A ’71 Ford Crew Cab 4x4 tow truck. Yeah
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 This time on Roadkill, we've got Donuts in the Snow, Poop on Mike's Shirt, and Pigpen
00:04 behind Harry the Tow Truck.
00:25 I spotted this '71 Ford Tow Truck on Craigslist in Colorado and had to have it, and so we
00:31 came up with an excuse to make a show.
00:34 Because when you have a tow truck, you haul junk!
00:37 And that was about the extent of our plan.
00:39 Well that, and it was about time for a good old-fashioned Roadkill road trip.
00:43 Where'd you bring us?
00:45 We're in Fort Collins, Colorado, which is nice and snowy.
00:49 I'm really looking forward to another road trip, actually.
00:51 We haven't done this in a while.
00:53 This is like a flashback to our very, very first trip.
00:55 I last wore this coat in Alaska.
00:57 Yeah?
00:58 Yeah.
00:59 It's been in the closet ever since.
01:00 Oh my god!
01:01 Thirteen degrees!
01:02 Now it's getting serious.
01:07 Let's go meet these guys and meet our tow truck.
01:10 Alright.
01:12 I'm stoked not to be in the desert for once.
01:17 I know.
01:18 We're gonna see cool stuff on this trip.
01:19 Oh, look at the bumper on it!
01:21 Wow.
01:22 Oh, dude.
01:23 It's everything I had hoped for and more.
01:25 This is great.
01:26 Look how straight it is.
01:27 It is gonna be really, really good.
01:28 Does this have a big block?
01:29 Ooh, we have a push bumper.
01:30 Yeah.
01:31 Hey!
01:32 That's a get out of my way bumper.
01:33 How's it going?
01:34 Good.
01:35 How you doing?
01:36 Wow, we got a crowd.
01:37 Yeah.
01:38 And a fire.
01:39 This is perfect.
01:40 I'm David.
01:41 Chris.
01:42 You're Chris, who we talked to about the truck.
01:43 Correct.
01:44 Yeah.
01:45 What's the story on the truck?
01:46 It was your granddad's?
01:47 Yeah, it was my grandfather's.
01:49 He owned a mechanic shop since the 60s or 70s and moved out here and wanted four-wheel
01:55 drive and had some extra four-wheel drive parts and it was a two-wheel drive truck.
02:00 Oh, really?
02:01 It's been converted.
02:02 Been converted and built the whole tow truck system inside the shop and rigged it up the
02:08 way he wanted it and it worked for what he wanted, you know?
02:11 Homemade.
02:12 And does it work?
02:13 Can I tow stuff?
02:14 Oh, yeah.
02:15 It works.
02:16 It's completely functional.
02:17 As soon as I saw it on Craigslist, I was like, "Oh, we have to have this.
02:20 It's so good.
02:21 It's super cool."
02:24 I would never paint this.
02:27 And it's a 460?
02:28 Yes.
02:29 So, it runs 10s then.
02:30 All right, cool.
02:31 Yeah, it runs 10s.
02:32 You sure it's not 20?
02:35 So the whole weight of the front of the vehicle is carried by that one cable with three sketchy
02:39 clamps on it?
02:40 Yeah.
02:41 Okay.
02:42 A little electrical tape.
02:43 I'm good with that.
02:44 Zip ties would help probably.
02:46 This is probably the coolest thing we've bought in a long time.
02:49 It is.
02:50 Oh, the clutch is stiff.
02:54 It's a man clutch and there's no tread on the pedal, so...
02:57 Okay, we're in neutral.
02:58 Just hit the key.
02:59 Oh, don't even pump it?
03:00 I like your optimism.
03:01 Wow.
03:02 That's a good sign.
03:03 How's the brake feel?
03:04 Yeah, there.
03:05 And then this handle down here.
03:06 Oh, that's weird.
03:07 You'll go ahead and let out just a smoke.
03:08 There it goes.
03:18 This is awesome.
03:20 We have a tow truck.
03:21 We have a tow truck.
03:22 All right, well, let's road test it.
03:23 Red eye?
03:24 It starts good.
03:25 Oh, the heater is on.
03:26 It has a heater.
03:27 I don't think it has a thermostat though.
