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Buy Used Tow Trucks For Sale

Towing is a profitable business in all of its aspects! Firstly a pre-owned tow truck, or a pickup is a good alternative for towing your trailer, boat, bike or a car. It is far cheaper than having to pay for a heavy duty pickup tow truck service. When you buy a surplus tow truck or a wrecker, the money you invested will return in less than 3 years. It won’t bring in its entire price within the first year, but in 2-3 years the cost of second hand rollback truck becomes smaller than the price you would have to pay for having to call towing company each single time you need a lift.



Tow trucking companies are always charging as if they were in heavy duty business. Even if they move your wrecked car or a trailer for less than 50 miles it ends up in a pure rip-off. That why towing business is one of the most profitable businesses in America. And all sorts of used wreckers and pre-owned pickup trucks are high in demand.

So finding a good used ford, gmc or Toyota tow truck for little money is a hard thing to do. There are a couple of really good tow truck auction sites, but not every truck on sale is worth its money. It is far from impossible but quite a challenge for anyone who looks to find good wreckers on sales. The three things to watch out for when deciding to give your money out for buying surplus towing vehicles:

1. The condition of the motor
Trucks and pickups offered on online auction sites are not always in a perfect condition. People that sell them know very well why are they selling their truck for a price that seems too good to be true. The motor is the heart of any truck. 4×4 pickups with towing capacity are usually not treated with soft hand. They are constantly on the road and exposed to all kinds of conditions. Used tow trucks for sale are working mules.

So on the outside they may seem like a totally missed opportunity but you really should discard the outer appearance of that truck it the machine is a good one. Bare in mind that some manufacturers are expensive in terms of buying truck parts for your vehicle.

What it counts is the motor and the maintenance costs (as mentioned before, do your homework and check out the prices for towing accessories and spare parts for your used towing vehicle) . Does it smoke too much when it starts? Does it have the original mileage on the console? Does it consume oil more than it should? What are the average annual maintenance costs? Do not let expensive truck parts ruin you within the first year of buying your truck on sale.

2. The chassis
Let it be a pickup truck or a custom heavy duty tow truck, the chassis has to be solid. These vehicles are made for towing twice the weight of themselves and the forces upon their construction are simply enormous. Do not fall for the looks if you see the primary cage of the truck and the chassis deteriorated, oxidized or damaged beyond reasonable repair.
Sales of rollback pickups and heavy duty tow trucks are skyrocketing. There are all kind of lemons on those auction sites. The seller should be one that gives a thorough description of his truck on sale. If he seems to be hiding something, do not bother contacting him.

Selling used tow trucks is much easier than buying one. And if are a fan of vintage tow trucks, well then other criteria come in place when rating the seller of that old truck. Vintage wreckers are usually not used for active trucking but more for shows and conventions. To use a slightly different language, vintage trucks are more the ones that would rather get towed than be towing themselves.

It is OK to find out a specific trucks on sale was heavily used by its owner, but it is not OK to see it was heavily misused by the owner.

3. The obligatory towing accessories when you buy tow trucks – secure your loads
If everything else fits and you do not have a decent pair of mud flaps, sling straps, hooks and ratchets, don’t even think of hitting the road! Mud flaps are the first most important thing on your tow truck. Tow truck for sale has to have some basic accessories that make it ready to tow right away. So buy tow truck that meets the minimal requirements concerning safe towing of your trailer, wrecked car, camper or whatever.

Do not shame to give a bit more for wide and thick quality mud flaps. Even though those tow trucks for sale you see on online auctions seem to have a good price, it does not mean you cannot bargain even a better deal if there is something important missing on that truck. This mistake is often made by fresh tow truck owners. They buy their cheap used towtrucks for nothing and hit the road with their expensive trailer secured with fancy trailer straps.

But used trucks have deep profiled tires, their tires are wide and when hitting the highway those tires are act as a vacuum cleaner and rocket launcher in one. They will collect not stones, but nearly rocks and catapult them with speeds up to 80 miles per hour directly into whatever you are towing behind. We are not talking about an old John Deere Vintage tractor bought on sale reaching not more than 15 mph on an open road.


To make the thing even worse, poorly secured wrecker tow trucks without or with inappropriate mud flaps will get your ass sued like you wouldn’t imagine. Those rocks launching out of your tires do not know the difference between the cheap trailer you tow and a passing $150.000 Mercedes.


Financing Your Tow Truck
Tow trucks are used by towing companies and some auto repair companies in order to drag heavy vehicles. Generally tow trucks are more useful in roads. Since the vehicle can help generating more revenues to towing companies