Eli5 Can you tow a car with parking brakes engaged?
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Posted Mar 3, 2020, 12:20 PM UTC · edited
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the parking break is a clamping mechanism found around the rear axle. otherwise known as the emergency brake. they're not always set to be as snug as they should be, and it's possible to drive with them engaged. but you'll notice a smell after a while. (comedian Mitch Hedberg has a great bit about the emergency brake.). to answer your question, yes, a vehicle can be towed while the emergency brake is engaged.
eta: a 4WD drive vehicle isn't in constant 4WD mode. that's something that needs to be engaged by the driver as needed, and generally isn't used while parking. an AWD vehicle needs to be towed on a flatbed.
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But the parking brake will be damaged, won't it be? And what about the vehicles which have parking brakes as an extra brake caliper on rear disk?
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they're still in a hub, similar to old drum brakes, and use spring loaded shoes instead of a clamp type mechanism. not gonna break anything, only cause a bit of wear
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I haven't had a car with a drum-style parking brake in years. All of ours have the parking brake integrated into the rear caliper. However, he's referring to cars that have a second, smaller caliper for the parking brake.
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doesn't matter. the thing about brakes is, they're designed to wear. so all you're going to do is wear it out a bit, not break it completely.
generally when cars are towed without the owner being present, it's because they were parked illegally in some way shape or form. if a car is damaged because of being towed from an illegal parking spot, it boils down to the fault of whomever parked in the illegal location to begin with. my city is awful for its parking restrictions, cars are towed all the time without owner consent, parking brakes engaged or not. if it's not okay to tow them with a fork type tow truck, they'll drag them onto a flatbed.
cars are designed to be towed, not tow proof. if the tow operator knows what they're doing, no vehicle is resistant to being towed, as long as the truck has access to it.
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If you can find a way to disconnect the front drive shaft, you could possibly tow it with the rear wheels off of the ground from the back. But I’m not a mechanic so I’m not sure.
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Where i live towing is done mostly by trucks with flatbeds and cranes that lift the car by the wheels. The wheels don't turn so it can be done with parking brake on.
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On a rear wheel drive the parking break engages on the front tires so a tow truck driver just needs to lift it from the front.
The configuration doesnt matter if the gears are engaged, in that case you need a tow tuck to pull it up onto a flat bed and even then you might mess up the transmission
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Not strictly true. I was a mechanic for three years, working mainly on rear wheel drive vehicles. Never once saw a car with a parking brake on the front.
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There are some tow trucks that have a flat bed that they drag the car onto. The tires get a little chewed up, but that is one option.
I know about flat beds, but what else?
Dollies/wheel skates. Like so.
edit; added link.
^ This is how. Put car on skates and tow it away.