Wrecked Wrecker

[Larry]

Some more interesting pictures I ran across while playing with my new scanner.  

 

These are the before and after pictures of our brand new 1991 GMC K3500 EagleClaw Tow truck.  I spent my childhood, High School and college days working at my father’s shop spinning wrenches and driving tow trucks.  Anyway, this nice brand new 1991 GMC tow truck was sent to GM truck heaven only a year after it’s birth (1992) with only 18K on the clock.  The story is…I was azzholed by a local municipality owned semi going 40 mph pulling a lowboy trailer with a Cat D8 Bulldozer on it.   Apparently, the semi driver didn’t notice the “Roadwork Ahead” signs as he came around a curve on I-25 or saw me sitting there at a dead stop helplessly waiting for the road worker to turn the “Stop” sign around to “Slow”.   I remember looking up in the rearview mirror and seeing the semi bearing down the curve up on me while thinking “he looks like he is coming up fast”.  Then I looked up again at the mirror again and BOOM.  It was over.  He hit me and I hit the car in front of me and that car hit the car in front of it and that car hit another.  The cops estimated the speed at impact between 40 to 45 mph.  Luckily, I only had a few bumps and bruises (considering I didn’t have my seat belt on) and got planted on the floor of the truck after taking out the rear window and sun visor during the impact.  The lady in Olds Sierra in front of me of which the tow truck is now sitting on her trunk and I had to take a ride in an ambulance. Needless to say my Dad was not a happy camper when he got the call that his 19-year-old kid and new rig were tangled up on the highway with a semi.  

 

The after pictures don’t even come close to serving justice to the severity of the damage as all the sheetmetal came out unscaved.  The crash actually totaled our truck due to the extensive frame damage induced by the towing boom taking the blunt of the impact and transferring it straight to the frame and the damage by the under hood fire when alternator light up after the hotbox on the front bumper shorted out.  I wish I could find the side view Polaroid pic from ins company that show just how bent the frame was.  

Before:

After:

[RyanbabZ71]

wow.  Was your dad mad at you?  It wasnt your fault

 

Just think if you were in something smaller.  I was recently rearended (passenger) in my mom blazer by a ford ZX2 at about 40 mph.  It sure does jar you.  Minor damage ($550)

[Larry]

No, the old man wasn’t mad at me although he wasn’t happy with the Kiowa County semi driver.  He was mainly worried that I was hurt and a little bit bummed out that our new tow truck was trashed.  Like I say, only a little bit bummed out, because we didn’t like the new truck much anyway because it was literally dangerous to drive when a car was on the back because the front wheels of the tow truck kept coming off the ground.  

 

The Eagle Claw wheel lift combined with a 135” WB and IFS are not a good combination as the weight distribution is very bad.  Talk about a tire eater.  We had planned on trading up to a 3500-HD with a 4x4 conversion from Monroe and a Jerr-Dan wrecker body.  Unfortunately that never happened and the wrecked tow truck was never replaced and we continued to use our old truck until my dad sold the business after I moved to Detroit.  I still have this worn out old 78’ tow truck though.  

[k1500chevy97]

I like that SFA long bed truck  :thumb: