How to Load a 5-Car Sun Country Trailer — Step by Step

Loading five cars on a Sun Country is a puzzle — get the order wrong and the last car never fits. This is the sequence that works, the same one from our video: top car first, pins in every time, straps before ramps, and a full walk-around before you roll.

Prefer the real thing? Here’s the same load filmed start to finish:

1. Top car first, then lift and tuck

Start with the top position. Walk the first car up slow, with a spotter calling the inches — small moves, no rushing. Once it’s set, raise the deck and slide the next car in underneath it. That lift-and-tuck is how a 5-car earns its name.

2. Safety pins, every single time

Every time a deck goes up, the safety pins go in. No exceptions, no ‘just for a second.’ A deck that drops will take a car — or a hand — with it. Pins in before anyone works under a raised deck.

3. Leave yourself a way out

Position each car so the driver can still open the door and get out. Leave that exit gap on purpose. A car parked perfect with the driver trapped inside is not parked perfect.

4. Lower in stages, watch your height

Bring the loaded deck down gradually, not all at once, and keep an eye on your total height as you go. You’re building toward a finished load that measures legal — this load finished at 13’3″, under the 13’6″ ceiling. Measure before you roll, not at the first low bridge.

5. Pins out, ramps down little by little

Before the ramps move, pull the pins on both sides — all of them. Then lower each ramp a little at a time, one side, then the other. Remember the seesaw: as one deck settles down, the other side rises. Work them against each other until both sit right.

6. One fist of clearance

Check the gap between each car and the deck above it. You want about one fist of clearance — enough that nothing kisses on a bump, tight enough that you’re not wasting height you’ll need later.

7. Pin it, lock it, measure it

Once a section sits where you want it, put the pins back in and lock everything down. Then measure again. Every section gets the same treatment: set it, pin it, lock it, measure it.

8. Big units get planned spots

Full-size SUVs — the Expedition Max class — only fit in certain positions, so decide their spots before they’re rolling up the ramp. On this load, two of them: one rides in the middle, and the very last position is saved for the second one. Big cars don’t improvise.

9. Front straps, lift, then finish strapping

On the big units, throw the two front straps first, lift the deck, and only then add the remaining straps. Strapping in stages keeps the car planted while the deck is still moving.

10. The small car rides inside

The compact sedan — an Altima on this load — doesn’t hang off the back. It tucks all the way inside, under the raised deck. Ramp down over it, check the clearance, and it rides protected in the middle of the load where it belongs.

11. Straps before ramps

The trick that saves your back: always strap a car while its ramp is still up. If you drop the ramp first, you’re climbing over the post to reach every strap. Straps first, ramp down second — every position, every time.

12. Final walk-around

The last position takes the final big unit. Spot it forward to its mark, confirm nothing is touching anywhere on the load, set your flag, and do the full walk-around: every strap tight, every pin in, height legal. That’s a loaded 5-car — everything fits because the order was right.

Load in the right order and five cars ride like one. Looking for a Sun Country or another car hauler? Browse our equipment for sale or call Victor at 954-947-3096 — Car Hauler Classified.