someotherplace

I can definitely imagine it on a JD unit if it's got the "greaseless" pins.  Terrible idea.  I've seen Miller units with greaseable pins get neglected to the point that they sheared off the keeper bolt before seizing up in the bore.  Not fun to remove either one of those messes.

One thing I will say about that old unit is that I know it gets greased regularly; the owner has a full time mechanic in-house.

Richard

I know this truck...it's a 22 year old light duty selfloader; I'm not faulting Miller, not even implying the unit has been abused - it's just seen 22 years and a LOT of use.  Very surprising though to say the least.  I haven't noticed any signs of impending failure, and the break looks clean although the pic quality isn't the greatest.  Here it is:

Richard

The area is suffering from flash flooding.  It's a Ford...he may have broke down on dry land and then the flood caught him.

Richard

Do yourself a huge favor fellas and download a camera app that puts the time and date stamp on the picture, and get all-around shots immediately when you reach the scene.  Many of them have GPS stamping as well where you can select it to display the coordinates, or even better, the street address where the picture was taken.  Another round of pictures when you drop off is also a wise move.

Read reviews on the apps before you download to be sure you aren't getting some malicious crap posing as a legitimate app.

It should be noted that most of this information is included in the EXIF data on each picture taken with a smartphone, but you need to download and use a specific camera app that will put this info IN the picture for everyone to see so there is no debate.

Richard

On 2/10/2020 at 5:34 PM, rreschran said:

This 2017 driving and Karoke segment is another form of distracted driving ... even the news reported openly identifies the dangers. As far as the dollies go, someone is riding in a, "towed vehicle", all the while thetowed vehicle is NOT safety strapped.     R.

Thank you...as far as I know, pretty much anywhere it is illegal for someone to ride in the towed vehicle.  Even if it's a gray area when a tow truck is not involved, it's still not safe.

Richard

A crash-compromised (or simply worn) ball joint would be a much bigger worry to me than a damaged wheel - you're hooked to what looks like a wheel in good condition, until the whole assembly - wheel/tire, rotor, hub, spindle - is flying at you under tension because the ball joints let go during the pull.  Easily a 75-100 lb missile.  In today's world of many vehicles with independent rear suspension, I'd say the risk is similar whether using a front OR rear wheel for the pull.  My opinion, anyway!

Richard

On 1/19/2020 at 5:09 PM, GRUMPS The Towman said:

Not to mention what would have been so wrong with rolling the car back a few feet if you were so against dollies?

This, 100%.  Even if someone is so opposed to throwing dollies, there were options on loading this vehicle that did not involve being in the train's right-of-way.

Richard

I have discovered that some models of Tesla do NOT have room for a regular Go-Jak on the rear wheels (Tesla backed into a corner) - there are some kind of protrusions on the underbody that interfere with Go-Jak placement.  I know the post is about the Collins Carrier dollies, but since it's a related topic, thought I'd throw this FYI out there so others could beware.

Richard

On 12/12/2019 at 10:17 AM, GRUMPS The Towman said:

Agreed. I keep a door key on my person at all times that way I can leave the truck running and locked. My truck is locked whenever it is out of my sight or if i am working in any shady neighborhoods. I had a towaway customer once try to jump in my truck while i was loading his illegally parked car. Thankfully I had locked the cab. 

Practically my exact thoughts and words.  Thank you.  I also lock it when I'm at the lot when I go inside for any reason whatsoever, even when it's not running.  Why give an angry tow "victim" access to gate clickers or any of your valuables/tools?

Richard

Yeah, it's unmarked - which is a big TDLR no-no.  Probably doesn't have legitimate plates, or plates at all.  Probably paper tag and likely fake.  No selfloaders reported stolen near the area lately?  Not uncommon for thieves to steal a tow truck and then use it to steal cars.  Very uncommon for someone that actually has otherwise legitimate use of a wrecker to use it to steal vehicles with.  A legitimate operator would be far too easy to track down.

Richard

Thanks fellas, however Jim, your statement confuses me - Towman says the dealer isn't supposed to accept a dollied BMW; you said your dealer doesn't say anything.  Also again the specific models requiring dollies would be good to know.  I'm certain it does not include every BMW model, especially older ones.

I do understand arguing with the dealer can be futile, but in the case of non-consent tows, or consent (but repo), there are many BMW's dollied on a regular basis and so far I fail to understand how one can be damaged this way unless the operator is grossly negligent somehow.

Richard

9 minutes ago, TowMate Videos said:

We do have a version for TX! It's called the TM-FLUX32. It features the amber indicators like on the TM21. THANKS!

Interested in details/pricing - it's not on your site yet?

