Tow Trucks, Wreckers and Car Hauler Discussion

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

HotRodPC

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Posts
47,128
Reaction score
9,299
Location
OKC, OK
First Name
HotRod
Truck Year
85 K20 LWB
Truck Model
Silverado
Engine Size
454 - Turbo 400 - 3.73
Like I said, I get his point on it. I just had a problem with the idea of a medium duty wrecker for a Saturn in a vacant lot. I did do some research before running the call though so I was fairly confident in what I did. Still funny to just drive the car out when it was pretty stuck like that.

Good thing it wasn't a Prius, I might have had to clear the rocks from both front wheels before driving it out. :D

:happy175: Get used to it, there will always be nay sayers that say you CAN"T. I've already hear a million times, now that you're in a self loader you can't blah blah blah blah, ********. Just like that rollover recovery in a creek with a little truck. I actually had the advantage with a little truck, I drove it down in the ditch. I would not have taken a medium down there for sure. I would have towed that car back to the yard. I'd have strapped the motor first, but I could of got it. Why bother and take the risk though just to show someone when there is a roll back right there? I can tell, you're really getting the hand of the tow bidness and dealing with the ******* bosses, competitors and dumb idiot customers. This is why it's not for everyone.
 

ScottyB

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Posts
1,067
Reaction score
1,098
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
First Name
Scott
Truck Year
1800
Truck Model
phantom
Engine Size
2 squirrels
Interesting week so far. Monday I had a call from a guy that had been driving 300 miles on Sunday in his 2000 Navigator. About 5 miles from home his Oil Light started flashing. About 1.5 miles from his exit (2.5 miles from home) it starts making noise. He manages to get it home where it promptly dies. I asked him why he didn't stop when the oil light came on and he said he knew he should have pulled off and stopped at the store to get some oil. I told him that he was wrong, he should have stopped immediately. He didn't get it. I told him that his engine was most likely toast. He didn't believe me. I towed it to the shop and listened as the mechanic heard the story. We both tried very hard not to laugh at the guy who really should have known better. I'll stop by later in the week and see what the verdict is on that one but I would be surprised if there will be an attempt to salvage that engine.

Then there was today. Got a call from a somewhat regular customer that his 02 F-450 dump truck was stuck on a nearby road. Said road is one of those classic twisty, hilly roads with a 35 MPH speed limit where the average speed is around 55. Said road has no shoulders and very short sight distances. I roll up with our medium duty wrecker and look it over. Good news is it isn't 4wd. Bad news is it is an automatic. On an upgrade. Did I mention it was a Ford? Did you know that Ford dips the whole damn truck in locktite as part of final assembly? Driveline needs to come loose but fortunately it has been removed before. The cap bolts came loose easily enough but it took a bit of work to pry the driveline loose of the yoke. Normally I bungie it up out of the way and tow it with the driveline just hanging there but much to my surprise it slipped off the splines at the carrier like it was freshly greased. Ok, I'll just tape the caps and toss the drive line on my bed. As I was finishing rigging for transport the driver was getting in the cab. I asked him if he had released his parking brake and he reached down and said yes.

Finally got it moving (remember, he said yes) and had to take the long way around. Five calls from the my shop later I pull into the destination shop. I get out and the first thing I noticed was the odor of warm brakes. Couldn't have been too bad though, they never smoked (run and duck). Then came time to put the driveline back. Remember what I said about Locktite? That previously greasy **** was now sticky enough to hold the Nimitz to the pier. It took two of us, a torch, a hammer and a big ass pry bar and 40 minutes to get that damn driveline back in.

I have a feeling I am going to be feeling this for the next few days.
 

HotRodPC

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Posts
47,128
Reaction score
9,299
Location
OKC, OK
First Name
HotRod
Truck Year
85 K20 LWB
Truck Model
Silverado
Engine Size
454 - Turbo 400 - 3.73
At least you're paid hourly.

I had to pull a box van the other day for a 22 mile tow. Think I pulled a driveshaft? Hellllllllll No. Checked the glove box, seen a GT4 and didn't see a G80. That told me I only had to remove 1 floating axle, not 2. Used my star bar and 8 bolts later pulled the axle. Taped a plastic bag around the hub to keep dirt out and catch any slinging oil. It lost about 4 tablespoons of oil. Gotts love full floating axles.
 

