.jpg)
The Towing Life Podcast
The Towing Life is not like all other lifestyles. It requires a certain amount of insanity, mixed with a love of caffeine. Together, PlainGuy and TowManG do their best to give the RAW real world experience and stories that come along with this lifestyle! From beterment of the industry to straight out wacky stories, there is no shortage of entertainment on The Towing Life Podcast!
The Towing Life Podcast
Ep:144 Towing Industry Challenges: Fragile F-150's, Costly Repairs, and Controversial Praise
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Ever wondered how to handle the newest challenges in the towing industry, like the fragile $1,200 active spoiler on the 2021 Ford F-150? This episode provides crucial insights on that and much more. Brad, Sean, Terry, and Larry, joining us from across Canada, kick off the discussion with an honest critique of our recent intro and share some behind-the-scenes hilarity that didn't make the final cut. We also address the difficulties of maintaining a consistent podcast schedule while juggling the demands of professional and personal lives, offering a glimpse into the making of our highlight reels. Listener engagement is a priority for us, so we outline various ways for you to get in touch and contribute to our discussions.
In an eye-opening segment, we dive into the nitty-gritty of the active spoiler on the latest Ford F-150s and the importance of meticulous documentation to avoid claims. This topic is crucial for wrecker operators dealing with the intricate component that can fail prematurely. We also draw parallels to the electric vehicle towing guidelines, emphasizing the need for centralized training and better information dissemination to mitigate costly repairs. Our real-life towing anecdotes underscore the financial implications of unexpected damages and reinforce the importance of proper towing techniques.
The episode takes a heated turn as we discuss a controversial incident involving the Ontario Provincial Police and their public praise for a logging truck’s towing service. This segment showcases the frustration within the towing industry, highlighting the perceived hypocrisy and lack of recognition for professional operators. From damage claims to the unique challenges of towing specific vehicles, we cover it all. As we wrap up, we remind you to stay connected through comments, likes, and subscriptions, and get ready for another exciting episode of the Towing Life podcast next week.
MERCH STORE: USA
www.towinglife.ca/shop
The Towing Life Podcast isn't Possible without the help of our amazing supporters,
Find out how to become a supporter at: www.towinglife.ca/be-a-supporter
For comments/questions or concerns we can be reached at thetowinglife@gmail.com
or by searching @thetowinglifepodcast on Facebook. also at www.towinglife.ca
Towing Industry Highlights and Updates
Speaker 1The intro had so much potential . The clips together was actually good , and you sold it as like welcome to what's going to be a piece of shit I hope you don't mind our piece of shit and you sold it as hot garbage . That's the plan . That's not the plan , though , because somebody listening to that goes all right , I'm out .
Speaker 2It's supposed to be a hidden gem for only our hardcore listeners .
Speaker 1I don't think you accomplished that . But yeah not to mention the . What was the other thing ? Oh yeah , because I got damage claims coming up by Wazoo right now , which is fucking phenomenal . We'll get into those Okay .
Speaker 2Hey everyone , I'm Brad from Calgary .
Speaker 3This is Sean from Cambridge Ontario .
Speaker 2I'm Terry from Cornwall Ontario .
Speaker 1Hey , this is Larry from Pit Metals in British .
Speaker 2Columbia and you're listening to the Towing Life Podcast , where the ditches are deep , the trucks are loaded but the drivers are not . I am your host , tome Angie , and as usual , I am joined by my co-host , friend and former co-worker , the man with very strong opinions , mr Plain Guy .
Speaker 1What is going on ? G . What is going on ?
Speaker 2I think I need to take as usual usual out of this intro spiel . That I do because the podcasts have seemed to be all over the place as of late .
Speaker 1No , that's not true at all . As usual , out of 143 , 5 , I don't mean 43 , 4 , uh episodes , we've had like three or four weird ones . I would say , as usual continues to stand . So , yes , as usual , the towing industry was a very busy , happening place last week . Between that and taking your golfing , okay , and between that and taking personal time , I was saying um it it led to us unfortunately able to sit down and have a proper recording session to be able to get an episode out .
Speaker 1So G took the time out of his day , which we appreciate greatly I think I speak for our whole listenership when I say this to put together a highlight reel of clips never before seen . I was scared when you sent it to me , because we definitely talk about things off the record prior to starting the show . Sometimes the camera is rolling , um , and I don't always have the decency to say , as I did before , we recorded this one , do not put that in an episode . So when I , when you told me you were putting together some clips and you sent it , it was too late to do anything about it . However , I was , I was worried , um , but that being said , I think we bury a lot of content that our listeners don't get to see or hear and uh , you did a fine job bringing up some of the uh . Did you already have that like saved ?
Speaker 2No , so what I do is when I edit things , things , especially if it's like the intro I will cut that clip and I'll render it as a separate mp4 file sometimes it's edited , sometimes it's not and I'll just put it in a clips folder that I have and I , as the name , I put down the episode number and normally some very bad spelling of kind of roughly what it's talking about , because it's quick and just what I was doing and uh . So then I was just going through and I can't remember , because we've done a clips episode before and I couldn't remember which ones I've included or not . I really should delete them after I'm done with them , but whatever . And so when I did the intro of that video , I said it should be about 35 minutes , but after I went into it and actually started watching it , after I had it all set up in the timeline , I was like that one's a little too off colored . Remove that one .
Speaker 2And that one had producer Sarah in it and we've already had that one in Eclipse episodes , so I'll remove that one as well . So it got it down to 25 minutes , but it was a great . We talked about a lot of colorful things . So if you haven't watched that one because of my piss poor intro . I always like to talk down our stuff , so it's a hidden gem , but here it is .
Speaker 1I think secretly you have self-confidence issues and that's the main reason why you talk down most of our episodes . G never thought when the show would get started that it would ever be at 144 episodes .
Speaker 2No , I thought we'd be lucky if we had like five to ten listeners and generate ad revenue throughout it , and different things like that .
