Tow truck experiences

[brunswick240]

Just like the title says. What have you guys had as far as experience wise; whether is from the scene of an accident or from your house etc. Looking for people that have lowered cars especially.

[wow-thats-a-cool-car]

they always have wood and they can figure it out
take off all aero and if you have a front lip
o ask for a flat bed fer sure

[Lr308]

Over paid professionals they know what the are doing!:lockd:

[yoni_nismo]

I popped my head gasket after popping off a radiator hose by hitting roadkill on the way to school when i was carpooling wit a friend that had a midterm that same day so she called AAA and about 15 mins later they came wit the regular tow truck and gave me the option of signing the damage waiver before he tried to lift the car or wait for the flat bed i felt bad for her and i just sighed the waiver... I was looking at my poor s14 for the whole 2 mile trip back to a friends house :bite:

[brunswick240]

yaaa see that damage waiver, thats the part im not really liking too much.

[Dousan_PG]

never had a problem
very nice usually and can make it work
always required removing the rear bumper
but good guys in general. usually talked cars and bullshit on the ride.

[titaniumbmx]

over paid my ass! the crap a tow truck driver has to deal with on a daily basis, holy shit i would never go back to driving a tow truck. 12hour shifts 5 days a week $650 salary after taxes roughly $9.40 hr.

anyway. any tow truck can handle an s13 as low as it car be slammed with no problem, its how the driver drives with it in tow that messes them up. just follow his ass and watch how he drives. if they break anything the company is required to have enough insurance to cover whatever they break.

[yoni_nismo]

yaaa see that damage waiver, thats the part im not really liking too much.

lol ... he was still very delicate wit the car

[Lr308]

(12hour shifts 5 days a week $650 salary after taxes roughly $9.40 hr) Well i'am not the only one getting ripped off then! Get charged over $80 for 15mins of work! :cops:

[xKennie]

s13 gave up months ago and i called my insurance and they said it would take about 45 minutes and extra charges for something (i forget, i think cuz my address changed and they would have to tow it there) then i hung up and called back asking for a flatbed since my car was lowered and forgot to ask the first time so they said it would take an hour. all in all they did it tho and carefully. pretty cool dood to
but now my friends whos dad owns a AAA tow truck said he can tow for me whenever i need as long as he aint busy -]

[lilredstiffy]

IMO if your car is extremely low its semi-your responsibility. It isn't really their job to deal with a car with huge flared bumper and 1-3" of ground clearance.

I would suggest having a friend with a truck pull you home with a tow strap, or remove all your aero and exhaust before having the car loaded on the tow truck. Hopefully that isn't too much hassle, for example I have my aero ziptied on and a buddy club spec 2 so that was relative painless last time I needed a tow truck!

Most tow truck guys can respect a reasonable cool modified car, from my experience they freak out from how much the car ISN'T moving while on the flatbed as they go over bumps/down the road!

[shinhed]

Yeah make sure to remove that aero and maybe your intercooler. Mine got a little scuffed, but no biggie. The genius eventually chucked the front wheels with wood to help lift it into the flat bed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/JewGal/DSCN1464.jpg

[S-Nation S13]

had my car decomissioned once on me i got a flat bed as he was pulling my car on it is front lip scrapped badly good thing my lip was zipped tied which allowed the plastice oem lip to flex lol as soon as it cleared the flatbed surface the lip popped back in position lol sounded and looked horrible

ZIPTIES FTW!!!!! definitely take aero off if its carbon fiber be smart or eles your lookin into gettin a brand new one

[420sx]

all i tell you is

ALWAYS ask for a flatbed. talk to the dude, some guys have no experience with lowered cars. i just happen to know a few peeps in town and 1 or 2 in dfw or houston.

but best is to have your own tow means or a friend.

[CrimsonRockett]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii246/CrimsonRockett/IMG00187.jpg

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+1 on always asking for a flatbed.

That time I got towed, the dude first showed up with a regular tow truck and was pissed 'cause he had to drive back for the flatbed(even though I had asked for it over the phone anyway).

Usually cool people. Talk about cars, work, etc.

[water]

Well like everyone else said, always ask for a flat bed.

I also agree that is partly your responsibility. I always keep some pieces of wood in my trunk just in case.

Also, and I can't believe nobody's said it yet, TIP THEM. I always tip them before hand and I have never had a bad experience.

[S14TEENZ]

the asswipe fucked up my exhaust looked like a sideways oval...

[brunswick240]

Well the car was picked up today, of course I had to go to work before they got here so I couldnt help, or offer suggestions. My 17 year old brother briefly described it to me and said that my exhaust was scraping the whole time they were pulling it up and my rear bumper scraped a good 2 ft. But after pulling the car from the garage to the driveway I have little hope that itll be back.. damn ice. Thanks for the posts guys.

[Maiku240sxS14]

I was at the track had an accident called AAA asked for a flatbed, then came within 15min. 95 240 with OEM lip, exhaust, and the car was pretty low. I didn't say thing but watched as he was loading my car. I was amazed how much work he went thru to get my car up. Everytime something was about to hit, he would stop and make adjustments and got the car on there. I thanked him and told him i was impressed. He did the same when he was bringing down my car. I thanked him again and gave him a $20 tip and he refused to take it. Then told me to have a nice day, sorry about your car and drove off.

