Towing refers to an ability in Grand Theft Auto games to tow or pull an object, specifically a trailer or vehicle, using another vehicle. The feature is first made possible in Grand Theft Auto 2, where semi-trailer trucks possess the ability to pull trailers, and the feature reappears in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online.
Description[]
Attachments with trailers simply require the player reverse their vehicle into the front of a trailer until the camera readjusts itself to center on both the hauler and the trailer, confirming the coupling is complete. When pulling a trailer, the vehicle will possess poorer performance due to the need to pull extra weight, especially with regards to steering as the vehicle is now longer. Players have the option of detaching trailers after attachment.
Trailers are also seen in other GTA games, but they cannot be towed and only act as static props.
2D Universe[]
Grand Theft Auto 2 features three trailers, one of which is somewhat useful in actual gameplay. The Truck Cab and the Truck Cab SX represent the game's only two semi-trailer trucks, and are also the only vehicles in GTA 2 capable of attaching to and pulling trailers. Players may detach a trailer using the attack key or button.
Trailers sustain damage like other vehicles, and also emit fire the same way when heavily damaged, even exploding when destroyed, posing a danger to the player if they are pulling a trailer that is in bad condition. This danger is very likely to happen in certain missions: Benson Burner!, Operation Z! and Grand Theft Auto!, all of which require the player to tow a car across town.
3D Universe[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas reintroduced the ability to pull loads. The game mechanics of attaching to and pulling a trailer is roughly the same as in GTA 2, but trailers may decouple from a vehicle using a specific command or if physical force (i.e. jackknifing, dislodging due to rough terrains or jumps, excessive speed, etc.) is subjected to the trailer. However, there is no single button to detach the trailers. Along with the game's three semi-trailer trucks (the Linerunner, Tanker and Roadtrain), the game also introduces a different range of vehicles with roughly the same capability, including:
- The Tow Truck, which employs an adjustable boom at the back to pull any large vehicle.
- The Tractor, which uses an adjustable tow hitch to pull smaller hauls or large vehicles.
- The Utility Van and Baggage, which feature a stationary tow hitch to pull smaller hauls. The Tug also features the same tow hitch, but cannot tow anything.
The trailers themselves consist of a more varied range of items, some of which are not available unless they are spawned using a third-party trainer. In total, GTA San Andreas features eight types of trailers: Four semi-trailers and four specialized trailers.
All trailers in general have a twin-axle/four-wheeled design and are capable of exploding entirely if severely damaged or flipped over, but specialized trailers have several other peculiarities, including functional headlights and tail lights that light up at night or in a dark location, and the ability to emit smoke if sufficiently damaged (including those that would never burn, much less explode). This is because all trailers are classified as vehicles, although they are defined with a different classification to other road vehicles.
Truck trailers are prominently used in the Trucking side missions.
HD Universe[]
In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, there is a Tanker with a permanently-attached trailer, which behaves like a single vehicle, meaning any damage is technically applied to both. There are also a couple of missions that require either pulling up or detaching a Hellenbach or another object, either with a Recovery or a Reefer.
The ability to tow trailers returns in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online, with mechanics almost identical to those in GTA San Andreas. Any semi with a hitch in the back can be reversed into most trailers, which will then automatically attach themselves. The player can unhook the trailer at any time, even while moving, which can offer a performance boost if needed or aid a getaway if executed properly. On highways, most often outside of Los Santos, semi trucks hauling various forms of cargo can be seen in traffic. Beyond commercial hauling, the Tow Truck returns, with the ability to move vehicles. Pick-up trucks have the ability to tow small to mid-size trailers. Sadler and Bison pick-ups are equipped with a tow hitch. Some trailers present in the game are boat trailers. If a boat trailer with a boat is reversed into water, the boat starts to float off into the water, but cannot be re-attached to the trailer. Most commonly, Tropics and Squalos spawn on trailers.