03:28 We might have to plug the grill.
03:29 Oh yeah, it does have a slip ring.
03:30 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:31 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:32 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:33 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:34 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:35 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:36 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:37 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:38 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:39 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:40 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:41 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:42 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:43 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:44 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:45 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:46 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:47 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:48 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:49 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:50 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:51 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:52 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
03:53 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
04:17 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
04:38 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:02 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:31 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:32 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:33 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:34 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:35 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:36 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:37 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:38 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:39 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:40 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:41 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:42 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:43 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:44 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:45 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:46 It's got a little bit of a slip ring.
05:47 It was almost as if...
06:02 It was almost as if it was all going too easily.
06:22 So we did have a plan, but at this point I think it's just survival.
06:26 And just like you predicted, 12 inches.
06:29 Yep.
06:30 Which is rad because we decided yesterday that we were going to go rescue Pigpen from
06:34 Flagstaff, Arizona, which is about 11 and a half hours from Colorado in a normal car
06:39 without snow.
06:40 Will our junk tow truck that we've never driven more than five miles actually make it through
06:44 a foot of snow on Colorado highways?
06:47 I'm going to say yeah.
06:48 It's a proper test for Harry.
06:49 It's cold.
06:50 Yep.
06:51 The plan here is to go get Pigpen, the 50 GMC truck that we had dragged out of a junkyard
06:58 back in episode 31.
07:00 We thought we killed the thing, and so naturally we sold it to a buddy, and he found out exactly
07:05 what was wrong, but Finnegan doesn't know that yet.
07:08 All he knows is we're going to go snatch it with the wrecker.
07:11 The thing about it is I own proper snow clothes, and as you can see, I brought the pants and
07:21 the jacket, forgot the boots.
07:23 And I don't anticipate being in snow for more than 12 or 14 hours, so the last thing I want
07:29 to do is go spend $120 on some snow boots when I have a perfectly good newspaper here.
07:33 This is a free newspaper too.
07:36 Oh yeah.
07:39 This is good.
07:40 I could probably run a marathon in these things.
07:46 Sure you don't want to do yours?
07:51 Pretty sure.
07:52 I'm good.
07:55 This is what we were hoping for, right?
07:57 Oh yeah.
07:59 Well, clear the windows and go.
08:03 Now I have to find the key somewhere.
08:07 Oh wow, look at this.
08:08 What?
08:09 Oh, you have to see it.
08:10 Is it snow in the truck?
08:11 Okay, you can drive.
08:12 Great.
08:13 This blows.
08:14 Literally.
08:15 Oh!
08:16 Really only on your side.
08:17 Oh, it's wet and cold.
08:18 It's snowing inside the truck.
08:31 Look at this.
08:34 Miserable.
08:35 Ready to see if it'll start?
08:36 Sure.
08:37 I bet it's going to start.
08:38 No problem.
08:39 Oh yeah, we're good.
08:40 I'll turn the heater off.
09:00 That'll help.
09:01 Yeah, we need that extra juice.
09:03 I wonder if it has a choke and it's like stuck shut.
09:06 Oh yeah, it has a choke I think.
09:08 Fix it.
09:09 I'm driving.
09:10 I think the choke's just stuck, but you'll let me know while I sit in here.
09:22 You knew this was going to happen.
09:25 All right, try it now.
09:36 Yes!
09:38 Heater.
09:41 Choke was stuck on me.
09:50 Yep.
09:51 Ready?
09:52 I've never driven a tow truck in the snow before.
09:55 So far so good.
09:58 Oh, we're fine.
10:01 You think we can do it?
10:05 Oh hell yeah, do it.
10:06 Ready?
10:07 Yeah.
10:08 Oh yeah.
10:09 A tow truck lift here.
10:10 That was pretty good.
10:11 Oh, it's a little bit of a bump.
10:12 I'm going to go back.
10:13 Oh yeah, we're good.
10:14 Oh, we're good.
10:15 Yes!
10:16 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:17 Oh yeah, we're good.
10:18 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:19 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:20 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:21 I'm going to go back.
10:22 I'm going to go back.
10:23 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:24 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:25 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:26 I'm going to go back.
10:27 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:28 I'm going to go back.
