Tow Trucks, Types And Ranking

"Vicente Esteve" (vicente-esteve)
02/24/2015 at 21:42 • Filed to: Tow, Lift

Tow trucks are as great a part of the automotive spectrum as dogs taking a piss on your rear tires, so it was fair to give them the attention they deserve. They rescue us in the worst of times, and they annoy us when we least need them, but they will take part in our lives one day or another. Here are the 6 different types of tow trucks and how I rank them in their level of coolness.

1. Hook and Chain:

Hook and Chain tow trucks are about as basic as you get. They mostly are a heavy duty truck with an arm that extends to the end where chains and hooks grab the bumpers of your car. These are mostly used in accidents since they can damage the bumpers or paint.

2. Boom Tow Truck:

These use an artefact called a Boom which winches cars from ditches or from anywhere you get to crash it. Some booms are fixed and others can pivot, allowing to take your car from even harder environments.

3. Wheel Lift Tow Truck:

This trucks gets more advanced, as it uses a metal base to lift the front wheels of the car it is towing. These are much more common not only with cars but also with trucks. Sometimes, even added rear wheel bases help with transportation.

4. Integrated Tow Truck:

These trucks are much more specialized and used in heavy duty purposes such as other rigs or buses. The arm is much more embedded in the core of the truck, and even some of them have extra axles for added stability/strength.

5. Flat Bed Tow Truck:

One of the most favourite. Their mechanism is smart, and takes care of your car best. These though are not usable for very low cars that doesn't have enough ground clearance to clear the ramp. I have experience with these...

6. European Style Picker Tow Truck:

By far my favourite, as it mixes the good protection from the platform tow truck with the added practicality from being able to pull your car without much of a hassle. A lot of people though, fear them as they are used mostly to impound your car wrongly parked in a congested city center.