Speaker 1So , uh , yes , if you ever hear g doing an intro by himself , please do not tune out of the episode . I assure you there is probably good content behind it , if you can get through the first 40 seconds of his ramblings . Yeah , because he repeated pretty much the same thing over and over again , and just when I kept yelling at the screen to say start the episode , already he went on again apologizing for how terrible it was going to be . Um , so , that being said that is not , that is not a problem .
Speaker 1Tonight we are together , we are in person . We are recording episode 144 of the Towing Life podcast . Don't forget your questions . Comments , concerns all that good stuff is important to us . You can easily get a hold of us in multiple different ways . You can visit us at wwwtowinglifeca . You can email us directly at thetowinglife at gmailcom , or you can find us on Facebook at the towing life podcast . Don't forget , if you're watching over on the youtube side , you can also click down below comment , down below subscribe .
Speaker 1Up in the top right corner , or left or right or bottom left bottom right wherever they put the button now do not forget to subscribe and hit the little bell to get notified when we release new content , which tends to be every tuesday of every week , which is a small task on its own , as we know , with how busy the towing industry can be . And you're right , g , when I go golfing , I haven't taken a golf trip . I take one a year yeah one a year and your schedule couldn't accommodate it .
Speaker 1We had one night that we were supposed you didn't let me know ahead of time I did um I , I told you the night that we were supposed to record one night . Yeah , and you won't , like . I'm like , can we go a little later ? And you're like , nah , I don't know what you had and I can't remember . I got called out to a job .
Speaker 1I think it was the roller that had rolled over yeah and I got called out to a job and you couldn't do after and and I believe I told you because I'm going away on a golfing trip this weekend . And then you messaged me on Saturday and I said I'm away on a golfing trip . And then you messaged me on Sunday . I said I'm away on a golfing trip .
Speaker 2No , you just said you're away golfing . You didn't say trip , but I didn't know when you were returning . But no , we had it scheduled for 6.30 , and you're like , can you do later ? I said no and then later on you said , well , I'm going out on this job . So I was like , well , I get up at 4.30 am , so I got to go to bed I gave you fair notice . Yeah .
Speaker 1I try my best to give you fair notice of what's going to happen . Gene and I have a very and he reminds me of my wife in a lot of ways . He words things to the way that will benefit him in the argument and he leaves out information that was given to him in order to sound better in that argument .
Speaker 2I just forget . I have a horrible memory , absolutely horrible memory .
Speaker 1And , like my wife , he uses that argument . Actually , that's the argument .
Speaker 2I want to tell my story about a damage claim , so let's get started with this Ford video that you got .
Speaker 1Okay , perfect , let's get on to the real towing topics . So it was brought to my attention . I got a phone call tonight . I was on my way back from dinner with my wife . I got a phone call and they said hey , have you heard about Ford's new active active air dam ? It's also called like an active spoiler a front , like an active front spoiler . And I said , no , I've never heard of this . I've heard of especially , the eco boosts . I think they had it . A lot were in the grill . It would open and close to a lot of airflow .
Speaker 1Yeah yeah , like shutters . That's what I thought he was referring to , because he's slightly french . Sometimes he loses things in translation . That was not at all the case . This camera is going to drive me bonkers that doesn't want to stay still , um . So I did a little research , said hey , I heard about it on toe talk , which is a social media group where we pulled a lot of information over the years for our episodes . I'm about this thing and I think it's worth looking into and having a talk with the operators , so I wanted to bring everyone here the opportunity to see the same video . So it does come from TikTok , the way I used to download the video . It unfortunately removed the name off of it , but it is Tow Truck Tech over on TikTok . So I'll let the video play , I'll let you guys hear and see for yourselves , and we'll have a talk about damage claims and how to avoid them with this system .
Ford F-150 Active Spoiler Warnings
Speaker 3There is a $1,200 monster on the front of these new F-150s 21 and newer that is waiting to haunt wrecker operators . What Ford has done is they put an active spoiler on this vehicle . There's a set of actuators that runs a spoiler up and down , and where you're going to come into trouble is where you have a hard contact on the front of the vehicle like this . I've priced out the parts it's like 600 parts and there's 600 labor to fix it and the actuators are very well known for premature failure . So you could have a vehicle that you handle , that you did not mishandle , and the customer claims that you have damaged the actuators and the spoiler , when it should actually be a warranty item .
Speaker 3And I cannot state this enough . Document everything and how you handle these vehicles . Once this vehicle is on the deck , take photographs of all four corners . You can see you've got good clearance there , so there's no question what's going on . You can see we're eight-pointed , so there's no question how the vehicle is retained , because the last thing you want , especially on an F-150 like this , is some $1,200 demon creeping up and punching you in the face later on and you cannot document anything on how the vehicle is handled .
Speaker 1So that is some very interesting piece of information . I am going to name this the , the texas snowplow , because this is also the stupidest goddamn design I've ever seen from fort um , and fort's done a lot of stupid stuff over the years .
Speaker 2Let's be honest like it's a six thousand pound truck that's got a squarish front end . What's this little spoiler air dam going to do for your fuel economy ?
Speaker 1Apparently it increases 4% aerodynamics of the vehicle . Ooh no . But in a world where everyone's fighting over fuel mileage , yeah , and increasing it to the maximum , I can see how they're trying to take every option . What I'm saying is I've got to check because my father has one of these trucks and I'm willing to bet that guy does not know he has this on there . I called him earlier . He didn't answer . I want to confirm because if he does , I want to go look at it . My old manager has one too . Yeah , I bet you see if they know about this thing . So , like 20 , it's on model years 21 and up . It's excluded on , like the tremor and the raptor , which makes sense , but it doesn't need any , by the sounds of it , any sort of fancy trim line . It's xlt's , you know it's pretty standard on them and , like they said , the actuators on it are already prone to failure and it's and visibly looking at it . I watched a couple other videos .
Speaker 2You don't see it no , and that's behind the little rubber it's behind and 100 .
