Towing in Rochester Hills, MI
Rochester Hills is about 7 road miles from central Shelby Township, just over Dequindre Road in Oakland County. The price comes as one total while we're on the phone, before any truck leaves for your side of the line.
About seven road miles west: how our trucks cross Dequindre into Rochester Hills
Shelby Township's west edge is Dequindre Road, the line between Macomb and Oakland counties, and Rochester Hills starts on the far side. From central Shelby Township to central Rochester Hills is about 7 road miles.
Most calls use one of two ways in. The M-59 freeway crosses the county line at the Dequindre interchange, exit 48, then runs west through the city with exits at Rochester Road (46), Crooks Road (44) and Adams Road (42); westbound, the Adams exit leaves by way of Hamlin Road. The other way is a mile road straight over Dequindre.
Those mile roads change names at the line. Macomb County numbers them; Oakland County calls most mile roads north of 14 Mile by name, so the 21 Mile line is Auburn Road here, 22 Mile is Hamlin, 23 Mile is Avon, 24 Mile is Walton Boulevard and 25 Mile is Tienken.
Tell us which of these fits
- On M-59 - eastbound or westbound, and the last exit number you passed: 42, 44, 46 or 48.
- On Rochester Road (M-150) - your direction and the nearest cross road, such as Auburn, Hamlin or Avon.
- On Dequindre - the closest crossing, like Hamlin Road or the Avon roundabout, and which shoulder you're on.
- On the Oakland University campus - the lot's P number, or the building you parked beside.
- Near the Clinton River Trail - the road where you left the trail, or the lot you parked in.
Your answers decide the truck, the mileage and the time we'll need, and you hear one total for the Rochester Hills job before we leave Shelby Township.
Emergency towing in Rochester Hills: M-59 exits 42 to 48, Rochester Road and the Avon roundabout
In 2010 MDOT began widening M-59 from two lanes to three each way between Crooks Road and Ryan Road, and a stall anywhere on that stretch leaves you a few feet from freeway-speed traffic. If the car sits partly in a lane, or you can't step out on the side away from traffic, dial 911 before anyone else.
Rochester Road, M-150, starts at exit 46 and runs north through Rochester to Tienken Road. Its first stretch, M-59 to Auburn Road, is its busiest: about 41,675 vehicles a day in a 2011 count. Can't reach the curb there? Hazards on, stay buckled in.
On the county line, Avon Road meets Dequindre at a roundabout the Road Commission for Oakland County built in the same project as a new Avon Road bridge over the Clinton River. It is designed to slow entering traffic to about 15 to 25 mph. Stall inside it and don't cross the circle on foot; get to the outer edge and call.
Rochester Hills has no police department of its own: Oakland County Sheriff's deputies patrol it under contract, and the Michigan State Police post for Oakland and Macomb counties is Metro North. 911 dispatch sends whoever has that stretch.
Once everyone is safe, an emergency tow off M-59, Rochester Road or Dequindre takes the car where you say: home, a Rochester Hills shop or one back in Shelby Township. If a deputy or trooper orders the tow, the destination is the officer's call.
Roadside assistance in Rochester Hills: Oakland University lots, trail parking and freeway flats
Oakland University holds classes in Rochester Hills, and its lots run on their own rules. The university's parking page bans parking in most lots from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. and tells a stranded driver to raise the hood, switch on the flashers and call its police with the exact spot and plate number; calling ahead, it says, may head off a ticket or a tow.
Then call us with the lot's P number. We start the car with a jump pack and read the charging output before you go, so a tired battery doesn't quit again on the way home.
Trail lots are the other long sit. The 16-mile Clinton River Trail crosses Rochester Hills on an old railroad line and meets the Macomb Orchard Trail at Dequindre Road. A car left at a trailhead through a hard freeze can greet you with a slow crank; tell us which road you came off the trail at.
A flat on M-59 means waiting well clear of the traffic side while we fit your spare or donut behind our amber lights; if the spare is missing or flat too, we tow the car to a tire shop. Locked out? We open the car with car-opening tools and never cut or program keys. Out of fuel? Say gas or diesel. Each of these is roadside service where your car stopped.