10:29 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:30 I'm going to go back.
10:31 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:32 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:33 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:34 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:35 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:36 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:37 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:38 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:39 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:40 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:41 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:42 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:43 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:44 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:45 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:46 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:47 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:48 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:49 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:50 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:51 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:52 Oh, that was a good lift.
10:53 This is the correct vehicle for this trip.
10:56 We survived in the snow so far, but there's no windshield wiper on the driver's side,
11:01 or there is one, but it flops around and does absolutely nothing.
11:04 And there's no heat getting in the engine because it's so cold out.
11:08 It's like 20 degrees, and so we got some cardboard that we're going to put in front of it to
11:11 try and build some heat so we can get some temperature in the cab.
11:14 Right now, the radiator is ice-cold air hitting it, keeping all the engine coolant that's
11:19 getting cycled through the engine by the water pump ice-cold.
11:23 So the engine's not really getting warm, which means the heater core is not getting warm,
11:26 so the defroster is not working.
11:28 There's no heat coming out.
11:30 So what we're going to do is we're going to block the radiator from the cold air so the
11:34 coolant will get hot, the motor will get hot, everything gets hot, we stay warm.
11:38 You can do that, right?
11:39 You won't even need zip ties.
11:41 Nope.
11:42 And I did it right.
11:46 There we go.
11:47 Hey.
11:48 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:49 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:50 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:51 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:52 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:53 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:54 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:55 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:56 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:57 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:58 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
11:59 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
12:00 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
12:01 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
12:02 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
12:03 You're going to get a little bit of a cold.
12:27 It's pretty good, right?
12:28 It really is.
12:29 It's fun to drive.
12:30 She needs a short throw shifter.
12:32 It should be dialed.
12:33 We need to get on a major highway, otherwise there's no way we're getting all the way to
12:42 Flagstaff.
12:43 Ever.
12:44 The truck is too good.
12:46 I don't think anything's going to break on it.
12:48 We've been motoring along, but despite the quality of the truck, we've been making no
12:53 progress whatsoever.
12:54 We've traveled like 200 miles.
12:56 And so we're in Idaho Springs, Colorado right now.
12:59 And tonight we hope to make it to either Glenwood Springs or Grand Junction, depending on what
13:05 we feel like.
13:06 And then tomorrow we'll be doing I don't know what, hunting for project vehicles, trading
13:10 off the tow truck.
13:11 Talking to locals.
13:12 Yeah, see, weed is legal in Colorado.
13:17 Right.
13:18 We have limited visibility, maximum freezing this.
13:22 We'll go as far as we can.
13:24 Probably around the block.
13:50 Snow isn't falling quite as bad today, but it's still freezing cold.
13:53 I think it's like 20 degrees or something like that.
13:56 And we're going to keep on heading down to Arizona.
13:59 We figure more south, more sun.
14:01 Am I driving?
14:03 Okay.
14:04 Sweet.
14:05 Would you mind Jeeves cleaning off the windshield?
14:08 Since I'm driving?
14:09 Oh, I just took that bullet, didn't I?
14:17 Wow.
14:22 You may have to go push the choke closed.
14:24 Oh, wow.
14:25 There's antifreeze all over the air cleaner lid.
14:27 That might explain what we were smelling last night.
14:32 Flex.
14:35 Okay.
14:38 Maybe it's closed too much.
14:45 Try that.
14:46 That's what's called a manual choke.
14:53 Apparently, people are going to love this.
15:23 Apparently people actually live in places where you need antifreeze instead of just
15:27 water.
15:28 Crazy.
15:29 Don't look.
15:30 Crazy.
15:31 Crazy man, you.
15:32 Apparently, Harry doesn't like to drive like 78 miles an hour, which is what I was doing
15:38 when it ended up leaking fluid out.
15:44 I think it's about another eight hours to Flagstaff, which is our goal tonight.
15:48 Lake Arizona, where it's warmer, like, you know, 17 degrees.
15:54 This is the part of the show where we edit out like two days of nothing happening because
15:59 honestly, Harry is just way too good.
16:03 The only real problem is that we had to break out our water-cooled credit card just to pay
16:07 for the gas.