Speaker 1I've used a winch and I've seen that little rubber . I'm pretty sure I've chained down a ford . I don't know if it's on the f-250s , but I've changed down like 250s where I bend up the rubber thing on the corners where my chain's running , like this is something that , like it's the first I've heard of it and I've been towing for a while , as we all know , and there's a lot of operators out there , you know , even the person who sent this to me has been towing for a while , never seen it . Right , I , is this something you have seen ? You know ? Be sure to send us a message , comment down on the youtube or send us an email at the towinglife at gmailcom , like have you seen this ford active air dam or active spoiler , whatever you want to call it on the bottom of the 21 and ups ? And why is ford not getting this information out to like ? We almost need a centralized training . Oh wait , we're bringing one to ontario .
Speaker 1That will not cover any of this no but you know , I mean like a bulletin out to towing providers somehow to go , hey , new model years , kind of like they did with electric . Right , electric is in a big push for that . Hey , we don't want you guys to pooch these cars . Here's how you have to tell them . Right , the ford mach-e is a great example . Right , there was a bunch of information put up that I believe they have like two slots underneath them .
Speaker 2Do not use them yeah , they're the battery slots for the mounting of the battery and if you hook them up it pulls out the hole underneath the car yeah , right , but there was at least a little .
Speaker 1But even that , we didn't get that from ford , no , we got that from like esa or some electric safety standard , because some dumb tow truck driver did it and screwed it up and he was like oh no , post it all over social media .
Speaker 1Don't do this , because I much like we have to learn about these things right and and again . We fucked up many vehicles , now a truck . You know I normally don't go a arms on them . You normally go on transmission mount right or transmission cross member because you need the room on the winch . You know , somebody posted in the comments of that video oh , why don't you just use the pull the tow hooks on the front ? Okay , first of all tow hook .
Speaker 2I don't know if you're driving a 30 foot deck but uh or never winched up a truck before . But it just doesn't fit . If you got like a four foot or three foot chain bridle , even a strap bridle , you just not going to have that bridle into .
Speaker 1You know , if you shorten the shit of that bridle , the veer angle alone of it is not great . So there obviously needs to be a tool , you know , maybe put in place which to help these things . But you're right , you'll run out of deck , like even on a on a 21 foot platform . You'll run out of deck and if you don't , you're pulling down on the whole front end of the damn thing by the time it gets up to the winch . Like it's not practical . So you go underneath , but no one tells us about this . Like no one gives us this information tells us about this . Like no one gives us this information . This is completely left onto the towing industry to know better .
Speaker 2And unless you flipped a ford upside down onto its side and got a good look at this thing and went , oh shit , that's how it works , you know , a memo from ford might not be a bad place to start , especially since these things have been out for four years yeah now this is leading into my story here , but when we worked at a company together you found a thing in the Chevy's owner manuals like the old Caddyshevs early 2000s to where it says in the owner's manual if you press the two high and four low together for 10 seconds , it neutralizes the transfer case and you can tow it with the rear tires on the ground .
Speaker 1With the truck in neutral and on the newer models with the trans , the parking braking gauge yes no with the transmission . One needed the . No , it was transmission neutral . Transmission neutral the two lines . On an old chevy cat eye you could see two lines that would go to an end . If you held those two buttons . With the key power on and the transmission in neutral , that N would light up . After about 15 seconds you put the transmission back in park . You could tow them by the front with the rear tires on the ground .
Speaker 2I'm talking about the older ones with the push buttons on the left-hand side , that's a problem . No , you can put the transmission in park and it's perfectly fine , I always did it from neutral . I'm a firm believer . If you're neutralizing any transfer case , if you cannot put the transmission into park , don't do it , because if the transmission is in park then you know that the power is not getting to the transmission anyways .
Speaker 1Yes , you'll know , let me know . I want to reiterate that because it's an important fact . If you put the transmission in park and it doesn't roll , it means the transfer transfer case was never disengaged . If you put the transmission in park and it doesn't roll , it means the transfer case was never disengaged . If you leave the transmission in neutral , you are unsure if the transmission is in new is if it's that that's causing it to roll or if it's the transfer case that has been disengaged . Therefore , putting it in park eliminates that , especially since chevy ngms had a notorious problem with electric four wheel drive actuators not actually working . So it would tell you neutral , but it was actually still in two high , four high .
Speaker 2Whatever the case was , yeah , Um , now , most of the Chevys , the front hubs spin freely . You could tell them what the front tires on the ground , as long as it's in two wheel drive anyways , and you're good to go down the road Now , uh Now , with the company I worked with , we towed a lot of trucks with the front tires on the ground and we never had an issue , Not once .
Speaker 1And this story and you're talking about the company we worked with together , because I never towed with my wheel on the ground .
Speaker 2No , okay , the company I previously worked for , we towed pretty much every truck out on the market with the front tires on the ground . Okay , when the company we did work for together , we did get a notice from ford or one of us found this notice from ford of how to tow their new trucks because they it was the newer body style in like 2016 , 2018 , with the turn dial and automatic four-wheel drive . And I remember that document because I saved that document and I shared it to other operators because the trucks with the automatic four wheel drive , you had the neutralize , the transfer case and tow it with the rear tires on the ground , but if it didn't have the auto four wheel drive , you could tow it with the rear tires in the air front tires on the ground and you're good to go rocking down the road . That's what Ford said in this letter .
Speaker 1So you claim you have no proof at this point . No .
Speaker 2I in this letter . So you claim you have no proof at this point ? No , I want this claim .
Speaker 1I can find I can find the document again . I want to start this off by we are not responsible for any damage claims induced by our stories of towing don't don't follow any advice until you hear the end of the story .
Speaker 2So I've told many , many of newer aluminum body for Ford F-150s following that metric in my head . If it's got auto , the auto four-wheel drive option , pick it up from the front , neutralized transfer case . A lot of times you can put the transmission in park . Sometimes you still have to leave it in neutral just because it's the stupid push button . If it had the turn key you're able to put it in park and it'd be fine Push button . You'd have to leave it in neutral because reasons , I guess anyways , and it worked fine every time until one day .
