The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Big Bolt Tow Truck-anyone try it?

Hey guys, I have a question or two. I own an auto repair shop and I am thinking a getting a tow truck. I have a tow dolly that is completely worn out and I am thinking of upgrading. Has anyone tried a wheel lift wrecker on a big bolt. I have a '49 6400 that is in rock solid shape. I have seen the slide in pick-up bed style wheel lift setups on ebay in the $3000 range. I thought about converting one to use on my 6400, but they honestly look a little flimsy. Some friends thought I could use dump bed to make a half assed roll back wrecker, but I think a car would sit WAY too high. I have seen some Ford super duty F450 short wheel base wreckers around town and I think a similar sized 6400 would look great. I know a 6400 has limitations in top speed, etc, but I have hauled two tons with this truck and felt confident with the brakes. I plan to tow only in town so the 235 should be fine. Any ideas? I am open to opinions. Thanks guys

Hy davesmith, I think you could probably find a good rollback deck with a wheelift, and it would look/work great. That is what I'm going to do with my 57 8400, good luck with it whatever you choose to do.

Most rollbacks are at least 20' long and need an approximate 120" + CA. That makes them hard to maneuver in the city and especially so on an old truck without power steering. Wheel lifts can be put on any short wheelbase truck of 60" CA or longer so that is a benefit. In an auto repair business your vehicles would all be rollers at least so having a R-O doesn't sound necessary to me. But I'd stay away from the "flimsy" offshore wheelers and look for an old Century or Holmes wrecker with one you could put on your 6400. Plus you'd have the tow or recovery booms and winches. It would really be a neat setup. My advice (a former wrecker dealer) is don't get hung up on the looks thing but think about how it is to be used and what you really need, i.e., what cars do you work on? Old Buick beasts that weight 6600 lbs or FWD Mazda's that weigh 3000 lbs. One last thing..if $3000 is your budget then please just do yourself a favor and forget the whole thing. Good Luck.

Thanks. I think I want the short wheel base type wrecker. Everything I tow with the dolly has to be a roller so nothing changes there. Most cars I work on weigh wheel under two tons, but it would be nice to tow a full size truck if the need came up. I have a pto on the trans for my current dump bed. I am assuming I can keep that setup for the next pump. Some of the more simple wreckers I have seen have two control. In and out-up and down. I am trying to get a simple rig because I doubt I'll use it more than a few times a week. Budget.......ouch. Stupid economy! I have access to steel, large cnc plasma torch cutting machines, experienced welders, and a genius engineer cousin. I am somewhat inspired by a tough old broad that runs Discount Wrecker here in Tulsa. She claims to have designed the bed she needed and had it built. In short, if I did the fabrication and design and install surely I could keep the budget in the $3000 range......maybe? Then again, should I buy a beat up holmes or century bed, and modify it to fit my truck? Seems like all the used beds in my price range are in New Jersey! Am I on a fools errand? But, I think this truck finished and working would be sooooo cool. I really think it could be a rolling advertisement for my shop. Lets do it guys!

I drove a 48 Chevrolet COE back in the 1950's and 1960's and there are a few things that I remember that might help.

Firstly, with a wheel lift or conventional body, what happens when you lift a towed vehicle is that you take weight off of the front axle. The effect is worse on a short wheelbase than it is on a longer wheelbase. Our COE was wonderful for maneuvereability, but I couldn't pick up as much as a conventional cab could. The problem didn't show up on cars and light trucks, but it did when larger trucks were towed. I remember one big GMC Dump Truck that I brought in from about 20 miles out where my front tires only touched the road about every three feet unless I touched the brakes.

The lighter weight on the front axle had a couple of other peculiarities also. On the good side, steering got easier when you were loaded.

On the bad side was the fact that the kingpins were installed with Torrington Thrust Bearings, not brass washers. When there was a little wear in the area and you hit a railroad truck, pot hole or good sized bump, you would get a shimmy that would threaten to take the steering wheel out of your hands. The only thing to do was to stop and then start up again. We tried Brass Thrust Washers, but it was too hard to steer, so we went back to the Torrington Bearings, drove a little more carefully and replaced them more often.

I didn't mention it, but we had a Holmes Traffic King double boomed wrecker on the truck and it had a 134" wheelbase. It was a model 5403.

I'm not trying to say not to do it, just telling you what to expect.

I had a barrelful of fun driving the wrecker and learned how to retrieve just about anything on wheels. It was a real intellectual challenge to figure out how to get a large truck back on its wheels and out of the ditch without collapsing a boom or breaking a cable and I managed to survive both of those calamities without killing myself.

You really need to determine what the limits of your use will be. If you will not be doing any recoveries then you do not need the booms & winch that a wrecker has, all you would need is a wheel lift. I would not go with a pickup type wheel lift though, while you may find them cheapest I would believe that this is not an area to skimp on as it will just wear out if not designed well.