Flatbed towing in Rochester Hills: AWD, electric and lowered cars, sloped driveways and M-59 wrecks
Central Rochester Hills is about 7 road miles from central Shelby Township, so a car going back to a Shelby Township shop doesn't travel far, and what you drive picks the truck more than the distance does. All-wheel-drive, 4WD, electric, lowered and classic cars, and motorcycles, travel on our flatbed with every wheel up on the deck, even across town.
A wheel-lift picks up one end of the car and lets the other end roll on its tires. That suits plenty of front-wheel-drive cars; it is the wrong way to move a car whose drivetrain or electric motors turn all four wheels.
The name fits the land: Rochester Hills runs from 690 to 1,032 feet above sea level. A car that won't roll on a sloped driveway comes up the tilted deck on the truck's winch line, then gets tie-down straps or wheel nets before it moves an inch.
Longer runs always go on the deck: beyond the towns we serve around Shelby Township, the flatbed carries every car, whichever wheels drive it, and it carries any car that came off M-59 too damaged to steer or roll. A motorcycle stands upright in a wheel chock, strapped at the frame.
Winch-outs in Rochester Hills: icy slopes, deep-cold salt limits and curbside snowbanks
Winter ranking matters here. The Road Commission for Oakland County plows county roads and state highways, M-59 among them, setting priorities mainly by traffic volume and speed; hills and curves can also change a road's place in line, and roads normally carrying more than 40,000 vehicles a day come first.
Salt runs out of help in deep cold: RCOC says it starts losing effectiveness below 20 degrees and does virtually nothing at 10. That's when a car stopped on a slope can't climb away, or slides until a wheel drops into the snow past the curb.
Rock it once, gently, then stop; more spinning only polishes the ice. For a winch-out on a slick Rochester Hills slope or snowbank, the truck stays on firm pavement, the winch line runs to a proper recovery point on the car, and nobody stands near the cable while it's loaded.
While you wait, two state rules that RCOC points out apply: digging out is fine, but plowing or shoveling snow back into the travel lanes is illegal, and drivers must stay 200 feet behind a working snowplow.
What we pull is light-duty: a car, pickup, van, SUV or motorcycle sits within our trucks' rating; a box truck, RV, bus or loaded trailer does not, and we say so the moment you describe it.
Car towed in Rochester Hills? Start with the Sheriff's Rochester Hills division
Rochester Hills has been a city since November 20, 1984, and counted 76,300 residents at the 2020 Census; for public safety it contracts with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office rather than running a police force.
The contract is big enough that the Sheriff runs a separate Rochester Hills division, with a substation in the city that takes walk-in incident reports; the division's page lists its numbers. On the Oakland University campus, a car that looks inoperable and sits for an extended time can get an orange impound tag, and then the owner has 48 hours to move it.
- City street or lot
- Oakland County Sheriff, Rochester Hills substation non-emergency: 248-537-3530
- Sheriff's dispatch
- Non-emergency: 248-858-4950
- State Police
- Michigan State Police Metro North Post, covering Oakland and Macomb counties: 248-584-5740
- Oakland University campus
- OU Police, 24/7 non-emergency: (248) 370-3331
- Find it by plate or VIN
- 517-636-5234, the Department of State's Abandoned Vehicle Help Desk
- Dispute a tow
- 52nd District Court, Division 3, which serves Rochester Hills: 248-853-5553
Michigan's private-lot rule, MCL 257.252k, comes first. Before a lot owner can authorize a tow without your consent, a sign must stand at every vehicle entrance (on a lot without curbs or barriers, one for each 100 feet along the road). Its letters, 2 inches or taller on a contrasting background, warn that unauthorized vehicles get towed away at the owner's expense and give the towing service's name and phone number; its bottom edge sits 4 feet or more off the ground, and it has been up at least 24 hours before any tow. Single- and two-family homes are exempt.
