Roadside Assistance While Towing

Christopher John · 07-30-2023, 05:36 PM

Question for anyone who has had their tow vehicle break down while pulling their trailer (travel or 5th-wheel). Last week, my wife and I were homeward bound to northern IL from the north woods of WI towing our Passport 199ml when the water pump on our F150 completely failed leaving us on the side of the road several miles outside of Rhinelander, WI.

Having the AAA RV+ membership, we started there and quickly found out that they could arrange a tow for the truck fine, but the travel trailer put a big monkey wrench in what they could provide from the tow companies that they contract with in that area. None of AAA's affiliated towing companies could accommodate both the truck and the trailer, and we were not willing to leave the trailer with all of our possessions on the side of US 8 for 1-2 nights without knowing the exact issue with our truck and how long it would take to get it fixed.

Long story short, we ended up contacting a local tow company ourselves (Bull Dog Off Road Rescue -- not affiliated with AAA) and had two tow trucks there in 20 minutes (a flatbed for the pick-up and a tow truck with a ball to haul the travel trailer). It was like the calvary had arrived.
They towed us to the repair shop in Rhinelander that AAA recommended (the shop was phenomenal -- Northwoods Auto Techs). Our truck was fixed and were on our way 24 hours later.

Here is the question: What experiences has anyone else here had with AAA while towing your trailer? Are there other providers outside of AAA where you have experienced good service in more remote places? Any opinions are welcome.

I am pretty soured on AAA's ability to help out under the above circumstances (they had have been good when we were local to home and it was our cars without the trailer) and am considering looking for other roadside assistance providers. For example, there is one outfit called US Rider that caters mostly to people pulling horse trailers, BUT they will service just your personal vehicle OR your personal vehicle and any other towed trailer. Since they are set up to assist and tow people already hauling trailers, it seems like they might be better equipped to handle situations like ours. I need to do more research into them, but that is one I have heard of.

vampress_me · 07-30-2023, 06:30 PM

I do not have any personal experience with AAA while towing - thank god. So, unfortunately, all I can say is what I’ve heard from others I’ve talked to. They have said AAA is basically worthless when it comes to a towed trailer, especially a camper. Based off what others have told me, we do have Good Sam Roadside for when towing the fifth wheel. And, AQHA enrolled me for free this year in US Rider for a year, for when I’m towing our horse trailer. I do not believe US Rider will cover towing a camper though, you would have to ask them. I guess I am covered no matter what I’m towing. Now, I just hope I never need any of them!

**sourdough** · 07-30-2023, 06:56 PM

I carried AAA for many, many years and never had to use it...then we needed it...what a waste. After my experience I began to research them and found I might as well spend my money on widgits. Their organization varies on coverage from state to state and area to area. Towable mileages and where they will tow to vary wildly. They are basically, IMO, a bunch of independent organizations with different rules/coverages under one umbrella..AAA. I dumped them 15 years ago or more.

Good Sam offers all kinds of coverage...I have all of them. I also have 3 other roadside assistance plans for vehicles and a couple of special ones for RV return. You need to look into all those things available but AAA would never cross my mind.

Old Mustanger · 07-30-2023, 07:27 PM

Several tears ago when we still had a travel trailer, we experienced a bearing failure on 635 in Dallas. Called AAA and after waiting on the side of the road for about an hour they finally called back and informed me that they had no flat bed tow trucks available that could handle my trailer. I had good service from AAA with car trouble previously but after this I feel you may be able to depend on them for your car or truck but not for your trailer.

a year later, same trailer, same bearing location was again smoking hot when we pulled into a rest stop near Raleigh NC, (yes I greased the bearings yearly). Called Good Sam Roadside, they came within a half hour, the tech chained up the axle and escorted me very slowly to the nearby Camping World. Traded that trailer in for a Bullet, that I never had any troubles with (should have kept that one).

LHaven · 07-30-2023, 09:04 PM

I had Good Sam Roadside for years with my old rig, but when I had breakdowns of my TV or tire shreds on my TT on Interstates, I was more likely to get told "we don't have anyone in the area who can give you service" than to get service.

When I got my 2019, I bopped around the web and found a lot of people saying this was a general problem with Good Sam, so I went with the consensus carrier, who happened to be AAA. I haven't had a towing call with them yet, but they have happily towed my auto twice from my garage to a repair shop (took two shops to determine why the starter wouldn't engage).

I don't know if I'm stating the obvious, but a plain AAA auto policy doesn't cover towables, you have to plump for the higher level that does.

CedarCreekWoody · 07-31-2023, 09:59 AM

No one owns a nationwide fleet of tow vehicles, they all depend on contract wreckers. Therefore the quality of the response can vary with any company.

LHaven · 07-31-2023, 10:52 AM

Right, and the difference between insurance carriers is how much they're willing to pay the independent driver. If you sign with a carrier willing to offer the driver better rates, you tend to get better success in getting them to your breakdown site.

NMRandy · 08-31-2023, 02:44 PM

I have Good Sam Roadside Assistance. When I had a breakdown on the road, they found someone to tow the truck, but not the RV. They wanted me to leave the RV on the side of the road until they could find someone to tow the RV. It was cold, snowing, and I had water in the unit. I just could not leave it there. After about 3 hours, they finally agreed to pay a friend on mine to come get the RV, (luckily I was only about 75 miles from home). They refused to tow the truck to the dealer because no one was there, (they were closed for the evening). They told me they would only tow it to the TA truck stop. When we got there, a lady came out of the building while we were unloading, and told me if we left it there, she would have it towed away before morning. At that point the tow truck driver agreed to store the truck in his yard overnight. Good Sam never reimbursed me for having the RV towed. I thought Good Sam, being affiliated with Camping World, would have contract drivers to transport RV's, since they offer that coverage. This is apparently not the case.

notanlines · 09-01-2023, 04:06 AM

When we broke down in Mankato, MN because of bad fuel Geico paid the $200 I paid the wrecker company AND the $50 tip I gave the driver. We had a check in a week. Never had a hassle with Geico.

**sourdough** · 09-01-2023, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notanlines

When we broke down in Mankato, MN because of bad fuel Geico paid the $200 I paid the wrecker company AND the $50 tip I gave the driver. We had a check in a week. Never had a hassle with Geico.

Same here. Had a flat on my SUV outside Llano, TX about 20 miles out about 4:45pm. None of my roadside plans could get anyone. Geico said if I found someone they would reimburse me. Found a tire shop owner closing up and he said he would come out as soon as he closed (about 4:55 then and he closed at 5). Sure enough he came out and swapped tires (ground was total grassburrs). I asked how much and he told me $100. I gave him a hundred bill plus a 50 and told him I needed a receipt which he did not have. Told me to come by his business after the funeral the next day and he would have it which he did. Sent that in and got a check back from Geico within about a week as I recall - no questions. They handled it in an exemplary fashion IMO.

CampForever · 12-28-2023, 08:25 AM

I-95 South in GA, exit 94. Saturday afternoon. Truck disabled, AAA after 3 hour wait, "can't get a truck till Monday sometime."

No longer have AAA and have not looked back.

NH_Bulldog · 12-28-2023, 08:32 AM

We use FMCA which includes a slew of other benefits. I have never had or known anyone to have a good AAA experience with any vehicle.

Stircrazy · 12-30-2023, 04:08 PM

I used AAA once; they couldn't provide a unit to town my 5th wheel from there contractors in that area, but I was able to call on my own and get a non AAA contractor then submit the bill to aaa and be re-imbursed for the tow as it was their failure to be able to provide my coverage level

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