You may be able to get a used wheel lift from a wrecked wrecker. or if you look you can find a full bed for a decent price. Ebay has four from $1500 to $2500 for the full bed w/wheel lift, winch, and boom. Everything you would need. They are in TN,NY, & CA ... if you keep watching stuff shows up relatively close eventually. Keep an eye on Craigslist as well.

You also said you have a lot of equipment for fabrication, you could make your own wheel lift to your own specs. You would need engineering knowledge(actual schooling) to design it safely though.

Last thing to consider(or perhaps first) would be to call your insurance agent and see what it will cost you to run your truck. You may also want to call the State Patrol and run the idea by them to see what commercial vehicle requirements you will now fall under. There may be a lot more involved to be legal.

Tad

If your not going to use it that much and you want to use it for advertising. Mount a period correct Holmes 515,525 or a W35 on it with a 540 towing cradle.

I have considered most of these issues to my credit. Usually I like to just grab a wrench and get with the program! I think I will call the oklahoma dot to find out if it would be legal before I go much farther. And no, I won't be doing recoveries so a simple wrecker is what I plan on. I am really thinking of just buying a used bed. The only problem is my best friend just about got sick when I told him what I planned to do. He almost insists I need to buy another big bolt just for this project. The truck now has a cool 16 foot "obeco" dump bed on it currently. For some reason my friends love the fact that I own a dump truck.LOL Anyone else have this "problem."

Let me make an alternative suggestion- - - - -how about installing a wheel-lift boom, but lifting it with the conventional cable winch? Find a period-correct wrecker bed for the chassis, and install a modern wheel lift under the rear. Since you're not planning on doing a high volume of towing, or any recovery work, it's possible to hand-adjust the boom, or even use an electric-hydraulic setup for extending the wheel lift in preparation for towing, then use the cable winch to do the lifting. Just hook the winch cable to the wheel lift instead of using the old style sling and A-frame cradle.
Jerry

This is funny I am planning/getting parts to build this exact same truck. I bought a older century 412 bed which is a dual cable with a wheel lift. I have a wrecker service and I want to use the truck for a rolling billboard. It will also be on a later chassis with a diesel and all the comforts of a newer vehicle. Now I just have to put all the parts together. I also know where a dynamic repo bed is if I go that route.
Thanks
Brad

Check out Portland OR. craigslist, there is a cherry all black 53 GMC 5 window tow truck. Not mine.

Boone, I really appreciate the heads up. I do have to make a bit of a jerk of myself. I hope this doesn't sound too much like a personal attack, and I really hope he's not a member. I doubt I would ever blast a fellow big bolter for any reason. That being said....... First it looks like a beautiful truck. I respect just how much effort it takes to restore any antique vehicle. But.....I can not stand bucket seats and carpet in an antique truck...especially a big bolt. Two the guy wants $23,000 for the truck. Who am I to say that's too high......But he then says he won't take less than $18,000. Now why in the hell would anyone offer more than $18,000! Charity? Oh, he seems like a nice guy and it's a nice truck lets just give him and extra FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS! Also the truck is a sling type wrecker so as a truck you could actually tow with, you would be limited. On the plus side it gives me an idea what my truck would look like with a late fairly late model wrecker bed. Am I out of line?

david i know alot about this subject, maybe i can help you out. i own and operate a 1966 chevy c60 so long as you keep it well maintained a bolt is a great tow truck. here are some link's to photos of my truck

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arizmendiracing/sets/72157625802167701/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arizmendiracing/sets/72157625791737621/

Thanks. That's a good looking old rig. I'm sure it gets lots of compliments

Dave, Check out my webshots albums, on the links below, & you'll see my Vintage Holmes Wreckers. That truck of yours would look great, with a period correct Holmes Wrecker unit, with "Chariot" style service body, then add a modern cable operated wheel lift like Alex the mader has, & you're good to go, as far as towing late model vehicles. I've added a Kooima Kar Karrier cable operated wheel lift, as Alex has, on my 1988 Holmes 600 Wrecker. It works great. You'll also see I had the same Kooima Wheel lift on the Petty Blue F*rd F700 Holmes 600 I had. You'll see a rear view shot of it, on my webshots. The good thing about these old twin boom mechanical Wreckers, is you can do much more with them, than tow cars. i've split my booms, & pulled them to the side to pull engines, lift heavy objects, etc. i never liked the looks of a modern Wrecker unit, on a Vintage Truck.

i have a 79 autocar 4x4 with a 77 ashton 15 ton wrecker with a 30,000 lb. deck winch. it is powered by a 238 detroit inline six with 8 speed tranny. it has been restored and has only 27,000 miles on it.

Jim,

I'd like to see a picture of the A-car...

Mike B

Thanks for the input guys. Yes please get some pics of the Autocar. I promised the wife I would get the "rent house" fixed before I take on this kind of project. lol. She right, I'm going six hundred a month in the hole while the house just sits empty. I drove the my '49 yesterday for the first time in a month or so. Sure felt good.