Speaker 2One day I went down and I was hooking this truck up and I was taking it to toronto I think it was like a 65 kilometer tow and I got it out onto the road . I was about to hook it up from the rear . I went up and I looked . I was like , oh , it's got the auto four wheel drive . So I turned my tow truck around , backed up to the front , and I'm talking to the owner of the truck and showing them how to neutralize the transfer case and everything . I said , yeah , I got a document from Ford and I checked the years and it's all good to go , so I do it , and it's one of the push button ones , to where you can't put the transmission in the park and you have to leave it in neutral . I didn't think much of it at the time , so I start going down the road and as I'm going , down the road .
Speaker 2How far did you make it ? I made it 50 kilometers , oh okay , and I felt the weird bump . I was like oh , that's weird . And I just had a weird feeling like I couldn't see anything in my mirrors . The truck was still rolling , just fine , didn't think much of it , but I was like I'm just gonna get off the highway and check . I pull off the highway and I pull into a parking lot and I get out and don't I see a driveshaft laying on the ground . Whoops , from the rear end , whoops .
Speaker 1Yeah , I was like , oh , that's not good fun fact that's the only drive shaft home ng has ever removed in his career no .
Speaker 2So anyways , I call my manager , of course , because it's like I just royally buggered up this guy's truck and I crawl underneath and I try to move the drive shaft and drive shaft will not spin .
Costly Repairs Due to Towing Negligence
Speaker 2So the transfer case , I guess , locked back up while going down the road because the front tires , the drive shaft , wouldn't have spun in the first place Because the front tires were locked Like it locked up the front tires .
Speaker 1So what drive shaft did you ? You had this thing picked up by the front .
Speaker 2Yeah , the rear drive shaft . It snapped right at the rear diff .
Speaker 2But , the transfer . Well , the U-joint snapped and I guess what happened . I'm not sure if it was the bump I hit on the highway jiggled something in the transfer case , or if the transfer case just said you know what , I don't want to be in this position anymore and locked up the front tires , be in this position anymore and locked up the front tires . Well , when you lock up the front tires and they're stationary and the wheel lift with straps on and the rear tires are doing 90 , yeah right , something's gonna break . Yeah , thankfully the drive shaft broke at the rear and up the front , because then that would have dug into the road .
Speaker 2Well , anyways I've never seen one dig in in that sense , but it's an old possibilities there right possibilities there , um , but if it also did break from the front , then it's also spinning around from the diff and causing even more damage okay , yes , that would be more of the concern .
Speaker 1Yes , is all the undercarriage that's going to tear up yeah , um .
Speaker 2So here I am underneath this truck in a go parking lot and I peel off the drive shaft , throw it in the bed of the truck .
Speaker 1Like finish off , it was still into the like , into the front .
Speaker 2Yeah , it was still into the front yoke . So I did the four bolts and I pulled it off and I threw it in the bed of the truck and of course I'm towing it to a shop I've never dealt with before .
Speaker 2I've never dropped there before . So when I get there I drop the truck off , I go in , I talk to the mechanic . I wait till he's off the phone . I told him this is what it what's going on . It was here because it was leaking engine oil or whatever um training diff . No , it wasn't leaking any of that . And I told him exactly what happened and I said I've got the document . At that time I was already on the phone . I pulled it back up on my phone . I showed him the document from Ford and I was like I honestly don't think I'm in the wrong here , because I got a document with a Ford letterhead that says this is how you're supposed to tow it , but right . However , it does state at the bottom of this document , not in that specific vehicle class , but at the bottom of the document . Because whenever you look for a document and you're looking for information , once you find that information , that you want .
Speaker 1Once you find what you're looking for , you don't stop operating , yeah , 100% .
Speaker 2And it says at the bottom , after it lists all the how to tow every Ford possible , it says for a maximum of 50 kilometers and under 80 kilometers an hour .
Speaker 1You forgot to read the speed limits . Yeah , so anywho , I say okay , well , I'm going to guess you did over 80 kilometers an hour .
Speaker 2Yeah , I was A hundred percent . A hundred percent . And at first I was all giddy because it's like oh , it's got one of those hard tunnel covers . Now I have to worry about that if I'm towing it backwards . And since it's got the auto four-wheel drive , like I was excited . The guy even tipped me 20 bucks for showing me all the . So after I drop it down and I talked to the guys like find out like you can still drive it around and like we moved in the parking lot in four wheel drive with the front so we knew so we knew that the , at least the transmission and transfer case , is working right .
Speaker 2So and I knew the rear end was okay because yeah , but I know the rear end's fine because it's spun all the way there , um , so I'm thinking , okay , if I'm trying to do that , yeah , but I know the rear end's fine because it's spun all the way there . So I'm thinking , okay , well , I'm in for a driveshaft , bare minimum . But then I'm probably also . I just hope I'm not into a transmission . I better not be into a transmission . Transfer case is probably going to be , we'll see right . So I leave it at the shop and the guy the owner , is obviously upset . I call him in the parking lot , I'll know what happened and say that I'm going to take care of it . And uh , he's upset and he wants a rental vehicle . So the company gets him a rental vehicle .
Speaker 2It'll do , right , yeah , and uh , this mechanic I'm not sure how good of a job he normally does , but he dragged his heels on this job . So it was like three weeks before , yes , before he even told me that . No , I think the transfer case is a little fuck you . Later I had a drive shaft custom made for that truck in two days . I went to a high end parts store that we've used for like drag or like pull trucks . I said this is the drive shaft I need . These are the ends make it . I spent like $900 on this aluminum drive shaft . That's like really strong , just because finding a used one . I don't want to put used parts really because I don't know anyways and ford itself was back ordered for like six months .
Speaker 2I knew I couldn't wait six months . So I'm going in for custom parts and I get the drive shaft and they're like oh well , this drive shaft , it'll work . But it's a little like the . Apparently the one spline is just a little off , but it fits , but it's just so . It's like okay , I'll take drive shaft back , I'll get it re-splined Like it was what it was .
