WRECKER SERVICE

Any of you tow truck operators? I live in a small town population arox 13,000, currently have 3 towing companies with 2 doing the majority of the business, all 3 are on police rotation and take turns on police calls, I previously ran a small auto salvage and used an older rollback to move my own cars around, I enjoyed getting the cars pretty much and am thinking about purchasing a newer rollback and starting a commercial service, what is y/O/ur opinion? could it be profitable? whats the best rig for the money starting out? is it worth the headache?

Wrecker companies make money from human suffering.

I'll get right back at you op I've been running g a tow truck for 4 years now. Just rolled up on a call so I'll come back with answers once I'm done with this one

That's not true, you can't just leave your car on the side of the road mangled all to hell
excellent! I anxiously await

>what is y/O/ur opinion?
your market is saturated, also taking the 3am midwinter car in a ditch call sucks balls.

>could it be profitable?
maybe?, you need to run the numbers.

Well that was easier than expected. Smack starter car starts.

>wheel lift v flatbed
Both are good and both have differnt calls they are better for.

There's only 3 reasons to not out something on a wheel lift.
>stinger clearance
>awd and vehicle too heavy for dollies
>cars with fucked suspension. Broken control arms/ball joints
If you do not care about damage none.of that matters.

Only reason I don't put shit on a flatbed is I can't get a line on the car and I can't get the car to my truck. Again if damage is not a concern I could make it work.

Roll overs are easier with a wrecker but can be done with a flatbed you just need more room.

IF you own your own truck it CAN be very profitable. Your biggest hurdle will be getting a customer base in a town that small. Try hitting up local shops and dealers to see if you can get a deal running calls for them that customers want to get there but don't know a tow truck.

They just put a Collison call on me so I gotta.run but will check back later maybe bring pic if it's a good one.

t. 18 year old who drifted his BRZ into a fence and neighbor's tree

Yes building the customer base is a concern, however I do know most people in one way or another have bought scrap cars from them or sold them parts or something, one of the top guys right now gets requested a lot I hear on the police scanner he has been at it about 8 years....not sure what it would take to convince people to request me instead

Back again that was not a very good wreck. That guy who gets requested because he gets there fast and knows what the fuck he is doing. So he can load shit fast. That's what the cops want. Here the tow company's that have an in with the cops have cheerys and sirens. They can just flip.on the fuck you move lights and book.

For private tows you wanna load and tow thats where the money is. For me I'm hourly and get a bonus based on calls run per month. It's better to get shit started so they can drive to the shop or get it loaded fast so I can run more calls. If you can get fucked up cars fast that makes cops happy. If your cool with local shops they will recommend you for same reason and the ships I'm cool with ill.drop in bays or where they want.

Dealers who get shitty with where I put stuff piss me off. I drop broken ball joints infront of their quick service bays at night just to fuck that service writer over every chance I get.

If you run a shop and your cool I'll do everything I can to put the car where you want. If you a dick I will.go out of my way to make that as much of a bitch as possible for you.

>not sure what it would take to convince people to request me instead

Years of persistantly staying on their radar while you wait for the other guy to die or retire.

I meant he gets requested by the owners of the vehicles not the cops, if its a collision and the car owner has no preference they just go with who ever is next in rotation, but I understand what your saying being quick would be beneficial, 2 of the 3 company's are based closed to town while one is about a 20 minute drive form the city limits and no one ever ask for him and I almost think they skip him on rotation sometimes because of it

Sorry for the delay I'm at work so shit posting and driving is hard.

That guy most likely has tow shit for the people who request him or someone they know. Same reasons though he knows how to do shit. Can load it fast and without fucking g it up worse than it is. Not sure how small.town politics play into this.

To give you an idea of where I work ill.tell you where im at. Its fucking huge coverage.

Look up st louis MO on google. I run as far north as florrisant as far south as arnold and as far west as chesterfield. I sometimes do shit farther out than that but that's not a regular thing. I also run IL sometimes if they want me on that side of the river.

