'Clyde' — Light Duty with Heavy Attitude

By JIM "BUCK" SORRENTI - AT Field Editor Always on the lookout for interesting equipment, I found this off-road wrecker named "Clyde." Clyde may not be the biggest or prettiest wrecker TIW has featured, but it is one of the toughest. Clyde is owned and operated by Eric Huttner, a Master Certified GM mechanic, a Certified H1 tech and a lifelong gearhead with a passion for off-roading. After spending years off-roading all over the country and having been stuck, broken and stranded countless times, Eric finally decided to build this off-road wrecker to lend a hand and a hook to other off-roaders. He formed what he calls the BSF Recovery Team, based in Centuria, Wis., that travels with Clyde to off-road events to recover extremely stuck trucks. Clyde is not your conventional wrecker. It is a 1986 GMC K30/K35 dually 4x4 wrecker built to handle extreme off-road recoveries. "It was a used up, half-parted-out tow truck when I bought it," Eric said. "I installed an eight-inch lift and 37.5x12.50r16.5 Hummer tires. The front wheels are the two-piece H1 rims with the run-flats and bead locks inside. The rears are the stock dually wheels." A mild 350-cid small-block engine with a Weiand Stealth intake and a 600-cfm Holly carb mated to a TH400 transmission with a shift kit powers Clyde. It has the toughest transfer case available, the bulletproof NP205. The front axle is a Dana 60 with 5.13 Yukon gears and out back is a GM 14-bolt with 5.13 Yukon gears with limited slip and a Gov-Lock differential. It also has a custom front driveshaft with 1350 U-joints. On the business end of Clyde is a No-Mar wrecker body with a hydraulic boom and a Ramsey 8000-lbs. winch. The front winch is electric, built using a starter motor from a B-29 bomber. Clyde is also equipped with on-board air, another custom setup done by Eric, and a complete set up of assorted recovery straps, chains, hooks, shackles, snatch blocks and everything else to perform outrageous recoveries in extreme conditions. Clyde was built to be one tough workhorse wrecker. This is a light-duty off-road wrecker with a heavy-duty attitude. Eric even uses Clyde as a plow truck when need be and it performs like a champ. With his credentials and years of experience, Eric could have either started a conventional towing and recovery business or gone to work for any number of established companies. But, like the wrecker he built, Eric is not a conventional man and the BSF Recovery Team is not a conventional company. Eric, the BSF Recovery Team and Clyde travel to off-road events to rescue broken or stuck trucks from trail rides ... for free. Yes, I said for free. This is made possible by contributions from their sponsors. Their travel budget is very limited at this time; range of travel and improvements to the truck will increase as more sponsors are obtained. In exchange for the free service, Eric asks those in his debt for the permission to film these recoveries for his channel on YouTube. For some great off-road recovery videos check them out on their YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/recoveryteam. Show Yours @ TIW Do you have a recovery to share with TIW readers? Send some pics and info to the editor at bdooley@towman.com; your recovery may even be selected for print in American Towman magazine!