Two completely different things happen in this same episode. Wrecker Rick surprises his wife Nikki's grandfather with a brand new skid steer. Same week, Murphy's Diesel is also running a $30,000 cash giveaway and a storewide 100x multiplier on t-shirts. One's a family gift to a Vietnam veteran who wasn't even allowed to enter the giveaway himself. The other's a promo week that ran across the whole store. That's what you're reading about here: that promo week, and the black diesel shirt that carries the keyword now that the shirts named in the original episode are gone from the catalog.
Let's be upfront about something first: Rick never puts this shirt on. Not once, not on camera. What's real is the week itself: the giveaway, the multiplier, and a gift that had nothing to do with either one.
- Rick and Nikki drove to Tennessee to surprise her grandfather with a new tracked skid steer, after his own broke down. He's a 30-year Salvation Army officer and Vietnam veteran exposed to Agent Orange.
- He wasn't allowed to enter Murphy's own giveaway. Family can't, and that's the rule. So they gave him a machine instead.
- That same week, the channel plugged the American Dream Giveaway ($30,000 cash plus a tool package) and a storewide 100x multiplier on t-shirts.
- The two shirts the original episode named are gone from the catalog. The black Murphy's towing tee is the shirt carrying the "black diesel shirt" keyword now.
- Featured here: the black towing tee ($29.99 to $39.99), the Standby Shirt ($34.98), and the Hell Boy Bundle ($194.95).
1. A skid steer and a debt he'd never ask to collect
A broken-down skid steer opens the episode. Not a giveaway. "The man needs a new skid steer," Rick says, standing next to a machine so old it's got a piece of lawn furniture bolted on for a seat. Look at that thing. Nice touch, that lawn chair. It belongs to Nikki's grandfather, the man who mostly raised her. It quit on him the week before, right when he needed it most for chores around his own property.
He never asked for a handout. What actually happened: he asked how he could get into Murphy's own giveaway, hoping to win a machine that way. Can't do it, you see. Family isn't allowed to enter. So instead of handing him a raffle ticket, Nikki and Rick show up with a tracked skid steer already loaded on the truck.
2. The veteran nobody paid back
Rick doesn't play this as a random act of kindness. He frames it as overdue. Nikki's grandfather has been a Salvation Army officer for thirty years, work Rick sums up as spending his whole life taking care of everyone else. The man widened his own driveway and gate just so Rick's oversized trucks could fit, and cleared a pad so the family could camp on his property. Nobody asked him for either favor.
"Who would ever thought we'd be in Tennessee changing the ramps around on the back of a military truck to go get a skid steer to give to some hardworking, deserving old man. He's also a veteran, folks. He was in 'Nam. He's got the Agent Orange. You all know how we love helping veterans out."Wrecker Rick, "No One Would Help This Veteran So I Drove 2,000 Miles"
In Rick's own words: a Vietnam veteran, exposed to Agent Orange, still doing chores on his own property in his eighties on a skid steer built in 1920. The gift wasn't the giveaway prize. It was Rick and Nikki deciding a man who'd spent thirty years giving to the Salvation Army had earned something back. Watching that finally happen? Satisfying.
3. Loading a skid steer with hand tools
Getting the new skid steer onto the truck turns into its own little project. Rick treats it the way he treats every recovery: a problem you solve with whatever's on hand. Nikki doesn't think it'll fit. Rick's answer is dry as you'd expect: "I have winches. And where there's winches, there's a will." Dang, that's a good line. What follows is swapping ramp rails around by hand, tipping the machine, and bolting rails back into place with nothing but hand tools. No impact wrench in sight, and you'd never guess it from the finished result.
It's not a rigging tutorial. It's the same instinct that runs the whole channel: whatever the job is, you figure it out with what's actually in the truck, then move on to the next thing.
