The other day one of the nuts on my Stance coilover was a little loose so there was a little play. This caused a distressing noise so I pulled over and called AAA. I told them to get me a flat bed because it was a lowered car. The lady said they "don't tow lowered cars," but she'll send the tow truck anyway to see what he can do. When the truck got there the guy asked about the modified suspension and said he can't tow lowered cars as company policy. To make a long story short, I ended up driving my car at 30 mph on local roads for about 40 minutes to the shop. They tightened everything and I was relieved to find that there was no damage.

Is this no towing cars with modified suspension policy something new? I had a lowered car towed a few years back. I'd hate to think what would happen if my car was really immobilized. Maybe just don't tell them about the modified suspension?

 

Tell them your suspension is broken and that's why it's low.

 

I use to manage a towing Co in Santa Ana and we had 2 drivers who were experts on towing hi-line and lowered vehicles.I had my car towed by my company and they did a awesome job. I would say the towing company was inexperienced and or had a tendecy to damage cars....

 

Speezee its really up to the towing company. Bc once they hook your car on, if they mess anything up, its on them. So they have the right to deny it. I had my old car towed and they messed it up. to make a long story short, they paid a lot to fix it...

 

yaa i had my 04 Le mans towed with a C-West kit on it, and when they guy lifted the car, it cracked the bottom of the bumper a good foot, then when he dropped me off at the tire shop he said call him in about an hour so he could set up the repair on it.....i called him, and he put some girl on the phone who said it was my fault and they wernt gona pay it.....i was like "WHAT"!!!!! then she said, she would go 50/50....and i told her 2 **** off and that i was gettin my lawyer.......then she said they would take care of it.....i swear...people these days need 2 learn how 2 operate a business....especially towing!!!

 

No way, AAA denied you a flat bed because your car was lowered? That's a bunch of BS. I'm glad you got to your destination safely and had your suspension tightened. Good thing nothing was damaged either. I would've followed through with it. AAA doesn't have a policy against sending out a flat bed truck to tow a lowered car unless it's a regional policy. AAA has sent a flat bed truck out to my sister a few times because we needed to have her car towed down to her mechanic to work on the turbo 'n such. Her car is lowered as well. I've never heard of this nonsense. People nowadays are ridiculous.

 

well if i was a tow truck company...i wouldnt tow a lowered car bc i would be liable if i damaged it. Its not ridiculous. Its common sense

 

Funny, they didn't turn down your yearly membership dues because you were lowered.

 

Definitely common sense.

Around here at most places the tow truck drivers are responsible for the first $1,000 in damage. That's a lot of work to pay for someones car who didn't have enough sense not to lower a street driven vehicle in the first place.

Lowered vehicles can still be flat-bedded... it's just not easy and runs a much greater risk of screwing something up... especially if the driver doesn't have much experience with lowered cars.... and risking having to pay someone $1000 who you were trying to help is simply not worth it. I'll take the next call, thanks.

 

Triple AAA sub contracts out to other companies...And im sure it states that lowered cars arent always covered...cingular has roadside for 2.99 and ive never had a problem with my Z..

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

My friend (I'm in socal too) crashed in Piuma road (Don't know if you know what that road is?), and he's got a lowered '04 Mustang GT (it's very, very low). AAA had no problem towing it for him, what they actually did was put his back wheels on this like... weird lift thing that had it's own wheels, I guess that way it definitely got enough clearance not to screw up his back bumper? It was a regular tow truck, not a flat bed though, if you can picture it. Although his front bumper was already wayyyy f-ed up, so that might be another reason they towed it.
-Max

 

Like i said...its not triple AAA...they sub contract it out

 

ANY rear wheel drive car automatically requires the use of a flat bed truck!

ALL AAA's here in the Philly Metro Area know that you'd risk severely f*cking up the front end of a Sportscar by trying to tow from the rear wheels!

ONLY FWD cars should get the BS Tow Truck, IMO

 

Agree. A tow truck driver is responsible for damage to any vehicle that he tows. Why take the risk? The driver is under no obligation to tow anything.

 

well i had triple A come and tow my car maybe about a month and half ago. i had a guy that knew what he was doing and my car did not scratch at all, and its lowered. if i had a lip i would have scratched for sure. the guy did what most people do, he put two planks of wood and i drove up that, then slowly up the flat bed.

 

A RWD car DOES NOT ALWAYS REQUIRE A FLAT BED! My brother used to tow cars and towed many lowered cars, with a standard tow truck, not a flat bed. If you know what you're doing it's not an issue. You can tow a RWD car by the rear wheels or front. AWD cars cannot have one set of tires on the road turning while the other set do not, which is why they use dollies to isolate the front/rear wheels (whichever is not in the air).

AAA does contract out for services, he did these calls as well and would tow. My guess is that the company that has the coverage of your area has had bad experience with lowered cars. It's hard to get good help when the pay is low...

 

I always thought that you should NEVER tow a RWD car by the rear wheels with a stardard hook style (for lack of a better description) tow truck, since it might do damage to the tranny of a RWD car and these are the drive wheels.

 

I was told there is only one truck in town that could tow me.

 

And you should make it a point to take that guy out for a beer every Friday!