your vehicle key.

BOLT makes locking hitch pins, cable locks, coupler locks, padlocks and more! Find the lock that works with your vehicle’s make and model year, insert your key and turn, and you’re done.

 Programmer:

Just because that toy-hauler has wheels, doesn’t mean it’s easy to pull. Programmers can “tune” an engine for the specific purpose of towing.  Slight tweaks in engine performance can add torque and power to pull you more easily to your destination. They also have other pre-loaded tunes for fuel economy and performance for use when not hauling.

Bully Dog makes giving a programmer as a gift as easy as can be. If buying for a gasoline engine truck, then the GT Gas (40417) will work great. If the vehicle is a diesel, then the GT Diesel (40420) is the ticket.  The GT Series tuners are Gauge-Tuners (GT, get it?), meaning they tune the engine and provide in-cabin feedback. They can re-calibrate the speedometer and odometer for larger tires and keep track of crucial temperatures. If your loved one is towing without a programmer, this could be life-changing, if not game changing.  Simple to install cables and mounts are included with both GT Tuners.

Backup Safety

You don’t have to call me Big Daddy (in fact I’d prefer you didn’t) when you back that thing up, but a little warning would be nice. Backup cameras and alarms provide an added degree of safety for your gear and for the people and things around your rig. Consider an SA Series alarm from industry leader, ECCO. The Smart Alarm® was the world’s first self-adjusting backup alarm. It measures ambient noise and compensates it’s own output. It goes full on Alex Forrest when you back up, in that it won’t be ignored (Dan). ECCO also offers an assortment of ad-on backup camera and monitor systems.

*Gift Giving Nugget of Advice*  – As a former manager of a 12v installation shop, I encourage you not to shy away from gifts that you think need to be professionally installed. Find a local brick and mortar that sells and installs, buy the item and pay in advance for the install. Make it super easy for your recipient to enjoy the thoughtfulness you just displayed. Take it up a notch by scheduling an appointment for them, as these shops are slammed after the holidays with folks looking to have car starters and seat heaters installed.

Honorable Mention:

Since winter time is down time for most of the USA when it comes to towing and trailering, storage products are always great ideas. ADCO Tyre Gard products will protect trailer tires against the harsh elements and dry rot.  Ram Mounts makes universal and vehicle specific phone and tablet mounts. Since our connected devices have all but replaced traditional GPS boxes, a Ram Mount can keep that $1,000 smart phone safe while navigating.