Speaker 2And then the mechanics like no , I think we need a transfer case as well . I was like all right , I've already had one on like placed on order at the Ford dealership . If I needed to back out , it was fine . So then I got a new transfer case to show up and he puts that in well when he puts the new transfer case in the drive shaft that was now custom made twice , for the transfer case that was in there no longer fits into the new t-case . So then they go out and buy another used drive shaft out of a junk yard and this custom made drive shaft that I got for the truck that fit in the truck is just sitting somewhere I have no idea where it is at this point collecting dust . I hope .
Speaker 2Hopefully someone was able to resell it because I know I didn't . What was the total claim ? I don't even know anymore . To be honest with you , it had to be . The transfer case was $16,000 , the drive shaft was $9,000 , but I paid out of pocket so it didn't even go through the company first . Plus the rental vehicle , I think he was in a rental for at least two weeks .
Speaker 1Yeah , you're probably looking at close to $5,000 when you're all said and done , plus labor and everything . Fun fact you're probably looking at close to five grand when you're all said and done , plus labor and everything . I've fun fact that's a . You got to always read the fine print . Fun fact I did pay for a driveshaft on GM once as well , but mine was for a completely different reason . It was a 2500 broken down on the highway . I called my dispatch , said what's the problem with the truck ? She said it won't start . Died won't start . No , he said it won't start . Dyed won't start . No problem . Neutral transfer case . Pick it from the front , take off . Yep .
Speaker 1Get to the shop , guy sees the back wheels on the ground . He goes what the hell are you doing ? I'm like , well , you can neutral the transfer case , it's fine Like I wouldn't have done any damage . He goes no , the problem was one of the rear U-joints . Oh , oh , I said why . Well , I'll be sure enough . We crawled underneath and , yeah , one of the u-joints , like one of the end caps , had fallen off and the u-joint , actually , while spinning around going down the road , reamed out the hole on the drive shaft to make the drive shaft unusable yeah so 500 , 600 bucks .
Speaker 1Later on a used drive shaft at the scrapyard because it was like I'm a , you know , you know GM , you've ever seen their brake configurations ? There's eight different variations . Finally found one two hours away , went and got it , gave it to the guy like luckily didn't need a rental or any of that kind of stuff , but it was just one of those . It was a miscommunication from dispatch . Sure enough , when I told dispatch about it , she's like , oh yeah , I said something about a u-joint and I was like , yeah , that was very valuable information that could have saved me a lot of time and money . Um , so , no it's .
Speaker 1You know what damage claims are part of it , right , I've been a big believer of that . I've always said if you haven't broken something , you haven't been doing it long enough or you're full of shit . Um , I still stand by that today . I've got a couple active . Just one was dumb . I got two on the go right now . Well , one just closed . It was a couple thousand dollars and it was just stupidity . It was winching off a cube truck in a parking lot at a dealership , not paying attention when he turned a little bit at the end to get it off the bed backing into a brand new sold you car . Oh , with the step bumper that was just over two grand oh , so he's unloading the cube truck in the park .
Speaker 1Yeah , he was unloading the cube truck at the parking lot , hit a brand new parked car that had been sold .
Speaker 2I think that's one of the most prevalent damage claims is on like unloading loading into something rolling into something yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah , so that was one . It was , you know again , good relationships where business comes into it . How do you handle those ? Damage claims are going to happen . It's all about how you handle them , right ? I called the dealership up . As soon as I got the call I said hey look , I heard what happened . You who's your body shop and do you need me to bring it there ?
Speaker 1yep they said we use , you know abc automotive , her auto body , and no , we'll get it over there . Okay , no problem , I'll call him up . Let him know to send me the bill . Right , call them up . Hey , you got a car coming from the dealership . This is the car . It's the damage .
Speaker 1Try and be easy on me . He's not a body shop I regularly use , he's not one of my regular customers , but I know him and I said , look , I'm gonna come good for it . I'll write you a check for whatever the balance is , just get this car fixed for them and get it taken care of . I call back the dealership . I said , hey , I've already spoken with him , we're gonna take care of the bill . No problem , he'll try and bump it up . Hey , appreciate how you're taking care of this . I mean , that's the right way to take care of it . Yep , as for the driver , there's , there's there's consequences in them we have to deal with right . My other one is a training issue . New operator Can't blame him . This guy , given a current situation , maybe got thrown into something that he shouldn't have got thrown into quite yet . He's a great operator . He operates heavies and lights . He was wheel lifting a mercedes sprinter camper van . He disconnected the drive shaft . He did everything right .
Speaker 1So we run nrc beds , anyone that knows that . You know we don't run the vulcan so we run a strap on the tires . Unfortunately , I carry two different sets of straps for that wheel lift . There is a set that nrc give you which are about , you know , two inch or three inch straps . Yeah , with the hookup they're great . And then we also a lot of times I'll run if it's just small little stuff , those little blue ones we talk yeah , the motorcycle dolly straps yeah yeah , well , they're not motorcycle , they're dolly straps .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , so I'm on the smaller car as well . A little bit of training , or lack thereof . He put those on this , and because we run a strapless system , you do not require to run your safety chains to the wheel lift you can tie directly to the casualty .
Speaker 1So he did . He went up over the wheel lift , tied to the cat , the wheel lift , or uh , tied to the casualty , and let the chains hang . Well , on a highway he had to emergency brake . When he emergency brake , those chains weren't going to stop because they weren't tied off to the wheel lift , which they don't have to be . Those straps should hold If you use the big ones .
Speaker 2Yeah , the ones that are rated for all that you're towing .
Speaker 1Yes , the little ones are not . They are rated for the smaller little cars . They're not waiting for a full size camper conversion vehicle came forward . As you know , you tow them on the wheel . Lift of a bed is it was on a bed um fairly tight , so any little forward travel puts that thing right into the lip of your bed . If you bring it in far enough and which he did that was the only . That was one of the few things he did very well , and that is he had his . He would have been perfect to make corners um so luckily again , it wasn't a catastrophic failure .
