FTC Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through some of the links in this article for more information, visit our Advertising Disclosure Page.

You can subscribe to the Everything About RVing YouTube Channel for some great videos about RVing

Emergency Towing Of Pickup And 5th Wheel RV

by Larry
(Illinois)

Emergency Towing Of Pickup And 5th Wheel RV

Emergency Towing Of Pickup And 5th Wheel RV

In case of a breakdown of your truck when towing your 5th wheel camper, I'm curious as to whether its safe to tow the truck with the 5th wheel camper still attached, or do they always tow the truck and camper separately?

In other words, do they need to make two trips or send two tow trucks???

Thank you.

ANSWER Hi Larry, the simple answer to your question is that your tow vehicle and 5th Wheel Trailer can be safely towed together, in case of a breakdown. That being said; this does not mean that you can call any tow truck company to do this job. Unfortunately, not all towing companies are properly equipped or trained to perform this task.

If this towing job is done improperly it can cause damage to both your tow vehicle and 5th Wheel Trailer. It is important that the towing company you use has experience in dealing with RVs.

Now protect all of your Vehicles and your family while on the road: Join Good Sam Emergency Road Service Today and save!

Here is where the problem comes in. When you experience a sudden breakdown with your RV, how are you going to find the right towing company to do the job? When you are broken down along the side of the road, you really do not have the time to find the right towing company. So what do you do? Here is my suggestion; if you have an RV you should also have an Emergency Roadside Assistance Service Plan.

The Emergency Roadside Assistance Plan you get should be for an RV. If you break down and you have an RV Emergency Roadside Assistance Plan all you do is call an 800 number and give them your location, etc. and they will contact the properly equipped and trained tow truck company to assist you. If you have to be
towed or have a tire changed, etc, it is done at no cost to you.

Yes, you have to pay annual fees to be a part of an RV Emergency Roadside Assistance Plan, but this plan will more than pay for itself the first time you use it. Sure you can roll the dice and not purchase an RV Roadside Assistance Plan; in fact, you could go RVing your whole life and never have a breakdown.

You need to ask yourself this question if you are waffling on purchasing an RV Emergency Roadside Assistance Plan. Do you have fire insurance on your house? In most cases, your answer to this question will be yes. Why do you have fire insurance on your house? You are not planning to have your house catch on fire, but it is sure nice to know that the repairs to the house will be covered in case it does catch fire. I hope you get the point that an RV Emergency Roadside Assistance Plan is nice to have just in case you have that breakdown. In fact, I consider it a must for any RVer.

I very seldom make any personal recommendations for any product, but I am going to give you my personal recommendation here. I strongly recommend RV Emergency Road Service from the Good Sam Club. This is the plan that I have used for all of my RVs over the years. Here is why:

*Unlimited Distance Towing Services 24/7

*Flat Tire Service

*Minor Roadside Mechanical Repairs

*Protection for all Household Vehicles which would include your towed vehicle or your towing vehicle

*Free Battery Jump-Starts, Emergency Fuel Delivery, Lost Key / Lock-out Service

*$1,200 Trip Interruption Assistance

*They have had Over 1,500,000 successful roadside rescues—Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service
I hope that I have been able to answer all of your questions.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

Comments for Emergency Towing Of Pickup And 5th Wheel RV

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Good Sam Worthless
by: Anonymous

In the past I had both Good Sam and AAA. I called Good Sam about my situation and immediately the service rep started telling me what Good Sam could not do. I thanked the rep and hung up and then called AAA. As usual they put the 1st priority on helping me out of my problem.

I let the Good Sam coverage expire and never will go there agin.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		5th wheel axel problem
by: Anonymous

We could not find one single tow company in the San Francisco Bay Area who could move/tow our 27' 5th wheel 20 miles from Livermore to Walnut Creek. We ended up strapping up the 2heel without the tire and driving it ourselves. Who should we have called if the trailer could not be pulled?
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Bad experience with Good Sam
by: Anonymous

I had CAA with RV insurance and Good SM both. I was told CAA was better for Canada and Good SAM for the USA.

I had a blow out in rural Minnesota. I got help from CAA not Good SAM and I have since cancelled my Good SAM membership.

I terminated my membership with good SAM because they have one of those idiotic press 1 for this, press 2 for that computer systems that then eventually, assuming you push all the right buttons in the right sequence, eventually take you to a real person where you then on hold. Then after a long period on hold you get told by the human who finally speaks to you that you pushed the wrong buttons and without giving you a second to say a thing, you go back to the computer merry go round to start all over again and hope you push the right buttons. I was doing the SAM merry go round for 25 minutes when the minutes on my pay as go emergency telephone ran out minutes and I was now cell phone less and I still hadn't gotten to a human being who would actually help me.

Fortunately a passing motorest let me call from his phone and I didn't try calling Good Sam back. I called CAA from my location and they connected me directly to a real person without a merry go round and then there was a two truck at my trailer changing the flat in 21 minutes.

After I cancelled my membership I got a very nice letter from Good SAM asking me to cal them back on their computer merry go round to ask me why I was canceling my membership.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		ERS
by: Owen W Lindsay

I have had to use Good Sam's ERS 5 times in the past 18 years. On one occasion, the fuel pump on the tow vehicle died, and Good Sam sent out two vehicles to assist. The tow truck took the vehicle to the nearest competent repair shop, and a pickup arrived at the same time and took our trailer, and my wife to the local Good Sam Campground, and assisted in setting up the trailer. Repairs took overnight, and we were on our way the next day, with no towing cost.

Friendly and competent tow operators made the experience a great one.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Pick the credit card.
by: Anonymous

If you pick the right credit company you can earn points to pay for your RV roadside membership plan. We have a CAA membership plan and we have never had to pay for it because we use a CAA Mastercard.

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Ask an RV Question.

LEARN HOW TO RUN 2 RV A/Cs ON A 30 AMP CONNECTION