Towing A Car With Your Own Vehicle
Random vehicle breakdowns can happen to anyone, even the most experienced professional drivers. Since it’s such an unforeseeable occurrence, many people don’t know how to react once their car inevitably breaks down. More often than not, they will resort to calling their friends or family to come and tow the broken vehicle with their own car.
If you’re not sure whether towing a car with another caris a good idea, take a moment to check out some of the points we’ve made in this article. In case you’re looking for the short answer – it’s typically not a good idea to do this, and here is why.
Things You Should Know Before Towing a Car
Here are some useful pieces of information you should know before you contemplate towing a car.
The Importance of Vehicle Ratings
Every vehicle has a particular rating, which is closely related to towing capacity. As you can assume, towing capacity is the maximum amount of weight your vehicle can tow. You can usually find these ratings on the door jamb of your car or truck. However, if you don’t own a vehicle that is obviously foreseen to withstand and deal with a lot of force, chances are you cannot tow another vehicle.
Predicaments With Towbars
If you want to tow a vehicle, your car has to have a towbar installed. While that sounds pretty simple and straightforward, there is much more to it than meets the eye. Just like the vehicle itself, towbars also have ratings that have to be accounted for before any towing takes place.
Now, sometimes a variety of vehicle models can use a tow bar of the same rating, but many models require towbars of specific ratings in order to ensure safe operation. Either way, if you don’t know the specifics of your towbar and vehicle rating, it’s best to just call a team of professionals and let them deal with towing a carsafely.
Local Law and Regulations
Is it illegal to tow a car with another car?Well, the answer to this question depends on where you live and, more importantly – where you are when your car breaks down. As far as the United States laws go, every state has different rules and restrictions tied to towing laws. For instance, most states require a towing vehicle to have and use safety chains and taillights. A number of states might also require you to use some sort of signaling, for example – a yellow rotating light.
As you can tell, just outright hooking up another vehicle to your own and towing it is not a smart and viable option. You risk paying a hefty fine as well as probably some temporary license sanctions.
Separate Braking Systems and their Importance
By using elementary laws of physics, we can easily conclude that towing vehicles have extra momentum when hauling other vehicles. This puts significant pressure on the braking system, which is why most towing vehicles must have separate braking systems. So, rather than thinking to yourself “How do you tow a car” – you should be thinking about the mandatory equipment needed for the job. In most cases, your personal vehicle will not fulfill all the requirements.
If you’re still wondering, “Can I tow my own car” the answer is – you technically can, but you probably shouldn’t. If you need towing services, we at Phoenix Towing Service will be more than happy to lend you a hand and ensure safe transport.
If you’d like to read more about vehicles, towing, and some useful tips that will help you on the road, don’t hesitate to read our other articles! In case we’ve missed something, let us know by leaving a comment.
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Winter Towing Tips for Safe Trailering in Ice and Snow
Driving during the winter is completely different compared to driving during the spring or in the summer months. Slippery roads, dead batteries, and frozen stuff all around you is just a glimpse into the common burdens that come with frosty, cold weather. Whether you’re a professional tow truck driver or a roadside service driver, you ought to know everything there is about winters towingor else you risk jeopardizing your as well as the safety of other participants in traffic.
We have made a list of several tips and advice that should help you prepare for potential issues on the road so that you don’t have to waste time and wait for help in the middle of nowhere. Before we dive deeper into the subject, remember – good preparation is everything!
Snow Towing Tips for Safe Trailering
Check out some of these suggestions that should help you get from point A to point B safely.
Using Proper Tires
The first order of business for you whenever the seasons change is to swap your tires and use the appropriate type. Equipping your vehicle with winter tires will significantly improve traction and your vehicle’s ability to grip the road. It will also allow you to accelerate, turn, stop, and slow down with much more confidence, since you can be relatively certain that winter tires will provide necessary protection against a slippery, sometimes even frozen road.
Maintain Control by Installing Trailer Brakes
Contrary to popular misconceptions, not all trailers have independent brakes. Some of them rely on the tow vehicle’s brakes, which is typically acceptable, but not during snow towingWhile you could, in theory, hit a snowy road without trailer brakes and tow a vehicle safely from point A to point B, it’s not something we would recommend doing. Don’t go out on a snowy and potentially slippery road without previously installing a set of brakes on your trailer.
This might be an unforeseen expense for some people, and many drivers are usually discouraged by the financial impact of this particular investment, but rest assured it’s something you simply must do. Once you install a set of trailer brakes, you won’t have to think about this step ever again.
Stay Vigilant and Alert at All Times
Being aware of your surroundings is one of the main things you should think about while you’re on the road. The fact that you’re on a snowy, slippery road should amplify your awareness and bring it to a whole new level. The idea behind this tip is pretty simple – always make sure not to forget that you’re driving on a slippery road that requires precision, alertness, and smooth inputs. This means no sudden braking, no tight turns, and no speeding. No matter how late you are or how eager you are to get to your destination, you should never rush with towing travel trailer in snow.
lways Be in Control of Your Vehicle
Many drivers are tempted to use cruise control and other convenient, modern options to streamline a long drive, but you should refrain from doing that, especially if you’re towing trailer in snow.While it’s great to let the computer take over the throttle controls and inputs, it’s dangerous to forgo the control of your vehicle on a slippery road. The computer is simply not capable of identifying potentially dangerous maneuvers, which could lead to serious issues on the road.
What are some of your personal tips for winter towing? Did you find our tips useful? Leave us a comment and let us know! If you’d like to read more about towing, proper road etiquette, and methods you can use to avoid potential mishaps, read some of our other articles!
The post Winter Towing Tips for Safe Trailering in Ice and Snow first appeared on Phoenix Towing Service.