Tow Trucks, Wreckers and Car Hauler Discussion

[ScottyB]

So we are down a wrecker this weekend due to incompetent thieves. It is supposed to snow again this weekend to boot, more bad news. The local stealership dropped the ball and though they got the wheel cover and new lug nuts they didn't get the new studs. The boss is in a better mood though. I don't know how long it normally takes but the new truck that he has been expecting for the last 6+ months arrived yesterday. The bad part is we can't use it yet. Still got to get it registered and all that happy horseshit.

What he got was a Dodge 5500 4x4 with a 21' Jerr Dan rollback. I was originally told it would be an extended cab but that is not the case. It is an automatic transmission which I prefer from a driving point of view but I've not heard good things about the durability of Dodge's heavy duty auto trannys. I guess they are working over the weekend to get it decaled up and get equipment moved over. Hopefully we can get it registered early next week.

It would also be good if we could get the International rollback running better as that started pukin on me last night. Doesn't want to idle and doesn't want to stay started. Made for an interesting 200 mile run last night through Seattle Friday evening rush hour.

 

[HotRodPC]

Hate to say it, but I'd probably try a Dodge 4500 or 5500 for a Self Loader unit. I've not heard much at all about the Aisian however spelled it's pronounced Ison other than it's pretty good and they're in bed with Allison but still a different entity. Cummins motor, and Dana axles are the good **** for sure. I think where Dodge shoots the pooch in their medium duty, is sticking with the light duty cab. Ford and GM actually do too, but it's much higher and trimmed in bigger fenders etc which makes it look like a medium duty cab.

 

[Stewzer55]

I've ridden with more tow trucks than I care to admit. All great guys, not sure if I mentioned it, but my one cousin is a Tow Mater.

He runs a 1994 Kenworth with a rotator so he's in the heavy recovery side of things.

 

[ScottyB]

Ok, I got to run a couple calls with it today and I will admit it is pretty comfortable. The jury is still out on it though. The 6.7 L Cummins runs like a raped ape, no complaints there. I hauled a M-B e320 and a Honda Civic. Neither was enough for me to tell the difference between loaded and empty. Goofy ass 4wd needs to have the tranny in neutral to shift the transfer case. That's a pain in the ass. The Hydraulics are slower than **** even with the engine kicked up to 1500 RPM. The smart exhaust engine brake is kinda nifty but I haven't had a chance to play with in on a real grade with a load yet. Standard fuel capacity is 52 gallons but you can downgrade to 22. Boss downgraded.

It also sits lower so loading lowered vehicles is easier. Needs more lights though. Light bar is obscured by larger vehicles and there is nothing on the front. I think there are plans to fix the lighting though.

Big downside is the goofy ass plastic key that costs $4-500 each to duplicate/replace. In the past all the drivers carried keys to all the trucks. Sounds like that isn't going to work now. We'll see what happens there I guess.

Oh, the mirrors suck major donkey dick. Our Ford has the narrow spot mirror mounted under the flat mirror. The Dodge put the spots on the outboard end of the mirrors. This means you can't see the outside edge of the bed in the flat mirror. Makes it a pain in the ass to try to figure out your pivot point when backing up.

 

[HotRodPC]

Ok, I got to run a couple calls with it today and I will admit it is pretty comfortable. The jury is still out on it though. The 6.7 L Cummins runs like a raped ape, no complaints there. I hauled a M-B e320 and a Honda Civic. Neither was enough for me to tell the difference between loaded and empty. Goofy ass 4wd needs to have the tranny in neutral to shift the transfer case. That's a pain in the ass. The Hydraulics are slower than **** even with the engine kicked up to 1500 RPM. The smart exhaust engine brake is kinda nifty but I haven't had a chance to play with in on a real grade with a load yet. Standard fuel capacity is 52 gallons but you can downgrade to 22. Boss downgraded.

It also sits lower so loading lowered vehicles is easier. Needs more lights though. Light bar is obscured by larger vehicles and there is nothing on the front. I think there are plans to fix the lighting though.

Big downside is the goofy ass plastic key that costs $4-500 each to duplicate/replace. In the past all the drivers carried keys to all the trucks. Sounds like that isn't going to work now. We'll see what happens there I guess.

Oh, the mirrors suck major donkey dick. Our Ford has the narrow spot mirror mounted under the flat mirror. The Dodge put the spots on the outboard end of the mirrors. This means you can't see the outside edge of the bed in the flat mirror. Makes it a pain in the ass to try to figure out your pivot point when backing up.

