Type of tow truck for motorhomes

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paleface

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Location
Durham,N.C.
T he last time I needed a tow of my motorhome Good Sam could not find anyone in my area that could tow it. All claimed they could not do it. I had not even given a GVWR. I have a 24' E-450 Minnie Winnie with GVWR 14,050; front 4600 and rr 9450. I assumed a rollback wrecker truck would be able to do it. I certainly was not going to pay extra for one of those monster tow trucks. If a rollback were to tow it in what manner would they tow it? From the front or back? It turned out that the issue resolved without a tow but it is time for me to renew my roadside plan and its not like the available companies would have changed much in my area in a years time. Doug in Durham
 
Motorhomes cannot be towed from the rear. 24ft might go on a large, long rollback (so long as they stay away from that famous bridge in Durham :devilish::ROFLMAO: ). Generally, due to height, they would need to be towed by a semi unit with a sliding tandem bogie under it (aka, Traveling axle). Ask for a Landoll trailer rig. The bed does not slide, the trailer's bogies do.




Charles
 
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Will Good Sam or whoever offer plans that include that sort of coverage? Who do you use for Roadside assistance and what do you pay? Doug
 
I do not have roadside assistance now, however I would use Coach Net if I were to sign up with somebody. They know the vendors in various areas and what equipment the vendor has for towing. Probably better informed than most other road side assistance operations.

Charles
 
I used Coachnet years ago while in Cody, Wy. The coach net gal told me that there were only two tow service's with in miles of me,,,one did not have the equipment for my coach,, and the other ( owned by an old man) "only worked when he felt like it""and he doesn't feel like it today" She did tell me that I was parked one block from a Cummins dealer and they would be open in the morning.. The Cummins dealer got me going the next morning and the rest is history..>>>Dan
 
Here is my ad for CoachNet: I have had CoachNet for a lot of years and been very happy with them. It costs $250 the first year for a motorhome, and $180 per year for the next years. Considering that a tow with a "monster" truck that took me only a mile cost $500, that is an excellent deal. They will tow you to whatever is the nearest facility that can repair your vehicle. And they do NOT take you somewhere unless they check with the facility, and it can start work on your vehicle right away--no dumping you in the back part of the parking lot. That is extremely valuable if you are on vacation and don't want to hang around for weeks waiting for a fix.

Also, if you have a problem and your vehicle is still driveable, they will help you find a place that can and will work on your vehicle. For example, a month or so ago, I drove down from Lake Louise with a badly missing engine that had a check engine light on and occasionally blinking when I drove up a mountain. I got parked at a campground and had called several truck repair places in the area around Coeur d'Alene, ID, and no one could or would work on it. (They only work on diesels and mine was a gasser. The door to their shop was too narrow, the door to the shop was too short, their service people don't know how to work on motorhome motors, they don't have a lift, their insurance does not let them work on motorhomes, etc. etc. )

I called CoachNet and within a couple of hours, they had found a "speed" shop in an industrial park nearby that worked on hotrods, but also had a lift big enough for my Class C!! They could take a look at it the next day (a Friday) and diagnose the problem, but probably could not do the repair until the next week after they got parts. I took it in, and they found a bad cylinder, but one of the service guys was suddenly available because he was waiting for parts on his job, so he started work on mine and replaced a coil within 3 hours and charged a reasonable price.

They also will offer technical advice over the phone and try to diagnose the problem if it might be something you can do yourself. One time, I was in Frisco, CO, and no Ford or other dealer would fix my radiator hose that had dumped all my coolant. I was in a campground, but they sent a mobile mechanic the next day who found a loose connection and added fluid! They paid for the mechanic to come, and I paid for his time to fix the hose.

Those more-than-just-a-tow things have been worth every penny I pay for CoachNet. They also are excellent about calling me after things are fixed and getting my feedback!!!
 
Coachnet got bought out last year, so changes are to be expected, I have my roadside assistance through FMCA, though that is not all that stable either
 
I'll echo Judy's comments about CoachNet. We had them all the time we had motorhomes, and on several occasions (never a tow) we got very valuable help from them, even helping us find a shop in cases where they didn't actually provide coverage for the problem.

And once we had a small problem when we were at Gardiner, MT near north Yellowstone. They found the nearest person to do the work in Livermore (way north) and they paid for the service call but we paid for the repair ($55 if I recall correctly).

Another time we were at Quartzsite, AZ and had a furnace problem (hydronic) and though they didn't cover that they did find us someone to work on it.

That level of assistance was worth a lot to us.
 
