EdsTowing

This is one we did a couple months ago...same unit, same truck...different installing dealer...

Came out nice. I just got the replacement light pylon that I have to modify & paint but the truck is back in service for my buddy until I can get back  on it.

If you're grabbing an axle on something that has a deep set back like this, remember the swing when you go around turns...it's exaggerated out the opposite side that you are turning. I don't care to tow them but do when I have to. Typically, there isn't a lot of strong access points or frame access. The cooler packs can sit low in the front & generators. And you have to watch the rear overhang as well since there are a number of things back there that don't react well with road rash....

Got a call for a 26'er stuck in the mud....all the "typical" Uhaul methods attempted to get it out but eventually they call...

In the yard AND the hitch is dug in to the black top...But wait, there's more!

Right in to the tree...

Rocks...cardboard...and I think that is the leaf for his kitchen table?...LoL

2 part line and lifted the back of the truck strait up...popped right out.

2hrs of driving for 15 min of work....

When I first started in this business, by boss always had a lot of stuff going on so we were never really slow even though we are in a resort area where the population and intelligent level fluctuates through out the year... So when I started my company, I always had the same goals. Now we have complete auto & truck repair, computer programing, do our own keys & key fobs, light through heavy towing & recovery, road service, transport work, auto & commercial body shop, commercial dustless sand blasting, we build commercial trucks, the property damage clean ups, welding & fabricating...pretty much every aspect of the automotive industry. So typically if one division is slow, the shift gets put to the areas that are busy. Right now our truck refurbish stuff is busy as hell and we always have a few units in one form of production or another. I always said that versatility is the key...especially in a rural area that can't rely on a huge population to carry them such as in a metropolitan area. At the end of the week, I don't care where the money comes from...as long as it comes! 

Here are a few "non wrecker" jobs we have done in the last 2 weeks...

Always something going on... 

I never knew of the increased dangers honestly... We are in the 90% area, about 3 hrs from the total eclipse area.

Our towing has been kind of slow but other aspects of our company are doing well and "carrying" the load. Here's a few recent jobs...

Brand new 24' Pete towed in for an oil leak...

Fortunately it was minor so we were able to clean everything up after a replaced oil fill cap.

Theft recovery on a 26' Uhaul that was 3 weeks late coming back. Turned up that a manager saw the truck in a Hotel parking lot and pulled the fuel pump relay....something they neglected to tell us. I got on scene and just started hooking so I could scoot out of there but the renter came out. We had a "chat" and set the ground rules...and then I took the truck.

Found out the issue the next morning so a simple repair and it was back to Uhaul.

Fire truck that we are repairing from a crash incident.

This was a little different...one of our large gated communities contacted us to clean up a oil mess made from a delivery truck that dumped oil in their roadway...

We didn't know how big of a deal it was so loaded for "bear" but it was pretty simple...

Nice job that we are billing to the property owner and they can figure out how to get reimbursed or insurance. 

Friend of mine is building a new car wrecker and was unhappy with the factory paint on the unit. They decided to trailer it to us so we could refinish it...

It wasn't terrible but dry in spots and they missed a few areas...but unfortunately with what these trucks cost, you expect them to be A1 Perfect!

We removed the winches, rope and assorted components prior to painting...

The manufacturer agreed to pay for the repair so we shot it this week...

First we shot the rear panels, the wheel lift tube & fly boom with a "tintable" Raptor Liner. Then we did a complete over coat with his color in base coat/clear coat...

This way, for one the color would not alter due to the different base finishes and now when it gets a scratch or chip, it will still be silver under the paint. My last wrecker they covered in a black bed liner material and if it got a scratch, it was black under the white & stood out...

All back together and ready to go back for the body install at the dealer...

Nice work...getting wet in the cold sucks so "charge accordingly"...LoL

That's nuts...

The company was sold out a few years ago to I believe Zipp's/AW Direct. If you contact them, they should be able to help.

On 3/17/2024 at 3:31 PM, TowForce said:

Listing Status?

Ron It's still available...needs to go soon...LoL

Jerr-Dan 22’ x 102” With Polished Aluminum Blade Rails Paccar PX-7, 300 HP, Allison Automatic 2200 RDS 26,000 lb. GVRW / 150” CA Air Brakes, Air Ride Suspension, Locking Differential, Winch Brake Air operated Winch Free Spool 2-60” Phoenix Stainless Toolboxes 50 Gal. Polished Aluminum Fuel Tanks, Right and Left Side Upgraded stereo with Bluetooth, & Sirius LED emergency lighting New Tires Full PM Service every 5k miles 68k miles, truck is still in service VIN 2NP2HM6X7NM765397

Well we fired it up yesterday for the 1st time...it runs like a top...

They put the new glass in too. Drove it on property just to make sure the transmission shifts and what not.

My guy Kevin has the rest of the sheetmetal sprayed today so the front end can go back together.

That's a different cab he is repairing for another project we started yesterday. But hopefully this will look like a dump truck by next week.

On 3/7/2024 at 3:03 PM, dperone said:

On a bed I wouldn't go more than 75' as the longer the spool the harder it is to keep straight on the drum.

I agree with that. Guys try to put more rope on it but it's near impossible to keep it nice. Another problem that many don't realize is when you go to the 100' on a Ramsey bed winch, it bumps you another wrap on the drum when it's all in. If you are loading something heavy, you may find your winch stalls prior to getting everything on the bed. Remember the winch is rated on the 1st wrap and looses around 17-1800 lbs on each subsequent wrap. Load a 10,000 truck and you may find yourself in trouble.

