What would you do "safety discussion 5"

[TowZone]

 

ESC said:

No way.... I would use my 2011 Dodge 5500 84" CA MPL40. Wheel lift from rear, in a real jam or for the PD I would use the wheel lift shown... again grab it from the rear.  Prefer a car on the deck, but would grab it empty for emergency tow.

 

NationalAutow said:

I will be anxious to hear what others see and say. Assuming weight on the wheel lift is OK, I do not see a problem at first glance. Wheel straps and tow lights look like good. I am a little confused about the chains that run from the bed to the wheel lift.

 

TowZone said:

This image was sent to me. But I would say the chains keep the wheel lift straight otherwise the vehicle could slide to one side on the other on the bed.

 

MidwestTowing 1985 said:

Reminds me of a story a driver for a council bluffs iowa tow company told me one day when he was picking up a vehicle at our shop. It starts with him spotting a trailer hitch adapter for a wheel lift,he then says, we need some of those for our flat beds, he then proceeds to tell me that a few weeks ago he was sent 25 miles down I-29 to pick up a jeep, he said he was told nothing about a trailer, but when he gets to the jeep it has a trailer with it, when he calls back to his dispatcher, he is told to bring it if he can, and to charge extra for it.So being a percentage driver he loads the jeep, and when he can not find any way to hook the trailer to the crossbar, he slides the bed back and down enough to hook the trailer back up to the jeep again and down the interstate he went, he said .he made it about half the way back when he got pulled over by the DOT . He said the officer was mad as heck, he did not understand, it was working good, also said he got a stack of tickets.

 

aztecatowingllc said:

It looks like nothing would keep the wood from moving one way or the other. I would also think unless it's a crew cab, true medium duty chassis the faw would be way off with the right dip or bump. I will say whomever that is definitely put some effort into what's shown. Wouldn't be my preferred way to do it but may have not been theirs either. Thanks for posting

 

Moores BP said:

Not the way I would have done it. That being said it would appear that this driver was trying to do the best that they knew how with what they had to work with. Looks like a lot of effort and thought went into it.

 

Sirknucklehead said:

At first glance I thought it was pretty secure, not the way I would prefer to haul it, but secure........then I saw the 2x6 boards under the tires and I believe they would walk out on you, no way to get them tight enough not to move. I wonder about the underside of the vehicle as well hitting the bed. Don't know, I suppose it worked for him. I don't think it's that unsafe though, aside from the 2x6's. At least he had the safety lights on the back.

 

Oldtower said:

Personaly I would load with drive axle on wheel lift. the way i see that i would  be afraid of flexing car body to much.get it to safety and get appropriate truck to complet job.

 

NationalAutow said:

I totally missed the boards.

We do not know the length of the limo or the bed length of the truck. I don't know but I don't think most limos are about 20' wheelbase. I base that assumption on the fact that I hauled a 1956 8 door Cadillac limo once on a 21' Vulcan. I put the front tires in chain wells and rear tires had 2 or 3 inches left over at the end of the bed.

Before I get slammed for it, bed was not in bed locks but limo frame was chained to truck chassis and tow lights were used. 1956 Cadillacs had enough clearance below the radiator to ride over the winch. I think I posted pictures here about 5 years ago. It was the Horseshoe Casino limo they have used in ads. It is parked in front of their Tunica casino.

Regarding the one in the picture, I would wonder if there was any way possible to do what I did? I felt it was safe. It did make the front end light but we went slow and careful. If the one in the picture is a 19 foot bed, the wheelbase of the chassis is likely shorter also. That would make it even lighter on the steers, in my opinion.

Carl4tow said:

I would not do it looks like rear wheel drive linlcon drive shaft would hit the bed and you'd have too watch the swing when turning

 

RandyR said:

Have to be pretty hungry to do that.  I would just say "No".  Landoll would work good.

 

Fetch said:

Looks like a wheel lift job to me. If there's no counterweight on the bed, throw a chain over it and load bind to assist the bed locks.

I don't see any compression on the boards, or springs, so it looks like the frame is resting on the bed (to me anyways).

 

BlackAutoload said;

Salvage haul only if the front end was messed up BAD.

 

Shuman Services said:

The wheel lift is being used essentially as a tie down point, it doesn't appear to have any weight on it at all. NOT the proper way to tow a limo!

 

PlanBtransport said:

I would have done it without the boards under the rear tires, let the rear tires ride in the wheel lift, strap it down and go. If the angle was too steep I would have blocked the front wheels to raise the nose and get rid of some of the angle, and tied it down appropriately.
Or just wheel lift it from the rear and call it a day.

 

melville said:

not the proper way to tow but aside from the probable damage to the undercarriage I have seen this done out of my yard before.

 

Lantz70 said:

eh,made it work.looks secure,towlights.

 

[goodmichael]

And that is why everyone sees their insurance rates increase every year. Let me ask you one question. Would you want your wife and children to be behind this person at any distance?