With the seasons changing and sunnier weather coming for most of us, a lot of people are getting out their swim suits and fishing gear to soak up some sun on one of nature’s most versatile recreational options: the water.

Whether you live near an ocean, lake, pond, or a good drive from all of the above, everyone can enjoy the summer sun with a boat in tow. Knowing how to tow a boat with a car can increase your list of options for summer fun.

Some need-to-know-facts about how to tow a boat with a car:

Weight: Make sure your car is not too small or too light to handle the weight of the boat. Ideally, your vehicle will be heavier than the boat you’re towing. This means that pulling the boat won’t max out the car, turning will be smooth, and your car won’t be pushed around by the boat. If your car isn’t heavier than the boat, you should still be okay, as long as it isn’t a great deal lighter.

Torque: You want to make sure your vehicle can handle the boat despite the weight. Those trucks that boast their horsepower aren’t necessarily the top contenders for boat towing. Torque is what is important. Torque is the maximum of rational power an engine can exert. If your car has enough torque to exert the power necessary to pull the boat, you’re fine. Some smaller vehicles are more capable of that.

Attachment: You need to make sure the trailer you’re using for the boat is safely attached to whatever vehicle you’re using to tow it. No, tying the trailer to your bumper is not acceptable. Vehicles that are considered to be suitable for towing will usually have a hitch or some other form of attachment available.

Where Can I Find Towing Professionals?

For more information about whether your vehicle is acceptable, you may need to consult a professional. TalkLocal can connect you to professionals in your area instantly — and for free. That way, you can get yourself situated on the water in your boat with a glass of lemonade ready for a whole lot of relaxing.

You might have a vehicle or something else to tow, but you need to remember, not all cars or trucks are equipped to haul loads like this. In fact, most vehicles require suspension accessories for towing. Read over the following information before you make a habit out of towing with your car or truck. Doing so could cause irreversible damage to your vehicle, which could make for costly repairs.

Why Suspension Accessories For Towing?

The suspension on your vehicle is equipped to handle normal conditions — it is not adjusted to handle the added weight of towing cars, trucks, boats, or other loads. Fortunately, you can purchase certain suspension accessories which can reinforce your suspension to handle the added weight. These accessories can also help prevent the rear of your vehicle from sagging or your load from throwing the balance of your vehicle out of whack.

In a nutshell, adding on these accessories can lower the wear and tear on your suspension system, tires, and even brakes.

Types Of Suspension Accessories For Towing

Stabilizers are added to your vehicle’s suspension in order to increase the load that you can tow. As detailed above, stabilizers equip the vehicle to handle the added weight without allowing for dramatic wear and tear to important parts of your vehicle.

Air springs, one of the many types of stabilizers, essentially work like an airbag would, providing more stability to a vehicle’s suspension. These springs also help to distribute the vehicle’s weight evenly on all four of its tires.

Suspension Upgrade Kits

You can purchase entire kits that can be added to your existing suspension to make your vehicle more towing-friendly. Kits are available for all types of suspensions, including:

– Coil spring

– Sway bar

– Torsion bar

– Leaf spring

Have A Professional Install These Accessories

Whether you need help from an auto technician to install these accessories, or you need someone to provide a towing service for you, TalkLocal can help. We help connect you with qualified professionals of any industry located in your area. Try our fast, free, and effective service.

Many insurance policies or a AAA membership proudly boast that they offer roadside assistance. You may be left wondering what to expect from roadside assistance. Or, what exactly will be included in your roadside assistance plan? The answer to this question varies, but here is a list of general services you can expect to from such plans.

Flat Tire Repair

If your vehicle sustains a flat tire while on the road, your roadside assistance coverage should pay for a professional to meet you on location and change your tire. If you don not have a spare, you will have to pay for a new tire and its installation.

Lockouts

If you lock your keys in your car, or if you lose them completely, roadside assistance should cover the cost of a professional to retrieve the keys from the vehicle but not the cost of the locksmith and new keys.

Towing

In the event of a flat tire or car breakdown, your roadside assistance should cover towing. Check your policy, because many will cover towing for only a certain distance or cost. Depending on your policy, you may be required to pay the professional and be reimbursed by your insurance company later.

