Luxury Auto Towing and The Importance of Hiring a Local Expert in Roseville
How to Increase Towing Capacity?
Owning a truck or other vehicle with towing capacity can make you feel like you can do anything, move anything, help with anything. Whether you can or should though are a completely different matter. Before you make an offer, or decide to pull something, make sure your vehicle is properly equipped and designed to handle it.
Simply equipping your vehicle with a hitch isn’t enough to make it tow ready. Vehicles are specifically designed to handle specific things. You wouldn’t consider a sports car for use as an all-terrain vehicle.
The first thing you need to consider is your vehicle itself, then how much it can carry, and finally, how to best equip it to meet your needs.
Apples to Apples
To understand what could potentially happen if you use your vehicle to complete a task it isn’t equipped for, consider the design of a vehicle specifically intended for towing and what it may have that yours does not.
Vehicles specifically designed for towing contain several special features to help them complete the task including stronger frames, engines, axles and suspension systems designed to carry larger and heavier loads. They likely also have larger, wider or multiple wheels and stronger braking systems.
If you need a visual, just look at some of the vehicles designed to provide towing services in Roseville and you can literally see the difference between these professional tow vehicles and those not designed for towing. Before you go out and invest in a hitch for your vehicle, make sure towing is within the realm of what your vehicle is designed to do.
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR)
Not sure where to start or think your vehicle may be tow appropriate but want to be sure? Every vehicle comes with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or towing capacity which is intended to clarify the maximum weight a fully loaded vehicle has the capacity to carry. Fully loaded includes both passenger and cargo weight.
Defined, the GVWR factors in the weight of the empty vehicle (also called base curb weight), the cargo weight (which includes everything inside and outside the vehicle, everything attached, mounted and not), and the allowable payload (the extra weight your vehicle can carry).
Unlike speed limits, which many drivers think of as nothing more than posted guidelines until they get caught, GVWR limits are important because you can do serious damage to your vehicle without any warning if they aren’t adhered to. Looking at the GVWR you should be able to tell pretty quickly whether your vehicle is designed to pull that boat you’ve been looking at, or perhaps more suited to simply carrying bikes for land adventures.
Really, what can go wrong?
Don’t ever assume that ‘just this once is ok’ when it comes to pulling things with your vehicle. Yes, there is long term wear and tear involved in pulling something too heavy for your vehicle, but there are also more immediate and urgent issues that should be considered.
Stress on the vehicle frame can impact the integrity of your vehicle in ways that may not be evident until your vehicle gets into an accident, and you could be more prone to an accident if your brakes aren’t up to the challenge of extra weight. The other costly impact can be wear on the engine and drivetrain that can have a serious impact on the life of your transmission.
If these mechanical issues aren’t enough to get you to pay attention, you should also be aware of the loss of steering and braking control that can come from having too much weight in the back and the resulting loss of traction up front.
Can anything be done?
There isn’t anything that can be done unfortunately to adjust a vehicle’s towing capacity; it has been designed to do what it has been designed to do. If your vehicle is designed for towing though there are some things you can do though when it comes to hitch and weight distribution that can slightly improve your capacity. Remember that anything attached to the vehicle also impacts its GVWR so choosing the right equipment can play a big role. Make sure before you decide to invest, that you get expert advice on what you’re hoping to tow, the vehicle you have, and the options that might be available.
And if your friend is stuck and asks you to help pull him home, or you decide to purchase that classic model car you’ve been dying to restore and need to get it home, think twice and call on Luxury Auto Care & Towing, instead of trying to get it done yourself. We are equipped for towing and we know how to do it right.