Forgot to answer your first question. Getting a used wrecker with a boom,stinger and two winiches will probably be the cheapest way in with you being able to do almost anything. You can do anything with a wrecker but it will.involve getting creative and towing shit not how you should. If nothing breaks then it's no problem.

I would start with local shops and dealers to try and build customer base. Hopefully if you are nice and do good work word of mouth will do the rest since you are in fairly small town. I just have no experience with the small town bullshit.

About to go on a long haul.to pick one up in imperial and take it who knows where so I might not be back for a while.

Do it and put out ads online for a cash for clunkers program.
Low ball everyone $100. Repair and resell what you can, part out what you can't.

Tow Op here.

Not to be a pessimist, but unless you have a considerable amount of experience and know what the fuck your doing, which means a hookup more complicated then a J hook through the wheel, you're going to have a bad time.

First and foremost. Trucks. Whats your budget? A flatbed specced for simple calls will still run close to 100K new and will be beat right to shit doing police calls with any winching or rolling. Used flatbeds that are cheap, say 15K, are going to have hour meters that will be in the 500-600K range and will be absolutely beat to piss, probably with a winch about to explode and a bed with a fucked sub frame.

Wreckers are e-z mode, and anyone who learned in one first, and learned right, will like them infinitely more then a flatbed. I do. The problem, of course, comes down to what kind of wheel lift system you use, and what you can even legally use. IMO, the best wheel lift system is the Vulcan strapless as I think its more versatile then anything else. If you plan to run accidents, then an autoloader is just asking for trouble as they become hard to chain grab. vehicles without risking damage to your own truck.

The best piece of advice I think I can give though, is you know what your trucks limits are and stay within them. Older units are over built as fuck and will tow a metric fuckton more then their designed to. For example, I drive a 3 ton truck, but you can bet I could lift and tow a regular truck from the front if it was an emergency.

The single biggest problem you'll have though, is yourself. You've gotta respond at all hours of the day, not just when you want to. Pissing people off doesn't get you anywhere, and a bad attitude at 3am isn't good either.

When it comes to Police calls, you have to know when to give and take and what they'll let you do without getting someone pissed off. There's a time and a place to stick to your guns and a time and place to just do whatever the cop says. Continued.

OP here, I have towed well over 100 cars usually just by hooking around the A frames or rearend depending on which direction the vehickes was facing BUT there were all junk cars that I purchased and were never on the road again so who know f I fucked anything up although I always tried to be cautious, the guy who is doing the majority of the business in my town now had no tow truck experience prior to buying a truck and opening for business.... as far as I know he never had any formal training , I however would be willing to attend a wreck master school and learn all I could, currently I couldn't afford both a wrecker and a rollback so I assume I would be buying a rollback to start with as its more versatile, and I fell you on the all hours bullshit im not crazy about that but im interested in being self employed im 31 years old, some background in auto business so towing may fit me well, im not sure

On the note of police calls, EVERYONE charges more for them, because, well , you can. Unless its illegal, then waa. You also can't be afraid of backing away from something that is going to cost you a lot of money with no profit. If the cops want you to fish something out of a pond that has no plates or VIN numbers attach, you aren't getting paid for that shit, and you need to drive away unless someone agrees, in writing, to pick up the bill and store it themselves. Remember, your in this to make money, not do things for free.

Equipment is the next big thing. Flatbed and wreckers carry pretty much the same equipment, but with a few differences. Shared equipment is chains of various lengths, largely grade 7, but each truck carries a few smaller grade 8 chains, normally for tiedowns. A few different chain binders, ratchet and break over style, broom, shovel, empty pale, some fluid absorbant in old windshield washer jugs, different lengths of hardwood (Gotta be hard wood) and straps and ratchets.

Unique equipment for my flatbed (That isn't brand specific) would be my chain J hook bridle for hook ups, normal J hooks with chains, several chains with grab and T hooks. Wheel straps, axle straps, flat grabhook straps with T, R, Mini J and grab hooks.