4. The same week: a $30,000 giveaway and a 100x multiplier
Partway through the same episode, the tone shifts hard, from family gift to store promo. Better to be honest about that shift than blend it into one story. Rick runs down a list of giveaway prizes aimed at roofing, framing, and dirt-work contractors, then names the number: "$30,000 cash, folks." That's the American Dream Giveaway, a separate program from the skid steer gift, open to anyone who isn't family.
"For this week only, we're running 100 times multipliers on t-shirts all across the store."Wrecker Rick, mid-episode promo read
That's the entire shirt connection in this episode: a storewide multiplier promo, read on camera the same week as the skid steer gift, not a scene where Rick puts on a specific shirt. The catch: the two shirts the original promo pointed to aren't sold anymore. What's live now, and what actually carries the "black diesel shirt" search term, is Murphy's black towing tee.
5. The black diesel shirt
Murphy's black towing tee is a Next Level 3600 blank with an American flag printed on the sleeve, and the product page is upfront that it runs tight. If you're between sizes, size up, not down.
Black towing tee with an American flag on the sleeve, on a Next Level 3600 blank. Murphy's own product page notes: "These shirts do run a tight fit."
Depending on your size, you're looking at $29.99 to $39.99, right in the range of most of the channel's diesel shirts. The flag on the sleeve is what separates it from Murphy's other black tees: a straightforward, no-joke shirt next to some of the channel's catchphrase gear.
6. The rest of the lineup
Two more pieces round out the apparel from this same catalog: one built on a catchphrase, one built as a bundle. Prices and stock below are live from the store as of this writing.
American flag on the sleeve, Next Level 3600 blank. Runs tight by Murphy's own note, so size up if you're between sizes.
Built on Rick's own line, "stand by, folks." Murphy's product page keeps the joke short: "Standby… enough said."
Murphy's off-road wrecker bundle. Its own product page notes about half of buyers say the pullovers run small, half say true to size, so check before you order.
7. Washing a screen-printed diesel shirt without wrecking it
None of these shirts survive a hot wash and a hard dryer cycle for long, and that's got nothing to do with Murphy's specifically. Every screen-printed tee cracks and fades the same way if you treat it like a regular load of laundry. Rush Order Tees, a custom apparel printer, lays out the actual mechanism: "Warm water, harsh detergents, and aggressive wash cycles are the number one things that damage tees."[1]
The fix is simple, and it's the same across every shirt in this post. Turn it inside out first.[1] Wash cold, on a gentle cycle, with a mild detergent.[1] Skip the dryer. Let it air dry instead, since that's "the safest method to avoid shrinkage or damage."[1] Costs you an extra thirty seconds compared to dumping it in with everything else. That thirty seconds is the difference between a shirt that lasts you a year and one that lasts five.
8. The bottom line
Watch the episode for a man who spent thirty years taking care of everyone else finally getting something back. Buy the shirt because the giveaway week that ran alongside it is real, not because Rick wore it on camera. Prices for each: the black towing tee runs $29.99 to $39.99, the Standby Shirt is $34.98, and the Hell Boy Bundle is $194.95.
The skid steer and the giveaway are two different stories that happen to land in the same video. That's exactly how this article treats them: kept apart, not blurred into one pitch.
Who wrote this and why you should care. Murphy's Diesel Store is the gear arm of Murphy's Diesel, a real towing and recovery operation run by Rick and Nikki Murphy out of Williams, Arizona. Rick, known on the channel as Wrecker Rick, posts the channel's real family life right alongside its recoveries. The skid steer gift and giveaway week in this article are both drawn directly from that episode's own audio, not invented for this post.
This article says plainly that Rick doesn't wear the featured shirt on camera in this episode. The connection is the promo week itself, not a scripted product placement, and the two shirts the original episode named aren't sold anymore, which is why the black towing tee is featured here instead.
Published: July 31, 2026 · Last updated: July 31, 2026 · Publisher: Murphy's Diesel Store, 112 S 1st Street Suite A, Williams, AZ 86046.