If police ordered the removal (a posted tow-away zone, say, or a car hampering the use of private property) and you arrive before it is towed, MCL 257.252d says it must be disconnected and released for a reasonable service fee, unless it's being removed as unsafe to drive, suspected stolen, evidence of a crime or an undrivable crash car.
To track the car down, the Secretary of State's abandoned-vehicle search takes a plate or VIN, and the Attorney General's office notes that tow companies give local police the new location. To contest the tow, petition the district court for the place it was taken from within 20 days of the abandoned-vehicle notice, the AG says.
Towns next to Rochester Hills, and official pages worth bookmarking
Back across Dequindre is home base: round-the-clock towing in Shelby Township. Rochester Road runs north past Avon Road into Rochester, which borders Rochester Hills, and M-59 heads east past the Mound Road exit on the line between Shelby Township and Sterling Heights before the freeway ends at Van Dyke Avenue in Utica and becomes Hall Road.
- Rochester Hills on Wikipedia - from Avon Township in 1835 to a city in 1984, and its borders: Dequindre, South Boulevard, Dutton and Adams roads.
- City of Rochester Hills - the official site for city news, services and departments.
- Michigan State Police, Second District - Post 21, Metro North, with its phone line and the counties assigned to it.
- MDOT Mi Drive - closures, incidents and cameras on M-59 before you set out.
- Clinton River Trail - the 16-mile rail trail through Rochester Hills that links up with the Macomb Orchard Trail.
- Michigan Department of State: abandoned vehicles - how to locate a towed car and reach the state's Abandoned Vehicle Help Desk.
Frequently asked questions
Do you tow in Rochester Hills, or only on the Shelby Township side of Dequindre?
Yes, Shelby Township Towing covers Rochester Hills around the clock. Central Rochester Hills is about 7 road miles from central Shelby Township, across Dequindre Road in Oakland County. Our light-duty trucks carry cars, pickups, vans, SUVs and motorcycles, and the phone call ends with one total built from the truck, the miles, the time on scene and the destination.
My car died on M-59 in Rochester Hills - what's the first call?
Call 911 first when the car is stopped in a travel lane or you can't step out on the side away from traffic. Sheriff's deputies patrol Rochester Hills under contract, and the State Police post for both Oakland and Macomb counties is Metro North. Then call us with your direction and the last exit you passed: 42 for Adams, 44 for Crooks, 46 for Rochester Road or 48 for Dequindre.
My battery died in an Oakland University lot late at night - will the car be ticketed?
Most Oakland University lots don't allow parking between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. The university's parking office tells stranded drivers to raise the hood, turn on the flashers and call its police with the location and plate number, and says calling ahead may help avoid a ticket or a tow. Then call us with the lot's P number for a jump start.
Our car was towed in Rochester Hills - who has it?
Start with the Oakland County Sheriff's Rochester Hills substation, 248-537-3530, or Sheriff's dispatch, 248-858-4950; the city has no police department of its own. On the Oakland University campus, call its police at (248) 370-3331. From a private lot, the entrance sign names the towing service, and the Abandoned Vehicle Help Desk run by the Secretary of State, 517-636-5234, searches by plate or VIN.
My car slid into a snowbank on a hilly Rochester Hills street - can you winch it free?
We can, as long as it's light-duty: a car, pickup, van, SUV or motorcycle. Our truck stays on firm pavement and the winch line does the pulling. Quit spinning the tires; the Road Commission for Oakland County notes salt does virtually nothing at 10 degrees, so the ice under them stays slick.
Rochester Hills tow, one phone call, one total - four things to have ready
With these in hand you'll know the price, and which truck is coming, before anything crosses Dequindre.
- Location - M-59 direction and last exit, a Rochester Road cross road, a Dequindre crossing or an Oakland University lot number
- Vehicle - make, model and year; mention AWD, 4WD, electric, lowered, classic or motorcycle
- Problem - no start, a crash, a flat, an empty tank, keys locked inside or stuck in snow
- Drop-off - home, a Rochester Hills shop or one back in Shelby Township