Published: 2026-03-02 · Updated: 2026-03-02

How to Tow a Car with a Truck (Safely & Legally)

What Do You Need to Tow a Car with a Truck?

Towing a car with a truck requires a compatible hitch receiver (Class III or IV), a ball mount matched to your trailer coupler, safety chains rated at 2× the gross trailer weight, a tow dolly or flatbed trailer, a 4- or 7-pin wiring harness for trailer lights, and ratchet straps or wheel nets to secure all four tires. In most states, a supplemental braking system is also legally required once the towed load crosses 1,500–3,000 lbs.

The Equipment Checklist in Detail

Hitch receiver: Check the rating stamped directly on the receiver tube near the pin hole — look for "Class III" (5,000-lb GTW) or "Class IV" (10,000-lb GTW). The class rating must meet or exceed the combined weight of the towed car and trailer. Don't assume your truck has the right class; many come from the factory with a Class II receiver unless the tow package was ordered.

Ball mount and coupler: The three common hitch ball sizes are 1-7/8", 2", and 2-5/16". Tow dollies almost universally use a 2" ball. Flatbed car trailers often use 2-5/16". Mismatching the ball to the coupler is one of the most common pre-trip errors — the coupler latches but doesn't seat correctly, and the trailer can separate at speed.

Safety chains: Cross them under the coupler in an X pattern with enough slack to turn but not enough to drag. Per standard hitch manufacturer guidelines, chains must be rated at a minimum of 2× the gross trailer weight. If you're towing a 3,500-lb car on a 1,000-lb trailer, your chains need to be rated for at least 9,000 lbs combined.

Trailer lighting: All 50 states require functioning brake lights and tail lights on the towed unit, per FMCSA cargo and trailer regulations at fmcsa.dot.gov. A 4-pin flat connector covers basic stop/turn/tail functions. If your trailer has electric brakes, you'll need a 7-pin round connector and a brake controller mounted in the cab.

Tie-down straps and wheel nets: Ratchet straps should run from the trailer's D-rings to the towed vehicle's frame or designated tie-down points — never hook to a suspension component or plastic body panel. For flatbed trailers, four-point tie-down with straps rated at 3,300 lbs each is the baseline. Wheel nets grip the tire sidewall and are easier to attach correctly for DIYers.

Can You Tow a Car with a Pickup Truck?

Most half-ton and larger pickup trucks can tow a standard passenger car when properly equipped. A typical midsize sedan weighs 3,000–3,500 lbs. Add a tow dolly at 750–1,200 lbs or a flatbed car trailer at 1,800–2,900 lbs, and your combined load lands between 4,200 and 6,400 lbs — well within the rated capacity of most half-ton trucks. The caveat is that the max tow rating printed in the brochure only applies when the truck was ordered with the factory tow package.

On Ford trucks, that's the Class IV Trailer Tow Package (option code 53B on recent F-150s), which adds a transmission oil cooler, upgraded radiator, 7-pin wiring harness, and heavy-duty flasher relay. Without it, that advertised ceiling doesn't apply to your truck. Check the window sticker or the door-jamb label for confirmation.

Where a half-ton hits its ceiling: The F-150 tops out at 9,900 lbs in its highest-rated configuration. That's enough for any passenger car. But if you're moving an SUV weighing 5,500 lbs on a 2,500-lb flatbed, your combined load is 8,000 lbs — and that's before accounting for tongue weight eating into payload. A heavier tow setup (loaded Suburban on a gooseneck, for example) steps outside half-ton territory entirely. You'd need an F-250, Silverado 2500HD, or RAM 2500 at minimum.

What Are the Different Methods to Tow a Car with a Truck?

The four methods for towing a car with a truck are flatbed trailers, tow dollies, flat towing with a tow bar, and tow straps for very short distances. Each method suits different drivetrains, distances, and budgets. Choosing the wrong method for your towed vehicle's drivetrain is how transmissions get destroyed.

Sources: U-Haul rental pricing, manufacturer product specs, NHTSA vehicle weight data

Flatbed trailer is the gold standard. Every wheel is off the ground, so drivetrain damage is impossible. For a DIY car trailer setup, load the vehicle as far forward as possible — tongue weight should land between 10–15% of the total trailer load for stable towing.

Tow dolly lifts the front wheels and lets the rear wheels roll on the road. This works cleanly for front-wheel-drive vehicles like a Honda Civic or Toyota Camry. But if your towed car is rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive, the driven rear wheels spinning on the road can pump transmission fluid into parts designed to be stationary and burn them out in under 50 miles. Our full tow bar vs. tow dolly comparison breaks this down in more detail.

Flat towing requires the towed vehicle to be explicitly rated for four-down towing by its manufacturer. The Jeep Wrangler is the most common flat-tow candidate; many other vehicles are not approved at all. Check our flat tow compatible vehicles list before assuming your car qualifies. For flat towing, you'll also need a tow bar, safety cables, and a supplemental braking setup.

Tow straps are emergency tools, not transport methods. Using a strap to pull a vehicle down a public road at highway speed — without functioning lights, without a rigid connection — is illegal in most states and dangerous in all of them. See our tow strap guide for what they're actually rated to do.

Is It Legal to Tow a Car with a Truck Yourself?