Out Of Fuel

If you run out of fuel on the road, most roadside assistance plans will pay for a contractor to bring you a small amount of fuel to get you to the next gas station. Generally, you will not need to pay any fees.

Dead Battery/Jump Start

If your battery is dead, many roadside assistance plans will cover the cost of a professional coming to jumpstart it. He or she will bring his or her own cables, so you do not need to have your own.

Need Help?

If you do not know what to expect from roadside assistance on your individual plan, contact a professional. TalkLocal can find a professional in your area for free. Our service is very easy and will put you in touch with someone in minutes.

There are a lot of different options when it comes to coverage from your car insurance company. Different types of car insurance may not cover all types of vehicles. If you are towing any kind of heavy load with your car, such as an RV, a boat, or a transport trailer, you will want to seriously consider adding insurance for car towing.

Finding Insurance For Car Towing

When choosing a car insurance company, make a list of the coverage that you want so that you can compare the list against other insurance companies. This way, you can choose the car insurance that best suits our needs. If you already have an insurance company, talk to your representative to see if they offer insurance for towing. Many car insurance companies do offer it as an addition to your current policy for a nominal fee.

Why Should You Get Insurance For Car Towing?

Driving while towing something behind your car is not the same as just driving a car. There are extra precautions you need to take, such as giving yourself more room to slow down, turning properly, and being aware of the cars behind you, especially when merging lanes. Even while taking the proper precautions, accidents can happen. This will make the proper insurance for car towing very important.

Hire A Professional Towing Service

Towing something behind your car is not dangerous, but there is no downside to getting insurance for car towing. If you do not want to pay more for your insurance, or you would rather have a professional help you, hire a professional towing service. If you need to find a tow company you can use TalkLocal. We will connect you with up to three towing services in your area, getting you the help you need fast and free!

Hopefully you are never put in this scary situation, but it is important to know what to do when your brakes fail. Brakes are, for the most part, reliable, but there are a number of rare instances that will render your vehicle’s brakes useless. In this event, it is important not to panic or do anything hasty, like purposely drive into something. Making the wrong decision in this scenario can cause harm to your vehicle, and more importantly, you and your passengers.

Here is some information on what do when your brakes fail.

Pump the brakes: Your brakes might not be out completely — your brake fluid just might be dangerously low. Try pumping the brakes first in order to determine whether you truly have lost all ability to use the brakes.

Downshift: If you are driving a vehicle with a manual transmission, begin downshifting the vehicle immediately. Changing gears will naturally slow the speed of the vehicle down. This will not be much help for those driving automatic vehicles. However, in both situations, make sure not to apply any more pressure to the gas pedal so the vehicle can decelerate.

Pull the emergency brake: While it might not allow you to stop entirely, using the emergency brake can slow you down significantly. Slowly pull the emergency brake up instead of yanking it up quickly.

Stay attentive and warn other drivers: Keep your eyes on traffic and respond accordingly. It helps to turn on your hazard lights or constantly honk the horn to alert other drivers that your vehicle is not operating in a proper fashion. Often, fellow motorists can take the hint and get over to the side of the road, out of your way.

Merge to the right: Get over to the far right of the road so that if you can come to a safe stop, you will be over on the shoulder where responders can assist you.

Make a judgment call: If you must crash into something to come to a complete stop, assess the dangers of your surroundings. Do everything you can to slow the vehicle down before you collide with anything. You can slow up immensely by hitting a curb, but it isn’t wise to do that if there are numerous pedestrians in the area. You must account for your safety and the safety of others.

Get A Tow

Once you learn the hard way what to do when your brakes fail, you will likely need your car towed somewhere to be repaired. TalkLocal is perfect for situations where you need to get ahold of a professional in a hurry. Our service requires a mere 90 seconds before a qualified professional calls you, instead of the other way around.

