Today’s mobility scooters are more versatile and more useful than ever before, thanks in large part to some major leaps forward in mobility scooter engineering.
These scooters feature dramatically improved motors, significantly more powerful batteries, and all kinds of “creature comfort features” that make using them a dream for the elderly and the disabled.
At the same time, the biggest complaint about mobility scooters has always been their lack of overall storage.
After all, most mobility scooters are little more than a seat and a motor with four wheels and a steering column. There isn’t exactly a lot of space for lots of storage!
Thankfully though, with quality mobility scooter trailers, you’re able to dramatically extend the amount of storage space you have with these vehicles all without having to spend a mountain of money at the same time.
The trick, though, is finding the right options for your needs (and your budget) – especially with so many different choices available today.
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What Are Mobility Scooter Trailers?
Before we get into the “meat and potatoes” of this guide, it’s important to quickly cover what mobility scooter trailers actually are – and what they are not.
For starters, the trailers that we are talking about are not the mobility scooter “baskets” that can be attached to the steering column of these vehicles or bags and pouches that can be hooked up to the back of your seat.
Those storage solutions definitely have their place in the mobility scooter worlds. They add a lot of storage and a lot of flexibility that most scooters just don’t have “right out-of-the-box”.
Trailers, on the other hand, are exactly what they sound like – trailers that can be towed behind mobility scooters, often doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling the amount of secure storage space available.
That’s what this guide focuses on.
Can My Mobility Scooter Accommodate a Trailer?
While you may have a tough time finding mobility scooters that include traditional toe hitches on the back of their rig, the truth of the matter is the overwhelming majority of mobility scooters today can accommodate these incredible upgrades.
Today’s trailers for mobility scooters are often made specifically to mount to these vehicles in a variety of ways that provide safe, secure, and reliable connections without that standardized tow hitch.
We are talking about under mounted connections, body mounted connections, quick connect connections, and rear seat bracket connections, too.
The chances are very good that your mobility scooter can accommodate a quality trailer. It’s just a matter of reading your owner’s manual to figure out exactly how these should be mounted and then finding a trailer that fits that set up.
How to Pick the Right Mobility Scooter Trailer
Now that you know that almost every mobility scooter under the sun can have a trailer attached reliably it’s time to run through the specific features you should be getting out of this upgrade.
Let’s get right into it!
Quick Connect Capabilities
The first thing you’ll want to look for in a mobility scooter trailer are “quick connect capabilities”.
Regardless of the actual mounting system your scooter takes advantage of (with rear seat bracket mounting systems being the most popular right now), your trailer should include quick connect capabilities.
These kinds of trailer connections almost always end up in a semipermanent connection to your actual scooter mounting system. Then the trailer is connected to that hitch with quick connect and disconnect hardware, allowing you to put the trailer on and take it off without having to deal with a lot of headache or hassle.
Nobody wants to have to pull the seat off of their scooter every single time they want to put a trailer on or take a trailer off.
With quick connect options that doesn’t happen anymore!
Max Load Capacity That Won’t Chew Through Your Battery
Secondly, you need to make sure that your scooter is not only going to be able to tow your trailer around reliably when it is completely empty (which is important enough on its own) – but you also need to know that your scooter can handle a fully loaded trailer, too.
As we mentioned earlier, today’s scooters are a lot more powerful and a lot more efficient than scooters in the past.
Today’s batteries provide a lot more juice and a lot more horsepower to the scooter, and even offer a lot more torque – which is necessary for towing around a trailer of any size.
Just be sure that the trailer you have selected isn’t going to drain your batteries significantly. You don’t want to find out halfway home from the grocery store with a full load that your scooter is about to hit 0% charge.
Oversized Tires for All Terrain
The majority of ability scooter trailers today have oversized tires with tread patterns designed to tackle most any terrain imaginable.
Some of them, though, continue to move forward with narrow, small, almost tread free tires that are really only going to help folks that drive their mobility scooter indoors exclusively.
Be sure that the trailer you invest in has an aggressive tread pattern, solid tires that can hold up to pretty much anything and anything your scooter can tackle, and lots of ground clearance so that your trailer isn’t going to get hitched up or stuck places that your mobility scooter clears effortlessly.
Smooth Axis Turning Components
Smooth axis turning components (closely intertwined with the quick connect capabilities of your trailer) are a huge upgrade, too.
Nobody wants to have to feel like they are towing a boat behind their mobility scooter.
Today’s scooters are far more agile and nimble than ever before, able to tuck into smaller spots without a lot of issue. You don’t want to have to worry about your trailer throwing off your turning radius any more than absolutely necessary – and you certainly don’t want to feel like you need a commercial drivers license to steer one of these around, either.
Secure Storage Compartments
The last thing you need to look for in a mobility scooter trailer designed to upgrade your storage capability are secure locking compartments or locking hardware.
Even if you don’t intend to lockdown your trailer all the time it’s always a good idea to have these capabilities and not need them all that often rather than not have them when you need them most.
Luckily, most of the trailers worth owning include these kinds of capabilities as standard fare across the board.
Just make sure that your new trailer includes these features before you pull the trigger on your purchase.