Attachments

  • BoxVan 004b.jpg
    BoxVan 004b.jpg
    96.1 KB · Views: 131

ScottyB

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Posts
1,067
Reaction score
1,098
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
First Name
Scott
Truck Year
1800
Truck Model
phantom
Engine Size
2 squirrels
True enough on the Hourly pay. Honestly I don't have a lot of experience with disabling drivelines. I was taught to just take them loose at the rear u-jont, tape the caps and bungie it up out of the way. It just surprised me that the spline joint slipped apart so easily but absolutely did not want to go back together. I still don't get the logic of the Locktite on the spines. Oh well.
 

ScottyB

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Posts
1,067
Reaction score
1,098
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
First Name
Scott
Truck Year
1800
Truck Model
phantom
Engine Size
2 squirrels
Well, had my first big screw up today. Got called out for an extraction. Lady says her accelerator stuck and she ended up straddling a curb, running over a Meter box, and rubbing up against a tree. Our weekend guy got the call earlier in the day and mentioned that one of our competitors (whom we mutually support) could probably get there sooner so they took the call. They got there and found the meter was still live and said no touching till the power is cut. So I got the call after the power had been cut and took my son with me. My first move was to lift the back of the car over about 6" so it got the front fender off the tree. After that it is just a straightforward pull back, right? I threw some blocking behind the meter to catch the car as it came off the meter and also to keep the car from high centering on the curbing she was straddling. This worked well right up til the car rolled off the block. This wouldn't have been a problem except I made a stupid rookie mistake. I left my wheellift up and the car rolled into the wheellift. Talked to the boss and I guess we now have to buy her a new trunk lid.

I've had another damage claim but I chalk that one up to lack of training. This one was all me screwing up. Good news is the boss didn't take it too bad. Of course we'll see how it goes Monday when I see him at work. I think it threw him off guard because I just owned it from the start. I didn't make excuses.
 

towjoe

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Posts
695
Reaction score
137
Location
Lafayette,IN
First Name
joe
Truck Year
78,80,81,81,86,88,89
Truck Model
K30's or V3500's
Engine Size
6.2, 454
Sounds like you guys have been staying busy towing to. I bought my first medium duty finally,and wonder why I hadn't bought one years ago. I got a 96 international 4900 with a Vulcan 892. Kinda sucks that it's a 444 engine but does have the 7 speed. One of the local tow companies had it and closed down so I bought it and there phone line. Things have really picked up for me since. I'm up to 2 rollbacks, 2 k30 wreckers, 2 service trucks, a medium duty now and a K3500 self loader in shop being built. Don't leave much time to play with my squares anymore.
 

89Suburban

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Posts
24,758
Reaction score
6,592
Location
Southeast PA
First Name
Paw Paw
Truck Year
2007
Truck Model
Chevrolet Tahoe LT
Engine Size
5.3, 4WD
This was a good video. I thought the guy was pretty good but I will wait and see what HR says since I am no tow truck pro and he is.:)

Like to have a camera following HR around.
 

ScottyB

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Posts
1,067
Reaction score
1,098
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
First Name
Scott
Truck Year
1800
Truck Model
phantom
Engine Size
2 squirrels
Sounds like you guys have been staying busy towing to. I bought my first medium duty finally,and wonder why I hadn't bought one years ago. I got a 96 international 4900 with a Vulcan 892. Kinda sucks that it's a 444 engine but does have the 7 speed. One of the local tow companies had it and closed down so I bought it and there phone line. Things have really picked up for me since. I'm up to 2 rollbacks, 2 k30 wreckers, 2 service trucks, a medium duty now and a K3500 self loader in shop being built. Don't leave much time to play with my squares anymore.

We have been keeping pretty busy. We don't use our medium duty all that often (it's a 97 with about 110k on it) but it is nice to have when we need it. I don't do a lot of recovery work so I don't get a lot of experience with it. I typically grab the light duty wrecker for my recovery work but that is an 04 F-550 with a 6.0 Liter engine. It seems to spend more time down than up these days. I think we are changing injectors on it for the 4th time in less than 2 years. My understanding is that they have replaced injectors on that thing at least 8 times in the life of that truck.
 

HotRodPC

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Posts
47,128
Reaction score
9,299
Location
OKC, OK
First Name
HotRod
Truck Year
85 K20 LWB
Truck Model
Silverado
Engine Size
454 - Turbo 400 - 3.73
This was a good video. I thought the guy was pretty good but I will wait and see what HR says since I am no tow truck pro and he is.:)

I've watched .23 seconds of the video, if he's as good as you guys say, I already know exactly what he's going to do. He's going to level off his bed and suck the truck under the Charger. That's how I'd be doing it. Put the truck in N and let the truck come under the car. I'll watch the rest in a bit.

