We had been talking about a reversed tb pull for a better lift tow in another thread, I thought I would post my post describing my reverse tb lift tow rig here so other wrecker owners may use this idea to get away from the 2 pivot point doing a standard lift tow.
Here are some pictures.
The hitch is a HEAVY DUTY industrial unit, forgot the rating but more then anything I am going to lift tow, lust above the lower bolt is the lock pin (cannot be opened or closed with the pin in), the bolts are special grade 8 as well as the washers/nuts, torqued to what ever the bolts called for, the chain holds the fixture level for ease of attaching (it can be removed or left in place during the lift tow, does not matter, I will most likely leave it because I lost the original after I removed it at some time in the past).
The 2 chains between the riffle bar and the fixture is there JUST to set the fixture, the fixtures top edge towards the towed vehicle gets set on the bumper, once secured to the bumper the riffle bar is lowered, the pins are pulled and the chains are left to hang, the riffle bar is then lowered to the lift brackets with REAR lift shackles (straight, this gives a better lift, I all ways carry a pair with tb pins, I trust mine over the lifts).
The EXTRA riffle bar pins are there in case I drop one, or need some more if a chain lift is needed, better to have extra and not needed the need a extra and not have it.
The wood insert if pine, grips a lot better then oak, notice where my rear lift brackets are, I added a second set for the safety chains.
A side view along with a view of MORE clutter.
The BIG shackle get the hook out of the hood/radiator, it also makes things easier to rig up/down
The fixture is set down on the front bumper, I have a pair of 6' of 1/2" grade 80+ chain with a grab hook on one end and a slide hook on the other, the slide hook is hooked into the front spring shackle, goes under the front bumper, up over the fixture, across the top, down along the out side of the frame to a cross member where the GRAB hook is secured back to the 1/2" chain then wired tied, then a 1/2" binder is used to pull everything TIGHT, cheater TIGHT, this is rigging is done for both sides. Rigged this way, all the PULL is put on the frame and spring shackle, NOT on the bumper. The pull chains can be placed where it is the strongest and easiest, as long as the fixture does not move and NO pull is on the bumper, I like the above rigging points, easy, fast, and strong.
Once the fixture is in place, the riffle bar is attached. Before the fixture is attached the tb 3/4" pins are pulled, tb is extended about a foot, everything rigged, the towed vehicle if lifted, brought in, the 3/4 pins are installed, the boom supports are installed on the boom after a finial check of everything, away we go, after a short bit of travel, a recheck stop is done.
So far I have not had a issue with this rig( I do have some up dates in mind for the fixture but don't have time), the big test came when I had to recover Swiss's m62 (about 34,000 lbs.) up on his property in Lula , about mile and a half on OLD logging road with a lot of steep ups/downs, very sharp turns (even a 3 point due to the62 on the hook), all of this with some very narrow spots.
I can use this rig with/without a front bumper, just attach the fixture to ANYTHING available, this goes for the lift as well, attach lift chains to where ever that is solid .
I am looking for the newer HEAVY 4 piece tb so I can shorten up the tb distance to the 819 and in turn shorten up the boom extension.