No Key, Locked Column: Moving a Car That Will Not Roll

Some vehicles cannot simply be hooked and pulled, and the most common reason is the steering column lock. A car parked with the wheels turned and no key available will not track behind a truck. Call Knoxville Towing at (865) 606-6676 and say so on the phone.

What the column lock does

Most vehicles engage a mechanical lock in the steering column when the key is removed, which prevents the wheel turning. That is a theft deterrent and it works.

Towing a vehicle whose front wheels cannot steer means the wheels drag rather than follow, which damages tires and can damage steering components. On a front-wheel-drive car lifted from the front the issue is smaller, since the front wheels are off the ground, but the rear still has to track.

Push-button vehicles complicate it further, because many will not release the transmission from park without power, and a completely dead battery leaves the car locked in gear.

How it gets moved anyway

A flatbed with a winch handles most of these. The vehicle gets pulled onto the bed rather than driven or rolled, and once it is secured the steering position no longer matters.

Where wheels will not turn at all, dollies go under them. Dollies are wheeled cradles that lift a pair of wheels clear so they roll on the dolly's own wheels instead. They take longer to fit and they solve otherwise impossible situations.

A shift lock release exists on most automatics — a small slot near the shifter, usually needing a key or screwdriver to depress — that allows the transmission out of park without power. Knowing whether the vehicle has one is useful.

Why we ask about ownership

Moving a vehicle without a key and without the owner present is exactly what a theft looks like, so any legitimate operator will want to establish that you have the right to move it.

Registration, insurance documentation, or a title in your name does it. For a vehicle at a repair shop or on someone else's property, authorization from that party matters too.

This is not an obstacle so much as a protection. The same check is what stops somebody else having your car moved.

Situations where this comes up

Keys lost or locked inside are the common ones. Estate vehicles and cars that have sat for years frequently have no key at all, and a project car being moved between properties often has neither key nor working brakes.

A vehicle with seized brakes after long storage will not roll regardless of the steering, and that also needs dollies or a winch onto a bed.

Flat tires and other complications

A flat tire does not prevent a tow but it changes how the vehicle is handled, since a flat will not roll onto a bed cleanly and can come off the rim under load. Mentioning it means we arrive prepared.

Lowered vehicles, long wheelbases, and cars with aftermarket bodywork all affect approach angles onto a bed. A photograph sent while we are on the way is worth a long description.

What to have ready

Documentation showing the vehicle is yours, the location and how accessible it is, whether the wheels roll and whether it steers, and whether the battery has any charge at all.

Those four answers determine the equipment and prevent a truck arriving that cannot do the job.

Electronic parking brakes

Many newer vehicles use an electronic parking brake, which will not release without power. A car with a completely flat battery may therefore have its rear brakes locked on with no mechanical lever to release them.

Some designs have a manual release procedure and many do not. Where they do not, the vehicle goes on a flatbed with dollies under the locked axle.

Providing power to the vehicle sometimes solves it, which is why an operator may try a jump before reaching for dollies.

Vehicles that have sat for years

A car parked for a long period develops seized brakes, flat-spotted or perished tires, and frequently a seized transmission linkage. Nothing about it will roll, and moving it is a winch-and-dolly operation rather than a tow.

Rodent damage to wiring is common in stored vehicles and can prevent anything electrical working at all. Assume nothing on the vehicle functions and the recovery goes smoothly; assume it will roll and it does not.

Serving Knoxville and the surrounding area. Call (865) 606-6676.