COVER FEATURE - AUGUST 2009
HOMER'S HOT ROD
THIRD GENERATION “HOMER” BUILDS COOL WRECKER
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor
Homer Schultz has been in the towing and repair business since 1965 – the funny thing is, he wasn’t even born yet. Well, I guess we should be more specific as to which Homer Schultz we are talking about, because there are three of them. Homer Schultz III built the hot rod wrecker featured here on these pages and on our cover/centerfold, while his grandfather, Homer I (Senior), and his father, Homer II (Junior), started the business in 1965. Are you confused yet? Between the three Homers and the company, which is also called Homer’s, this could get tricky. Coming off the heels of two Best of Show wins in Louisville and Las Vegas, Homer’s (the company) recently refurbished truck is set to go back into regular service with the rest of their beautiful fleet of wreckers very soon.
Homer’s Towing & Service in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, began when Homer Sr. and his son Homer Jr. opened up a small “Spur” gas station in 1965. Back then, the business had one service bay and one small tow truck. As time passed, the business grew to include heavy duty wreckers and recovery work. Today, the company has six big rig heavy duty wreckers (four Peterbilts, one Kenworth and one Freightliner), as well as three flatbeds, two medium duty wreckers, and one light duty tow truck. In addition to the towing services, Homer’s Towing & Service now offers 24-hour roadside repairs, a fully-stocked chrome shop, a full-service truck and trailer repair shop complete with ten bays, and a detailing office, which specializes in vehicle lettering, pin striping, logo design and large format digital printing for signs and banners.
Homer’s Custom Chrome Shop opened in 2004, and two years ago moved to a bigger and better location. The chrome shop specializes in big rig accessories, installation, custom fabrication and stainless laser cutting. When customers want to see how well the crew at Homer’s does custom work, they check out the company’s tow trucks. All of the trucks in Homer’s fleet are nice, but two stand head and shoulders above the rest – Homer III’s 1993 Peterbilt hot rod wrecker (pictured here) and his younger brother Joe’s 2007 4-axle Peterbilt 378 with an 85-ton Jerr-Dan rotator. Joe’s truck, painted in the company’s signature Dark Concord Blue color, features a flip-up bumper, 10-inch pipes, strapless air cleaners, shaved headlights, custom mirrors and visor, and a beautiful interior, featuring products made by Rockwood.
Homer III (35) and his brother Joe (30) grew up around the towing business. Both of these boys have been driving with their dad and helping out at accident scenes for as long as they can remember. Homer III started working on trucks and driving them around the yard when he was about twelve years old. As a kid, still too young to drive, he used to go out with the new drivers and teach them how to hook-up the different types of vehicles. Joe drives the rotator, runs the shop and handles all of the larger, more technical recoveries, while Homer III, with help from his wife Britta, not only drives the wrecker but also runs the chrome shop. The company has about fifteen full-time employees. All of the mechanics have a commercial driver’s license so they can do both towing and repairs. Homer II is still very active in the company – he works every day and still oversees the entire operation. Homer Sr., unfortunately, died back in 1980.
Wanting to build a wrecker specifically for longer hauls (and to help promote the chrome shop), Homer III bought a 1993 Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood truck about three years ago and immediately began to fix it up. Back then, the rig was just a regular old stock over-the-road tractor. The first thing they did was stretch the frame out to 312 inches. Then, they installed a 50,000-pound “Quick Swap” unit to the truck. A Quick Swap unit is a removable towing device that attaches to the fifth wheel. When necessary, the unit can be removed and the truck can pull a regular trailer. Because of its lightweight design and nice sleeper, this wrecker is ideal for long-distance towing – especially when crossing state lines. Its’ intended purpose, generally speaking, is to deliver replacement trucks to customers who have broken down far from home, and then, after switching out the trailer, hooking up the crippled truck and bringing it back to get repaired closer to home.
The wrecker rebuild project was completed slowly, over a three-year period, while the truck continued to work. The truck, which is powered by a 430 Detroit Series 60 engine, has a 15-speed transmission and a 48-inch flattop sleeper. Homer III likes the Detroit Diesel because it is easy to maintain and cheap to rebuild – it also sounds pretty tough, too. To help “balance” the truck and give it more stability when pulling heavy loads, about 2,000 pounds of extra weight was added to the front end by bolting long, 2-inch thick pieces of steel to the outside of each frame rail. This added weight up front helps the truck confidently pull larger vehicles like garbage trucks, fire trucks and mixers.
