tow trucks

Tow Trucks Can Wear Pads Out Really Quickly. Make Sure You Have A Wiring Harness With Tilt Function And Auxiliary Tow!

Tow Truck as the name indicates is used for towing other vehicles like break down cars, or light trucks. As the proverb says "necessity is the mother of invention" and this saying is very true in the case of Tow Trucks. The year 1915 saw the invention of the first motor car, the Model T Ford. One Model T Ford car went out of control of the driver in the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee, U S A, and the vehicle landed into the creek.

People rushed to help the driver who escaped unhurt. The car had to be taken (towed) out of the creek. As luck would have it, Mr. Holmes, the only handy auto mechanic nearby, reached the spot and with the help of many human volunteers managed to pull the vehicle out after about 8 hours of hard labor. But the incident was a mind opener to Mr. Holmes who thought over the necessity for a mechanical and portable device to be used for such emergencies. The outcome of his efforts was the invention of the Tow Truck.

Tow trucks have found extensive use in military operations. War records show that Tow trucks have been used in the World War no 2 during the Allied assault in the European beach of Normandy. Now every modern army has tow trucks as regular vehicles in their control.

Tow Trucks are sometimes termed as break down trucks and are used in emergencies. Tow trucks are normally equipped with various tools and gadgets which are required for carrying out the towing of vehicles from one location to another. They are used to tow damaged cars or trucks involved in road accidents, or by police to remove vehicles which are parked in unauthorized parking places,

There are several designs or models of tow trucks which are used for different end uses. The normal tow trucks mostly used for towing light motor cars and light vehicles are made from light to medium heavy trucks which are fitted with the necessary equipment required for towing operation. There are tow trucks which are specially built to tow heavier trucks. A third type of tow truck is the flat bed tow truck. These tow trucks are equipped with a flat bed to take in cars or other light vehicles and the tow truck transports these vehicles to the new destination.

Every tow truck is fitted with all the necessary equipment to undertake the operation of towing. Every tow truck is equipped with a wire harness to be used for pulling the damaged vehicle. There should be a steel head board on which the winch is fitted. To ensure that the tow truck is grouted properly many trucks are equipped with resistant hydraulic fittings that fix the tow truck firmly on the ground. The hydraulic cylinder that may be used to lift the damaged truck must be fitted with a good plate d cylinder rod. To prevent the tow truck itself from getting out of balance while lifting the damaged car, the tow truck is provided with counter balance weights. Always the tow truck as well as the auxiliary tow truck must be provided with tow lights to warn other vehicles about the towing operation. For the safety of the crew members who are helping in the operation of the tow truck every tow truck is equipped with wear pads and weather packs.

Tow trucks are used for many types of recovery operations. Many times the tow truck is called to lift stranded cars or other light vehicles struck in creeks or road side pools or mud. In such a case the light vehicle has to be pulled out of the creek or mud to the road surface. For this operation the tow truck uses the light crane or winch. Sometime the gear winch is operated with a remote control to help in the lifting of the damaged vehicle. The damaged vehicle is firmly tied with the wire harness and then pulled out using the electric or hydraulic winch.

After the first part of removing the damaged vehicle from the creek or accident spot or road side mud is successfully accomplished and the damaged vehicle is put on the road, then the next operation of the tow truck is to transport the damaged vehicle to a repair shop or other service area where the damage to the vehicle can be repaired. This may be considered as a true towing operation.

Generally the tow trucks are handled by private organization who own fleet of such vehicles ready with other tools and drivers to rush to any place for emergency. These private organizations maintain a series of such tow trucks with different ratings to take care of all emergency situations. As long as people use cars and are involved in accidents and also park their vehicles in no parking areas, there is great need to have tow trucks.