Ohh it's a 4x4 Roll Back??? That would be cool. Rarely do I see 4x4 Tow Trucks and I think that's just not to smart. I figured if I ran a tow biz, I'd be having at least 1 4x4 Conventional, even if it had to be a Squarebody older truck. There is tons of money to be made if you have a 4wd tow truck and can get out in the bad weather when we have it. This is why when we have a record snow of 12 inches in 4 hours, the whole damn city was shut down. And the road crews couldn't even clear the roads cuz of all the abondoned cars. I mean, cars stuck everywhere. Right in the middle of intersections and in center lanes. Even PD was stranded. They chained a couple cars for the must do stuff and they didn't get around good either. And calling tow trucks to come impound these cars, didn't happen. The tow trucks couldn't get out. Pretty much waited the next day and people were getting their buddies with 4x4's to tow them and a few 4x4 dudes saving the city and at least pulling them out of interstections so road crews could clear roads. Now PD has some of those All Wheel Drive Exploders. Actually about 1/2 the fleet is the Exploders now. But still, I don't know of any of the 6 tow companies in Moore that have a 4x4 truck.

Slow bed? What brand is it? Obviously not a Jerr Dann. I can't stand Jerr Dann beds. Cheaply made IMO, very weak hydros, backwards controls, but I will give them, they are FAST as hell hydros, and also have a huge range of motion. I had a Century roll back, that was slow on hydros, not terrible but much slower than our Pete with the Jerr Dann bed, and it's range of motion was not all that impressive. Many times I felt I should have gotten more drop to get better angles to load things like Vipers without tearing them up, but NO. So my Century bed sucked that way, but It would lift 14,000lb loaded with service body and equipment, a 2010 F450 4x4. It grunted a bunch but did it. The Jerr Dann just squeeled like a little ***** bitch and didn't even try to lift it. That's why I had to go get it.

 

[ScottyB]

It is a Jerr Dan but it isn't like the other Jerr Dan roll backs I've used. The controls are laid out the same as the others but the hydraulics are slower (unless I'm missing something). The other odd part is you can only use one control at a time. On the others I tilt and retract the bed at the same time. With this one, only one works at a time.

 

[HotRodPC]

Ohhh NO. That would piss me off. I usually can one hand the controls and be doing both at the same too. Rolling the bed in and dropping it level all at the same time. That would really suck. Bossman shoulda done some homework before he ordered that hunk of ****. Sounds like a real nice truck with a ****** bed.

 

[ScottyB]

Some kids are just too damn lucky. Went out today to do a AAA winch out. Info said that 2 wheels in the ditch. I tried calling but the kid just sounded too rattled to give me any good info. The road he WAS on was road following the river. It keeps doing 90* turns on gravel. As I approach I see where the kid went wide as he tried to make a right turn and ended up in the left ditch.

The right side of the car is off the road and the car sat laterally with the left side of the car 6' down at about a 75* angle. I got it out without too much trouble and looked it over. There wasn't a mark on the car. Kid said he wasn't looking forward to going home, but that is where he went. I still can't believe he was in that deep and that angle and didn't mark the car at all.

 

[HotRodPC]

Good for the kid, and even better for you. You know how those work out. I didn't damage my car getting in the ditch, you did it pulling me out, so whose your insurance company?

That's why I always like to look it over FIRST and find damage. Note it on the ticket or better yet if the customer is there, let them be aware of it. Many times you can even get a winch out, then a tow to a local shop out of the deal. I've pulled them out before and they've had broken CV axles or even a hole in a trans or oil pan.

I know one I did one time, I told the guy, hey your oil pan is badly dented and it could have knocked the pick up off your oil pump. If so, you'll trash your motor driving it. He was kind of a smartass about it. Got him out he starts it up, and thankfully his oil light came on and was staying on. With the car still idleing he asks me, what does that mean? I yelled, shut it off, shut it off !!! It means I was right, your motor is not picking up any oil and your about to trash your motor for no oil. But it's got oil in it, the dipstick shows over full. Of course it shows over full now, you damaged your pan by about a quart of space and knocked off the pick up tube from the oil pump. He was such an ass, I left him there. And you know how auto clubs are. Finally an hour later, I got another dispatch to the same scene to tow the guy to a shop.

