There's More Than One Way To Tow A Car
Posted on: 7 August 2015
If you need to move your car over a long distance, but are unable to drive it for one reason or another, then you'll probably need to tow it. There are several ways to tow a car, each of which has its benefits and drawbacks. To help you make a more informed decision, here is an introduction to the subject:
Decide on a Method
Your main choices are flatbed towing, two-wheel towing, and flat towing.
Flatbed towing - In this type of towing, your car will be placed upon a flatbed trailer and will be transported to the destination without touching the ground. The main benefit of this method is that the towed car will not be worse for wear afterwards. If your car has trouble with the rear wheels turning or if you just don't want to subject it to the road, then a flatbed tow is an excellent option. However, flatbed towing also requires the most equipment. You will need to have a flatbed big enough to fit the car, which might run more expensive than other options.
Two-wheel towing - In this type of towing, your car will be partially elevated, so that only the back wheels will touch the ground. Some cars are more easily transported in this mode. One such example is cars that have front-wheel drive, which means that only the front wheels are powered when you push the gas. This ultimately means that the rear wheels spin freely. When two-wheel towing, the rear tires can bear some of the weight burden of the car while spinning and moving the car. The equipment in two-wheel towing is smaller than a flatbed and usually consists of a towing dolly or a tow bar.
Flat towing - Finally, there is flat towing, which means that the towed car will be entirely on the ground and that all four wheels will spin. When flat towing, all of the wheels will wear down at an even rate. Flat towing is easier to set up than other methods. and only takes a minute or two to mount and dismount. However, it also causes the greatest amount of wear and tear. All you need for a flat tow is tow bar to connect the vehicles. For this reason, flat towing is often the cheapest option available, in terms of equipment cost. However, if you are transporting the car an extremely long distance, you might find that the wear on the tires outweighs the cheaper cost of the tow bar relative to a flatbed trailer.
For more information, contact a towing service (such as Jenwar Towing & Recovery).
Share