For my wrecker, I keep a full tool kit with a 330 piece wrench set, all kinds of pliers, a roll of duct tape, a smaller 50 piece ratchet set, a set of common 12 point sockets for drive shafts, hammer and some straps.

This is what I keep in my trucks, because I find my area calls for that. You might be different and not need anything close to what I carry. You'll quickly find yourself buying more tools as you run into jobs that require them.

In the end, the only thing best piece of advice I can give is to remember that every call is different, and to never, ever EVER fall into normalcy. Its whats killed countless operators over the years and will continue to do so.

Good luck, hooker.

Orignal.tow bro back again just drove 30miles to pop start a car.

This bro brought up many things I had assumed you might already know. I was wrong for thinking this and I can tell.this dude has towed some shit.

I wish I hadn't recently cleared my phone. I have some good pics of cars in ditches, really cool shit I've towed, and some nasty wrecks. That will have to wait till I'm off and at home on my pc later.

I also wish you best of luck. I do this for no other reason than I like it and I don't have a boss on my ass all day. I grab the truck and am left alone pretty much my whole shift. If someone paid me to do somethingelse that didn't involve standing outside in shit weather for better pay I would switch jobs.

Pic for you fellow tow bro

>Wrecker companies make money from human suffering.
No. Your statement indicates wreckers cause more suffering. Tow companies alleviate suffering by offering a solution. There are those car owners who could think of tow truck operators as causing more suffering.

Such people are:
a. Schadenfreude sociopaths who purposely wanted the wrecked vehicle to remain there to block the road.
b. Sociopaths who want the vehicle to clutter the side of the road and increase problems for other people.
c. Sociopaths who do not want the problem of the wrecked vehicle to be solved. Situations such as insurance and lawsuits typically need the wrecked vehicle to be moved to an examination center.
d. Sociopaths who want the wrecked vehicle to remain there as their "monument" to the world. Really, it's more like a finger poke in the eye, but that's how sociopaths are. If they can't cause others to have misfortune, they at least want others to keep looking at examples of misfortune in hopes of decreasing joy in the daily lives of other people.

Biker wave
>your on a bike
>I'm on a buke
>bikes are cool

Tow bro wave
>your in a tow truck
>I'm in a tow truck
>this rain is shit
>I hope all your calls have keys, steer and roll
>later bro

Yeah, what are exorbitant storage fees compounded daily when some poor bast ardent is inna hospital?
You people are vampires.

look forward to any advice, or pics, situations you want to share.... how old are you by the way? how did you learn this trade what compelled you to do it?

Still at work but it has died down.

I was 22 when I started and I'm 26 now. Got into it pure chance. Was in school.for computer shit and said fuck this it's too expensive. Dad told me that's fine of you don't wanna go to school but you gonna have a job if you live here.

My cousin was towing at the time. He got me an interview and they hired me/trained me. I think i rode with another guy for about a month b4 they sent me out on my own. I drive a AAA fleet tow truck. Honestly if you have keys the car rolls and steers it's fucking Ez to tow shit. That said you can do big damage by hooking stuff up wrong. I'm off in like two hours ill dump some pics of shit I've towed when I get home.

How do you tow a car out of the ditch when it has no tow hook points accessible in the front? If you use that tow cable with a hook on any part of the suspension, it will wreck that suspension part. Or is that okay since the suspension is already ruined by going into the ditch?

Ok just got home from work so ill answer your questions. grabbed a beer so I've got some time.

That is a per call decision.
There are alot of different things to each car in each ditch.
>How steep is the ditch
>What kind of angle am I pulling at
>How beefy is the shit made on this car

best way out is straight out the way it went in. that is not always possible though

Pic related

as you can see that strap is wrapped around the lower control arm near where it bolts into the frame. I ended up pulling this one up far enough so i could get to the actual tow points then switched to my bridle to pull it the rest of the way out by where you are supposed to hook.