I certainly was not going to pay extra for one of those monster tow trucks.

I don't know what you consider a monster tow truck, but once you have a vehicle north of about 8000 lbs GVWR or 20 ft in length, you have left behind the typical F450-based .local tow truck. And it won't cost you extra if you have a roadside service, e.g. GS, Coachnet, etc. They promise you a tow. Period. Whatever equipment it takes to do the job.

Besides, I think a rollback-style truck or trailer big enough to carry your Minnie is gonna qualify as a "monster".
 
7 Tons is a bit much for a roll back plus you will very likely damage the RV getting it onto the bed... I had to have mine towed and because of the "lift" they did about 10 bucks in damage (Very minor) and they used the proper tow truck and lift method. They just lifted the front a bit too high.

Most areas have Heavy Duty Towers... I know where to find a few around the country (Mostly in S.E. MI) but check with nearby truck stops. they will know the HD towers if nobody else does.
 
T he last time I needed a tow of my motorhome Good Sam could not find anyone in my area that could tow it. All claimed they could not do it. I had not even given a GVWR. I have a 24' E-450 Minnie Winnie with GVWR 14,050; front 4600 and rr 9450. I assumed a rollback wrecker truck would be able to do it. I certainly was not going to pay extra for one of those monster tow trucks. If a rollback were to tow it in what manner would they tow it? From the front or back? It turned out that the issue resolved without a tow but it is time for me to renew my roadside plan and its not like the available companies would have changed much in my area in a years time. Doug in Durham
A standard 2 ton Tow truck should have been able to tow your E-450. They would be required to disconnect the drive shaft before doing so, but any E-450 chassis should be a fairly easy tow. The problem you encountered was more likely talent than Equipment. Changing you ERS provide will likely not make much difference.
 
I don't know what you consider a monster tow truck, but once you have a vehicle north of about 8000 lbs GVWR or 20 ft in length, you have left behind the typical F450-based .local tow truck. And it won't cost you extra if you have a roadside service, e.g. GS, Coachnet, etc. They promise you a tow. Period. Whatever equipment it takes to do the job.

Besides, I think a rollback-style truck or trailer big enough to carry your Minnie is gonna qualify as a "monster".
I do not want any tow company to try towing my rig unless: 1) they have a lot of experience towing 14,500 32' motorhomes or similar big vehicles, and 2) they have adequate equipment to tow it. I don't want anyone practicing with my rig and possibly dropping it. Just my personal opinion in my situation.
 
Clarification: CoachNet provides road service, not overall RV repair, so they will not pay for a trip to fix your stove or water heater. However, I did have a slide that was stuck out once, making the vehicle undriveable, and they did send someone out to put the slide in since my son and I had no idea where the manual control was.
 
Also, I once had a blowout on I-80 north of the Bay Area. CoachNet sent someone to change tire, but because of very the narrow shoulder and heavy traffic, I had left my blinkers on. After tire changer left, I discovered battery was dead and would not charge with my emergency start. Of course, this happened at 4 pm on Father's Day Sunday and NOTHING was open, so CoachNet got permission from the nearest Lowes for me to spend the night in their monitored parking lot. Towed me less than mile to Lowes and called me a couple of times in the night to make sure I was safe since they knew I was older and alone.

Next morning, they found a place to replace battery, made sure they had correct battery in stock, and towed me a second time to that location. Arrived at noon, and they immediately replaced battery, sold me new tire, fixed some wiring that had been damaged when the tire blew, fixed gas filler tube which had been knocked slightly sideways when tire blew, and put on new gas cap. Done by 5 pm and on my way! Total cost was about $800 in about 2016.

Priceless!!!
 
Clarification: CoachNet provides road service, not overall RV repair, so they will not pay for a trip to fix your stove or water heater. However, I did have a slide that was stuck out once, making the vehicle undriveable, and they did send someone out to put the slide in since my son and I had no idea where the manual control was.
That is true of their roadside assistance package, but they offer other services including tire and wheel, paint and fabric protection, insurance gap coverage, trip interruption, etc. I have never had anything but the roadside assistance so I'm not sure if any are worth it but they may cover repairs under some of them. Also, some of those may only be available on newly purchased RVs.

The insurance gap coverage looks interesting. It covers the difference between what your insurance will give you if the RV is totaled and the balance left on an RV loan.
 
Clarification: CoachNet provides road service, not overall RV repair, so they will not pay for a trip to fix your stove or water heater.
No, but they will still provide tech support over the phone and/or help you find someone who can do the job, even though you must pay the whole shebang.
 

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