The Complete Handbook of Motor Vehicle Towing

Chapter 1: Understanding Motor Vehicle Towing

Motor vehicle towing is the controlled transfer of a vehicle that cannot be driven under its own power from one location to another. That sounds simple, but the practice involves a precise interplay of physics, engineering, and law. Whether you are a professional recovery operator pulling a crashed sedan out of a ditch, a fleet manager moving a disabled box truck, or a hobbyist taking a classic car to a show on a tow dolly, you are managing weight, force, and stability. Getting those things wrong means damage to the vehicle being towed, the tow vehicle, other road users, or all of the above.

Consider two concrete examples. First, a driver ties a rope to the front bumper of a broken-down compact car and hitches it to the rear bumper of an SUV. On a flat, straight road at low speed, this might work. As soon as the rope tightens and the towing vehicle accelerates or brakes, however, the fundamentals of the situation are exposed. The rope is attached to non-reinforced body panels. The towed car has no brakes being applied, so it will push the SUV. And the towed car will sway dangerously with any steering input. This is an uncontrolled system, and it is illegal in most jurisdictions for good reason. Second, consider a professional landscaper towing a 6,000-pound utility trailer behind a half-ton pickup truck that is rated to pull 5,000 pounds. The truck is overloaded, the brakes are marginal, and