Usually if I can't get to proper tow points I tell the person I can probably get it but you have to understand that something might end up broken or bent cause I can't get to the proper tow points. If you are still cool with that sigh here and I will do my best to get it out without messing your car up. They don't want that and I don't want that. This also depends on the person some people just expect you to be able to get their car out of places a car shouldn't be without messing anything up.

Inc dump might take a little because alot of my images are to big for Veeky Forums so I gotta downsize b4 I post.

...

...

both sides the front suspension was completely fucked. this car barely steered. Got it out with only a love kiss on the that fire hydrant and I told that lady it was gonna hit something on the way out since it wont steer b4 i even hooked up.

...

this one actually came out pretty easy and almost completely undamaged. Some scratches to the paint on the drivers side but not a single dent. hooked the real tow points had the guy get in and steer while i pulled it out came out right how it went in.

Here's an example of making it work.

>Wheel MIA
>my ball joint skate wont give enough clearance to get it on the truck without scraping the ever loving fuck out of it
>Hey I've got some tire skates and a wheel chuck that might work

How did that car end up there?
Steering bust while driving?

Big comfy bed of vegetation.

nothing special on this one this lady just managed to hit a sign mount so hard she busted her face on the steering wheel and broke the frame of her Taurus. She also asked if it was fixable. I was forced to tell her that car was done.

forgot pic

that car got up there cause old lady driver. Only reason I could figure out. Most of the time I dont even ask anymore cause people lie and make up bullshit excuses about what happened all the time

didn't tow this one but I found it at the backyard mechanic in the hood where I was taking the car I had. saw the wheels and told the dude sir that is not what a mustang should look like.

He told me
>hold up ill pull it out for ya I love this thing.

Steel street plate claims lowered colorado

2/3

You're in CO?

3/3

no the truck
>chebby Colorado

You paid $800 to get this out of Impound and you think a body shop can fix it?

1/2

>lowered chevy colorado
What the fuck.

blew the main hydro line in these guys impound lot

notice 5gal of hydro fluid on the right

I hate wheel offs that don't damage the rotor enough to just drag them. Realistically it should be replaced, but people don't realize that and freak out.

That's a nice looking... Vulcan? though. Are those rails removable or the crappy fixed ones?

This is way to fucking big and heavy to be on this poor truck. was sketchy driving this beast

I think they are just bolted on. we have so many different trucks and beds I dont even know which one is on what truck.

>Prius takes out jaywalker

Old lady drives into a brick building.

>car still in building when I get there
>Does it still start?
>Yea
>Start it throw in reverse
>back out into street where I can load

1/3

That does look a bit scary for the flatbed's wheels. So much pressure.

My phone really needs to chill the fuck out with the size and quality of pictures it takes. Everything needs to be cropped and shrank to be posted on 4chin

1/3 forgot pic first time

Those tires are more than adequate for the job. They're duals after all.

2/3
yea I have the same problem why I just downsize shit in Paint since im at home now

3/3 potato quality

>I just downsize shit in Paint since im at home now
Glad I'm not the only photoshop master on this board >:D

hehe that truck is on leaf springs with an aluminium bed. that's a diesel f250. Told them it was to much for the truck but if it fits it ships.

Now for some of the cool shit

As the name implies, 3 of 4 wheels actually made contact with the ground. Shitty old Taurus hit the tree so hard it cracked and bent the unibody hard enough to leave it like that. Made it a bastard to pull out of the ditch, and even harder to tie down

>mfw I put more effort to drive 15 mins at 3AM then the scrapper did to go down the highway over an hour with it

Also, last post, must sleep. Maybe more tomorrow.

2/2

I have no idea what this thing is but its old as fuck and british.

found a better pick of the frame on the Taurus

Inc dump to go with this story
>Get call for a 60's ferrari 330 on the side of the highway
>roll up get it loaded
>ok dude where we going with it
>We going to my warehouse
>sure dude prolly has like 6 cars in there
>NOPE.gif
>This dude meant his fucking warehouse of cars

I own a body shop and have a rollback that I use for personal use and really easy customer tows.

I only suggest 1 thing: CAB OVER.

