Wrecker wishlist of mods

[red]

Great mod, mimics a Holmes setup for a much cheaper price and less equipment to buy. I like how the wood is secured to the plate bracket.

How wide is the plate?

 

[73m819]

The H beam is 9" because a deuce bumper is 9", to have H beam 10" to match a 5 ton bumper would make it hard to rig on a deuce bumper because of the way the securing chains are rigged. The fixture fits inside of the lift brackets. My main mod is going to be extending the top lip to make it easier to rig.

 

[73m819]

You do know that you can shorten the towbar without using a cutting torch right? Band saw, or pipe cutter should work with no heating problems then just redrill the outer leg holes. Also the shorter bar will be stronger when fully collapsed than the stock length.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I had thought of this way to go then after some thought, I realized that with this idea there is a lot of work just to get a short 39,000 lb. rated tb., getting a newer 4 part 83,000 lb. tb. not only gives me a short tb. but one that is rated for 83.000 lbs., over twice the rating of the 39,000 lb tb.

 

[Csm Davis]

I had thought of this way to go then after some thought, I realized that with this idea there is a lot of work just to get a short 39,000 lb. rated tb., getting a newer 4 part 83,000 lb. tb. not only gives me a short tb. but one that is rated for 83.000 lbs., over twice the rating of the 39,000 lb tb.

Hey bud not knocking your heavy bar idea but as to running it short, you might not want to run it real short, it will contact the rear corners of your wrecker if you turn real sharp

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[73m819]

Hey bud not knocking your heavy bar idea but as to running it short, you might not want to run it real short, it will contact the rear corners of your wrecker if you turn real sharp

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Jeff, this is true but I can adjust out a bit if needed and still be shorter then a closed medium.

 

[Csm Davis]

Jeff, this is true but I can adjust out a bit if needed and still be shorter then a closed medium.

Yeah but with the medium fully collapsed the trucks would still get into the back of my wrecker.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[zebedee]

I think I'll go measure my Holmes gear (way shorter than a collapsed med tow bar) to see what geometry and stand off you get with the civi system - which will be even closer than Rons setup just by the fact that the pintle hitch on Rons big Channel adds to the clearance.

Don't forget that the turning radius of these trucks is second only to an ocean going oil tanker, I can't imagine even a Marine towbar (4 piece - sq tube) will bring the corner of the wrecker around to interfere with the bumper of the casualty..... unless you're backing up.

 

[wcuhillbilly]

]unless you're backing up.[/[/I][/I]QUOTE]

This does tend to happen when you have a turning radius of a battleship and conducting an Austin Powers turn around on a two lane country road.. Whish I still had the pic of mine hooked up to a 1969 Ford school bus... dang phones,,, fat finger it once and you loose all kinds of good stuff.

 

[Csm Davis]

]unless you're backing up.[/[/I][/I]QUOTE]

This does tend to happen when you have a turning radius of a battleship and conducting an Austin Powers turn around on a two lane country road.. Whish I still had the pic of mine hooked up to a 1969 Ford school bus... dang phones,,, fat finger it once and you loose all kinds of good stuff.

Even turning around on a normal divided 4 lane or parking lot generally requires backing up once or twice

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Csm Davis]

Also here are pictures of the cutting off of the rear bumpers. You can also see the bent step from trucks getting turned in to the rear. It's not hard to figure you need 4'3" of bar to keep the towed vehicle off the rear of the wrecker.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[73m819]

I am not worried about backing up and getting into the tb or towed vehicle, NO difference in backing up then anything else towed, THIS is what MIRRORS are for and if in doubt GET OUT AND LOOK, if you can not back up with a towed something without hitting something or two blocking the towed unit, you should NOT be towing ANYTHING in the first place.

 

[73m819]

Also here are pictures of the cutting off of the rear bumpers. You can also see the bent step from trucks getting turned in to the rear. It's not hard to figure you need 4'3" of bar to keep the towed vehicle off the rear of the wrecker.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

The MAIN REASON for cutting off wrecker bumperetts is that they get into the way of rigging the lift shackles with the safety chains, the -10 even has a alternate hook snubbing instructions if the bumperetts are missing. They is never a reason to get into the bumperetts and if I had a wrecker driver in my command who got into the bumperetts which will damage the tb., I would give him a article 15 and take the GOVERNMENT price of a NEW COMPLETE tb out of his pay also the driver would no longer be a wrecker driver because this was pure negligence on his part.

Ps, the rear wrecker step is bent in towards the center, if the tb. had hit it, it would be bent out and into the mud flap.

 

[Csm Davis]

I am not worried about backing up and getting into the tb or towed vehicle, NO difference in backing up then anything else towed, THIS is what MIRRORS are for and if in doubt GET OUT AND LOOK, if you can not back up with a towed something without hitting something or two blocking the towed unit, you should NOT be towing ANYTHING in the first place.

The MAIN REASON for cutting off wrecker bumperetts is that they get into the way of rigging the lift shackles with the safety chains, the -10 even has a alternate hook snubbing instructions if the bumperetts are missing. They is never a reason to get into the bumperetts and if I had a wrecker driver in my command who got into the bumperetts which will damage the tb., I would give him a article 15 and take the GOVERNMENT price of a NEW COMPLETE tb out of his pay also the driver would no longer be a wrecker driver because this was pure negligence on his part.

Ps, the rear wrecker step is bent in towards the center, if the tb. had hit it, it would be bent out and into the mud flap.