EDIT. I've watched up to 2:29 now. He's already fuct up. He should be shot for fukin up that rear bumper. Totally senseless. We do not cause secondary damage to vehicles taking short cuts. Not even on a totalled vehicle 90% of the time. That vehicle belongs to the insurance company once it's totalled. That rear bumper HAD value to the insurance company. Sometimes you can't avoid it, and that chould have been avoided with a jack or using his bed and winch to lift the car on blocks to get his bed further under it before he started to lift. IDIOT already.

EDIT Up to 6 minutes now. WHAT A ******* !!! He's under the car and allowing a COP to operate the wrecker bed? I know what he's doing here, but that COP is NOT familiar with the controls and he's under the ****** car? One wrong push of the wrong lever, he'd a dead man. STUPID !!!


EDIT Finished watching it all. He did pretty much what I said he'd do at .23 seconds. I wouldn't have driven the truck backwards, I'd have let the winch pull the truck under the Charger. He also had a couple opportunities to get the truck closer for a bigger bite with the bed to get under the wheels much sooner and didn't take advantage of that. He was actually slow too. The guy video taping obviously wasn't a wrecker driver with his narroration. Other than the first EDIT's I made about him being a ******* he pretty much did it right for the most part, but secondary damage could have been 100% avoided, and you NEVER let someone operate your controls that is not familiar with them when you're under a car, especially without instruction and he didn't show her ****. The most I've ever done was ask someone to push this lever down when I tell you to, and that was my winch line. JMO Of course had I done it, someone would have said I did **** wrong too. Noone got hurt and he's going home tonight so all is well. Secondary damage can also be repaired at a cost.
 

HotRodPC

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Posts
47,128
Reaction score
9,299
Location
OKC, OK
First Name
HotRod
Truck Year
85 K20 LWB
Truck Model
Silverado
Engine Size
454 - Turbo 400 - 3.73
Like to have a camera following HR around.

:happy175: I wouldn't !!! I'd be in big trouble. For roll overs, and recoveries, hell yeah, but not following me around daily watching me cheat.
 

HotRodPC

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Posts
47,128
Reaction score
9,299
Location
OKC, OK
First Name
HotRod
Truck Year
85 K20 LWB
Truck Model
Silverado
Engine Size
454 - Turbo 400 - 3.73
We have been keeping pretty busy. We don't use our medium duty all that often (it's a 97 with about 110k on it) but it is nice to have when we need it. I don't do a lot of recovery work so I don't get a lot of experience with it. I typically grab the light duty wrecker for my recovery work but that is an 04 F-550 with a 6.0 Liter engine. It seems to spend more time down than up these days. I think we are changing injectors on it for the 4th time in less than 2 years. My understanding is that they have replaced injectors on that thing at least 8 times in the life of that truck.

They need to get an EGR Delete on that truck. I'm hearing EGR failures take out the injectors and is common on the 6.0 and 6.4.
 

HotRodPC

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Posts
47,128
Reaction score
9,299
Location
OKC, OK
First Name
HotRod
Truck Year
85 K20 LWB
Truck Model
Silverado
Engine Size
454 - Turbo 400 - 3.73
Sounds like you guys have been staying busy towing to. I bought my first medium duty finally,and wonder why I hadn't bought one years ago. I got a 96 international 4900 with a Vulcan 892. Kinda sucks that it's a 444 engine but does have the 7 speed. One of the local tow companies had it and closed down so I bought it and there phone line. Things have really picked up for me since. I'm up to 2 rollbacks, 2 k30 wreckers, 2 service trucks, a medium duty now and a K3500 self loader in shop being built. Don't leave much time to play with my squares anymore.

Nice to have a medium duty conventional for when needed. I don't get guys around here. Most are running medium duty rollbacks even for motorclub tows. Trucks that get 6-7mpg when they should be using Dodge 4500/5500 and F450/F550 trucks that get at least 10 and some up to 13 mpg. Potentially adds $800-$1000 month more profit in a month, not to mention maintenance is a bit cheaper and so is the truck.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
44,085
Posts
949,078
Members
36,165
Latest member
Norm310
Top