How to Tow a Front Wheel Drive Car on a Dolly | Useful Guide

A car dolly is known for its effective role in transporting the vehicle to small and long distances alike. For instance, you are driving on a normal regular day. Suddenly, the sputtering of the engine happens or the tire goes flat. What would you do if you are in a deserted area? What if you are at someplace where you cannot find a mechanic to fix your problem? You should know how to tow a front wheel drive car on a dolly.

Well, due to this and some other similar reasons, you need to tow your car on a dolly. This is only possible if you have this tool at your collection.

How to Tow a Front Wheel Drive Car

Here we will share every step of using a car wheel dolly for towing. Let us start the explanation of every step in the section given below.

Step 1

The first step for front wheel drive towing is to align the hitch of the dolly and vehicle. Its position should be such that the dolly hitch is at the center of car hitch. Now, all you need to do is to connect both hitches by lowering down the tow dolly. If you have a tow dolly that automatically locks into the right place and position, then it's amazing. However, some of you might need to do manual locking which is due to its mechanism.

Step 2

The next step for towing a front wheel drive car on a dolly is using ramps. You have to lift and pull out the ramps. This is done to lower them onto the ground surface. In some car dollies, the ramp might be present on the underside of the structure. However, in some cases, you have ramps that are easily removable and they are not underneath the bed of the dolly.

Step 3

The ramp and front wheel’s alignment is very important for towing a vehicle on to a dolly. This is the step where you have to do it. In some cases, you are not in a position to drive the vehicle. This is when you can get help for people to push it into place. However, another option is to put the front wheel car into neutral. It might seem simple and easy, but this step is quite tricky. This is because only if this alignment is right, you can work on the vehicle without any problem and danger.

Step 4

You can choose to either drive or push the car onto the dolly. Make sure that the front wheels of the car are in connection with the cradles of the dolly. If this connection is strong, you or the service provider is safe to work under the car. On the other hand, you need not do anything for the wheels at the posterior end. These tires at the rear end will remain on the ground as they do not need lift onto automobile skates.

Step 5

The next step to learn about how to tow a front wheel drive car is to wrap the vehicle. You will do this by using the webbing that is securing the tow dolly. Now, you will use it for the vehicle that you are towing onto the dolly. You will wrap them around the vehicle tires. Then secure them by wrapping around the wheels of the dolly to pull the car safely. It is done by using the locking or tightening mechanism of these wrapping webs. The purpose of doing this is to ensure that the vehicle does not roll off the dolly. Another reason is to ensure the security of a person who is going to work under the car to recover it.

Step 6

This step is simple and comfortable in the whole process of how to tow a car. All you need to do is to put the ramps back into the stow compartments. Another thing that you can do in case of removable ramps. Well, just remove them if this is the case with them.

Step 7

The last step for towing front wheel drive onto a dolly is to park the towing vehicle. However, you should never engage the parking brakes in this step. This is the time of testing that you should take very seriously. So, you can start simply by driving the car a few feet only. Check carefully that the wheel is neither moving nor rolling. Using car dolly is very useful for moving the vehicle at any direction without starting the engine.

Key Tips for Safe Car Towing

Here are a few simple, but essential tips. They will be of great help to you when you will be doing this job in the future. This is because they will maintain your focus, and will keep you conscious about the whole process of towing a vehicle. A small list of those tips is as follows:

● Keep every step slow and steady to avoid mistakes while towing a vehicle on a car wheel dolly.

● Be gentle with the process to prevent mishaps.

● Keep eyes on gauges of vehicles. They should not face high temperatures and pressure.

● Pullover as soon as you feel something is wrong, such as you hear an unusual sound, etc.

● Avoid sudden pulls and pushes. The driver in the towing vehicle will not be able to sync with you.

● Take enough time, and avoid sudden brakes. Again, the driver won’t be able to respond quickly.

Conclusion

We are sure that you are now very well aware of how to tow a front wheel drive car on a dolly. You should learn it as soon as you start driving your car as you cannot find a mechanic everywhere nearby. So, you should be able to at least take your vehicle to your destination by towing it on a tire dolly. This skill will save you from difficult situations, and wastage of time and money.