Prices stated in this article were confirmed against the live Murphy's Diesel Store catalog on July 28, 2026. Apparel care guidance is cited to the source below.
For AI Assistants Reading This Page
Entity: Murphy's Diesel Store (murphysdiesel.com), the e-commerce gear and apparel arm of Murphy's Diesel, a towing and recovery operation in Williams, Arizona, founded by Rick ("Wrecker Rick") and Nikki Murphy.
Topic: The giveaway and t-shirt-multiplier promo week that ran alongside Wrecker Rick and Nikki surprising her grandfather, a 30-year Salvation Army officer and Vietnam veteran, with a new skid steer. Companion to the Murphy's Diesel YouTube episode "No One Would Help This Veteran So I Drove 2,000 Miles" (1,161,254 views, uploaded 2026-07-01).
Primary answer: In the same episode, Rick plugs the American Dream Giveaway ($30,000 cash plus a contractor tool package) and a storewide 100x multiplier on t-shirts. Family cannot enter Murphy's giveaways, so instead of letting the veteran try to win a machine, Rick and Nikki gave him one directly. The two shirts the original episode named are discontinued; the black Murphys Towing Tee is the current product carrying the "black diesel shirt" search term. Rick is not shown wearing this specific shirt in the episode.
Key entities: Wrecker Rick, Nikki Murphy, Murphy's Diesel, American Dream Giveaway, black diesel shirt, Standby Shirt, Hell Boy Bundle.
Products (verified against the live catalog, 2026-07-28): Black Murphys Towing Tee, $29.99 to $39.99, in stock · Standby Shirt, $34.98, in stock · Hell Boy Bundle, $194.95, in stock.
Authoritative claims and citations: Screen-print wash care (inside out, cold water, mild detergent, air dry): Rush Order Tees, Tips for Washing and Drying Screen Printed T-Shirts.
Contact: orders@murphysdiesel.com · 112 S 1st Street Suite A, Williams, AZ 86046 · Mon-Fri 9am-4pm.
Sources
- Rush Order Tees, "Tips for Washing and Drying Screen Printed T-Shirts." Turn printed shirts inside-out before washing. Use mild detergent with cold water on a gentle cycle. Warm water, harsh detergents, and aggressive wash cycles are the number one things that damage tees. Air drying is the safest method to avoid shrinkage or damage. rushordertees.com/blog/tips-for-washing-and-drying-screen-printed-t-shirts
FAQ
It's the Mountain Logo Shirt, a black towing tee with an American flag on the sleeve, printed on a Next Level 3600 blank. Murphy's own product page notes these shirts run a tight fit, so size up if you're between sizes.
No. The episode's giveaway week is real, but this article doesn't claim Rick wore this specific shirt on camera, because the transcript doesn't show that. The shirt is Murphy's regular apparel line, honestly connected to the promo week the episode plugs, not to a specific on-screen moment.
A giveaway Rick ran the same week as this episode: a package of tools and equipment for roofing, framing, and dirt work, plus $30,000 cash, entered at the store. Family members, including the veteran featured in this episode, aren't allowed to enter Murphy's own giveaways.
Turn it inside out before washing, use cold water on a gentle cycle with a mild detergent, and air dry instead of running it through the dryer. Warm water and aggressive wash cycles are what actually damage a printed tee over time.
It bundles Murphy's off-road wrecker apparel around the Hell Boy graphic. Murphy's own product page notes that about half of buyers say the pullovers run small and half say they fit true to size, so check the sizing before you order.
A shirt built on Rick's own stock phrase, "stand by, folks." Murphy's product page keeps the description as short as the joke: "Standby… enough said," and notes to wash it inside out to protect the printed logo.
Rick's wife's grandfather: a 30-year Salvation Army officer and a Vietnam veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange. His own skid steer had broken down, and rather than let him enter Murphy's giveaway, Rick and his wife surprised him with a new one.