 

[ScottyB]

I know one I did one time, I told the guy, hey your oil pan is badly dented and it could have knocked the pick up off your oil pump. If so, you'll trash your motor driving it. He was kind of a smartass about it. Got him out he starts it up, and thankfully his oil light came on and was staying on. With the car still idleing he asks me, what does that mean? I yelled, shut it off, shut it off !!! It means I was right, your motor is not picking up any oil and your about to trash your motor for no oil. But it's got oil in it, the dipstick shows over full. Of course it shows over full now, you damaged your pan by about a quart of space and knocked off the pick up tube from the oil pump. He was such an ass, I left him there. And you know how auto clubs are. Finally an hour later, I got another dispatch to the same scene to tow the guy to a shop.

Thanks for the tip on the oil pan. I don't think that came into play on this one but it is something to look for in the future.He started it up no problem without any warning lights so I am hoping he is ok there. He was so shaken up that over an hour later he still wouldn't do more than about 10 MPH down that road. Of course he knew what was waiting for him at home too. Had he driven like that to begin with he would have been home much sooner and had a much nicer evening.

 

[ScottyB]

Going back to the discussion on the new Dodge, it is my go to truck for most things now. We do have a 4wd conventional, a Ford 550 that has been used and abused but it still works. Out of the 4 trucks we have that WAS our only 4wd. This wasn't a god thing considering we have a 3800' high ski area we service. It is really nice being able to go up without chaining and being able to load on a deck rather than drag a vehicle down the mountain in the snow.

As for the Dodge, I have loaded a Dodge 3500 mega cab dually diesel 4wd with over-sized tires. The tires were big enough that I had to block them to get them over my rails. It handled it mostly fine. Got a little light in the steering when I hit bumps at 60mph but other than that it handled well. I didn't feel underpowered. I wouldn't want to do that again but it is good to know I can.

 

[HotRodPC]

Thanks for the tip on the oil pan. I don't think that came into play on this one but it is something to look for in the future.He started it up no problem without any warning lights so I am hoping he is ok there. He was so shaken up that over an hour later he still wouldn't do more than about 10 MPH down that road. Of course he knew what was waiting for him at home too. Had he driven like that to begin with he would have been home much sooner and had a much nicer evening.

I bet he was walking funny too when all the mushy **** in his pants started to dry all up in his ass crack and down the back of his legs. That couldn't have been to comfy.

 

[HotRodPC]

Going back to the discussion on the new Dodge, it is my go to truck for most things now. We do have a 4wd conventional, a Ford 550 that has been used and abused but it still works. Out of the 4 trucks we have that WAS our only 4wd. This wasn't a god thing considering we have a 3800' high ski area we service. It is really nice being able to go up without chaining and being able to load on a deck rather than drag a vehicle down the mountain in the snow.

As for the Dodge, I have loaded a Dodge 3500 mega cab dually diesel 4wd with over-sized tires. The tires were big enough that I had to block them to get them over my rails. It handled it mostly fine. Got a little light in the steering when I hit bumps at 60mph but other than that it handled well. I didn't feel underpowered. I wouldn't want to do that again but it is good to know I can.

Yep, every now and then you'll get those ones that put your nuts in your throat and ass puckered up real tight.

This AT&T trailer was pretty heavy and had a pintle hitch or I'd have just towed it like AT&T could have done with one of their trucks. The hub broke off and it had to have a new axle put on it. I was scared shitless this bitch would slip one way or the other and then be falling off the rollback. Notice I ended throwing a strap on it too. It was still exactly where I put it when I got 30 miles away to the trailer shop after driving on the freeway at about 60 mph. I stayed kind of slow and no evasive moves.

 

[ScottyB]

Times like that I miss having a few more chains and ratchet binders. I've hauled trailers like that cross country and had them tied down so well they didn't move a bit, but that was with the chains and binders that we don't carry now days. I don't like have wheels on those narrow rails though. It's probably fine but it sure doesn't sit right with me. It just doesn't pass the gut check. I've done, but don't like it.

 

[HotRodPC]

Times like that I miss having a few more chains and ratchet binders. I've hauled trailers like that cross country and had them tied down so well they didn't move a bit, but that was with the chains and binders that we don't carry now days. I don't like have wheels on those narrow rails though. It's probably fine but it sure doesn't sit right with me. It just doesn't pass the gut check. I've done, but don't like it.

I don't mind outter duals on the rails, but not singles. I'd have felt safer with a bed I could have removed the rails. At least have more of the tire on a surface to grip a little better. But, we do we what have to do with what we have to do it with.