Recovery truck cable management system

rebel.ranter

Hi all,
myself and a couple of the lads are doing up a recovery truck. I have the job of wiring up al lthe beacons, spot lamps, trailer board socket, side markers, etc. It has a sliding bed to allow cars get up onto it. We have put an "A" frame on the bed of the truck to mount the beacon & spot lights, tial/stop/ind light. I need to be able to cable these back to power allowing for the bed's movement. There is a track system available to do this but one price we have gotten has it at over €750.
Does anyone know where I might get prices for this tyoe of thing? Or has anyone any suggestions as to alternatives to using this track system?

galwaytt

It's called cable chain trunking, or, sometimes, energy chain trunking.

At the very least you can get it off Radionics www.radionics.ie or a local Edmundsen electrical wholesaler might be able to get it for you.

You buy it as links, and in different size to make up your chain.

rebel.ranter

Thanks for that, sometimes just knowing what the proper name is a big help. I reckon we should be out of it for €180 now which is a big difference!!

galwaytt

seeing as you saved Eu570, I'll settle for.............Eu285

I think that's fair

rebel.ranter

Cheque in post.......

Well I'm stil a little confused there are so many options for doing this, I've let one of the lads off to do the sums, make the calls. He arrived back with an air horn last night, as if we didn't have enough to fit!

MercMad

The main manufacturer of this stuff is IGUS. Search for it, you may even find it one eBAy.

Are you going to sell the truck afterwards ?

rebel.ranter

Well I'm not sure whether it is going to be for sale or not. It's a 12 tonne job with a bar at the back.
The initial plan is to use it locally, doing drop offs for local garages, using it for our own cars, etc. The lads all have full time jobs doing other things (not really related to the motor industry), well one of them has a good contact base through his job with the local garages so that might help.
The truck has had a full respray with any rust removed etc. The heating had to be sorted (tired heater radiator requiring full dash out job), new side skirts made up from steel, new "A" frame (folded steel) attached to the bed to accommodate the beacons spots etc. It's now 50% wired up, we are doing a complete update of all the lights etc. including adding side markers, new rear lights, trailer board socket, reversing beeper, air horn, search lights, strobe lights up front, beacons front an rear, etc.

To be fair between us all we have doen everything ourselves including the steel folding, painting & wiring. It is looking pretty good. We have taken our time doing it in an effort to ensure we don't have to back track.

rebel.ranter

Hi, just thought some of you would be interested to know we got the cable management system up and running. We are almost there with the overhaul/upgrade. Here are some pics of the beast.



Cable Management system:

Rudolph Claus

Good stuff! Whats the fuel economy of that beast gonna be?

ciarsd

Now thats a first for me - a recovery truck restoration!

Great stuff, must be nice knowing you collectively brought it back to it's former glory - even going one step further updating it's spec!

Hope your venture is a success!

Wishbone Ash

Off topic but here's a little pic of my local wrecker.

ciarsd

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Off topic but here's a little pic of my local wrecker.

Towing cruise liners?

Coach/Bus/Truck recovery I take it - size of it! :eek:

JohnCleary

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Off topic but here's a little pic of my local wrecker.

Jeez I could do with one of them for towing the boats

ciarsd

JohnCleary wrote:

Jeez I could do with one of them for towing the boats

not unless you've got a cruise liner

JohnCleary

ciarsd wrote:

not unless you've got a cruise liner

I do have a mini cruise-liner in my bath

Stephen

I came across this a couple of years ago. Beefy looking machine :eek:

The plonker in the artic was going too fast through the village (Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny) and jacknifed it when he had to brake suddenly due to a car in front making a turn.

unkel

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Off topic but here's a little pic of my local wrecker.

Nice. Reminds me of that sequence somewhere in Ireland where a recovery truck, recovering a vehicle from a harbour, fell into the harbour itself, prompting the need for an even bigger recovery truck

Anyone remember / have a linky?

Stephen

I remember that. Some asshat then poorly photoshopped the second recovery truck falling in in a haha-look-at-the-stupid-irish joke.

Here it is
http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/crane.asp

unkel

That's it! Thanks Stephen

MercMad

Nice job Rebel !

Anyone ever see the unit that City Recovery in North Dublin use, a huge Petrbilt Rig......bright red & lots of Chrome.........looks fab !

So Rebel, would you be advertising your services ???

rebel.ranter

Not advertising as I'm not in business, I'm only the hired (free) help. It's more of a hobby for us really.
It might take off as a business but the lads all have days jobs at present.