Most of the time when you’re towing a vehicle or trailer, you’re usually only worried about how well your vehicle can handle the load.  However, if you’re planning on towing a vehicle across multiple states or just even towing in your backyard, it’s also important that you know the local towing laws for every state you visit.  Each state will have specifications on the weight limit you need to have before needing an auxiliary brake system on the towing load.  If you get in a crash without the proper auxiliary braking system, you could potentially have a serious legal liability on your hands. Braking a towed vehicle with the right braking system is important to the safety of yourself and other drivers.

Towing Laws

In most states, you’ll see a 3000-lbs limit before you need an auxiliary braking system, but you should always check your state’s specific towing laws, as some states have additional requirements.  For example, in Missouri, auxiliary braking systems aren’t required except on trailers coupled by a 5^th wheel and kingpin.  While you should check all the state laws in every state you’ll pass through, in general, you should have an auxiliary braking system on your trailer or load just to be safe.

Braking Systems

There are three popular types of braking systems: Surge, deceleration, and pressure based.

A surge system uses a slide receiver on the tow bar and as the vehicle slows down, the trailer pushes forward on the receiver, slowly applying the brakes.

A deceleration system uses accelerometers or other tools to detect deceleration and apply brakes accordingly.

The pressure-based system is all based on the amount of pressure based on the vehicle brakes; stepping on the vehicle brakes will also set the trailer brakes.

When you’re deciding which type of auxiliary braking system to purchase, you should consider the type of system and the type of installation.  Some brake systems will be invasive, meaning they may need to tape into your trailer’s vacuum line to help brake while others may have temporary solutions.  Your price point and frequency of use should decide the type of braking system you’ll need.

You may even want to consider getting a break-away system as well.  Break-away systems prevent your trailer from running away by automatically applying the brakes when the trailer separates from the vehicle.  A break-away cable stays with the vehicle when the trailer separate and pulls a plug out from the trailer, causing the brakes to be fully applied.

Find Towing Help

If you need some help deciding the type of braking system to install, or simply need some advice on how to best brake your trailer, then you should contact a towing professional.  TalkLocal can connect you with a local, high-quality towing professional in just minutes!

Driving while towing differs from regular driving in many ways.  For example, acceleration feels much slower and braking distances become longer.  However, the most drastic change you’ll feel while towing a trailer is turning.  Turning with a trailer may be one of the more difficult maneuvers of driving with a trailer, along with backing up. But with a bit of planning and practice, figuring out how to turn while towing will be a breeze!

The Basic Maneuvers

The most important thing to remember is that you’ll need to make significantly wider turns than you do by yourself.  Since the trailer’s tires will always track towards the inside of the vehicle’s turn radius, the trailer will always cut the corner sharper than the vehicle.  With this in mind, try to give yourself as much space as possible when turning so you don’t risk clipping your trailer on other vehicles or curbs. Remember to adjust your mirrors so that you can see the back wheels of your trailer; they can tell you where your trailer is and where it’s going.

When you’re moving at higher speeds on the highway, the trailer will track inward but to a lesser extent than at lower speeds.  However, it’s still recommended that you stay on the outside edge of the turns just to be safe.

Practice Makes Perfect

If you haven’t towed in a while, or have never towed at all, you should first practice turning with a trailer in an empty parking lot.  You can set up cones to emulate a street and try turning when you reach the end of the cones, alternating between left-hand and right-hand turns.  Watch the mirrors to see how close your trailer wheels come to the last cone.  Rearrange the cones into a variety of turns so you can practice until you feel confident and comfortable making turns while towing.

Find A Professional

If you don’t feel comfortable with driving while towing a large trailer, you may want to consult a towing contractor about having your items towed.  If you use TalkLocal, you can be talking to a high-quality, local towing professional in just minutes!

If you love the freedom of two wheels but need the ability to transport your motorcycle short or longer distances from time to time, you need to know the ways to tow a motorcycle behind a car.

Not everyone has, or can afford, the room for a pick-up truck, so those with motorcycles need an alternative for transport. Before considering either of the following tow methods, it is a good idea to check out towing regulations in your state and each state you will be traveling through. These rules and regulations will vary throughout the United States.

Both of the following methods require the installation of a hitch. Check your car’s owner’s manual to determine the tow capacity prior to taking any steps to install a hitch. Your car may not even be powerful enough to handle the weight of your motorcycle, so these ways to tow a motorcycle behind a car may not be for you.