16:08 Man, this thing gets horrible mileage.
16:11 But really the greatest part of the trip was running into all of these locals who recognized
16:15 the truck.
16:17 Others were like, "Man, I remember 1978.
16:20 That thing drug me out of a ditch."
16:22 It almost felt like we were robbing the neighborhood of an heirloom.
16:26 But I didn't care because this truck is good.
16:31 Well we've hit a new low.
16:32 Seven and a half miles per gallon.
16:36 We've done better than that with 900 horsepower Hemi's and blown big block Chevys.
16:43 That 460 is an engineering marvel.
16:50 Here's a surprise.
16:51 We made it through three states.
16:52 Colorado, Utah, and now we're in Arizona.
16:55 We're going to go pick up Pigpen.
16:56 Dave and I were just talking about how we're not suffocating in this one.
17:01 We don't smell any fuel.
17:02 We don't smell any exhaust.
17:03 And I think that's because of the extreme amount of built-in ventilation we have here
17:08 on the floor.
17:09 See?
17:10 That's roadkill right there.
17:13 This tire looks a little bit soft.
17:15 Last time that happened was on the Grumman.
17:17 It was like, "Oh, that tire looks soft."
17:18 We didn't fill it.
17:19 And you remember what happened.
17:25 This time it looks soft.
17:27 The gauge says there's 50 pounds in it.
17:28 So when it explodes later, it's the gauge's fault.
17:32 Pigpen!
17:36 There it is.
17:37 It's got more rust.
17:38 Is it missing a window?
17:39 Is that plastic?
17:40 Yay!
17:41 Just when I thought this was out of my life, it came back.
17:52 It doesn't look any different.
17:54 Nothing's changed.
17:55 I want to know if it's still running off the gas tank in the bed.
17:59 Yeah, this might not be running.
18:02 It's all in one piece.
18:04 Except for the fuel system.
18:06 Oh, we got nothing?
18:09 There's no jar up here.
18:12 So I have to reveal to you what the actual problem was with this truck.
18:16 Remember we're on the road, going home.
18:18 We've got the generator going and all this stuff.
18:21 Remember how it's like steaming out the head and the valve cover and we can't figure out
18:24 what's going on.
18:25 Yeah, massive crankcase pressure.
18:27 Massive crankcase pressure.
18:28 Especially if it's leaking oil.
18:29 This right here is basically crankcase pressure.
18:31 It's not overheating.
18:33 It's not overheating.
18:34 It's oil coming out of the valve cover.
18:37 Yeah, apparently the exhaust pipe was completely kinked shut.
18:41 Oh.
18:42 That was it.
18:44 Where?
18:45 It had like the muffler here and it was just folded in half.
18:47 I saw pictures of it.
18:49 Oh.
18:50 Yep.
18:51 How did we never see the exhaust?
18:54 I never noticed the exhaust system on this thing.
18:57 Okay.
18:58 We're towing it for sure then.
19:01 Well, the truth is we probably could get pigpen running if we were stranded somewhere and
19:07 cared a lot.
19:09 But Finnegan's pretty excited to try out the tow truck and I can't really blame him so
19:12 we're just going to hook that thing up and tow it out of here instead of driving it.
19:15 I'm a little disappointed, but we can make it happen back home.
19:19 But will we?
19:21 No.
19:22 One, two, three.
19:25 Okay, let's go ahead and just drag it back with that other truck that's sitting here.
19:29 It's official.
19:34 We have a tow company now.
19:40 Look at how professional we are.
19:44 This is totally safe what we're doing right now.
19:49 Okay.
19:52 Let's lower it down now.
19:58 Okay, coming down.
20:01 Oh, that is so cool.
20:05 This is the part where he explained how to do it, but I got to be honest, I mostly forgot
20:10 what he said.
20:11 The chain is what's going to take most of the weight and this is just sort of the safety.
20:15 This needs to come down more and slide under the truck.
20:19 He has dog poo on his back.
20:34 That is scary.
20:35 All right.
20:36 Well, that doesn't look right, does it?
20:43 No, not a bit.
20:46 It could be worse.
20:50 See that crack?
20:51 That's in the weld and it's cracked all the way around.
