Emergency Road Service

[Sheetmusic]

Has anyone experience a situation where the to vehicle need a tow? What happened with the TT? What are others doing about emergency road service? I am looking at Good Sam and AAA.

[rvrev2]

Howdy Sheetmusic,
I had an accident towing my fiver back in December (black ice, not fun! Pictures in the "Pics of your Jayco" section of this forum). Anyway, I was jackknifed and in the ditch. They sent out a BIG rig tow truck which hooked onto my pickup and pulled me out. The trailer remained attached the whole while. Fortunately, I was able to drive the rig home. I have heard on another forum that others have had the tow company tow them to a campground where they dropped off the trailer, and then towed the tow vehicle to the garage to fix it.

[kcconawa]

I have Good Sam and fortunately in 31 years of towing an RV, I have never had to use them. I do have friends that have had very good results with Good Sam.

I may be wrong on this but the way I see it, Good Sam specializes in RV's, AAA in auto's. I have an RV, so I go with the expert in the field. A few dollars price differential is not a concern to me, I want the one who knows how to solve an RV down on the road issue.

[ggilbert]

Good Sam only tows you to a place e that can fix your problem. Ex if the tire store is not open they will not tow you to there. Or if they don’t have a tire in stock they will not tow you there.

[Marcm157]

I'm my opinion after a couple of decades towing travel trailers, none of these services are really worth much if anything. All they do is locate the most appropriate tow service for your situation and make the call for you. Much of the "services" provided are not sufficient and you end up paying out of pocket for some services anyway. I don't take any extended warranty or roadside assistance but I do put a set dollar figure away in a separate bank account every month. That is my emergency repair / tow money. Instead of giving it to someone each month for a service I may never use I keep it for me. (I needed to be towed once in nearly 20 years after hitting a ladder that broke free from a service truck in front of me)

With smart phones today you can search for a tow service provider yourself and not be relying on someone else.

Just my 2 cents...

[TaftCoach]

I had two tows in one trip two summers ago. AAA was perfect. We have RV Plus. They towed us to a really good independent shop that treated us like family. Even allowed is to hook into their thirty amp to spend the night while they fixed the truck.

Basically the truck went on the flatbed and the trailer was on the tow truck's ball.

After multiple threads like this through the years I can think everyone will agree that eventually whichever service you go with will leave you stuck and you will never use them again.

[TaftCoach]

And my wife just reminded me, yesterday AAA met us at the campground and changed our flat tire. No way I wanted to do that in 105° heat.

[ggilbert]

We have AAA rv plus. Never used it for the travel trailer and hopefully I never need it, but I have used it many times on the older high mileage cars we have at home.

I’ve had throttle cables break, alternator go out. 2 flats one car same day within a 5 mile stretch of road. First flat I change second flat I was sol no more spares.

I think Im still in the hole on what I paid for service over the last 17 years, but it gives me piece of mind if my wife is traveling.

[Kim Gass]

When doing research for roadside assistance, be very specific in questioning them.. Many will NOT tow in certain areas. In Maine for example no one will send assistance in the North Maine Woods which covers half of the state.. Fortunately tourists seldom visit that part. If we have an issue we have to hope a logging truck passes by. There is no way to call for help either.

Same may pertain for some other areas.. Do they send service if you are on a forest road or a dirt road?

[ggilbert]

I didn’t know that. Would they rescue you if it had a road number or name like the golden road in Maine?

[TaftCoach]

From dozens of threads on the subject I'll guarantee you that each service has areas where they will leave you hanging without help. On regular paved roads. Interstates. Near towns. Sometimes for hours and hours, sometimes just refusing services.

None will be 100% perfect.

I go with the 90% rule. 90% of the time I'll be anywhere from Texas to Maine to Montana. So researching any specific location isn't worth my time. If you have a favorite route and location it would be very important.

Each service requires you to have access to a phone or Internet. Just being out of cell range and Good Sam or AAA RV Plus won't be any help until you self rescue to a phone.

[craigav]

Originally Posted by TaftCoach

From dozens of threads on the subject I'll guarantee you that each service has areas where they will leave you hanging without help. On regular paved roads. Interstates. Near towns. Sometimes for hours and hours, sometimes just refusing services.

None will be 100% perfect.

I go with the 90% rule. 90% of the time I'll be anywhere from Texas to Maine to Montana. So researching any specific location isn't worth my time. If you have a favorite route and location it would be very important.

Each service requires you to have access to a phone or Internet. Just being out of cell range and Good Sam or AAA RV Plus won't be any help until you self rescue to a phone.

With my Farm Bureau RV insurance, I have the roadside assistance option and with that plan, there are no areas that are not covered. They have two options (both require a phone), you can call them and they will locate a service provider in the area and in network (which likely would have limited service areas), and if one is not available and\or you prefer to call your own, they will reimburse you up to $500.00 per roadside assistance call. ~CA

[Kim Gass]

Originally Posted by ggilbert

I didn’t know that. Would they rescue you if it had a road number or name like the golden road in Maine?

Nope. Road names are unmarked. And change. My fave is the Useless Road.

People have to fend for themselves and nothing above 44 feet TV and TT allowed. There are high rocks in the road sometimes.. Our normal speed is 5-10 mph. The Golden Road is a superhighway and one I would not want to break down on even if its got more traffic.. Its used by trucks hauling a quarter of a million lbs of logs and the dust and thrown rocks are quite normal.

[ynpmoose]

We broke down last summer in Minnesota towards the end of a 6000 mile 3 week trip. I-90 middle of nowhere. We have AAA+RV. They towed both the truck and trailer for no charge. I was happy with the service.

[travelingjw]

I have both of those. I figure that if I am caught someplace and only one of them can come it is worth the extra money. Read too many posts about GS not being available. In addition, if there is a "major event" I will take whomever gets to me first.