We’ve got to thank longtime BangShifter Rich Pedraza for sending us the link to this awesome and seemingly overdue towing innovation. What is it? How about a ramp truck equipped with a bed that can rotate perpendicular to the truck on either side. In this case the thing is demonstrated in a scenario designed by the builder to demonstrate how handy that the truck is. When you see it go to work, you’ll wonder why someone has not thought of this whole situation before and if they had, how did they lose the edge to get it to market first?
Standard issue ramp trucks (or roll backs to some) are exceptionally handy vehicles. From race tracks to highways, we’d venture to say that they are the most popular style of wrecker in use today. A powerful wing mounted at the top end of the bed can be sued to drag virtually anything you can think of onto the tilting back bed of the truck…but there are limitations. The main one is that the truck needs to be inline with the object it is pulling and the fact that the ramp cannot really reach out over something of significance. Enter Pullens Truck Center, the builder of the rig. The best line of the whole demo is when the “narrator” says, “And here’s where we separate the boys from the men,”
It is really awesome to watch this big bastard work and “rescue” the car that was stranded behind the guard rail. Without this ingenious ramp truck, the job that literally takes minutes would consume hours, snarl traffic, and generally make everyone pissed. Every flipping towing company and municipality in the state should gave one of these things to help with traffic!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THE INGENIOUS INVENTION A WORKING TRY –
Can’t remember the manufacturer, but those have been out for 10 years or so. I remember seeing an ad for a tow show that featured one, and I quit driving a wrecker 8 years ago…
A Ramp back, is a truck with a Fixed ramp bed, only ramps from the truck to the ground move (by hand). A roll back has a bed that powers back then up, down then forward by hydraulics.
What someone did was to mount the whole roll back bed assembly on a rotating platform.
This rollback would do the work left to boom-trucks. Remove cars from garages in inner-city alleys where a roll back normally can’t go. Even rural garages where some roll backs are too long to get the correct angles.
The thing is on a medium or heavy duty chassis. I don’t think a truck like my 1999 F-450 could take that much side load. Even 19.5 tires have a limit.
Extra Credit: the car is a Corolla SR5 or GTS AE86 hatch back.
Cool truck, crappy camera guy. I had to pause and puke due to motion sickness.