List of vehicles with towing ability[]
2D Universe[]
3D Universe[]
Semi trucks
Specialized vehicles
- Baggage
- Tow Truck
- Tractor
- Utility Van (though its trailer cannot be found normally)
HD Universe[]
Semi trucks
Small/Medium/Large vehicles
- Bison
- Bobcat XL
- Sadler
- Nightshark
- Technical Custom
- Insurgent Pick-Up Custom
- Half-track
- Chernobog (After the SA Super Sport Series update)
- APC
Others
List of trailers[]
Grand Theft Auto 2[]
Semi-trailers | ||
---|---|---|
Image | Trailer Name | Description |
Container | A container trailer. | |
Tanker | A tanker trailer for liquid loads. Not to be confused with the Tanker truck. (Early Ray Larabie design) | |
Transporter | A flat bed trailer with the ability to place any car using single, unmarked cranes located in each district of the city; likewise, vehicles on trailers can be unloaded using the same cranes. When a gang car is placed on the truck, its gang markings disappear for as long as it is on the trailer. |
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
Image | Trailer Name | Description |
---|---|---|
Semi-trailers | ||
Articulated Trailer | A trailer designed to carry solid loads. The trailer is available in three forms:
| |
Petrol Truck | A fuel tank trailer bearing a grey/silver color and a Xoomer livery, intended for the Tanker truck. Can be usually found in Xoomer gas stations and spawned with a cheat | |
Specialized trailers | ||
Farm Trailer | A small cultivator intended to be pulled by a Tractor, complete with functional chisels that move as the trailer is in motion. The chisels do not harm pedestrians, however. | |
Baggage Box | A small luggage box commonly found in airports, intended for the Baggage. They also incorporate a rear hitch to attach multiple Baggage Boxes or a Tug Stairs. There are two variants:
| |
Tug Stairs | A mobile staircase commonly found in airports, intended for the Baggage and ideal for access into an AT-400 where a permanent platform is not available. | |
Beta/Unused | ||
Utility Trailer | A small compressor unit intended for the Utility Van, which is not found anywhere and can only be spawned with modifications or third-party trainers. Strangely, at night, a headlight can be seen shining on the underside of the trailer, possibly the result of a glitch.File:UtilityTrailerHeadlight-GTASA.png |
Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online[]
Image | Trailer Name | Description |
---|---|---|
Small trailers | ||
Boat Trailer | A small trailer designed to carry boats and intended for pickup trucks. The vehicle can spawn empty or loaded with a Tropic, a Suntrap or a Dinghy. Should a Boat Trailer that is carrying a boat be reversed into water, the boat will be released from the trailer for the player to use, but the boat cannot be re-attached to the trailer. | |
Trailer | A small trailer intended for pickup trucks. It is depicted with two different variations with the same model:
| |
Vom Feuer Anti-Aircraft Trailer | A small gun carriage trailer intended for pickup trucks and a few Weaponized Vehicles, with the option to modify the gun turret. | |
Semi-trailers | ||
Trailer | A traditional flatbed trailer commonly towed by semi-trucks. Players can stand on top freely. | |
Trailer | A similarly-designed flatbed trailer with a front wall and logs loaded on it. Can sometimes spawn without logs. | |
Trailer | Traditional box trailers pulled by civilian semi trucks. There are four variations:
| |
Dock Trailer | A container carrier towed by civilian semi-trucks. It lacks any sort of light and always spawn with an orange container as an extra. | |
Trailer | A car carrier trailer with an elevated platform and an uninteractive rear ramp (though can be opened via gunfire or collisions). It can spawn empty or with specific cars, distributed into six different slots. | |
Trailer | A tanker trailer commonly towed by civilian semi-trucks, sporting an orange body with a RON livery. It can also leak fuel when damaged enough. | |
Army Trailer | A military version of the tanker trailer featuring a camouflage livery. | |
Mobile Operations Center | A functional vehicle property with the ability to carry vehicles and modified with patriotic-themed liveries, as well as heavy cannon turrets. | |
Specialty trailers | ||
Trailer | A rake trailer that can attach onto the Fieldmaster, having a blue color and no wheels. | |
Beta/Unused | ||
Graintrailer | A trailer that can attach onto the Fieldmaster and is used to carry grain. | |
Baletrailer | A trailer that can attach onto the Fieldmaster and is used to transport hay around the farm. The hay is considered an extra. |
Special/mission-only trailers[]
While 14 interactive trailers are normally seen in the game, there are eight Special trailers, which only appear in missions and cannot be found anywhere else.
