All Wheel Drive Towing Company
All Wheel Drive Towing in Utah
While you may not have thought about it until it’s time to move, there are a lot of factors that determine how you will tow your car based on whether it’s a two wheel drive or a four wheel drive/all wheel drive vehicle. Perhaps surprisingly, all wheel drive vehicles present very different towing requirements as compared with two wheel drive vehicles.
A front wheel drive vehicle is far easier to tow than an all wheel drive vehicle. It may be safe to tow the latter with the front wheels lifted off the ground and the back two wheels on the ground. Not so with an all wheel drive towing situation. Incorrectly towing an all wheel drive vehicle can have disastrous consequences.
There are many scenarios that may cause you to consider towing your all wheel drive vehicle. You may want to hitch your car to the back of a moving van to save gas and mileage during a long distance move. Maybe a family camping vacation would be more fun if the teenagers had their own vehicle to use. Or maybe you have an all terrain vehicle that you’d like to take on the trip as well. Whatever your reason, we believe that it’s best to avoid taking matters into your own hands when transporting an all wheel drive vehicle. The reasons for this should become crystal clear below.
What Exactly is All Wheel Drive?
The difference between four wheel drive, front wheel drive, and all wheel drive can be confusing, and you may have to check your car’s manual to remind yourself which of these your car is equipped with. All of these designations refer to the car’s drivetrain, which is the mechanism in a car that connects the transmission to the drive axles.
All wheel drive is similar to four wheel drive, but all wheel drive is optimized for usage on the road, while four wheel drive applies more to off road situations. With all wheel drive, the car’s systems distribute power among all four wheels evenly, giving the driver maximum control and giving you extra security when one or more of the wheels loses traction.
In a front wheel drive or two wheel drive vehicle, power is only distributed to the front two wheels, thus those wheels power and pull the car while the back wheels are simply along for the ride.
Many of our customers are surprised to learn that there are different options for towing a vehicle depending on whether the drivetrain is all wheel drive or two wheel drive.
Pros and Cons of Driving a Car Equipped with All Wheel Drive
All wheel drive has become a popular feature for good reasons. All wheel drive vehicles have superior handling and faster acceleration, making them simply more fun and comfortable to drive. Improved traction is an obvious benefit, giving you more traction and control on the slippery surfaces that are so common in Utah winters. All wheel drive vehicles similarly deliver better performance during rainy spring weather when heavy rains can cause your vehicle to slip or hydroplane. All wheel drive can even be helpful when two wheels are stuck in some shallow muddy conditions.
All wheel drive vehicles tend to cost more upfront, but they also retain their value at resale time. As these vehicles tend to be heavier and it takes more power to route energy to each of the four wheels individually, your all wheel drive vehicle will certainly use more fuel than its two wheel drive counterparts.
Options for Towing an All Wheel Drive Vehicle
The most important thing to keep in mind is that towing an all wheel drive vehicle with two or four wheels on the ground can destroy your car’s transmission. The rule to remember is that no vehicle should be towed by its drive wheels. Front wheel drive and rear wheel drive vehicles are sometimes towed with their two passive wheels on the ground, but this still requires specific adjustments to the car, which may include removing the drive shaft. The best and safest option for towing an all wheel drive vehicle is to use a towing company to tow the vehicle by flatbed.
There are other options for towing an all wheel drive vehicle when a flatbed truck is not available. Specialized dollies that lift only the front two wheels off the ground are a possibility, but you must have the ability to remove the drive shaft to use this option. A tow bar can also work, but this method is even more precarious because it leaves all four wheels on the ground. An all wheel drive vehicle with a manual transmission can also be towed with all four wheels “down,” but special adjustments must be made in this case as well.
In short, if you want to be sure that your vehicle will survive the tow without becoming a mechanic, it’s best to leave an all wheel drive tow to the experts.
Towing All Terrain Vehicles
Your all terrain vehicle may very well have all wheel drive. All wheel drive creates a safer, more controlled experience overall in your ATV. An all wheel drive ATV has better traction when going both up and downhill, is less likely to slide on a slippery surface, and is better at maneuvering out of a ditch, hauling things like firewood, and driving over logs and uneven surfaces. If you’re not sure whether your vehicle is two wheel drive or all wheel drive, just try backing up a hill. If you can do it, your ATV has all wheel drive. All terrain vehicles follow the same logic as regular vehicles: you definitely don’t want to have wheels on the ground when towing an all wheel drive ATV.
Roadside Rescue Service Areas
In [Year], Roadside Rescue made the leap to relocate our services from Salt Lake City to Syracuse, Utah. After many years in the city, we believed that customers in the northern suburbs were simply waiting too long for their tow truck to arrive after a breakdown or accident, and what’s more, they were paying city prices for suburban service. We’ve never looked back, and we’re proud that our customers have a shorter wait and pay less for the same premium service they used to receive.
Our revised service area is appealing to locals who appreciate the quick service we provide when they’re stuck out on the road. At the same time, our area is large enough to give our customers the flexibility to use us to tow their 5th wheel for a vacation or on short haul moves when there are heavy, bulky items that are not possible to move with a car or even a moving van.
Roadside Rescue at Your Service!
We’re proud to be the go-to towing service in the north Salt Lake City Suburbs. Utahns love their outdoor adventures, and with that comes some messes and accidents from time to time. Never fear, intrepid weekend warrior—we’re here for you! We’ve seen everything there is to see out on the road over our 15 plus years of serving Ogden, Bountiful, Layton, Centerville, and beyond.
We take our commitment to providing the best towing service in our area very seriously, and that’s why all of our team members, from our dispatchers to our drivers, are the best in the business. Our crew must pass background checks and have clean driving records before they are hired. All are WreckMaster certified, meaning that they’ve been trained specifically to handle all kinds of towing and onsite wrecks with industry best practices.
Make no mistake—even something as seemingly simple as an all wheel drive tow can go wrong if your driver doesn’t know what they’re doing. We hire and train only the best workers because we know your safety and the safety of your possessions are paramount. Once you’ve worked with us, we believe you’ll never need to call another towing company in northern Utah!
All Wheel Drive Towing—Leave it to the Experts
Now you know everything you ever wanted to know (and maybe more!) about the logistics of all wheel drive towing. If you’re like many of our customers, you’re thinking that you don’t need the hassle of digging out your car’s user manual and figuring out the right way to tow it without destroying the transmission on top of all the other moving headaches you’re likely to be dealing with. You just want to tow your all wheel drive vehicle to your new home without thinking about it!
Our service area spans the suburbs north of Salt Lake, from Centerville in the south to North Ogden in the North. We can tow virtually anything you need moved, from boats to hot tubs and RVs to motorcycles—and everything in between. There’s no reason to wait for a tow from a Salt Lake City company, and there’s no reason to pay their exorbitant prices either! Our services are engineered to be both convenient and affordable, so we take the hassle out of your move without breaking the bank.
Skip the manuals and let us take on the insurance risk of towing your all wheel drive vehicles. Remember, your vehicle will be of no use to you on the other end if the trip destroys the transmission. Our flatbeds will get your all wheel drive safely to its destination swiftly and without incident.
We invite you to check out our many excellent reviews online and hope you will trust us with your all wheel drive towing needs in Ogden, Bountiful, Layton, and beyond. Call Roadside Rescue at 801-803-4900 and let us take care of your tow so you can focus on all the other details of your move!
