Talk:Tow truck

This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Tow truck article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Trucks Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Trucks, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of trucks on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.TrucksWikipedia:WikiProject TrucksTemplate:WikiProject TrucksTrucks articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the importance scale.

Technology

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Technology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of technology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.TechnologyWikipedia:WikiProject TechnologyTemplate:WikiProject TechnologyTechnology articles

Transport Mid‑importance

	Transport portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Transport, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles related to Transport on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.TransportWikipedia:WikiProject TransportTemplate:WikiProject TransportTransport articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Opening heading

Can anybody include a free image ?.

Correction

In the edit history, the IP address I put as a possible spammer was an incorrect address. - Richardevan 19:54, 15 May 2006

Using a cookie jar sales page for a citation

I think that using a cookie jar sales page as a citation for whether a truck was involved with a movie (Thelma and Louise, in this case) is dubious to begin with, especially when the page doesn't show the actual truck pictured here on Wikipedia's Tow Truck page. I'm removing the citation and editing the photo caption. --Badger151 (talk) 17:40, 23 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

No consensus to move. Vegaswikian (talk) 21:49, 17 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Tow truck → Breakdown truck — I think a tow truck is type of breakdown truck and a wrecker is a breakdown truck that carries vehicles on-board. Split off the two if necessary. Marcus Qwertyus 20:35, 10 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose. I suggest you're getting overly technical. The most common name for any type of truck designed to transport a broken down car is a "tow truck". I think the article already adequately explains the differences and how they're called when distinctions are required. But the best name for the overall/general topic of this article is "tow truck". --Born2cycle (talk) 00:58, 11 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose I don't think I've seen a "breakdown truck" used in common usage for this use. I've seen highway patrol trucks called that, and they are definitely not wreckers/towtrucks. They are trucks with orange lights that look for problems on highways, with a directional arrow sign, but have no towing capability. 184.144.167.193 (talk) 05:19, 11 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose (At least for American usage. British usage may differ.) I've seen "wrecker" used as the nominator specifies, but "tow truck" seems to be the general term. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 09:06, 11 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose as proposed "I think" is weak evidence. We need verifiable proof that "breakdown truck" is ewven the same thing as a "tow truck" or "wreaker" in common usage, much less actual definition, on either side of the Atlantic. - BilCat (talk) 09:17, 11 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. English is funny at times, but my local tow truck companies go by names such as ABAL Towing despite operating only tilt tray trucks, which don't actually tow! But they're still called tow trucks, and my last bill read towing. Andrewa (talk) 10:42, 11 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

What are the "feet" / "stabilizers" are called?

Some tow trucks with a crane have "feet" to stabilize the truck when lifting heavy things. Now my son wanted to know what those are called. I have no clue... -- Bernburgerin (talk) 21:24, 7 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe ask at the reference desk? Personally, I know almost nothing about this subject; I only watch this article for vandalism. Graham87 06:39, 8 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Because this information (what are the parts of a tow truck and how are they used) probably belongs in this article, and just in case you haven't gotten an answer yet... The "feet"/"stabilizers" are usually called "cleats" and "outriggers" (at least in the USA). The cleats dig in and grab the ground to keep the vehicle from moving. The outriggers are typically large, counter-weighted, extendable beams that keep the tow vehicle from tipping over. -Vandraedha (talk) 21:46, 29 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Cleanup tag

I'm not from the UK, so please be kind if I don't use spelling, grammar, or terms that are popular on that side of the pond. The intro is a bit messy, and duplicated a lot of information from the towing article. I rewrote the intro to include both disabled and non-disabled vehicles, and replaced the duplicate info with a link to the towing article. The rest of the article could also use a bit of pruning to separate the vehicle from the activity. I really don't have the time to do it myself right now, so I added the cleanup tag. If someone else wants to move the non-vehicle related information to the towing article, that would be great! -Vandraedha (talk) 21:35, 29 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Are there towing vehicles which have a hook (like a crane hook), or is this a media invention?

Hello,

I notice that this article doesn't mention anything about towing vehicles with a hook (like a crane hook). Is such a towing vehicle an invention of the media? If so, perhaps it would be good to have a section about this in the article. If they do exist, maybe they should be mentioned. Regards, DesertPipeline (talk) 07:52, 13 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Addendum: By this I mean a hook which is attached directly to the front or rear of the vehicle, underneath the bumper. DesertPipeline (talk) 08:44, 13 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Vehicle that is used to tow broken down cars

Pliz show photos 197.239.35.185 (talk) 15:49, 6 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]