What does it cost to have a class 8 RV towed?

[FITNESSFORYOUTOO]

I am interested in building a tractor into an RV and wondered what the cost to tow one of these would be. I have AAA towing on my pickup truck now, is there anything like it for big trucks and RV's?

[volvoman]

being in the towing business i know it varies a lot. we charge $125.00 per hour for just a straight truck or tractor. it's $150.00 per hour for combination tractor and trailer. time starts when we leave the shop and ends when we get back to our shop. hookup and unhook is at same rate.
some shops do a hook up rate and mileage charge. some are $75.00 per hour hookup and $4.00 loaded mile. they will charge $60.00 to $90.00 to pull a axle shaft or driveshaft.
some charge a 2 hour minimum of $150.00 per hour.
we can do a across town in about 1 1/2 hrs. runs $187.50.

[andyg]

check with AAA. I think that they have a program which covers RVs. There is also an outfit named Coach-Net who seem to be popular with the bus conversion crowd.

[bushpilot]

i have roadside assistance thru my insurance provider (blue-sky) - they've got unlimited towing & camping world / good sam offer a similar program.

[FITNESSFORYOUTOO]

Thanks guys I will look into this. I have been towed a couple of times when I was a driver but never asked what the cost was.

[bushpilot]

i have YET to be towed OR have a flat (knock on my hard head)….
i would be VERY interested in Volvoman's thoughts on what to watch out for…should i ever need this service…what scams or CLAIMS of non payment should i be aware of ?

what is or isn't covered ?

I've got tire change / call service but am i gonna get uplifted on the cost of a tire ?

[hot rod]

Tires: my opinion, carry a spare. I have a complete mounted steer tire that can be used in any position. I would still have to call a tire service to change it as i don't have enough air supply for a big enough air gun to do it myself, and am just plain too lazy to do it manually. This way at least I'm not over the barrel for whatever they decide they can get me for on a tire. And most importantly to me, my tires still match and I don't have 5 of my michelins and one of whatever brand they happen to have. In my particular case I have an odd size 22.5 that is usually on a freightliner class A motorhome chassis and I figure not every tire shop will have one. At a very minimum I would suggest carrying an unmounted spare that matches the rest of the tires, for the same reasons mentioned above. I have to give my Dad credit for that idea, he always carried an unmounted spare in the basement compartment of his class A, that way he has a matching tire to install without the weight of a mounted spare.

Towing: AAA premier RV will tow up to 200 miles on one tow per year, 100 miles per tow on remaining tows. I drive long distances and it may be some ways to a place that can work on the truck and I figure one bad towing bill would pay for 10 years of AAA, plus it still covers you on all your regular vehicles in addition to the RV. Of note is that it covers the member, not a specific vehicle, so you are good on any vehicle you happen to be riding in even if it is not yours.

[bushpilot]

I've thought about the spare - but not sure where id put it - i don't have room in any mod my basement storage for a tire. Possibly under the coach - but my thoughts are the tire (expensive as it is) will likely ROT before i needed it (w/ any luck).

[volvoman]

Get a price up front. Make sure they pull driveshaft or axle shaft. Make sure front bumper and oil pan have clearance. Will bounce about 6 to 8 inches. Prices should be about 125.00 to 150.00 per hour or $2.00 per mile plus hookup.

[petrel]

Could you take a minute to elaborate on pulling the driveshaft or axle shaft? What does that mean? How do they lift the truck high enough in the front without dragging the rear? These TCs are so low to the ground!

[bushpilot]

why would you need to pull the driveshaft on a manual or manual-u-metic (i.e.ishift or meritor smart shift) transmission?

[hot rod]

They literally unbolt the driveshaft from the rearend so that the truck is not turning the transmission. This can cause serious damage to an automatic. You could get away with a short tow on a manual trans left in neutral, but for a long tow they will still remove the driveshaft. With the modern wheel lift wreckers they only have to get the front wheels 4" or so off the ground for a short tow. For a highway tow they can go higher, but you don't have to worry as much about rear clearance on the highway, smooth road. Either way they have to be careful with the overhang. Any professional wrecker service will have adequate insurance to cover damage to your rig while towing, but you sure don't want to have to use it. Certainly any company that is responding to a AAA call has to have adequate coverage or AAA will not use them.

I had occasion last year to test my AAA premium RV coverage. My 6500 and fifth wheel rig is 30000# and almost 60' long. Broke down in a small town in GA with no semi wrecker in the area. They had a 50 mile drive to get to me, and charged AAA $450 total to tow me the 5 miles to get to where I needed to be. No problem with the coverage, they paid.

[ed s]

I have Coach Net. Had to use them once when making a tight turn and not paying attention to what I was doing. Left rear ran off the road into ditch making it impossible for me to move.
Within 45-60 min the tow truck was on scene and winched me out. No cost to me.

Coach Net folks were wonderful and so was the tow driver.

[volvoman]

on a manual transmission main shaft in transmission will spin when vehicle is moved with driveshaft and axles in. counter shaft in bottom of transmission is not turning when transmission is not in gear so oil wont splash up to lube main shaft. so gears on main shaft will seize up. you can leave engine running and input shaft will turn counter shaft and keep lubed. you have to worry about engine dying or any thing else going wrong.
i had a engine running once and the drivers lunch box knocked gear shift lever into gear. i was lucky and when i stopped i felt a jerk and engine died. i knew enough to go back and check rite away. just put it back into neutral and restarted engine.
automatics rely on lube for clutches. never tow with out pulling driveshaft or axle.
volvo i shift they say you have to pull all 4 axles. i think axles interlock some how.
we try to just lift front end enough so tires wont touch when going over bumps. when we get to driveways or steep angles we raise or lower as needed. we have controls in side cab and a camera on rear of wrecker so we can watch.

[38Chevy454]

Another thing with air brakes is you need the towed truck's engine running or have to hook up air line from the tow truck. No air results in the brakes are locked up.

It is not hard to pull a driveshaft, just disconnect the U-joint at the yoke.