Vehicles are machines and can break down even if maintained well.
They can break down in the middle of the road, in parking lots, in garages, or you can meet with minor accidents.
Regular maintenance of your car is crucial. It can save you big. But let just face it just like your life your car can behave erratic and break down in the middle of nowhere.
At some point of time or the other, you will have to call a towing company to take your vehicle to the nearest repair shop.
Before you start searching for towing near you, you should know what are different types of towing vehicles.
The different types of tow vehicles are used depending on various situations.
Types of Tow Trucks
1. Flat-bed
Flat-bed tow trucks are commonly known as rollback or slide tow truck. They are the most widely used tow trucks in the world.
Flat-bed tow trucks have a hydraulically inclined long bed that can be lowered to the ground level.
Flat-bed tow trucks are easy to use as you can drive your vehicle up the ramp or have it pulled up.
The vehicles aren’t dragged behind the truck but are carefully carried on the flat-bed.
These trucks can also be used to tow vehicles that have met with an accident or have broken down on the road.
These tow trucks are not only used to tow cars but they can also tow small boats and a lot of other vehicles like bikes.
They tow the vehicles with minimum damage and are one of the safest towing vehicles.
2. Integrated Tow Truck
Integrated tow trucks are also referred to as Quick Pick, Self Loader, Snatcher or Repo Truck. They are generally used to move illegally parked vehicles.
Quick pick up is possible in these types of tow trucks as you don’t need to exit the truck to hook up the vehicle.
Integrated tow trucks are specialized and are used to transport heavy-duty vehicles like buses.
Integrated tow trucks have extra axles for higher strength, and the arm is much more embedded in the core of the truck.
3. Hook and Chain Tow Truck
This type of tow truck is the oldest and the cheapest type of towing.
As the name suggests, it uses a hook and chain to drag and lift the vehicle.
This is a readily available type of tow truck. It connects to the frame or axle of the vehicle to be towed.
The chains help to raise the rear part of the vehicle to make dragging easier.
But they are wrapped to the axle which can cause scratches or damage the car.
These type of tow trucks cause a lot of damage to the vehicles and so aren’t used these days.
They are used for severely damaged cars or if you are stuck in an emergency situation where you can’t get other alternatives.
These tow trucks cannot be used on 4×4 drives or all-wheel because it can damage the drivetrain.
Nowadays these tow trucks are mostly used for towing junk automobiles, and wrecked automobiles as damage to these vehicles don’t matter.
4. Wheel-Lift Tow Truck
In this towing, the tow trucks lift the vehicles by their wheels and then drags it from behind.
It has a similar mechanism to the hook and chain type of tow trucks, but it uses metal yoke instead of hook and chain.
The metal yoke can be hooked under the rear or front wheels and causes minimum damage to the vehicles.
A hydraulic lift suspends the front or rear side of the vehicle to lift it from the ground and pull it away.
Sometimes dolly wheels are mounted on the trailing wheels to keep the car wheels off the ground.
Wheel lift tow trucks aren’t very safe, but they are inexpensive compared to flatbed tow trucks.
How to Choose the Best Towing Company?
1. Response Time
Cars can break down anytime and it will mostly breakdown when you have to reach a place in a specified time.
Although most companies respond faster but the person who faces the breakdown turns impatient with time and requires a more prompt response.
A delay of half an hour is normal, depending on your location.
2. Availability
The towing company should be available when you need them.
They should have enough tow trucks depending on the number of clients they have.
Also, they should provide 24*7 emergency towing services.
3. Services
You should know what services apart from towing the company offers.
If your car has broken down, the technician should be able to identify the issue and fix it if he can.
If there is a minor issue you obviously wouldn’t want the tow truck to tow your vehicle to the nearest auto repair shop for repairs.
4. Quality of Service
The quality of their services can be learned from their online reviews and the ratings.
You can ask for references from your friends or relatives before finalizing any towing company.
5. Cost
The towing cost will depend on the distance to which the vehicle is to be towed and the type of tow truck.
Don’t get fascinated by the lower towing costs but instead choose a company that provides you value for money.
Also, the damages caused by a cheap towing company would be far more than the towing cost.
So opt for a reputed towing company who knows how to tow the vehicle with minimum damage and is cost-efficient too.
One such company is A&G Customs which provides towing service in Doylestown.
They are available 24x7 and also provide emergency services. You can get in touch with them at 215 669 3072.