Wrecker Rick calls it before it happens. Standing at the starting line of a big off-road event, he tells the camera it's about to get western. A few hours later, his Ram 5500 wrecker actually catches fire mid-run, and he puts it out himself. You'll see the fire in the clip. What you won't see is the wardrobe, so let's get that straight before you read any further. This is the honest version of the story, and the story behind the shirt Murphy's named after the line.
- Rick said his own catchphrase, "it's probably going to get western," at the starting line of a big off-road event.
- Hours later, his Ram 5500 wrecker actually caught fire: exhaust gas temps in the red, melted wiring, flames off the turbos.
- Rick put the fire out himself with a fire extinguisher he had on hand, and kept working.
- The crew's joke afterward stuck: "They don't call me Rick. They call me Burn It Down, Rick."
- Rick did not wear the About To Get Western shirt or pullover in this episode. This post connects the phrase to the product honestly, not because the camera caught him in it.
- Murphy's sells the shirt and pullover that carry the line, from $34.99.
1. The line before the fire
The clip starts at the top of a hard day. Picture the scene: Rick and the crew at the starting line of a big off-road event, a whole lineup of wreckers around them. He sets it up himself: "We've got a lot of off-road wreckers here. We've got the biggest right here, and we got the second largest world's off-road wrecker." Right before they roll out, he says the line you already know by heart if you've watched this channel for more than a week.
"We made it, folks. We're at the starting line. Now it's probably going to get western."Wrecker Rick, at the starting line, "I Caught My Ram 5500 Wrecker On Fire And Survived"
It's a line Rick's used for years on this channel, for all kinds of trouble, and if you've heard it before, you probably didn't expect it to come true quite like this. This time? It wasn't just a line.
2. What "about to get western" means on this channel
Rick says some version of that line whenever a job's about to turn into a fight. A stuck vehicle. A long tow. A truck that won't cooperate. If you've watched more than a couple episodes, you already know the tone: it isn't a threat, and it isn't a boast. It's shorthand for things about to get difficult, and doing the job anyway. Murphy's put it on a shirt and a pullover because it's one of the handful of phrases that shows up across enough episodes that longtime viewers say it back before Rick finishes the sentence.
This post isn't claiming Rick wore either piece in this episode. He didn't, and we're not pretending otherwise. What this episode gives the phrase is a real example. An afternoon where "about to get western" turned out to be exactly right, not just a catchphrase.
3. The fire
Later that same day, under sustained hard use, the truck starts running hot. Watch what happens next, because it happens fast. Exhaust gas temperatures climb and stay there. The heat goes to work on the wiring.
"My foot's on the floor, my EGTs are through the roof, so it just got so hot. It's in the red the whole time. Then it started melting all the wiring. And then it started dripping on the turbos, and then all this got on fire."Wrecker Rick, explaining what happened, "I Caught My Ram 5500 Wrecker On Fire And Survived"
The truck's intercooler boot melts and blows off in the same stretch. On camera, the calls come fast: "Stop fire." "Get a fire extinguisher." Then a long pause while it gets handled. Wild stretch of footage. This is the moment it could've gone a lot worse.
4. Putting it out
Rick's got fire extinguishers on hand, more than one, and he doesn't wait on anybody. Nice bit of foresight, that. "Well, that was a close one, folks," he says once it's out. "It's a good thing I had 10 fire extinguishers. I single-handedly put that fire out by myself." He's already calling out for help by name in the same breath: "Industrial Injection, we're going to need an overhaul." Nobody's hurt. A few minutes later, in his own words, the truck "lived to see another day."
The joke that stuck afterward: "They don't call me Rick. They call me Burn It Down, Rick."
5. The shirt that carries the line
Murphy's sells two pieces built around that phrase: a lighter shirt for warm weather, a heavier pullover for cold. Neither one shows up on camera in this episode, and this post isn't going to pretend otherwise. What's honest to say is that this episode is the clearest real-world example of what the line actually means, and if you want the shirt for that reason alone, that's a pretty solid one. Not a boast. Just a day that genuinely did get western.
Both pieces run the same way, by the store's own account, and both carry their own version of the joke on the actual print. The shirt reads "Buckle up y'all cuz it's 'bout to get western!!" The pullover's own care line plays it straight back: "Don't let it get western."
"50% of people say it runs small. 50% say it fits just right. Order accordingly."Bout To Get Western Shirt and About To Get Western Pullover product pages, murphysdiesel.com
Take that fit note seriously before you order, and size up if you're on the fence. Before the pullover goes in the wash, one more step: turn it inside out first, to protect the printed line on front. It's sized up to 6XL. Care and sizing details for the shirt itself aren't published beyond the fit note above, so that's what this post can honestly tell you.
The heavier of the two, built for the months when a hoodie makes more sense than a tee. Runs small for about half of buyers, true to size for the other half, per the product page. Wash it inside out to protect the print. Sized up to 6XL.
The short-sleeve version, printed with its own line: "Buckle up y'all cuz it's 'bout to get western!!" Same 50/50 fit split as the pullover, per the product page.
The pullover version, built for colder months. Wash inside out to protect the print. Sized up to 6XL.
6. The bottom line
Watch the clip for the fire. Read this for the honest version of the line that's been printed on a shirt for a while now. Rick called it before anything happened, and hours later, it happened. Nobody got hurt. The truck got fixed. And a phrase that's been a running joke on this channel just picked up one more real story to back it up.
FAQ
Yes. In "I Caught My Ram 5500 Wrecker On Fire And Survived," Rick's Ram 5500 wrecker caught fire after running hard for hours at an off-road event. By Rick's own account, exhaust gas temperatures stayed in the red, the wiring started melting, and fluid dripping onto the hot turbos is what lit.
No. Neither the shirt nor the pullover appears on camera in this episode. The connection here is the phrase itself, which Rick says at the starting line before the fire happens, not a wardrobe claim.
It's one of Rick's recurring lines for a job about to turn difficult. He says it here right before a truck he was running caught fire, which makes this episode the clearest real example of the phrase actually paying off.
No. Rick put the fire out himself with a fire extinguisher he had on hand, and the crew kept working. The truck needed repair afterward, but nobody was injured.
The Bout To Get Western Shirt ($34.99) is Murphy's lighter, short-sleeve option. The About To Get Western Pullover ($59.98) is the heavier pullover for cold weather. Both carry the same line.
Rick namechecks Industrial Injection, the shop that handles engine work on several of his trucks, right after the fire is out.
By the store's own account on both product pages, it's split down the middle: about 50% of buyers say they run small, and 50% say they fit true to size. Order accordingly. The pullover is sized up to 6XL and should be washed inside out to protect the print.