Speaker 1The safety chains were still attached , so it was nothing that came off the vehicle . There was nothing .
Potential Risks in Towing New Vehicles
Speaker 1You know it was the best of a bad scenario , um , but yeah , damage claims happened , and that one I can . I haven't even started the process and I just still at the garage getting the original repair for what it was . Uh , and it's not a mercedes , ouch . So they happen , right , they happen , and what we can do from it is learn . And like I would be the first day if I got a damage claim off something like that of the Ford on something I knew nothing about . That's 100% on .
Speaker 1You can't blame an operator for that one . Like you put the responsibility in the operator that he is supposed to take care of whatever vehicle is towing he's supposed to be checking for . You know I can't teach you how to check tow every car or where which cars are going to have wiring , that you got to look out for possible brake lines on a diff , fuel lines or any of that stuff , abs wires . And if you are right in the damage claim which I've had recently with a customer which is a whole other cluster , then I will fight and fight and fight to . You know like we have a customer . We had a customer that claimed that we ripped off an ABS wire on his Mercedes or BMW . This is a wild one . The ABS wire comes in from the top of the strut tower and down . The tow . Truck said it looks like it got pulled with a hook there or the the garage . No , there's no way . Maybe a tire strap , but even that I look like where it's mounted .
Speaker 1It doesn't make sense yeah we did not pull that with a with a j hook . This vehicle was in for a 14 day stun drive . After he picked it up the ABS light was on . He claims it wasn't on . Prior Claims Brought it to a dealership , blamed it on us .
Speaker 1The crazy part about this is he filed a , a chargeback on his credit card that he paid with in person for the impound bill and the credit card company approved it . What so ? It goes through waves . Have you ever dealt with chargebacks ? It gets charged back . Then you've got to prove your point . Then they make a decision and there's like three rounds of this . It can go through and at the last I'm pretty sure the first one , we lost . The second one we won . The third one we won . The third one we lost because they said we didn't submit documents , even though they told us .
Speaker 1But he went and actually has managed to get out of paying his 14-day impound at this point because he charged back his credit card , which are two separate matters . Yeah , if you truly believe that we did your damage , that does not constitute that you get out of a police order tow . No , that becomes a civil matter . Mm-hmm , the charge back . Like the pair on this guy . You guys must be related Because the pair on this guy to go . I'm going to call my credit card company and say that I didn't authorize that charge . It was for your car . Yeah , you paid in person with a card . Yeah , like physically put the thing in the machine . Yeah , I thought that was supposed to protect us .
Speaker 2But for the ABS light , like just before I got out of the industry , since we had indoor storage where I was working , we were taking pictures of all four corners , obviously , um , outside in the light , and then when you drive it into the actual yard and put it on a hoist , you take more pictures . But for my own personal uh regulation , you're supposed to write down how much fuel is in the vehicle and the kilometers , because some people like to say , oh well , they took my car for a joy ride .
Speaker 1I don't need to do that .
Speaker 2I got full video surveillance I know we do too , but it's like just you write it on the bill how much fuel was in it ? Because they see that it's indoor storage and we drive it around to them when they come to pick it up . Right , try to red carpet service . Thanks for paying I don't do that .
Speaker 2So screw it , yeah , so , and with that picture it would show what lights are on in the dash , because it's running at that time before you're taking it in . Um , we had a a car and it was a shitty little pontiac pursuit . I think it was a cobalt knockoff for pontiac and it was in for a 45 day and I was the one that picked it up in the wheel lift and I was like , oh , we're going to get stuck with this thing like it's , they're not going to come pick it up . Should I double pick it ?
Speaker 1yeah , I'll double pick it , whatever yeah , they were my foil pants right .
Speaker 2I'll double pick it . I know they're low . I got a fat wheel lift . I double picked it , parked it in my shop . It sat there for 60 days before this guy came and paid the bill to get it out . He got it towed across the street for whatever reason , because he couldn't drive , and when it wasn't by us it was by a different company and when it was dropped across the street there was a puddle of oil underneath of it .
Speaker 1And he's definitely blaming you for that .
Speaker 2He's blaming us for it and we said you can come into our shop and see exactly where your car was parked for 60 days . It didn't move because we knew it was going to be there for 60 days . So we shoved it in a corner . No one touched it . We had to boost it to get it started because it hasn't been moved . There's no oil there and you can see on our surveillance camera we weren't messing around with it . Yeah , so it's . People will try to say whatever they can to get money .
Speaker 2A hundred percent , but what I'm kind of worried about , about these air dams on these Ford F-150s . So , going back to what I was saying earlier , most of those Fords you can pick up from the rear and the front tires just spin like we've towed hundreds of them never had .
Speaker 1I don't do .
Speaker 2I do not endorse this towman g mentality no , like anything , it call it sat tire , if you will . Anyways um what happens if you are like you'd set up your clearance , your ride height , in the rear , so you lower the ass end of the truck down a little bit on your wheel lift to make sure you have that ground ground clearance ? What happens if the speed sensor in the front realizes that it's doing 50 mile an hour ?
Speaker 2and decides to put that and decides to put that air dam down because it's got an electrical issue and that's why you're towing it right . It's got a little demon hiding in the pcm module there ecm module , because that's what new vehicles are famous for having little demons doing weird things . Um , like in my ram , the lights and the dash will just randomly flash , sometimes just out of the blue . What happens if that air dam goes down in reverse while you're towing it .
Speaker 1It no longer exists . Yeah , I've actually seen when I was trying to do some research on it , I seen posts about it where people were because like Ford was a long delay to get parts on it , and one guy was like I don't have one anymore . I don't even know . I hit a you know a tire debris in the and it must have broken it off . People don't even know about this thing . No .
