Company Tow Truck

[Truck Shop]

I ended up buying a 94 W900 with a Series 60 430 hp, 13spd with 40-145 Rockwell rear drives. The drive train has fairly low miles on them.
There are a few small repairs and some cosmetic fixes to do but that's kind of a given when buying used equipment. The interior and paint
are well above average shape for it's age. Wiring, air lines and hoses all in very good condition. Engine runs like a top, plenty of power for
what it's going to be used for. The great part about this KW is it came from the factory with Reyco 4 bag air ride suspenion instead of 8 bag.
Less to maintain, easier to repair and better ride with the 4 bag suspension.

We in the shop will stretch the frame from a 230" wheel base to 290" WB. And I will post pictures as work progresses.

Truck Shop

 

[Steve Frazier]

Do you have a tow body already?

 

[rzucker]

Not bad looking. I know a few hay haulers up here that would kill for that one.
In fact I showed one of them a pic of the red pete you posted on HEF, "too much" he said. I guess he likes fighting his ISX...

 

[JasonG]

Great news.
I can't wait for the build thread.

 

[Truck Shop]

Do you have a tow body already?

It won't have a body just the wheel lift, double fenders, aluminum diamond plate covering top of frame and some tool boxes mounted on the side. And maybe a 30,000 pound winch.
Price was $19,000 on this truck.

Truck Shop

 

[rzucker]

You ever consider adding a healthy knuckleboom type crane? Say 7-10K capacity? I've had a couple different types and they are handy as all get out.

 

[Truck Shop]

Not bad looking. I know a few hay haulers up here that would kill for that one.
In fact I showed one of them a pic of the red pete you posted on HEF, "too much" he said. I guess he likes fighting his ISX...

I always find it interesting that people will pay stupid money for a late model truck when there are Pete's like that red one for sale. For all the work done to it
and the shape it's in she's good for another 500,000. And it's about as simple as they get. They don't realize the one they have now is{too much}.

I'm going to keep this truck simple as possible with just the bare essentials. I just want it to be reliable to run four states away.

Truck Shop

 

[JasonG]

You ever consider adding a healthy knuckleboom type crane? Say 7-10K capacity? I've had a couple different types and they are handy as all get out.

Places don't always have a forklift/loader.
As you get older lifting heavy metal chunks becomes less fun.

 

[rzucker]

Places don't always have a forklift/loader.
As you get older lifting heavy metal chunks becomes less fun.

Yep. awhile back I was installing new 8D batteries in a D9L Cat dozer using my Autocrane. One of the operators said "that's the lazy way to do it" So I offered to let him pack one up the track to the battery box... He declined my offer. Guy was a third my age and plenty strong looking. Unfortunately for my knees and back, that's the way I did stuff at his age. :bangh

 

[JasonG]

Yep.
Fortunately my oldest brother is 10 years older than me.
I got the warning about not abusing the body too bad.
He's had 3 hernia and 2 back surgeries.
I just have minor knee issues. :thumbs

 

[Truck Shop]

Drove to Yakima early this morning and picked up the W9. I didn't get much else done except measuring it for frame rails and inserts. I won't tear it apart
until I have the rails setting at the shop.

Truck Shop

 

[Steve Frazier]

I've never seen a frame stretched, do they sell the pieces you need or do you salvage them from another truck?

 

[rzucker]

I've never seen a frame stretched, do they sell the pieces you need or do you salvage them from another truck?

Depending on how much frame I am adding, I try to get my rails from a local truck wrecker. But then there are the odd shapes where you have to have custom rails formed for your application, then you have to make sure they can match the steel and the bend radius to match what you have. I'm sure there's a bunch I'm leaving out, but frame stretching is a case by case basis. Dumptruck, semi tractor, they all have different requirements.

 

[rzucker]

Drove to Yakima early this morning and picked up the W9. I didn't get much else done except measuring it for frame rails and inserts. I won't tear it apart
until I have the rails setting at the shop.

Truck Shop

Hah, I was in Yakima Friday picking up bucket parts for a Cat front end loader. So now that you have it home... Who had it? do they have a few more?

 

[Truck Shop]

That was the only W9 I found anywhere like that. Most everything was pretty much trash or 05 thru 011 EGR stuff-bad years. And too much money.
Those W9's are getting hard to find and if you do find one it's totally shot in most cases.

Truck Shop

 

[Truck Shop]

I've never seen a frame stretched, do they sell the pieces you need or do you salvage them from another truck?

This one I won't use an old frame cut off to extend it, It has Reyco 4 bag suspension from factory not very common. To get the 300" wheel base
I will add 7'8" of fresh rail to the frame and install two inserts that are 8'6". That way I have four feet of insert on both sides of the welded outer
frame. There is a sub-frame that goes on top of the truck frame that the wheel lift is attached to. The standard for forming 3/8 new rail is a
25 cent bend or 1/2" radius. They will use a 1/2" die in the press break to form it. A 25 cent piece fits the radius.

Truck Shop

 

[mowingman]

Don't mean to highjack your discussion, but here is a photo of our company tow truck. As you can tell, we don't have much of a budget to work with at our school district. Believe it or not, it gets used a couple of times/month. Starts right up every time.

 

[rzucker]

Looks like it can do the job. Pretty heavy duty for a Loadstar. Big gas engine? I once worked for a truck repair outfit with a similar homebuilt wrecker on an old REO small cab repowered with a 427 Chevy and a 510 Roadranger. I think the original engine was a 504 Cummins. (GAG) .

 

[Truck Shop]

The thing about tow trucks is how reliable the unit is and ability to get the job done. One place I worked at the ugliest one they had was the toughest one they had.
It was a 68 1 ton 4x4 International with two winches from a deuce and a half. It carried a massive amount of cable plus it had a third winch on the front that was the
same as the ones on the rear. 392 V8 with heavy lug tires, you couldn't stick that thing. When the other tow trucks got stuck or couldn't get the job done guess which
truck came to the rescue

Truck Shop

 

[mowingman]

rzucker: It has an International 345 v8 gas engine in it.