Homer III likes to say, “If you’re going to do it, do it right,” and this wrecker project was no different. The completed truck, painted Dark Concord Blue by T/A Truck Painting in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, features a flip-up bumper, a custom headache rack and boxes, a fiberglass Jones Performance hood with side scoops and fiberglass “Duplexx” style double hump fenders by Cool Truck Components. The exterior of the lowered rig also has custom stainless mirror arms from 12 Ga. Customs, a billet grill and billet air cleaner screens by Billet Details, an 8-inch Dynaflex exhaust, all clear-lens LEDs from United Pacific, and plenty of custom chrome and stainless pieces made by Taylor Wing, Brunner’s Fabrication and Roadworks. The Quick Swap unit, which is operated with a wireless remote control, was also customized and dressed up with extra lights and stainless.
But the guys didn’t stop at just the exterior – the entire interior was gutted and redone, as well. Featuring custom black upholstery with blue stripes on the ceiling and overhead console, and custom blue and black door panels and seats, embroidered with the “Homer’s” logo, this cool interior also has a Rosewood floor and “Blue Marble” dash panels from Rockwood, billet armrests, a navigation system, a 26-inch flat panel TV in the sleeper, a Grant steering wheel, and a booming sound system. The 2,500-watt stereo features a 15-inch Kicker sub woofer, four amps, and many smaller speakers mounted in diamond-plate boxes. At night, the entire interior lights up in blue. All of the interior work was done in-house at their shop, except for the embroidery, which was done at a local hot rod shop.
Finally finishing the rebuild just before the Louisville truck show last March, Homer & Britta, along with a small support crew, headed to Kentucky to compete in their first national-level competition. On Wednesday night, just before the show was to begin the very next morning, it started to rain – and it rained most of the night. Frustrated and exhausted, Britta said she just wanted to pack up and go home. But their hard work and perseverance paid off when their name was called at the award ceremony as the Best of Show Bobtail winner. And then at the show in Las Vegas a few months later, they were again awarded with the Best of Show Bobtail trophy. Not bad for a couple of rookies! Homer III wanted to thank all of the guys in the shop for not only helping to build the truck, but also for helping to get it ready to compete. This truck was a team effort for everyone at Homer’s Towing & Service – and Homer III is very proud of that fact.
We met up with Homer III early the morning after the Las Vegas show ended at Valley of Fire State Park, about an hour northeast of town. With its deep red rock formations that are 150 million years old, this is always a cool place to take pictures - even when it’s blazing hot outside. Arriving just after sunrise, we were lucky enough to spot a giant, bighorn sheep up on the rocks. Being from Wisconsin, this location really blew Homer’s mind. It was so peaceful and beautiful out there – it was a morning we won’t soon forget.
Homer III loves working with all of their great employees, but he likes working with his family even more. “Even though we fight at times, I like working with people I can trust,” said Homer III. In addition to his brother, dad and wife, he also gets to work with his mom Pat and his two sisters, Michelle and Renee, who both have full-time jobs outside of the company, but help out whenever they can. Homer II and Pat have been married for an amazing 40 years. And speaking of family, Homer III and his wife Britta, who was originally born in Germany and later became a U.S. citizen, have three kids – Analeah (13), Devon (10) and Lydia (2).
Raising a family while working in the towing industry can be tough, because the phone can ring at any time – even Christmas morning – and when it rings, daddy just has to go. “Once you have the business in your blood,” said Homer III, “It’s what you do and who you are.” The towing business is not only a 24/7 commitment, but it is very competitive, as well. Homer went on to say, “If we don’t take the job, someone else will.”
Right now, the truck is being used as a fill-in wrecker while each of the other trucks in their fleet, one by one, are pulled out of service to get repaired and prepared for the long, hard, cold Wisconsin winter months that lie ahead. And after a few more shows this year, the truck will be put back into normal, everyday service. “It’s no fun building them if you can’t play with them,” said Homer III. And although you may have trouble figuring out which Homer is which, you won’t have any trouble recognizing their truck – it’s that super-clean hot rod wrecker winning all the awards!