Speaker 1I'm willing to bet if I call my dad and ask him what year his truck is , and I'm pretty sure it's newer than a 21 . I think it's a 22 or 23, . And go , do you know about your active air dam ?
Speaker 1He's going to go my what Most customers and most people probably don't even know this exists yeah right , like it's one of those weird little things that you know and because , again , you don't see it . If you're anyone like my dad who just buys the truck and knows nothing , like he comes around , I gotta show him how , everything on the damn thing right , it tells me when I need an oil change yeah , no , he's a little more mechanically inclined than that .
Speaker 1I actually . But it's true , like even mine , like my truck that I've picked up is , um , e-torque dodge . With the e-torque I kind of had an idea what the e-torque was , never really did any homework on it . I actually started doing research and I was like , oh shit , like there's a because , mainly because I'm having problems , typical dodge , but um , but a lot of people , until they have problems with something , won't . Oh shit , like there's a cause , mainly because I'm having problems , typical Dodge , but um , but a lot of people , until they have problems with something , won't actually look into something , right , yep , and because this doesn't affect any of the powertrain modules . So like this thing getting ripped off won't throw an Erica . It will throw an Erica , but it won't throw an engine light , right ? So it'll say that there's a problem with it , but it won't throw an engine light .
Speaker 4So it's only if you have what it's for , yeah no 100 .
Speaker 1Well , again the light won't come on . You probably go scan it for something else going on and then find out that there's a fault code for you know , an air dam actuator and you're like huh , what's ?
Speaker 2that yeah so is that a part of my like ac is the yeah meter core .
Speaker 1It's not opening , but that's the problem if we're all trying to be professional in this industry and with the so many different makes and models of cars , it's it's impossible to know everything to do for every new car yeah , so your operators have to be trained to literally do and you know , and it's important thing to do and I'm not trying to shit on you know , because there's probably people that train you know much better maybe than I do , or much better even than our company does or that are just , you know , keyboard warriors that'll sit there and go . Well , you got to teach them all this stuff and it's like , oh what , there's so much out there to learn . You need to train your operators on how to look for it yeah right , like , yes , okay .
Speaker 1In a real , in a perfect world , they're walking around the full car , they're crawling underneath , they're documenting everything . Then they're loading up the car and the fact of the matter is they're doing four calls a day , yeah , right . Or in the real world where you've done one , where you go okay , I've done these fours before , no problem . Hook , go , no problem , right until you find out that that actually has that air dam and you're paying 1200 bucks , give or take , that that it comes out so um no , but I was .
Speaker 2I was trying to segue perfectly into professional I'm going to .
Speaker 1I got it right here . So if you want to do damage , free towing and you never want to cause damage . We have some great news from the OPP in a recent post that the Ontario Provincial Police put out about a towing company . And you'll ask me gee wait , is that a towing company ? Because that doesn't look like a tow truck . That's a funny looking rotator . Ontario Provincial Police East Regions and Center is in Center Hastings . Some great work by Smokies Towing
Ontario Provincial Police Response Criticism
Speaker 1. After a single vehicle crash on Highway 62 in Centre Hastings . It happened on June 28th when the driver swerved to avoid a deer , the car went over the guardrail and plunged 30 feet 9 meters onto the rocks in the ditch . Thankfully there were no injuries . It took a skilled tow operator just 10 minutes to get the vehicle back on the road without any further damage or road closure .
Speaker 2What do you mean ? Road closure that truck's blocking the whole stinking road .
Speaker 1Yeah , only for 10 minutes . Technically , he left the lane open by the looks of it . Yeah , the OPP . Now here's looking at you , opp .
Speaker 2You said I had cojones before the OPP . Now here's looking at you , opp . You said I had cojones before . The OPP's got balls for posting this .
Speaker 1No , the OPP are stupid for posting this and the reason I say that , and as we'll go on to read it , one comment from the post no disrespect in the world to Smokies . No .
Speaker 1Okay , smokies had this equipment at their disposal , they went ahead and did it . My problem with this post is this the only ontario provincial police postings you will find about tow trucks , or how many tow trucks they took out of service . How many tow trucks have been shot at this month ? How many tow trucks um you know got caught racing and stunt driving to scenes that they've impounded ? Now you finally take the time to give a towing company credit for something on something that isn't even a goddamn tow truck yeah , like for those , for those of you audio listeners out there , it's a logging truck with a crane .
Speaker 2it's a tanana max logging truck with a log grab on the tailboard and it's got the car grabbed in between the a pillar and the B pillar , crushing the roof in slightly picking it up over top of the truck over the guardrail over top , loading it into a bin .
Speaker 1Um , it sounds like they may do scrap hauling and that , so like there's actually a tub on that log hauler , if you look at it , where the car can sit in . Yep , so it may be built with a purpose , yep , but the fact of the matter it is that is not a tow truck . That doesn't even fall under a tow truck under the OPPs new regulations and it says logging on the hood .
Speaker 2Locking right on the front of it .
Speaker 1So my problem with this is and I'll go on to read a comment that I think it's very funny and hits the nail pretty well in the head . This is adding insult to injury . What the fuck is wrong with the industry and the law enforcement we deal with here in ontario ? For people that follow the opp social media accounts , we can all agree that we barely , very rarely does the opp call out a towing company by name , other than when it's making headlines for plates being removed or the tow truck being impounded for excessive speeding on the way to their first available request . But this has to be a joke . Congratulations , a goddamn logging truck .
Speaker 1I think it's congratulations to a goddamn logging truck after all the shit this province has made the industry go through . What a joke . I kind of laughed at the no additional damage . The car was probably a write-off , but just shows the lack of knowledge and ignorance . If the car wasn't a write-off , sure as now , but hey , at least the logging truck did a great job . I know a lot of companies in Ontario that invest in the right equipment and training . Some of us have to help with extrication and I've never seen a good job post on those . Regardless if all other emergency personnel were thanked for their assistance . But let's not forget the amazing work a logging truck that totaled what was left of a car that doesn't need a tow license or a tow driver because it's a goddamn logging truck . Don't mean any disrespect to Smokey's Towing . Some great work by Smokies towing after a single vehicle crash on highway 62 and center Hastings .
