QuestionQUESTION: what kind of truck do you need to tow a 280 mercedes,a flat bed? or explain.
ANSWER: this is a loaded question, as they made so many years of this model...
It can be towed with a flatbed (which has its drawbacks), a wheel lift tow truck, and even an older sling style tow truck (if the driver knows what he is doing...
Towing from the front is different than towing from the rear...
I need to know more about this question as it has about 29433930 possible issues.
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QUESTION: this is a 1999 280 4 door,i was under the empression that this car, should only be towed with a flat bed?
AnswerWell I am going to take and guess that you are talking about the "C280" models here...
This is one of the problems with towing vehicles as that era of vehicles is when they started to use "eye bolts" which are screwed into the bumper are via a hole covered with a plastic insert...
You also had to deal with the ASR brake systems and while the C280 did not have the " automatic air ride suspension" which is found on more and more vehicles it did have some other issues..
One of the problems is that it generally required more "ramping" which to tow truck drivers is that it required either some long boards or special metal ramps to load it onto the flatbed tow trucks to prevent damage to some parts underneath such as oil pans and such...
Guess when the engineers designed it they lowered it as low as it could be (makes for great cornering ability) but makes it hell when you hit potholes and speed bumps which can damage the vehicles.
Now as to "requiring flatbeds, the manufacturer can "recommend" anything they want... But they are not the ones who buy the tow trucks... It does mean that to lessen the chances of damage then it should be used. But again their is the "ground clearance issue. Flatbeds tend to have a load angle of 7 to 10 or more % load angle. That means they can cause damage due to the design of them...
Where as a wheel lift tow truck has parts which slide under the vehicle and lift via the tires and do not touch any body parts.. But again there is always the ground clearance issues on low vehicles...
Now the AAA towing instruction manuals for the 2000 year models do have the disclaimer "Manufacturer has requested that 1999-2000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles be transported by car carrier" which does tend to back up your question - statement..
But then again, the other site I refer to
www.towspec.com
has the vehicles listed as towable with wheel lift and at times it suggests using dollies (the little wheels on the back of the tow truck) which again are devices we use to lift the vehicle via the wheels... So you have one information source on how to tow vehicles say flatbed only and one which says it does not require it generally..
Now I can relate to "lowered or ground clearance vehicles" being towed as I have done many of them over the years, which if the operator is smart and knowledgeable can tow a "flatbed only" vehicle with a wheel lift truck and a set of dollies without causing damage.. But that is not always the case.
There are times which a flatbed is not able to be used even if the vehicle is supposed to require it.. Think about parking garages where the vehicle might have to be towed out of... Also the use of flatbed tow trucks for impounding illegally parked vehicles from parking lots can damage the vehicle as it would be locked in gear and forced (dragged) onto the flatbed.
I know there is more to this question, and I would love to know the whole story, it kind of sounds like something involving a court case for damage claims...