Moving right along...

Cab finished so we can start reassembling.

Back to looking like a truck again. We have to gut the doors so we removed them top make a nicer paint finish. We are converting it to Pwr. Windows / locks and heated/lighted mirrors.

Installed a set of full fenders to keep it nice. Now we are mounting the 48" Aluminum boxes w/ stainless doors...

I have these boxes on my F600 Rollback and we like them. My guys were working on the front end hook up so we can run it...lots of "stuff" to re-hook & figure out. The plow frame got installed yesterday. She's moving right along now...

Came across a set of 20" Lariat wheels in real nice condition to "spruce" it up some...

I prefer the oem look over aftermarket stuff when we can.

My son sent me this pic from around 2015 or so...

All these have moved on to new homes....

It was kind of slow today so the guys did a dedicated "Spa Day" for the trucks....

Was able to get everything lined up...

Of course as soon as these were taken, we had 2 calls come in and it was back to normal...

My daughter lives there. She said they got just under 10' of snow & The winds were incredible....

Congrats Sean, that's quite a milestone.

Another thing I have learned about synthetic rope is not to work it in the "safety margins". Guys work rope beyond their safety factors all the time and typically won't have an issue within reason. Pulling 15k line load on a rope rated at 12k isn't necessarily a "Cancel Christmas" moment, not saying that it's recommended. But if you work synthetics in an exceeding manner, it can "burn" the layers on the drum & diminish it's life.

14 hours ago, Stuart Wagner said:

I think a lot of trucking companies are hurting for cash.   My 35 ton Vulcan has 46,000 pound Kenworth 8 bag suspension ( I wouldn't buy that suspension again but Miller had built it that way and I bought it many moons ago at the Baltimore tow show) anyway when I tow like an 80,000 pound fire ladder truck with a 24,000 pound front end my air suspension gauges bury and start coming up the other side. Years ago I put Timbren rubber blocks in the suspension and that helped it a lot from squatting so bad. I only have a 14,000 pound front axle so I hung  2,000 pounds of steel plate below the front bumper and that also helped with my steering ( I only have a 305" wheelbase)

Yea the 8 bag suspension leaves some to be desired in a wrecker application. We had one many years ago and it was even worse due to small fill tubes back then. It recovered very slowly when you lifted something up or set it down. The newer ones have those large pipes feeding the bags so it helps. My truck has 46k Air Trac which works very nicely. Most guys are using the 52k Neway which is nice, especially with Tator's and what not. I have a 4500 counter weight behind the cab which gets my steer up around 16,000 on a 320"wb. It doesn't squat at all and feels very reassuring...but that trailer did make me light trying to turn on gravel. 

Dam that sucks...hopefully nobody badly injured.

We slowed up some...weather not cooperating and there seems to be a general "lack" of money in our area... Here's a few recent jobs I have done with the heavy...

Brand new 24' Freightliner with After Treatment issues (what else?) and went in to de-rate. I have the driver's trained pretty good...he made it to this shopping center and pumped it off so it would be easier to tow! Any time I can grab it by the butt and not have to pull shafts is fine with me. 50 mile tow to the dealer.

Another gas truck slid off the driveway. Easy job, hardest part was getting the big truck in there. It's always a problem with the smaller private communities where the shoulders & intersections aren't pushed back far enough to get around. It would of been a lot easier with the F550 but my son was out on another call with it.

This guy pined his trailer and when he pulled out in to the highway, it fell off blocking both lanes... Can't see my wrecker, it's hooking up on the other side of the trailer.

Guy ticked me off...asked how much was in the box and he said 25,000. So I hook it and pulled away with it to open the road. When I turned in to this dirt lot to turn around, the front of my truck skated around pretty bad. First thing I thought was bullshit 25k... When I got back to the shop, I told him he was full of it because nothing makes the front of my truck get light...I know it's "out there" but I haven't met it yet...until Saturday! We got the BOL and it showed 44k in the box and when it dropped, everything tightened up in the nose, full of bottled water. The tandems were also all the way back so this had to be heavy on his tractor as well but the guy was just too stupid to know...

Another heavy one...Volvo TriAxle dump with a set back axle. 73k on it and the transmission quit (auto-shift).

I could of taken it back to the quarry to unload it since I didn't want to go 50 miles to the dealer in Scranton @  119,000 lbs., but I would have to find someplace to turn it all around. I opted to take it to the job site 10 miles away so we could dump it and save the trip for them...

110psi on my rear suspension....that's pretty heavy...probably 50-52k on my drives.

Backed in off the street and dumped it on the site. Then it was just a walk in the park to the dealer from there.

We are making progress with our project...

Needed some shop space so it got moved to the back shop while the guys build the engine. While it was out, we set the body sub frame on it as well.

Started w/ a new short block and got a set of reman heads. We updated it to the 17 up block w/ new mounts installed. This engine is being retrofitted with a CP4 pump conversion, custom intake & exhaust manifolds, larger turbo, revised fuel & cooling system components and a new program....

Everything is nestled back in to the chassis and we are just waiting for the body shop to get finished with the cab...

Hopefully we can start making it look like a truck again in the next 2 weeks.

We get these coming in for PA Inspections and I won't pass them. It's so hard on the suspension & wheel bearings...and looks ridiculous.