Richard

On 11/10/2019 at 12:15 PM, Jim B said:

You have to be careful putting some BMW's on a wheel lift. They will actually bend the carbonite frame. Not all models have it but i can never remember which ones.

Curious as to your information source?  When manufacturers make claims like that it always makes me wonder how lifting a vehicle from the same wheels that support it on the road can somehow lead to damage.

Richard

Hi Gunther,

Do you have a version that is legal in Texas?  AFAIK it has to have the individual turn signals, and the side markers, like your model TM21.

I've seen many operators here getting by with the Limelight but vague memory tells me the reason for the TM21 design was Texas law?  Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Regardless of law, I believe the side markers are very important for any extra visibility you can get for the towed vehicle - and the "full glow" side markers of the current TM21 are pretty good especially compared to the old single dot LED style before y'all went to the transparent end caps that fully illuminate.

Thanks,

Richard

I know on that truck if the antenna dings that's one thing; if it drags, I'm gonna have a bad time.

Richard

What was the posted clearance?  I did this one the other night in an F450 with a Renegade unit... no light bar on the pylon, thankfully.  Close!  My antenna was dinging on the cross beams.

Richard

So he's calling that a "fence" ...

Richard

No kidding.. I see a melted aluminum F150.  No tow truck in sight..

Richard

IMO your combined criteria just ruled out everything but a carrier; might be tougher to get a carrier to it vs. a wrecker, but no wheels?  A wrecker w/dollies is gonna have a tough time safely bringing that load back out to the road.  If the terrain is rough enough, you're gonna high-center the dollies at some point and that ain't good.  Even at full pinch between the bars you have what, about 6-8" of clearance?

Richard

I'm impressed.  I wonder what else he has for sale so I can pester him with lowball offers from 20 different fake names, to see if he'll continue to throw away his belongings.

Richard

On 10/25/2019 at 3:38 PM, sweetk30 said:

my old boss has a tow dolly unit and when he get a cal every so often for the 2 parking towers in town he hooks it to the pickup goes in and uses a come along and straps it on and out he goes . then if need be swap to a flat bed or other unit as needed .

 

now i know this can be a problem with todays auto set e-brakes and awd and hybrid stuff but its a option . so if you had 1 and a set of dollys off a wrecker truck you could scoop it up easy to get it out if you get a call or 2 a year for this .

While that's a creative solution, I wonder if his insurance provides coverage for that activity.  A whole lot can go wrong in a parking garage.

Richard

Nearly a week later and no movement on this case as far as I know, despite having a very clear picture of the suspect that almost immediately led to his identification (full name), his vehicle's identification (license plate and all), and status as a person of interest in the case, and the fact that he resides (resided) in the apartments where the shooting occurred.  The assumption that he is clear across the border is very likely and we'll probably not hear from this waste of breath again until he comes back and commits further crimes, which is a pattern we're all too used to down here in SE TX.

Richard

A lesson that can be learned from that Kentucky story: if you arrive on the scene of a winch-out call and the vehicle operator appears impaired, go ahead and call the police.  Depending on how incident management is done in your area, you may lose the call to the next rotation truck or however your local system works, but you won't be putting a drunk back on the road after he has clearly displayed he is incapable of safely operating his vehicle.  That "quick cash" in your pocket is not worth the life of some innocent person(s) down the road when they meet up with this idiot.

I get flagged down by apparent drunks to pull their vehicles out of ditches, high-centered on curbs/medians, etc. and I refuse every single one of them.  Let them flag down a cop.  If they are clearly, obviously impaired, I'll call a cop for them.  They don't need my help, I'm a wrecker driver, not a substance abuse counselor.  You don't even have to get confrontational with them.  You CANNOT predict how someone that is drunk or high will react, other than you can predict it will NOT go well.  I have flat out lied to them - my winch is broken.  Let me call another truck that can help.  Roll the window up, call the law.

Richard

Learned to do recovery work (including rollovers) in a carrier, and was in a carrier 90% of the time working for my old man when I first got into the business.  Now if the equipment was MINE, I'd be very picky about what operator I would send out to do recovery work regardless of the equipment, but probably more picky if sending them in a carrier, with the belief that it's easier to damage them if you're not careful.

Steel deck, removable side rails, side-puller pulley at the end of the deck...and a trailer attachment for the stinger...that FL60 with the 21' Chevron took care of just about every call I ever ran.

Richard

Pretty much any 3500/4500 (350/450) style chassis should get the job done, just have to go measure a few.  Fold-down light bar brackets if you gotta have a light bar.  If you run wrecks and have radios, you'll want to mount the antennas...somewhere...not on the roof!

You didn't give much info though, are you looking for a brand new truck, used, what brands are you for/against, etc. with more info other members may give details of their setups for garage work (assuming that's why clearance is an issue for you.)

Richard