I had never driven one before I purchased, I bought a super used one with 400k miles, thing runs great and gives me no grief. Diesels run forever so don't be afraid of the odometer if its been well cared for.

Personally, the only way I can imagine it would be profitable would be if you owned a few trucks and had a crew of tards running around picking up shit for repo, roadside for the state/city or hauling for insurance salvage yards. Guy I bought my rig from said he was driving insurance totals for 8-10hrs a day and was making about 80k/yr. He was paid per vehicle delivered.

Isuzu FTR is a great rig to look into. I strongly suggest buying used and learning your rig, doing your own maint. before you jam into a new rig.

1/?

2/?

3/?

cab overs are good trucks but fuck do they bounce your ass around alot.

4/?

5/?

he had firetruck

AND A TANK? not really sure what that thing was

last one for this dude and his warehouse.

apparently he said everything in there ran besides the Ferrari I just towed back

40's army jeep

Damn.

not sure what this thing was either.

What tow truck is that? I want that thing bad, mines too big

What do you mean that isn't a road

R is for reverse. this pic doesn't really show but that is a straight drop down about 9ft. lady was at the bar.
>Can you get it back on the road my husband doesn't know I'm here.

it's a Hino 195. It's an ok truck, turbo 4banger life. super sketchy in the snow because its so fucking light.

1/3

2/3

3/3

I green texted this story yesterday
got a couple stories in that thread.

last one for me I've got some other shit to do.

>Big truck on a cab over.

Hope you all enjoyed the dump. I know there has to be at least a few other tow bros around with pics and stories.

Original op here, I thoroughly enjoyed waking up to find all these stories and pictures on here, hope you find time to share more with us later today..also a few questions

>do you have CDL's (are they reuired for those trucks)

>do you have a book of some sort that shows tow points? or do you just look for them?

>have you ever damaged a customer vehicle and had them complain?

First post and big bump user back again. Just woke up I've got family shit to do but ill answer a few questions before I leave for that.

>do you have CDL's (are they reuired for those trucks)
not sure I only have a class E but the trucks have air brakes so I think we get by with some loophole on truck weight to not need the CDL.
these pics are not mine but I would bet this guy does have a CDL


>do you have a book of some sort that shows tow points? or do you just look for them?
I have a book that shows tons of Tow info on cars. I dont ever use it since I've have been at it for a while I just look in the common places where they should be to find them. If its double stamped you can put a hook in it. All tow slots on the frame pretty much look the same just are in sligtly different places per car.
>Under the front bumper on jap stuff these are my favorite easy to find easy to grab.
>Behind the front wheels on the frame or near the pinch weld.
>Infront of front wheels or in wheel well.
>I hate loading shit backwards so I hardly do it unless there is no other way. Brings up different clearance issues with my truck and shit with spoils were not meant for wind to go over them backwards at highway speeds same with side mirrors. Most cars have hooks on the back side too.
there are some cars that have holes that look like tow hooks right next to the actual tow hooks.

>have you ever damaged a customer vehicle and had them complain?
yes

>Popped an oil pan on a mustang by hooking it up wrong
>kissed a curb with a Porsche once (no power steering and I didn't wanna thread the truck through the porsche dealer lot)
>Vette with a bodykit and carbon fiber air lip on the front bumper. (winch cable ground a grove in the lip even with ramps onto the bed)

all those were from when I was still a rookie and I owned up to the damage because I'm not a fucking liar and thats what happened. we have some drivers who would lie even if they broke something.

>AND A TANK? not really sure what that thing was
Ferret armoured car.

All those old cars, just sitting there unviewed, hoarded by some boomer...

Very commendable on manning up on the damage, don't your hooks or I guess what your calling a bridle have a nylon strap as to keep the winch cable off the bumper? I bought one that was nearly worn out from a local tow company when I was buying some of there junks that storage fees had eat up and the nylon broke and I made a new deal using the same hooks but replaced the nylon with chains and fastened it with cold shuts and a little spot of weld

The bridle is cloth with hooks at the end. But when you hook up to some cars behind the wheels it's far enough back that the hook at the end of the cable is under the car where you connect the bridle. Normally not a problem unless the car is super low. But that was not a stock example of a car.

