Advanced Wheel Dolly System
My good friend Mike own’s Albany Towing Services, and he has inspired this week’s post. If you’re ever in need of a quality service for a great price, visit http://www.albanytow.com. At Mac Business Expo, we like to choose random technology that we hear about to write on, and this week it’s wheel dollies. Thanks Mike 😉
If anyone’s ever had to be towed (especially when you’re on a date!), you know it’s typically a horrible experience. Well, this just happened, but it was not horrible…partly because my friend is very good at what he does and partly because of a cool technology called a wheel dolly, but I have to give you the quick story first. Here’s the speed version:
First date. Picked her up. Drove a couple miles. Blew a tire. Insert curse words here. Car towed. Date over.
When you have a car that’s low to the ground, like a Scion FR-S in my case, towing would normally be a problem. It’s so low that most people would scrape the undercarriage of the car when trying to pull it up onto the flatbed of the tow truck. To avoid this, I’d like to introduce a technology called a dolly. I can’t say that I understand the name, but it works well.
The wheelbase of the car is measured and an appropriate size dolly is picked. It’s essentially a two wheel trailer. Two platforms, each slightly wider than the width of a wheel, are extended out 6 or so feet so the grade of the ramp is a low angle. The straps that will hold the car in place are laid down flat along the metal platforms. The first two wheels of the car are then driven up onto the dolly, put in park, and the handbrake is applied. After this, the straps are wrapped around the two tires to secure the vehicle. Chains from the tow truck are also hooked to the car around the axle in various spots to further secure the vehicle. Finally, the car brakes are taken off so the vehicle is able to coast, and it’s towed away.
It was interesting to watch this happen…I just wish it wasn’t during a date. Til next time.