[Mangudai]

I was at the track had an accident called AAA asked for a flatbed, then came within 15min. 95 240 with OEM lip, exhaust, and the car was pretty low. I didn't say thing but watched as he was loading my car. I was amazed how much work he went thru to get my car up. Everytime something was about to hit, he would stop and make adjustments and got the car on there. I thanked him and told him i was impressed. He did the same when he was bringing down my car. I thanked him again and gave him a $20 tip and he refused to take it. Then told me to have a nice day, sorry about your car and drove off.


That's whats up.

[S14DB]

If they ever give you shit about asking for a flatbed or wanting to change more. Tell them it's RWD and has a Locker Differential. Get them every time cause they won't want to fuck up the diff.

[240drifter1]

I almost cried watching my front lip ....

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p61/kornothekob/021-1.jpg

[C. Senor]

on the cars we've had to have towed have been pretty good. with the exception of one time where they nearly took off my brothers front bumper.

but at work, i see some pretty bad loading and unloading. like 2 weeks ago, they were dropping off a porsche, and he almost took the bumper off. luckily something clicked, pulled the car back up and put down 2 levels of wood.

but most tow truck drivers, if not all i've met so far have been cool.

[importdude]

well, it was raining pretty bad, i broke my clutch cable(integra)
called AAA
asked for flatbed, regular tow truck came. said " we cant tow your car b/c we dont want to be liable for denting the oil pan. i told them ill dont care. Fucking left me in the Rain

i had to call a friends uncle with a tow truck to get me. i was soaked in freaking water

[DoriftoPnoy]

ha....

one day the power steering belt came off and my car overheated. So my dad tows it home. When it came home they had to set it on blocks of wood to clear my lip. Well they cleared it off the truck.... but not the block of wood.... lip cracks in 2 places. Soooo... I sent it to a body shop and they did a pretty nice job fixing it up and the towing company pickd up the bill.

[dynamicck]

Blair's Towing in lake forest is legit. make sure you ask for a flat bed.

[cycloneskate]

lol AAA FTW!!! we got a free upgrade to plus or w/e so i get like 4 free tows up to 100 miles, ive used 3, one for a wreck, 1 for wen my tranny went out 2 days after i bought the car, and then one for when the headgasket blew 3 days after i swapped in a dohc. tow guys were always chill, and the last one kept askin about wat had been modified on my car- he used to be a mechanic. they came w/ a flatbed every time, but my exhaust and front lip scraped every time! the guy was letting the car off on my driveway, and i watched and listened as the bumper SCCCRRRRRRRAPED i was like whoa whoa whoa hold up! and then the guy went and got some wood blocks, after he backed it back up on the trailer, which also scraped it some more.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/cycloneskate/240sx/1017071515.jpg
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[handinpants]

if you have a 2 way lsd you need a flatbed, unless you have a good lawyer, and can some how proove their negligence when your car slides out and hits something.

[S14DB]

if you have a 2 way lsd you need a flatbed, unless you have a good lawyer, and can some how proove their negligence when your car slides out and hits something.

If it doesn't slide out the diff will be toast after a few corners anyways.

[brunswick240]

if you tell them the car is rwd and you dont ask for a flat bed they almost always have to lift the driven wheels off and let the others roll...

[juice.def]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii246/CrimsonRockett/IMG00187.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii246/CrimsonRockett/IMG00188.jpg

+1 on always asking for a flatbed.

That time I got towed, the dude first showed up with a regular tow truck and was pissed 'cause he had to drive back for the flatbed(even though I had asked for it over the phone anyway).

Usually cool people. Talk about cars, work, etc.

same shit happened to me had a cv axle pop off and get tangled in my e brake cable. waited 3 1/2 hours and the guy shows up with a normal truck after i clearly told the lady over the phone i wanted a flat bed. Guy was cool though he went and changed trucks and then just talked some shit about the dispatchers.

[brunswick240]

well im glad to hear all these replies from you guys. thanks for the reassurance.

[pinkarrowsnow]

Blew my oil filter off leavin school one day was angry/bein a tough guy didnt let car warm up and pressure got too high. My car has the stock lip its pretty low 2 in off the ground. Front was fine with some blocks exhaust had a few friends lift the exhaust up while it was gettin put on the truck little scrapes but nothing terrible.

[ThunderbaySr20]

i love it when you try to tell them that our cars are RWD and they dont believe you

[Ailiaw]

if you tell them the car is rwd and you dont ask for a flat bed they almost always have to lift the driven wheels off and let the others roll...

The tow truck guy I got had a handy home-made contraption that he used to keep my steering wheel locked straight when he towed it with the rear in the air. Worked out pretty well.

[Pacman]

I had a decent experience with a tow truck driver. When I called, I tole them I was lowered and a rear wheel drive car. I was on the side of the freeway between the 80 and I-5 interchange on a busy Saturday night. They sent out a standard truck. The guy was cool and got me off the freeway, just a couple miles of tow. He called a flat bed for me, to keep my car safe, as he put it and lost the tow. I tipped him $20 since he lost the job and was a cool guy. Nice Valentines day for me! :lol: I'm not that low yet but it was still close.

Sorry for the shotty cell pics. Its all I had and my camera was 50 miles away!