sweetk30

the specific use of this truck and being auto 4x4 and the winch for the 440 needing full reman job i went 220 conversion . plus the price for the pto to fit a np205 t-case was 2x the price of the correct ramsey winch i found used .

does anyone know why the badge would be brass and not aluminum like all the others i have seen over the years ? doing a conversion on a holmes 440 unit to a 220 unit and found a badge to put up on the tower and this showed up in the mail . the 440 winch was there but needs a bit of love and will be rebuilt later . but for now i scored a period correct ramsey 8k winch for it and made the mount plates like others i have seen in the few pics i have seen of factory 220 units .

way to much weight note how far up the front end is on that truck . i bet the height of the boom top is super close or over 13ft 6" . i know my old c5500 with a 21ft deck was around 3ft 9" off the ground no load . and my light bar was 2-3" under 8ft . i knew my heights and had a tape measure with me even to be 100% sure .

So . . . Sent email back in few hr's max of this with my list of items . . . . Still ZERO reply back . I sent a screen shot of the exact items and quanity today and still no reply . Guess these people dont want my money . . . Yes i am bitching up a storm . . . But also showing the truth of a member here and in the towing world .

so here is a copy of the email i got back from NOT wes but a family memeber . . . to me its a excuse and even tho they say its not the reason sucks since its been over a solid month since this all started . read it and make your own choice . . . and the free ship is kind of a joke since half of this was to ask for combined ship and 1 item was free ship to begin with and there ebay store wouldnt let you ask for a total updated since there buy it now listings and there void of the ask for updated total request button so thats why i tried again a week and a half ago and still got no reply . email copy and paste minus my name at the top . My apologies to you for not making contact with you. This is not an excuse but a reason, it has been very hectic between a seminar that Wes conducted with 67 students and gearing up to do a seminar at the Florida Tow as well being an exhibitor with a booth and I dropped the ball on this. As far as the item you are looking at on Ebay please ask for an invoice prior to checkout and I give you free shipping on it. Please submit any questions you may have and I will do my best to get you the answers. As far as the Tow Museum goes and we have geared up this year to donate as much as we can, first from some of the proceeds of the sales of the Holmes products, as well as donating items for their gift shop. Last week Wes as well as another instructor conducted a seminar in Washington NC Pete Ashenden Jr ( an associate instructor) kicked off a donation drive and collected $3000.00. Between that class and the Florida Tow Show we (Pete and Wes) collected an additional $11,000 for a total of $14,000 that we presented a check to Cathy Bumgard (general manager) and Bill Gratzianna (president). Please feel free to call the museum and they will verify my information. Best Regards April Wilburn

I got a B/S reply . I will copy & paste in the am . On my phone now and ready for bed . .

thats it . i have had it with them. i fired off a email tonight and will see what happens . i called them out on the un answered phone calls let to a human / un answered emails online for there sale page . i told them i wish to have prof of there donations of sale items to the towing museum in TN off each item old as i dont trust them to be doing so . last i told them if they want my money answer the phone message / email and give prof . . . if not then he better hide in the small world of the internet we all live in these days . . . and just to stir the pot more here it is fellow tow operators ............ @Wes Wilburn for The American Towing & Recovery Institute i am done messing around for there games and dodging calls or emails . if you have a real excuse then fine prove it otherwise your no good to me or us as a whole with this kind of crap service .

going to call 1 last time Friday and see what happens . . . if no change then i am FULL ON BLAST HIS A$$ and show what i pile of crap he is and to let people know to avoid him at all costs . trust me i will keep you up to date on details . . .. ..

A huge problem in my area is they call cops / fire / ems and .......................... ......................................................... then the tow truck of who is next on list and expect they to be there in 30 seconds. . If thay would call and let us stage a few blocks away it would help 10 fold in speed and clean up and not make tow drivers drive so crazy to a cop call .

lucky your HD dealer lets you tow in that way . the one dealer near me are A$$HOLES and require all bikes towed in to be in a enclosed trailer so people dont see them showing up . there such a-holes they have refused tows for this fact . yep karma can bite you some times . but glad you got a saving grace tow close .

so its been 1 SOLID month now and still no word back . i even sent a email to there sale page people are buying from and still show sales and nothing . there the ONLY game i have found for the product and i guess i have to deal with them 1 way or the other if i want this stuff . so my question is do i start a sh!t storm here by calling them out for all to know there crap service ? ........ or just let it go ?