At the folks house now so don't have anymore pics to dump. Will check back everyonce in a while

This is what I'm talking about when i say bridle. This is what hooks to the car and the you hook the winch to the end of that teardrop ring.

This just a random pic I don't use one with the monster J hooks. My cluster has mini J, T, and R hooks on it.

Plz tell me you used chain rated for towing stuff not just some chain you had. When you made yours

it was actually just some chains I had, but ive brought over 100 cars, trucks, vans many with no wheels and mangled all to hell with no problem yet so I guess they are ok but probably need to be replaced, but honesty I haven't bought a junk vehicle in several months scrap prices in it the shitter and I just don't sell enough parts to warrant staying open really time to try something different

Yea for scrap cars that's not a big deal.

But remember that if that chain snaps that car is gone. I've had a cable snap on me once. the car was barley up the bed and parked against a curb so it didn't get to far. the curb stopped it. I also had a safety strap on the control arm cause the winch had been making weird noises all day. Had there been nothing there and no catch strap. that shit is fucking gone and smashing whatever is behind it.

I always try to add a safety chain to something on my Junkers, as well as putting them in park and usually stick a wheel chock under a wheel lol

Are you me lol

I would hope not since I am me. Who knows though

>Wrecker companies make money from human suffering.
Depends on how you typically encounter them. People who only see them for "tow to impound" or "tow from illegally parked spot" of course only see them as adding more punishment. But for most people, tow trucks are a necessary appreciated help.

Otherwise, you might as well say gasoline stations make money from human suffering. If you don't pay, your car refuses to work. That is extortion! Criminal! How dare they extort money from me just to make my car work!

I was listening to the police scanner yesterday (Christmas eve) there was a report of a intoxicated woman who parked her car and left with someone, the car was blocking a drive, cop came, car had no insurance and expired plate, he called for a tow truck, tow truck arrived at the same time the owner did back at the car, she was not impaired just out of gas, she didn't have any money to pay the tow truck driver so he took the car back to his lo with him, shit like that is kind of sad, but i understand that he needed to be paid for making the trip..

Bumping with my old junk hauling truck, happen to be using it for farm purposes this day.

If locked out of a car, is it better to get a locksmith to unlock the car? Or will a tow truck operator be able to unlock the car more or less equally well?

I would only assume a locksmith would be more suited to the task as his entire profession is opening locked things and installing locks ect, however I have a lockout kit I carry behind the seat of my old rollback I was using for the junkyard and have yet to encounter a locked door I couldn't eventually open with it

If you're really interested in it, pick up a newer ram 5500 and go owner op for one of the big companies.

Most everything can be unlocked by a skilled tow truck operator. Some vehicles like the Land rovers have electronic lockouts and security systems so they're best just hauled to the dealer.

Not on him. The officer takes control of the vehicle and must stay with it in that case. Once the truck is dispatched it's pretty much too late. Add the fact that if it hits the bed it's his and she wasn't going to win.

Also why would she block a driveway with a disabled vehicle and not notify someone at the place?

Dually noted and agreed
I don't live close enough to a major city to work for a large company as owner operator, also im not a fan of dodge trucks they used to be pretty shitty trucks I had several in the junkyard with bad trannys and what not, have they improved??

No I can get into just about anything.
2nd. It's 2000+bmw I don't mess with. It's not worth the dmg rush getting in. I have gotten into a 14 range rover.

What does an average tow cost where you guys are lets say just a simple fender bender and you tow it to the persons home 10 miles away? also what do your yards get per day for storage fee?

$4 a mile for me to drive to you
$55 to put it on the truck
$4 a mile for where you are going

also on this same note what is the protocol for collecting payment, do you back up to where your going to drop the car and then bounce them for the money or do you unload it and then discus the money (I assume not)? have you ever took a vehicle to someone's destination and then learn they didn't have the money? what happens next?