Eye Shocking Pic

[Tow411]

This topic was originally created in 2006 by BLKWILL on Tow411 in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

 

Aug 13, 2006:

Well I could think of another title then that. I could not believe it. We towed it in on a flatbed.

This guy was a cool guy but I think he was wrongful train on this style tows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

smity said:

Pick up truck wreckers should be ban all together

 

Towmanjeff said:

Wow I've never seen the radiator hook up method before. We have a single wheel wrecker but we only use it for salvage and small stuff. If this guy had any sense he could have put a 4X4 under the chains and not caused any further damage. we wouldn't even try that tow without a wheelift, it looks repairable before the T-bar destroys anything else. That sure is a nice truck for such a crappy tow devise.

 

capptow said:

when wreckers like that show up at my lot , i pull the car out of lot, collect my money, go inside and shut the door. then i call the body shop where the vehicle is going and tell them what to expect.

 

AllCounty Towing said:

hey ryan, shouldnt you collect moey.. then pull out of lot??

 

SFAUTORESCUE said:

That chain is just raped around that contraption. No tow lights too.

 

bts3 said:

Now I could be wrong........
That looks like a 1/2 ton pick up (1500 series). Overloaded maybe!!??
And does anyone else notice those tires squating. The rims and tires look nice but I wonder what the rating is on them.
Do you know who he was towing it for.

 

Cotton said:

Tow truck like that illegal in Louisiana regardless of circumstances.

 

In Memory of Da Wash Boss who said:

Here in Connecticut thats the norm, no tow lights no safety chains but yet they belong to a so called professional towing assocation and yes many of them claim to be certified from various big names and yet many of these so called certified and professional operators have no idea how to hook up safety chains and tow lights.

Danny Cassello
TRPC
East Hartford, CT

 

Timco said:

Damn, What else can ya say about that?

 

silverhawk said:

After 42 years I thought I had seen it all. I was wrong. Looks like a waiting lawsuit to me.

 

Turbo Transport said:

I can't believe the owner of that Beemer would let that happen! Isn't that a rear drive car too?Josh Peery
Turbo Transport Towing & Recovery

 

repobob said:

That rig's called a BETTER lift, they were used mostly by wreckchasers in & around the NYC area. I know I had one on a 3/4 Ton Chevy back in the 80's. You still see one pop-up on eBay now & then.

 

BLKWILL said:

Repobob, That was what the guy was telling me. Can you explain what the wreckchaser do and how's it work? Or dose the name say it all? Will Cain - Chesapeake Service - 410-287-2666

 

repobob said:

I don't know if it's still done the same way when I did it but back then NYC didn't have a rotation list, you got a DCA medallion for your truck which gave you a license to chase accident calls. Then you outfitted your truck, it had to be bright yellow w/a blue tow set up. They were usually a pick-up w/a small tow rig, no wheel lifts [not around then] just a towbar or slings. [BETTER, Weldbilt & Model A cranes come to mind] You'd put in some Police radios & when you hear an accident call you HAUL TAIL to the scene. Most guys had modified engines to go real fast. 1st ones there either solicits the owners or if you knew the cops they'd give you 1st preference. You also hooked up w/a few Body Shops that would give you a cut for whatever you could send them. It's been a long time for me but I'm surprized to see one still being used. I'd like to find an old one to restore it, Well, off to eBay.

 

bts3 said:

I saw one of those in a yellow pickup at the Baltimore show one year in the beauty contest. It had the same set up I beleive and it was a blue towbar. It had the medallion on it as well.

It was a nice looking truck, probably early '80's Chevy.

 

towing4u said:

i wonder what the rating is on those custom wheels...and the tires are not rated much higher....no load rating on either.....bet he had a flat on the way home, if he didn't have a blow out and accident.

 

Beauman's said:

Thats a quick way to destroy a nice truck that is not made for what it is doing. Also how does that thing attach to the truck? That is as bad as the guy here that was going to tow the bus with a 1 ton.

 

FLCOWBOYINIRAQ said:

i am sure the insurance company would love to see those pictures. that right there is what gives the towing industry a bad name. i am sure they did not save that much more money. when people queston our rates i tell them to go buy a wrecker get the insurance we have hire and train a operator put fuel in it and then come back and tell me if a 100.00 is a lot of money for a tow.

john fenshaw
tikrit iraq
lakeland florida

 

toyo3 said:

I've had a lot of BMW owners that refused to have their cars towed by my wheel lift, I can imagine what they would think if this guy showed up? They would always call back the motor club to request a carrier. Many of them were spoiled crybabies. I can do just as much with my wheel lift that a carrier can do except tow two cars at one time. Like Kenneth says "The Impossible Just Takes A Little Longer!"If da watah wasn't rough.
Void when gone fishing!
Ahui hou gotta go, Shane

 

Bighook18 said:

I think a few guys touched on it, but without worrying about further body damage.. what about the transmission?!!
It is pretty safe to say it isnt a total...so now the trans is junk too.. wow.
Glad its not my name on that truck!!
Keep your heads on straight guys!

Todd Pell

 

Tom said:

ok guys look at the number 718 That is a NYC chase truck what the guys would do if your on dart/rotow is sup up those chevys with 454 ss big fat tires
and run wrecks so to stop that NY state put in a 8,500 pound on the trucks well the guy step up to 2500 or 3500 trucks single wheels with tint glass
and hide away booms in the bed of the truck that the way they do it in NYC you see those wreck runners all over,,,

 

EdsTowing said:

The first thing that I thought after "there goes the radiator" was the $5000 transmission failure that will be blamed on the wreck or the body shop when it fails.....

 

nytowboss said:

hell back in the day there were guys running aroung with el caminos and ford rancheros with booms like that. by the way they are call BED A CRANES and there still are plenty of them around there was a guy in queens ny who had a cadi esclade with the boom in the back

 

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