Image | Trailer Name | Description |
---|---|---|
Trailer | A unique version of the tanker trailer, lacking a livery. Appears only during the heist prep Series A - Steal Meth. | |
Trailer | A unique version of the car carrier trailer, featuring four pre-modeled cars. Only appears in the mission Pack Man. | |
Trailer | A unique box trailer sporting a Fame or Shame livery. Seen only during the mission Fame or Shame (in GTA V), or during the Organization Work Haulage (in GTA Online). | |
Trailer | Colorable version of the container trailer. Only used during Gunrunning shipments. | |
Trailer | A yacht trailer carrying Michael's yacht. Seen only during Father/Son. | |
Army Trailer | A much larger and wider flatbed trailer, with a triple-axle design and a front wall. There are three variants:
| |
Prop Trailer | A vehicle variation of Ortega's trailer. It is only used in the mission Mr. Philips, where Trevor pushes it down the Zancudo River with his Bodhi. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
- In the beta version of GTA San Andreas, there used to be a shorter, green colored 'artict3' trailer. The name of this trailer in gta3.img is 'rdtraint', suggesting that this trailer is used to be pulled by a Roadtrain.
- For some reason, trucks and trailers (including the Yosemite) have double rear wheels in PS2 version, but these become single in PC.
- The player can store up to two semi-trucks with an attached trailer in the Hangar in the Verdant Meadows Airfield safehouse. If the player attempts to store a third truck with or without an attached trailer or any random vehicle, a message that does not allow the player to store additional vehicles will appear much like when attempting to store a fifth vehicle in a garage that can only store four.
- Considering trailer design and names, Rockstar must have wanted to have multi-trailer Roadtrains, but this was cancelled from the final game.
- Trucks never spawn on the road with a trailer. Trailers are parked separately and can be attached. The only two times that a truck with a trailer appears on the road are on a cutscene of the mission Reuniting the Families, when Big Smoke crashes Sweet's Greenwood through a Sprunk billboard and onto that same truck with the trailer attached to it, and on the mission Highjack, where CJ and Cesar steal a tanker truck driving on a highway into San Fierro.
- Either multiple Towtrucks and/or multiple Tractors can be used in order to create a long line of towed vehicles. In order to accomplish this, a towing vehicle must have another vehicle attached to it. After that, it must be exited, and another towing vehicle may now be used to hook the previous towing vehicle. This can then be repeated indefinitely, but the line will get progressively more unstable the longer it is. An example of this occurrence can be seen in the gallery above.
Grand Thef Auto V and Online[]
- In Online, other players can ride on top of certain trailer types. This can be used to transport more than two people while driving a semi, but low structures, and crashing can sometimes knock players off while on the trailers. This is because most trailers are programmed to allow peds to stand on top without falling off. [1]
- Players can still enter a boat carried by the trailers. However, this does not count as a trip in naval vehicles, as they are still "stationary".
- As trailers are not counted as driven vehicles when attached, they will instantly despawn when switching players, reloading the game or leaving the area and returning.
- In addition, Franklin's Special Ability does not apply to the trailer or the attached vehicle (in the case of Tow Trucks), so it is possible to swing the towed vehicle with considerable force when performing sharp turns.
- There are also a few vehicles that, despite featuring a tow hitch dummy, are not able to tow a small trailer, because they were not programmed to do so. The only way to make those functional is by adding trailers in the
vehicles.meta
file. These vehicles are:- Bodhi
- Clown Van (original version)
- Chernobog (prior to the Southern San Andreas Super Sport Series)
- Files indicate that the BeeJay XL, the Rancher XL and the Seminole were at some point able to tow trailers, but they do not have a tow hitch dummy.
Bugs/Glitches[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
- There is a glitch in the PS2 version where taking a picture of the attachment will detach the trailers, but the glitch is fixed in subsequent versions.
Grand Theft Auto Online[]
- In Content Creator, it is possible to connect the Anti-Aircraft Trailer with a semi-truck when placing the trailer near one of them (as the game will simply attempt to connect both). In actual testing/gameplay, however, they simply detach from the vehicle when in motion, as they clip through each other.
References[]
- ↑ File data:
vehicles.meta: FLAG_PEDS_CAN_STAND_ON_TOP