It's any wonder he even makes these videos with all the damn know it alls and smart asses. Thanks for making your videos Don I appreciate you doing so.
Just started my first week in the rotation for rollbacks and I've got some experience but not allot and they are rushing me but thankfully I've found your videos and i I've got to tell you how helpful these videos have been for me! I subscribed five seconds into the first video thanks again bud!
I just loaded my first car at the yard I gotta practice my distance though 😂😂 I got in a tricky spot unloading but got it on and off thank you for the videos I know I shure appreciate you alot!!!
I love all your videos. You dissect each type of job and that’s crucial. These other know it alls just like to take shortcuts. Not me. I’ve been towing for 4 months and know a lot of tow owners.....they’ve all told me the exact same as far as your methods. Well done sir
Dish soap, wd-40, oil, ice, they all make the bed slicker and will work in place of skates but they are messy and personally I don't like keeping them on hand, I prefer skates, now in addition to makes loading and unloading easier skates also reduce the force needed to overcome the resistance of the vehicle, a non rolling vehicle with all 4 wheels locked will take 2/3s of its weight in force to overcome it's resistance, with skated that goes down to about 15 percent of its weight, a big difference, as well as it's easier on the vehicle's transmission. All of you who are claiming he should have popped the linkage, should have wheel lifted it, etc are the obvious rookies and unprofessional/ill-informed/ idiots, Any experienced operator knows there are a million different ways to achieve one task, there is no right or wrong way as long as you get the job done, cause no further damage, don't overload your equipment, and do it all safely, There are easier ways to achieve the same job quicker given the right circumstances such as popping the linkage, but things like the steering wheel locking can also make that idea more complicated/ take longer as opposed to using skates as shown, experienced operators know that it doesn't matter how you do it as long as you get the job done safely, Do not show your ignorance or hate as experienced operators will not be impressed by your "knowledge" and you are not teaching anyone, anything you are simply making a fool of yourself.
I'm not knocking the use of skates or his method of loading up but just about every japanese vehicle has a shifter release on the console to place it in neutral.
Hey Donald. Thank you for your content you share. I am just thinking of getting started on towing business I'm West Coast, can you recommend a good commercial insurance company to go with for my business? And how much per year is a fair rate?
I found a good method for rwd vehicle. Get rear wheels off just enough so the skates come free. Get the rear wheels on the pavement, unhook from the car and lift your bed up then drive out from under the car, before the front wheels come off get out of wrecker lower the bed and slide it the rest of the way out from under the wheels. You can also load it the opposite way. You may already know this. Keep up the good work. Edit, just watched the 4x4 skate video and that's exactly what you did.
In my opinion that is the best way to do it unless there's a lot of cars around then I will leave the chains hooked up and pull a lot of slack out and pulled then drive the truck from underneath of it and if something happened vehicle won't take off
Ya I already learned my lesson. Impounded a chevy 1500 couple years ago. Back at the lot went to unload the truck (automatic transmission). Unhooked and went to shake the rear wheels off and the truck took off. I'm assuming it was the parking prawl but luckily it hit a junk car at our shop but did no damage to the vehicle. I had a bed cover fly off a truck on the interstate. I also was winching a dui impound onto my bed one night, police car was parked behind the vehicle and as soon as I got the car on the bed the winch released and the vehicle rolled back into the police car (winch lock handle wasn't adjusted properly.) Live and learn. The jobs entails so much more than anyone would realize, but I always do it the right way. You learn from your mistakes but with this job mistakes can cause havoc.
I like to load the drive wheels (locked wheels) close to the cab that way majority of the time the vehicle will come completely off the bed. That's if you can load it that way. Sometimes you can. Sometimes you can't. Good luck on those AWD.
Yes you can do that quite easily but then you got to worry about people bitching and complaining because you're not a mechanic or a tow truck driver so it's best not to do any mechanic work on their cars
You break the linage to take it apart and you’re resposnsible. On older vehicles it is easier but the newer ones the shifter linkage is not always accessible and if it is it’s got spring or clips of some kind to release it. So if you break it your f’ed. Better to shake it off or you can use a snatch block and reverse pull it off, or you can do it like this guy.
Neh skates are easier if you have a good set, Also if the steering wheel is locked skates are the way to go, popping the linkage won't do a damn thing to help with that.
Chain lube is nasty and hard to clean off. I'm a motorcycle mechanic and I wouldn't use it on a rollback. You could use motorcycle chain WAX instead and be much happier. That's why many bikers switched to chain wax, and nearly all serious bicyclists.
I use chain lube just because it sucks on to the cable on my truck and makes things a whole lot easier I could see where it would be a mess on a motorcycle but on the back of my truck does perfect
Same concept, just under all 4 wheels you put a skate, no keys will likely have the steering wheel locked, hopefully, straight if not sometimes it's turned wheels, in which case when the vehicle hits the bed you can easily push it side to side while winching when it's on a good set of skates, Getting it off you just reverse the skates winch it off, then when the rear wheels hit the ground it will stop, you then run the bed forward toward the truck while also letting out the winch, get as far back as you can then push the vehicle back with the bed till it's back on the ground, and repeat until the car is fully off the bed.
threw bridal way under.. if personal.. ya werent aware they are up front?.... no take up slat when winching cable?...I would rather soap vs oil lube...
I think he does a great job, unhooking linkage would take a lot longer than what he did. Hes got great videos for any upcoming tow truck drivers. Good job Donald!
You can do that quite easily but then people bitch because they say you're not a mechanic and you tore something up then they want you to pay some stupid money for fixing it Easy not to go that route
Facts! I have been on the job for a week and wouldn't even think about unhooking the linkage unless it was absolutely necessary. People will try to claim anything just to get an extra buck or two out of a towing company and AAA will side with them for the most part unless the pre tow and post tow video proves them wrong. Thank you for the video Mr. Chastain!
Never had a problem with damage claims from unhooking the linkage, It is, however, more work to do that than simply deploying skates, The bigger concern with no keys and popping off the linkage is steering wheel locks, popping the linkage won't unlock the steering wheel, with skates you can simply push the car as you winch it up in whatever direction you want regardless of the wheels being locked or not, As well as you don't have to know where the linkage is on that vehicle, you don't have to climb underneath the vehicle to unhook it, you don't have to hook it back up in the end either, You can also drop a driveshaft for a wheel lift tow, I don't see that as a reason for wheel lift truck drivers to stop using dollies.
Actually rollbacks are not designed to wheel lift vehicles without a vehicle on the bed, Manufacturers often recommend you do not wheel lift without a car on the bed, and wreckmaster also recommends you have a car on the bed when wheel lifting, As well as with the proper straps and secondary securement chains, tow lights and deploying the wheel lift, It really takes about the same amount of time.