Great job on recovery / billing . What makes my blood boil is insurance paid for a STUPID driver being someplace they should NOT have been in the first place . Its crap like this that makes our rates keep going up and up . Again good job . Thinking it over . Getting it done .

I know of a guy who did this . . . And went under a bridge and skimmed open the box roof . . 3k later the box was fixed .

Only time i did this was multi vehicle crash on interstate at night and raining . Cops breathing down our necks . Boss/ owner was 2nd tow to me and said load and go ! ...... we were 1 mile from shop and 3/4 mile from exit . Otherwise just take the time to load correctly ! . Most of the time my OCD made me try to be centered on the bed .

if you have a engine hoist or friend that does give them the old self lock swivel hook off the cable . i swapped both mine to the B/A full clamp swivel hook a few years ago and LOVE it . so much better lifting and moving things on a full 360* spin over them stupid hooks and 3-4 links of chain .

so i am still waiting on the phone call or private message or post in the correct thread . . . . its been almost 2 weeks since i started this info hunt via phone call a few times first . then some internet searches as i waited . and then even a bump to there screen name and still NOTHING . i just dont get how a company can ignore someone for a simple questions . then not know it could turn in to thousands of dollars more later . ? ? ? i would love to go some other place / or buy the stuff from someone else / or even just view what i need but this old school stuff is hard to find on the internet these days . and to make it even worse they clam they donate some money off each sale to the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame & Museum in Chattanooga , TN . if there so willing to donate then why not try and talk to me and sell product . and now i am to the point of if i buy from them how do i know they WILL DONATE to them ? ? ? were is the prof . ? sorry for being such a little b!tch for this tiny problem . . . but maybe i am uncovering a GIANT FRAUD and scammer who knows . . . i have always told people if i KNOW i will tell you . if i do NOT know i will tell you . then if i can i will direct you to someone who can . but just leaving people high and dry with nothing is NOT good practice for a good company model .

in my area the last few years it dont matter who you are . . . there messing with ALL tow trucks for even stupid stuff . but i can see why . in the many years as a mechanic and then tow guy i saw a LOT of scary stuff and didnt like it .

one thing to remember if at all possible ........... NEVER GO IN A ACTIVE DOT CHECK FOR A TOW .......... you might be the next victim . i have towed a lot of trailers . always made sure i had all 3 ball sizes . saved a lot of people extra b/s when tow rig was dead . i would roll up load it on the bed and hook the trailer and away i went . i just dont get WHY tow trucks dont get 7pin round plugs when they know were going to tow a trailer now and then . these 1950's round 4 pin are so out dated .

i had run 50ft and 75ft on 21' rollbacks and found 50 was great for city stuff or just transport . but if doing some light recovery the extra 25ft was nice . i also found the flat plate with compression springs worked better for me to keep the cable the best possible on the drum . but every time i did a long pull i still had to re-spool just to keep it safe and clean .

So i talked with a few older tow truck operators and service parts guys in the last few days . Found out the 480 split boom holmes uses 3/8" x 100ft of line on each winch . Now to find more info to complete my project .

Best thing i was told if you cant get it easy with no damage extra just pull the wheel first . Then set on a plank or 4x4 as a ski .

i was talking with a retired member here a few days ago . he said they coiled in inside a old car tire .

In new york there is tow truck endorsement on your license. . . . But its so old school of a PAPER test its not funny . And yes way to many ZERO experience drivers just thrown in a truck .

and also there was no need to back up . now he has no wiggle room back there . kick the bed out the 2-3 ft he backed up and suck the bed in as you control the decent off the upper tire before the BIG uncontrolled flop happens . and now i watched it on the shop computer screen the wheel lift was getting beat the hell up also .