The Shadow

Every one of the guys in my company has at least a few close-call stories. One, has had to jump onto his flatbed, under, was almost hit several times. Another was very close to being run over. I've had to duck under my truck before because cars just would not clue in that they need to give me space to work. I have no choice but to stand in that lane. We all know just how dangerous it is out there. We absolutely need better protections.

The thing is, most all dash cams have sensors so small, it doesn't matter if you spend five hundred, or fifty. It's still limited to the size of the camera sensor. So short of having a dash cam with a lens the size of a canon eos, like wedding photographer sized lens... You're not going to get any better quality, to be able to read license plates and small details. May as well buy cheap.

Some great research here. I personally run a dashcam in my truck, and I've had a few over the years, always had one in my personal vehicle too. I just bought a cheap one, because honestly, between the small compact thing it is, small sensor, and then a windshield that may or may not be entirely clear, then the world out there. I'm not expecting to read license plates off of it. If I'm involved in some kind of incident on the road, I want the camera to simply show what "vaguely car-shaped objects" were where, and where they moved. I seriously doubt fault is going to be determined by a detail smaller than the camera can catch. But quite right, I see a lot of dash cams for a whole lot more than you need to pay, and they advertise 4k video. I've never seen a dash cam with a sensor big enough to produce anything meaningful even at high resolution.

Howdy! I've been thinking for a while, "Wouldn't it be great if someone made a forum for the towing industry?" Finally decided to do a google search, and, here I am! I work in the wild northlands of Canada. Kind of. (Kind of Canada? Or kind of north?) My company's service area covers a unique geography, city, a few small towns, and a lot of wilderness with mobile deadzones. I've worked for about a year now, almost, primarily on a wheel lift truck. I have run flatbed before, but, I don't enjoy it as much. I definitely understand the appeal for others, but to me it's a "One-trick wonder." Hoping to learn some things here, and maybe meet some people.

That SUV is probably around 5,000lbs. I'd guess that cable has a WLL around 3,000 or so? Might be a low guess. But consider, there's also two significant "curbs" in the way, too. That's not just a straight pull, that's quite a bit of resistance. Double-line definitely would have helped there. I wonder if his plan was to pull the vehicle up, then grab it with the stinger, then drive it out the rest of the way? As for recovering with stinger down, I'll use mine to help brace my truck, it definitely feels more stable when I do that.