Outfitting: Chains, Forks & Must haves?

[shawndt19]

Hello everyone,

 

Just bought a 25ton wrecker, and it came with a handful of forks, wheel lift grid & fifth wheel/pintel hook setup. Wanted to see if anyone has some suggestions on what to stock the truck with fork & chain wise or maybe some must haves that I may overlook. My existing customer base is all commercial vehicles. I dont foresee getting very many calls for passenger vehicles. Im pretty comfortable with what I need tool wise. I will probably stock it similarly to my service truck. Also curious if anyone has used any of irish iron wreckers' products, I was considering some of their stuff, but I haven't found any reviews curious if anyone on here is running their stuff. Thanks in advance.

[EdsTowing]

I have used some forks from Irish Iron...no problems with them. Check their "u-bolt" forks that have a removable pin for the center to do Gillig Busses. I believe it was theirs...they are handy. I use the U-bolt forks for most rear tractor tows. As for chains, I would have two 20' 1/2" chains for slinging stuff. I have a couple of good quality 1/2" recovery chains that I use all the time. Use Gr80 or 100...this isn't the time to be "thrifty"...and cherish them. I would carry a few 3/8" x 20' & 10' transport chains for securing stuff. Most all of my other recovery stuff is Rim Slings, Loop Straps, soft shackles....it's so much easier to work with but you have to respect it. If not...then you will be replacing it... 

[Derlyn Z]

 Ed's has it pretty well covered on the chains. I also have the B/A 1/2" chains with the frame hook on as well. I like using those hooking onto the frames of trucks or using that hook to hook into the nose plates of trailers if you are towing them from the front. 

 

 

I also use the rimslings and endless loop slings quite a bit as well. Another thing if you are towing stuff with air suspension from the rear a lot like semis and stuff, the B/A axle chains are fast and work well to chain the axle up. (picture below). A regular chain works well to, but this is faster and keeps you cleaner!