Speaker 1Yeah it's true , like the , the Ontario provincial police has made an absolute joke of the industry , as it is right . From you know the corruption behind the scenes , from you know blasting every time a tow truck fails an inspection or gets impounded , right , if you haven't followed ontario provincial police east region and seen this post . Last time I checked it was still active . We were surprised . We thought it would come down after a bit . But , like you guys have already pooched this industry to hell , you have made us jump through hoops . Keep in mind this was three days before all the regulations became official . Yeah , right , and then you you know what I mean . You , you congratulate .
Speaker 1It's the first time we've ever seen one called out by by first name , yeah , like by company name , and it's because of something like this and it's embarrassing . It's goddamn embarrassing . Like we don't go out here for the recognition by any stretch of the imagination . Goddamn embarrassing . Like we don't go out here for the recognition by any stretch of the imagination . We have done recoveries where we have helped trap people inside vehicles . We have done you know what I mean like worked hand in hand with many first responders and we do not expect the praise for it .
Speaker 1That's fine , right , as this poster goes on to say , even though many other , every other emergency personnel that responded to something will get the recognition and the thank you . We , you know , we'll go on humble without it , no problem , but when you see that kind of shit , it stings , it stings a lot , and whoever is in charge of their social media and I'm sure they thought it was just it's a funny post , hey , this is pretty funny . Da da , da , da da . It's a funny post . Hey , this is pretty funny . Da , da , da , da da . But it doesn't speak to the true issue going on within the towing industry , especially in such a crazy time in Ontario with everything going on . I think it was sensitive and I think they fucked up . I think if it was meant to be funny , they missed the mark because it doesn't read funny it reads stupid .
Speaker 2Maybe , just maybe , here in Ontario we're going to see the industry start pivoting more towards these unconventional roles , solely for the fact that that logging truck , like that poster says , doesn't need a tow license . Now what if I get a roll-off truck with a flat deck ? Well , that's not a tow truck , that's a roll-off truck . Hmm , I wonder . I don't think I'll need a tow license for that because it's a roll-off truck , but I could haul cars with it . Probably won't need a tow license . Probably won't need to put a driver through $1,100 worth of training to operate that , as long as they got their DZ .
Speaker 1People are going to argue it , people are going to play with it , people are going to find ways that they can to get around it . A hundred percent right . I know one of the definitions is like having a wheel lift on a flop .
Speaker 2That definitely makes it a tow truck , doesn't make it just a like a float truck but at the same point that's gonna screw a lot of people , because I know a lot of equipment movers that haul medium-sized tractors love the 40 tb nrc beds because they're strong decks . A lot of them didn't remove the wheel lift .
Speaker 1They just never use it because they need because they use it as a stabilizer .
Speaker 2Yeah , they need it for the support . So now that's deemed a tow truck , when that thing would never see a car in its life . And now I wonder if it has to be registered to a towing .
Speaker 1I don't know what the fine . I'd have to go over again and see what the fine . If it's not registered to a towing like I don't know what the fine . I'd have to go over again and see what the fine . If it's not registered to a towing company , it shouldn't be a problem and if it's registered to a towing company , right , but but no it's . I don't know we've talked about to see enough . I really don't want to bore our listeners with it . It is a subject that definitely gets me a little hot and bothered in all the wrong ways . Um , it is something that I think the province has completely continued to pooch Um , and hopefully we'll get it solved out . You know , sooner than later , before we start seeing logging trucks taking over recoveries in Northern Ontario Like there's operators that spent money on rotators and training to do exactly that .
Speaker 2But you could also say what about a high ab crane on the back of like a lumber truck ? It's not a rotator . It's not a tow truck . You could do most of the things .
Speaker 1No , no , the goddamn high ab guy unions will start arguing that it is and make us go through seven years of certification to run one of those too , like the crane guys did , which I mean I'm not again . We've we've touched the crane guys did , which I mean I'm not again . We've touched the crane debate enough . Yeah , I think that we should . That should be . One of our goals is to set up , get a crane operator and a rotator operator on the show and we're just going to go in the background and shut our cameras and mics off and go here , boys , have a good talk about why is a rotator not a crane , and you can argue why it is . That would be a good show . That would be a good show . What side are you on ? Team rotator , team crane , team rotator probably ? That's not fair . Then we're just going to beat up on this poor crane operator and he'll never want to come back on our show again we'd never have him back on the show again .
Speaker 1That's fair . There's no purpose to have a crane operator . All they do is lift things up and pick up , put them down so same plane .
Speaker 1So , as we kind of touched over in the episode , go get those logging trucks . If you're in Ontario , they are going to save you millions of dollars in licensing over the next year and you can do the same recovery you can with a light duty float without all the hassle . If you are towing Fords , please , for love of God , 21, . You're 21 and up . So if it's legal to drink , go ahead and double check that it doesn't have the lowered air dam . If it does , maybe change up your approach . If you have a trick to how you tow these Fords that do have that dam . I think I got a couple ideas in my head , but until I actually get my hands on one to try it , I don't want to
Podcast Sign-Off Banter
Speaker 1give them away . Comment down below or on the YouTube side . Do not forget to like and subscribe . Do not forget to visit the website or email us directly at thetowinglifeatgmailcom and do not forget to tune in again next week for another episode of the Towing Life podcast . Take care , toodles .
Speaker 2For some reason I wanted to say quack , bang out . At the end of that he's another YouTuber , the fat electrician .
Speaker 1He says quack bang out . Yeah , you want to steal his line .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's a good line . It was just fitting , I don't know . It just went with the flow . I was like , oh , that would go good , here you have a line what is it ?
Speaker 1toodles or some shit toodles yeah is that what you say every time ?
Speaker 2toodles . Yeah , 140 , some odd episodes that I've been a part of you said toodles toodles , oh my god .
