Tow Truck

Overview

A tow truck, here the flatbed or "rollback" type, recovers disabled and accident vehicles by carrying them on a tilting steel deck rather than dragging them on their own wheels. The flatbed approach avoids drivetrain damage and handles all-wheel-drive and low-clearance cars that older sling and hook trucks could not, so it has become the standard for roadside assistance and impound work. Two recovery tools work together: the deck slides aft and tilts to the ground to be loaded by winch, and a swing-down wheel-lift handles short repositioning tows where loading the deck is impractical. The whole upper structure is powered hydraulically, driven off the engine through a power take-off.

How it works

The base vehicle is a conventional medium-duty truck: the Diesel Engine feeds the Transmission and the Drive Axle, with air-over-hydraulic Brake System stopping the loaded rig and the whole assembly carried on the Ladder-Frame Chassis. What sets the truck apart bolts on above the frame and runs on oil pressure.

The Power Take-Off taps the gearbox to spin the Hydraulic Power Unit, a hydraulic pump that pressurises the Hydraulic System reservoir and cylinders. To load, the operator commands the slide and tilt cylinders to run the Tilt-and-Slide Deck deck rearward and down to the ground, then the Winch, a planetary hydraulic drum with steel cable and hook, drags the casualty up the ramp. Raising the deck and retracting it secures the load for transport. The fold-out Wheel-Lift cradles a vehicle's wheels for quick tows without using the deck. Every function is directed by the Controls, a valve bank and electronic board worked from a side console or handheld pendant. The Electrical System system carries amber warning beacons for working at the roadside, the Cab houses the driver, and a side-mounted Fuel Tank supplies the engine.