Trailer

There are trailers available on today’s market especially made for motorcycles, but you can buy a small trailer from a farm supply or home and garden store that should work with a few modifications for cheaper.

Add appropriate tie-down hooks and ramps in order to safely load and transport the motorcycle. You can also rent small enclosed trailers if your transportation needs are infrequent. This will better protect your motorcycle during transit.

Tow-bar

If you live in the city and do not have room for storing a trailer, you may consider a tow-bar. The tow-bar will attach to the hitch and transports the motorcycle by keeping the front wheel secured to the bar while the back makes contact with the road. Check your motorcycle’s manual to see if this method is discouraged. Some will discourage this method because the drive chain is not receiving the proper lubrication during transport and yet is still turning.

Want An Expert?

You have invested a lot of money into your motorcycle and likely do not want to ruin it. TalkLocal can find an expert in towing near you for free. Our service is incredibly easy and fast.

Backing up a trailer can be one of the most difficult tasks to do if you’ve never had any experience with towing a trailer.  While actually going out and trying to back up a trailer is the best way to practice, it may be help to read the following trailer back up guide to give you a basic understanding of how to do it.  When you do actually go practice, it may be best to do it alone; having an audience and someone else directing you only confuses the process.

Moving In Reverse

Remember that when you move in reverse, the trailer will move in the opposite direction that you steer your vehicle.  If you steer from the bottom of the steering wheel, turning the wheel right will turn the trailer right and vice versa.  In order to see where you’re going, you should adjust your sideview mirrors to see your trailer’s tires.

Practice makes perfect

When you go to practice, try to find a good open location without trees or lamp posts, such as an empty parking lot.  You’ll first want to practice moving the trailer backwards to the side and then straightening it into a straight line.

Once you can comfortably do that, you should also practice how to turn the trailer around corners.  In order to do this, find an open corner and put your trailer right on the side of the corner.  Once the trailer starts to arc around the corner, slowly push the steering wheel back to center to straighten out the trailer and the vehicle.  Make sure that you watch your vehicle as well so that you don’t hit the corner as you swing around.

Keep in mind that this is just practice!  If you need to pull forward again before attempting the curve, just do it and don’t get frustrated.  Being by yourself is the easiest way to practice driving the trailer in reverse.

Need Help With Towing?

If you still have questions and are unsure about backing up a trailer, you may want to talk with a towing professional, as they’re extremely well-versed in trailer towing.  TalkLocal can connect you to a high-quality, local towing professional in just minutes!

It happens to the best of us; “@#$%! I’m locked out of my car!” Even if the engine is turned on or your baby is inside, don’t freak out – freaking out limits your rational ability and makes you more prone to mistakes. However, you should call for help immediately. If your phone is inside the car, borrow someone else’s phone to call for help. Read this guide to know what to do when you are locked out of your car.

What to Do

1. If there is a baby in the car, call 911 — it can be seen as an emergency situation. A team of professionals will be there to assist you in minutes. For non-emergency situations, you can follow the steps below.

2. If there is a crack in your window, find a metal wiring (like coat hanger), make a thin but firm hook, and lower it through the crack of the window to get hold of the door switch inside. Then pull on the hook to release the lock from the inside of the car.

3. If you find that there are no cracks in the window for you to lower a hook into, find the nearest gas station and ask them for help. They can “jimmy” your car for you – jimmy refers to a gadget that easily pops most car locks open.

4. If you find that there are no gas stations near you, or that the jimmy won’t unlock your car, it’s time for the last resort. Head to a police station and ask for assistance there. Unless it’s an emergency situation, you might have to wait as they assist with an actual emergency — but they are sure to do the job; police units unlock suspicious vehicles all the time.

5. If no police stations are near you, call a locksmith — but expect to pay them extra for traveling out to your car from their office. It might take a while for a locksmith to get to your car and unlock the car, so call some people and let them know that you won’t possibly make it into the near future arrangements.

Additional Help

If you feel like you need professional help on getting into a locked car, TalkLocal can help you find the right professional for you, in just minutes — and it’s free!