DIY car towing is legal in all 50 states, but the requirements vary enough that you should check your specific jurisdiction before loading up. Functioning tail lights and brake lights on the towed unit or trailer are mandatory everywhere, per federal FMCSA standards. Beyond that, state law diverges significantly.

California Vehicle Code §22406 restricts vehicles towing trailers to 55 mph regardless of posted freeway speeds. Texas has no equivalent restriction — you tow at the posted limit. Florida requires a breakaway safety switch on trailers over 3,000 lbs but has no vehicle inspection program, so enforcement is inconsistent. Colorado requires supplemental braking on any towed vehicle over 3,000 lbs and strongly enforces it on mountain corridors like I-70, where grade pressure on long descents can overwhelm a tow vehicle's brakes alone.

Use the towing laws by state tool to pull the specific rules for your route — especially if you're crossing state lines, where you're subject to the stricter of the two states' laws for the segment you're driving.

Can Your Truck Safely Tow This Car?

Before you hook anything up, run the math using your truck's actual numbers — not the brochure ceiling. Enter your truck's year, make, model, and configuration below to get a personalized capacity check.

Here's how to do it by hand if you prefer: Pull three numbers from your truck's driver-side door-jamb sticker — GVWR, GAWR (front and rear axle), and payload capacity. Then cross-reference with the Trailer Towing Supplement (Ford publishes this separately from the owner's manual; GM and RAM include it as a dedicated section).

Worked example: Say you're towing a 3,200-lb Honda Accord on a U-Haul tow dolly (950 lbs). Total towed weight: 4,150 lbs. Tongue weight at 12% of tow dolly load: ~510 lbs. Now load up your F-150: driver at 200 lbs, passenger at 170 lbs, 60 lbs of gear in the cab. That's 940 lbs of cab load plus 510 lbs of tongue weight = 1,450 lbs against a 1,650-lb payload rating. You're at 88% of payload capacity before you've filled the gas tank (≈130 lbs when full) or thrown a bag in the bed. Add fuel and you're over. This is exactly the scenario where people think they're fine because their tow rating has headroom, but their payload is the actual binding constraint.

For a more thorough breakdown of payload vs. tow rating math, the towing capacity guide walks through every number on the sticker. You can also use the payload calculator to model your specific load.

What won't work: If the vehicle you're towing is a large SUV — a loaded Chevy Suburban or Ford Expedition — its curb weight alone can hit 5,500–6,000 lbs. Add a flatbed trailer at 2,500 lbs and you're at 8,000–8,500 lbs combined. A half-ton truck at its absolute max might handle that load on paper, but you'll be right at the ceiling with zero margin for grade, altitude, or acceleration. Above 5,000 feet elevation, naturally aspirated engines lose roughly 3% of power per 1,000 feet — that 9,900-lb rating was tested at sea level. At 7,500 feet in the Rockies, you're towing with 15% less engine power. For heavy SUVs, a 3/4-ton truck is the right tool.

Can Towing a Car Damage Your Truck's Transmission?

Towing within your truck's rated capacity should not damage the transmission — but two conditions accelerate wear fast: skipping tow/haul mode and using degraded transmission fluid. Tow/haul mode adjusts shift points to keep the engine in its power band on grades, reducing heat cycling. Without it, your transmission hunts between gears on hills and generates excess heat with every shift.

Before any extended towing season, change the transmission fluid and filter. Ford's 6R80 transmission specifies Mercon LV fluid; GM's 6L80 and 8L90 units call for Dexron VI. Using the wrong fluid or letting it degrade is the leading cause of transmission failure in half-ton trucks used for regular towing, according to NHTSA technical service data.

The bigger transmission risk is actually in the vehicle being towed. Automatic transmission vehicles towed with their drive wheels on the ground — like an AWD crossover on a tow dolly — can suffer catastrophic internal damage within 50 miles. The rear differential and transmission are designed to spin when the engine is running and the fluid pump is active. Roll the drive wheels at highway speed with the engine off and the pump stops, lubrication fails, and metal contacts metal. This is why checking flat-tow compatibility before choosing your method matters so much. See towing with an automatic transmission for the full breakdown by drivetrain type.

How Much Does It Cost to Tow a Car Yourself vs. a Tow Service?

DIY car towing costs $50–$120 per day for a tow dolly rental or $70–$200 per day for a flatbed trailer, plus a 20–40% fuel economy hit while towing. A professional tow service charges $75–$125 for local tows under 10 miles and $2–$7 per mile for longer hauls, according to AAA and industry pricing data. For moves over 100 miles, DIY typically saves $300–$800 versus hiring a professional auto transport service.

The break-even point depends heavily on distance and fuel cost. On a 50-mile move with a truck getting 15 mpg unloaded (dropping to 10 mpg under load), you'll burn roughly 5 extra gallons — about $20 at current prices. Add the $85 tow dolly rental and your total is around $105. A tow company covering the same 50 miles at $4/mile charges $200 plus hookup fees, often totaling $275–$325. The DIY option wins by $170–$220 on that route.

For cross-country moves (500+ miles), the math shifts. Fuel savings from not towing can offset a significant portion of professional transport costs, and driver fatigue from towing a trailer for 8+ hours is real. Use the towing cost calculator to model your specific trip, or check the full towing cost guide for a deeper comparison.