20:54 And this is attaching one side of the tow bar to the truck, which is keeping this from
20:58 running into it and stabilizing it left to right.
21:01 The other side is just as bad.
21:03 The original mount already ripped off and there's another one that's sort of bolted
21:06 together.
21:07 So pretty much if we try to drive down the road at any kind of speed, this is probably
21:14 falling off.
21:15 Where do you go get the 220 welder that'll burn through cracked quarter inch plate?
21:22 We've got a tow truck that won't tow.
21:47 We decided to fix it by buying a welder.
21:49 We bought an awesome Miller 211 welder that'll weld on 110 or 220, but that's the wrong adapter.
21:56 It won't fit the 220 outlet in this house.
21:58 And the way we're going to pull this off is we're going to use a propane torch to heat
22:02 that metal before we weld it.
22:04 And that will enable us to get good penetration running this in 110 mode.
22:10 So we'll make this work no matter what.
22:31 That looks safe, safe enough to go for a ride right now.
22:52 Right?
22:53 I'm asleep.
22:55 It's the next day, whichever day that is.
22:58 And since the last time you saw me, I slept about three hours and I'm ready to hook this
23:02 up and hit the highway.
23:04 Ready?
23:06 At least it's a dry cold.
23:10 Go baby, go.
23:17 We're up.
23:30 Stop.
23:31 That looks pretty solid.
23:34 Yeah.
23:35 The chain is touching the bumper on both sides.
23:38 Well, I think you're supposed to have two chains.
23:41 I think the only thing that's really questionable right now is whether the audience is still
23:44 watching this.
23:45 Oh, they want to see who we kill somebody.
23:48 Yeah, that's true.
23:51 This looks solid, dude.
23:52 Let's give it a shot.
23:53 Test it out around the block?
24:02 Yeah.
24:06 I suppose it's just like backing a trailer.
24:12 It is just like backing a trailer.
24:15 There's a 50 GMC truck following us.
24:28 Made it through the fence.
24:29 Okay, I'm going to go look at it.
24:35 Victory.
24:38 Still there?
24:43 It's flawless.
24:44 Nice.
24:45 Okay.
24:46 So does this mean we can apply for our business license now?
24:49 Sure.
24:50 I think we're qualified.
24:51 Sweet.
24:52 We'll pick up the guy in the Lamborghini.
24:53 That was easy.
24:54 Yeah.
24:55 We'll get insurance like that.
24:56 No problem.
24:57 Like Finnegan says, Roadkill is all about setting records, and I can tell you, no one has ever
25:09 before towed a dead 1950 GMC pickup with a 1971 crew cab, four by four, big block, four
25:18 speed home built tow truck, like ever.
25:21 Hey, you got to count your minor victories where you can.
25:24 And besides, Harry is one of our best scores ever.
25:29 And I promise you will see this wrecker on a future episode of Roadkill.
25:34 Are we a fire hazard or we're good?
25:40 We got what we wished for.
25:41 I'm going to call that 12 inches.
25:45 I've never seen 12 inches, so I'm just going to take your word for it.
25:55 That's a curb.
25:56 That's a curb.
25:57 Tow truck donuts, setting records.
25:58 Never happened before.
25:59 Never.
26:00 Not here in this parking lot.
26:01 With us.
26:02 On this day.
26:03 With a '71 Ford crew cab.
26:04 In this storm.
26:05 Tow truck drivers everywhere are thinking these guys are morons.
26:06 Right now, my feet are not cold at all, and Finnegan has been like marveling at the fact
26:08 that I'm perfectly fine.
26:09 So this will be--
26:10 You going to walk on the fire?
26:11 Yeah, it's going to be like walking on the coals in reverse.
26:12 I'm guessing it's pretty cold.
26:13 Go there.
26:14 I'm going to walk on the fire.
26:15 I'm going to walk on the coals.
26:16 I'm going to walk on the fire.
26:17 I'm going to walk on the fire.
26:18 I'm going to walk on the fire.
26:19 I'm going to walk on the fire.
26:20 I'm going to walk on the fire.
26:21 I'm going to walk on the fire.
26:44 It's cold.
26:45 You're so weird.
26:48 I admit that was cold.
26:50 He is human.