Ron I am the driver that bent the steps on every wrecker I have ever owned. I never said the towbar touched the truck, don't think there is anyway to twist it up that bad or I might have already have done it! The reason for cutting off the bumpers is to be able to use the towbar backwards and I have done this to every wrecker I have had it makes it so easy to tow military or civilian vehicles that have a pintle on the rear and lift tow it from the rear is easier on the wrecker due to less weight being lifted. The steps were bent by the bumper of the towed vehicles front bumper when moving in and around the yard at Camp Shelby RSMS which was a nightmare of tangled trucks and we broke several towbars which was unavoidable in the short amount of time we had to move the trucks and the replacement of them was never questioned. By the way I never broke a towbar by turning to sharp. I will gladly take any recovery test you will and compare scores.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[red]

Jeff with the towbar reversed and using the wreckers stock shackle mounts was the towbar angle ok? Or would have rather had the mounts higher on the wrecker bed?

As far as the length of shorter towbar legs I used a IBIS TEK 44,000 lb when lift towing a m51a2. With the legs collapsed and towbar secured to the front bumper. No vehicle contact during turns, had to keep an eye out while backing up. That towbar collapsed is about 3ft ish.

 

[Csm Davis]

Jeff with the towbar reversed and using the wreckers stock shackle mounts was the towbar angle ok? Or would have rather had the mounts higher on the wrecker bed?

As far as the length of shorter towbar legs I used a IBIS TEK 44,000 lb when lift towing a m51a2. With the legs collapsed and towbar secured to the front bumper. No vehicle contact during turns, had to keep an eye out while backing up. That towbar collapsed is about 3ft ish.

Yeah it is good the only time I wished for higher mounts was pulling a truck with 395x20 or bigger and then I was looking at the mount like Zebedee has on the back of the Australian wrecker but never had one try to ride up on back.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[red]

Thinking of adding a second set of mounts for towing like that or making a similar holmes copy using a set of the short crane support legs and my wiffle tree.

My truck is mostly used for hobby stuff right now but would like to use it for some offroad recoveries in my area. Last time I drove it offroad out there the forrest service officer mentioned that it would be useful to have in that area.

 

[73m819]

Up above when I was talking about using MY pins and shackles for a lift because I trust mine because, there may be none on the towed vehicle, the shackles may be deformed ,the pin is bent like the one below, or not a REAL lift shackle/tb pin ditto below. The pin shown came off a recovered truck, the shackle was bent, twisted, took a BIG hammer and a punch bar to get the pin/shackle off the truck, looked like a lot of slam/banging with a side pull ?



Speaking of pins, ALL my tb pins that I use are chamfered on the retainer end like the pin below, the reason is that the flat ended pine are a pain to get though the holes due to the sharp edges picking edges that are not aligned, the chamfered pins are self aligning, most times you can just push them in with your hand, if a pin decide to be stubborn, a light tap with a 3 lb, hammer does the trick, also I keep my use pins lightly greased, this also helps the pins finding there way though the holes. I have a full set of chamfered pins plus extras for the tb that is on the truck (1" and 3/4"), I need to get around to champfering the pins for my other tb.

 

[Another Ahab]

Speaking of pins, ALL my tb pins that I use are chamfered on the retainer end like the pin below, the reason is that the flat ended pine are a pain to get though the holes due to the sharp edges picking edges that are not aligned, the chamfered pins are self aligning, most times you can just push them in with your hand, if a pin decide to be stubborn, a light tap with a 3 lb, hammer does the trick, also I keep my use pins lightly greased, this also helps the pins finding there way though the holes. I have a full set of chamfered pins plus extras for the tb that is on the truck (1" and 3/4"), I need to get around to champfering the pins for my other tb.

View attachment 661230

I always thought the chamfering was standard on these kinds of pins (and probably for the reason you mention). All the pins I see have the shoulders eased like that. But the ones I run across are usually 3/8" or less, and that might have something to do with it.

 

[73m819]

I always thought the chamfering was standard on these kinds of pins (and probably for the reason you mention). All the pins I see have the shoulders eased like that. But the ones I run across are usually 3/8" or less, and that might have something to do with it.

The edges on the tb pins are broken to take away the sharpness, but still catch a nonaligned hole, my mod makes things a lot easier.

 

[73m819]

Being that I am soldier A, B, and C (me, myself and I ), we have found climbing up/down on the 819 can get tiring VERY quick where working from the ground is a LOT easier on the body both from less climbing and a lot LESS finding the ground at a high rate of speed so here is how I mounted my tb. and pioneer tools.

The tb slides on 3/4" pins that are made from long grade 8 bolts that have the heads cut off, using LARGE 1" flat washers to spread the weight and grade 8 nuts torqued to what ever, along with retainers and straps to hold things in place, I can remove/replace the tb. from the ground instead where it is supposed to go which is hurt yourself operation to get/put back.


You will also notice where the spades are mounted, another ground access mod. which is a LOT better then the fall intensive boom mount.


The adapters and pins are stowed in a box up on the 819 (this is also being changed to ground access), If I know that this will be a tb. recovery, I will put the needed items in the cab before I leave the house.



The pioneer tools are mounted where they can be gotten from the ground instead on the INNER sheet metal that is around the crane base, where it is supposed to be mounted is NOTHING but a hassle.




I am still dealing with the sledge hammer/long bar issue but am working on a ground accessible retainer for then, the 819 upgrade is a never ending project, I will most likely be dead BEFORE the upgrades are done or the 819 will turn to dust which will signal the end of the upgrade project.

Hope the above gives you guys some ideas, these ideas can be used on MOST MVs, NOT just wreckers. Remember that when a tb. or pioneer tools are needed that means needed NOW, NOT buried under a bunch of stuff in the bed or having to lift this crap BACK into the bed., this is like having your jack hard to get when you have a flat, it is bad enough to have a flat, led alone doing a hunt and pounce looking for the jack, this is how to make a great day.