Discover the difference between heavy-duty towing vs flatbed towing. Learn which towing service is right for your vehicle’s needs. Your vehicle breaking down in the middle of the road is a cause for concern and distress, often leading to hiring tow trucks to safely deliver it to the nearest source of help.
But deciding between flat-bed towing and heavy-duty towing is a question that most drivers with large vehicles ask themselves.
This article aims to help you distinguish between the different types of towing methods and when each should be used, so that if you ever find yourself in a towing emergency, you’ll know what you need.
Flat Bed Towing: What Is It & When Do You Need It?
Flat-bed towing is pretty much for all types of vehicles, from cars to bikes to luxury cars and everything else in between. They employ tow trucks with a flat platform, transporting damaged vehicles by loading them onto the flat bed for smooth and safe towing.
To learn when you should opt for flatbed towing, keep on reading!
- Extensive Vehicle Damage
Having engine trouble or a dead battery doesn’t constitute flatbed towing. On the other hand, if your car has sustained damage to the suspension, wheel, or axle, flatbed towing is generally considered a safer option than traditional towing. Similarly, if the steering wheel is locked or if one or more of the wheels are gone, flatbed towing is the ideal option.
- Luxury Vehicle, Luxury Treatment
Classic vehicles or top ones like Mercedes-Benz or Audi may be good to look at and feel great to travel in, but they are priceless pieces of machinery that aren’t built for the bumps and jostling that come with wheel-lift towing.
While just fine for normal cars, one needs to practice extra precautions when relocating these top brands. If you’ve got a Rolls-Royce or something else of that caliber, you should opt for flatbed towing services.
- AWD or 4WD
These are again delicate pieces of transportation machinery that require extra care when handling. Unlike 2 wheel drives, these cars can receive serious damage if towed on two wheels, because the drivetrain is constantly engaged. They require all wheels to be off the ground to prevent damage to the transmission, transfer case, and differential.
- Long-Distance Towing
In case your car or bike breaks down in the middle of nowhere and there are miles you need to travel miles to get to the nearest car garage, opting for a flatbed tow is the right course of action.
This will ensure that any potholes, bumps, or gravel on the way are completely avoided by your vehicle.
For a vehicle that’s already having trouble running, flatbed towing is a suitable mode of towing to prevent even more wear and tear from happening.
- Moving multiple vehicles
If you’ve got a few vehicles that require towing, flatbed towing is the only option to do it all at once. This could be because you’ve got some old cars you want to sell to the local junk yard, or maybe you’re relocating your home. Either way, if you’ve got a fleet of cars that need to be moved, a flatbed tow truck is the way to go.
The What & When Of Heavy duty towing
Heavy-duty towing, as the name suggests, is only reserved for large vehicles. This includes things like semi-trucks, luxury buses, and construction equipment. Tow trucks that transport these large machines don’t move anything else.
Here’s a look at a few times you might need heavy-duty towing.
- Complex Towing Situations
Heavy-duty towing trucks are equipped to handle complicated instances like accidents and cars falling into ditches. So if you ever have the misfortune of ending up in a crash, a heavy-duty tow truck will be what tows your car safely away.
- Construction Machinery
Aside from this, if you’re erecting a large building or taking one down a heavy-duty tow truck is what you’ll employ to tow your bulldozers, loaders, and excavators.
- Boats & Yachts
They are also used to transport sea vehicles such as large boats from one harbor to another.
Conclusion
In short, flat-bed towing and heavy-duty towing are two entirely different services used in entirely different situations.
While a flat-bed tow truck is used to safely transport your day-to-day vehicles from one location to another, heavy-duty tow trucks are reserved solely for large-scale equipment that a flat-bed just can’t handle.
If you’ve got a yacht or construction equipment to move, heavy-duty towing is what you should go for, and in case of luxury vehicles or cars that can’t be driven, flat-bed towing all the way.
FAQs
What is considered heavy towing?
Heavy-duty towing usually consists of towing equipment and vehicles weighing over 17000 pounds.
What factors affect flat-bed towing costs?
The cost of flat-bed towing is influenced by the distance, type of vehicle, the extent of damage, and the time of day.
What is the towing capacity of a flatbed tow truck?
Legally, flatbed tow trucks can handle a maximum of 46000-48000 pounds.
