Towing



Towing refers to an ability in Grand Theft Auto games to tow or pull an object, specifically a 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 and Grand Theft Auto V, while Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars only features one vehicle with a permanently attached trailer. The trailer is also seen in other GTA games, but they cannot be towed and only act as props.

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.

Grand Theft Auto 2
All in all, Grand Theft Auto 2 features three forms of 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.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas


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., 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. 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.

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 to pull smaller hauls or large vehicles.
 * The Utility Van and Baggage, which feature a stationary tow hitch to pull smaller hauls. The Tug features the same tow hitch,however it can't 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 are capable of exploding entirely if severely damaged or flipped over, but specialized trailers have several other peculiarities, including functional headlights and taillights 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.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
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.

Grand Theft Auto V
The ability to tow trailers returns in Grand Theft Auto V, 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.

2D Universe

 * Truck Cab
 * Truck Cab SX

3D Universe

 * Semitrailers
 * Linerunner
 * Roadtrain
 * Tanker


 * Small vehicles
 * Baggage
 * Tow Truck
 * Tractor
 * Utility Van (though its trailer cannot be found normally)

HD Universe

 * 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


 * Semitrailers
 * Barracks Semi
 * Docktug
 * Hauler
 * Packer
 * Phantom
 * Phantom Wedge
 * Phantom Custom
 * Hauler Custom


 * Others
 * Cargobob
 * Fieldmaster
 * Towtruck (small) and Towtruck (large)

Train Carriages
Train Carriages works the same way as with trailers, but these does not have any functionality to attach/detach them. In all of its appearances, these are pulled by Trains and have their own properties (having their own handling in the files like every vehicle). These will be either randomized carriages or various carriages of the same type.

Other types of vehicles can be seen pulling another one of the same properties, such as Trams and Subway Cars.

Railroad vehicles

 * Brown Streak
 * Freight
 * Freight Train
 * Subway Car
 * Train
 * Tram

Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V includes several trailers, along with props of a trailer. There are 12 interactive trailers, plus 3 alternate variants:


 * Trailer towed by small pickups


 * Industrial/commercial trailers for semi-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.
 * Special/mission-only trailers


 * Train Carriages

There are currently two beta, unused trailers which can be spawned via trainer.
 * Beta Trailers

General

 * Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto V both have many additional unusable trailers that are programmed the same as buildings. Some of these in GTA V can actually be moved when rammed by a heavy vehicle.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

 * All trailers are made with 4 wheels.
 * 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. A mod can readd those for the PC version.
 * The player can store up to two semi-trucks with an attached trailer in the Hangar in the Verdant Meadows 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. This implies that the semi and the attached trailer counts as two vehicles, since both still uses a GXT name and are registered in the game.
 * 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.

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.
 * Players will still board and enter a boat carried by pickups. 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.
 * There are also some farm trailers manufactured by HVY which cannot be interacted using any vehicle.
 * 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  file. These vehicles are:
 * Bodhi
 * Clown Van (original version)