When towing a front-wheel-drive car, you want to ensure that the front wheels are raised off the ground using either a tow dolly or a car lifter. If you can't raise the front wheels, you can use an axle lock or a low pump to prevent transmission damages.
There might be a point in time where you need to tow your vehicle for any reason. For example, your vehicle might be broken, have a flat tire, or any other reason. While many drivers prefer to consult a roadside assistant and reach out to a towing company, other drivers might have the necessary tools to help themselves save money until vehicles without needing a towing company.
Every vehicle is unique add the way you should tow it differs depending on many factors. For example, the front-wheel-drive car is one of the very specific vehicles you need to tow in a certain way. Otherwise, it will not move, and you will find it challenging to take it from one point to another.
This article is focused specifically on showing you a step-by-step procedure for towing a front-wheel-drive car. The procedure should be simple enough for any driver who doesn't have any previous experience with towing before. Thanks to the advanced technology and the easy practical tools to help us do the job ourselves without external assistance!
Towing a front-wheel-drive car: why is it special?
Before we dive into the details about how to tow a front-wheel-drive car, it is important to understand how the front-wheel-drive car work and what exactly needs to be considered when towing a front-wheel-drive car.
The most important information regarding a front-wheel-drive car is where the energy is produced. In these vehicles, the power is produced in the front portion of your vehicle, which means that the front wheels are the ones that should be protected.
When towing any front-wheel-drive car, you must ensure that the front wheels are raised above the ground, and the rear wheels are the ones who are loose where you can use their support to tow the car smoothly.
If you couldn’t raise the front wheels for any reason, it’s important to ensure that the transmission is fully lubricated to prevent catastrophic outcomes. Or you can disconnect the front wheels from the transmission to protect it.
Towing a front-wheel-drive car: the methods
If you're stuck with a front-wheel-drive car, you can tow it in many ways. Each way has its specifications and procedure that you need to follow to prevent damaging the car and prevent harming yourself.
In general, you can tow your front-wheel-drive car using one of the following:
Towing a front-wheel-drive car using a tow dolly
It's important before you decide to tow your front-wheel-drive car using a Dolly to check with your local authorities. Not every area allows you to use personal toys for towing a certain vehicle. Therefore, review the routes you're planning to go through and check every single area to ensure that the authorities are OK with towing your front-wheel-drive vehicle. Otherwise, you might need to consider other methods and the Dolly.
They tow Dolly is one of the most common methods that people used to tow their front-wheel-drive car. To do so, you need to follow these simple steps:
Towing a front-wheel-drive car using a trailer
Trailers are considered the most optimal solutions for towing any vehicle despite its type. This is because the vehicle will be raised off the ground from all sides, which is the best solution when the vehicle is in terrible condition and cannot be driven.
However, not every driver or close family member would have a trailer. Therefore, we will not cover the details about how to tow your vehicle using a trailer.
Also, towing the vehicle through a trailer requires a certain skill set that should be left for professionals.
Towing a front-wheel-drive car using an axle lock
As we indicated before, the front-wheel-drive car must not be towed when the front wheels touch the ground. This is because hold the power is generated at the front portion of your vehicle and raising it off the ground helps prevent catastrophic damages to the transmission.
If you got into a situation where you must keep your car's wheels on the ground, you might need to consider using an axle lock.
The idea behind an axle lock is to lock or disconnect the front axles from the transmission, which means that you don't have to worry about keeping them off the ground. Once the front wheels are disconnected from the axle, you can freely tow the vehicle the way you want without worrying about which area to raise or keep down.
Once you get your vehicle to the desired destination, you can reconnect the wheels to the transmission using a small twist.
Towing a front-wheel-drive car using a Lube pump
If you don't have access to an axle lock, you can always try a little pump. The little pump serves a similar role to the axle lock, which is necessary when you can't raise the front wheels from the ground.
The primary role of the low bump is to keep the transmission lubricated and prevent its overheating when the front wheels are rolling while the engine is not running.
The nice thing about the load pump is that you will see an electric motor to keep monitoring the vehicle's behavior and stop the towing process whenever you see anything going wrong.
Tips on towing a front-wheel-drive car safely
Whether you're towing a front-wheel-drive car or any other vehicle, there are some things to check for to maintain safety and prevent causing risks for yourself and the people around you. Here are some of the recommended tips by most automotive experts:
How to know if my car is a front wheel or a rear wheel?
Differentiating between front-wheel and rear-wheel cars is an essential information when it comes to following your vehicle. However, knowing this information is not very common to many inexperienced drivers and even experienced drivers because it differs from vehicles.
The good news is that there are plenty of ways to Determine whether your car is front-wheel or rear-wheel-drive. Let's take a closer look at some of these ways:
One of the easiest ways to confirm whether your car has a front-wheel or a rear-wheel-drive is by looking at the direction of the engine itself. If the engine is in the rear portion, it immediately indicates that your vehicle has rear-wheel drive. However, if the engine is in the front portion, it indicates that your vehicle is a front-wheel drive.
If your vehicle's engine is mounted from the sides and the belts face one of your vehicle sides, it is most likely a front-wheel-drive car. On the other hand, if the engine is mounted from the front and the back while the belts are facing the sides of the vehicle, this indicates a rear-wheel-drive car.
One of the most accurate ways to determine whether your car is a front-wheel or rear-wheel is by referring to your vehicle's owner’s manual. The manual will have detailed information about the vehicle’s specifications, and within this information, it highlights the wheel drive.
If none of the mentioned methods helped you determine whether your car has a front or rear-wheel drive, you can always use your vehicle VIN and search online. Websites like CarProof or Carfax can be a big help. All you need to do is to input the vehicle's VIN number and search for the information. The output of the search should tow you a lot of details about the car, including whether it has a front or rear-wheel drive.
Although this is not the most accurate way of determining whether your car has a front or rear-wheel drive, your vehicle's type might give you some hints. In general, most full-size SUVs and trucks have rear-wheel drive. On the other hand, compact, luxury, minivans, family cars are usually associated with a front-wheel-drive.
Conclusion
Although most drivers reach out to a tolling company to move their broken vehicles from one point to another, there might be a situation where you need to tow your friend’s car or your family member's car.
Towing a front-wheel-drive car is unique and requires certain procedures to prevent damaging the car or causing harm to yourself. This article provided you with simple steps on towing a front-wheel-drive car using a dolly, A trailer, an axle lock, and a Lube pump.
If you realize that you need to tow your car multiple times in very short time frames, it might indicate that this vehicle is reaching the end of its lifetime. If that's the case, you might need to consider selling your car to Cash Cars Buyer, who guarantees to remove it within one to three days only!
Cash Cars Buyer is one of the top-rated car removal companies in the nation that guarantees to pay you the top dollars and will provide you with free towing despite your living location around the United States.
Our process is very straightforward and doesn't take more than a couple of days to get your vehicle removed safely and for the most money.
All it takes you is to:
To learn more about our process and our teen, you can reach out to us by giving us a call at 866-924-4608 or visit our home page click on the free instant online offer.
