There are so many different reasons that a vehicle stalls out and requires a tow. A few in particular require tow operators to utilize what is known in the towing industry as a “Skate”. A “Skate” is a nearly wedge shaped hard plastic tool of the trade. Towing with skates has been making our lives easier for years. They come in many different sizes for different configurations so towing with skates will help the company be more efficient in certain situations. Some are wide or can be snapped together to become wider to be used on wide tires or equipment. A properly outfitted flatbed tow truck should have 4 of these on board, if they don’t then they may not be the most professional company on the block.
Skates are used in many different scenarios in order to protect your vehicle from additional damage as well as the surface that the vehicle is on. If your vehicle loses a wheel for instance, skates can be stacked and put under the vehicle’s control arm or other area creating more height to safely load the vehicle onto a flatbed. We regularly utilize skates when tie-rod ends fail, ball joints snap, control arms bend and the list goes on.
A few other reasons skates should be used. In the photo above with the box van being unloaded you can see two tan objects under the rear step/bumper. Even with blocks and ramps this step/bumper wants to drag on the asphalt. No professional tow or transport company wants to leave marks on someones driveway or road nor would they want to risk damaging a vehicle if it can be avoided. In this case, it can be avoided. The skates will slide smoothly in between the surface and object you are protecting.
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