Jump to content

Roadside assistance


genecolleen

Recommended Posts

I just received notification that I have been dropped by Good Sams roadside assistance. We had a tough year several tows! Any suggestions on who to go with?

<p>Gene & Colleen2009 Volvo 670 customized by Gregg RV Haulers, 2014 New Horizon 5th wheel, 2012 smart car on the deck. Full time 6/17/2014

Vmmonline.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coach Net, AAA RV plus, I even think Allstate may have one. Trouble is, Gene, you may have been referred to CLUE (comprehensive loss underwriting exchange) and be uninsurable for roadside assistance. All insurance companies have access to this exchange. I hope that is not the case. If so you may have to self insure.

2006 Volvo 780 "Hoss" Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

Bed Build by "JW Morgan's Custom Welding"

2017 DRV 39DBRS3

2013 Smart Passion Coupe "Itty Bitty"

 

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cracked coolant reservoir lost coolant Montana, blew radiator hose White Bird Pass, tire problem, battery dead, misdiagnosed so second no start. I'm not a mechanic so each resulted in call to roadside assistance. CLUE ouch!! Is that forever, or like timeout till I learn my lesson?

<p>Gene & Colleen2009 Volvo 670 customized by Gregg RV Haulers, 2014 New Horizon 5th wheel, 2012 smart car on the deck. Full time 6/17/2014

Vmmonline.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good Sam uses Allstate. Found that out when the truck had auto-shift problems December of 2015.

 

Gene, might want to have the truck checked over once a year at a shop. They might be able to find some of the problems instead of having problems on the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trailer for sale. http://trucktrailerforsale.blogspot.com/2016/08/for-sale-2004-nuwa-hitchhiker-33lktg_1.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lets back up the train for a moment.....Firstly I'm no gearhead either so to a point I can understand.

 

However there are some questions to be asked,

  • Did RV haulers convert the truck for you or did you purchase from the first owner?
  • How long ago did you get the truck?
  • Does Gregg not check out batteries and replace them, buss bars as well, replace hoses, check tires for wear and damage?? Plus a host of other potential issues? This seems to be A typical from the videos I've seen a couple of years ago. Something is wrong with this picture.
  • Do you have the truck and trailer inspected each year? Or at least the truck??
  • Do you do a Pre Trip inspection before a Trip? If not, why not??
  • Some of these issues may have been caught at the symptom stage before catastrophic failure causing the situation to be upgraded to an "incident".
  • The water reservoir, how long had it been cracked? Did it show up that day or do you know?
  • Had you done a Pre Trip the crack may have been caught at an earlier stage and had you carried a few gallons of water you could have kept topping it up until you got to a "Safe Haven" instead of been stuck in the middle of Nowheresville. The sensors will shut you down if water gets too low. Unless you have them disabled.
  • Tires, same thing, what happened? Did it blow? Slow leak not caught? Bulge on the inside? Hopefully the issue was on the outside dual and not a steer or inside dual. A Pretrip may have caught a potential issue looming. Check the inside of the tires for rips tears or bulges, between the tires for rocks etc, outside of the tires for cracks, tears, evenness of tread. Check the wheels for rust around the nuts cracked wheels, tightness of wheel nuts.
  • The water hose, do you check them each day for tightness of clamps, sponginess of rubber. Did it blow off or blow up??
  • What caused the batterie(S) issue. Slow turning prior may have been a clue. Leave something on? Get a kill switch which also acts as a deterrent for theft.
  • Turn signals, do they work?? Are you sure, did you check them out in the morning before you headed out on the road?? A good telltale that they are not is that drivers will not give way when you put on your indicator. Best get that fixed before tackling night time driving. That one is one of the easier problems to trace and fix.

I just pulled from Victoria BC Canada down the 101 and across the US South to Tampa. 4300 miles and counting with no mechanical issues, so far in 9 days,8 travelling.

 

Each day, I did a pretrip. A couple of things may have been misses on one day or another but the next day it would be caught had there been one.

 

Any issues I had were known and not disabling. They are being addressed in Florida.

Not to say you have not but you need to exercise your due diligence and be as safe as possible on the roads and hiways.

 

In BC we need to get the truck inspected twice a year.

 

Finding another Roadside outfit is one is a bandaid, you need to get to the root of the issue. What is causing these problems? Then fix them. Your truck is the same age as mine, watch out for the injector harness starting to leak. Oil leaking down the front to the engine drivers side.

 

As in Search and Rescue, we don't care about what the crews did right, we want to know what they did wrong so it can be addressed and a good fix found.

 

If you want info on a good, well organized and demonstrated Pretrip, go thru this one. To do it completely including paperwork has to take 45 minutes, no more.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMehbz40jk

 

Some of this is relevant to a Commercial application and I don't know this first guy but the other guy, Al, knows his stuff and got me thru the CDL driving part without a hitch.

 

Roger

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roger, because I am not a mechanic I had Gregg repair/replace ANYTHING that was slightly suspect. He was VERY thorough. I have a CDL and I do a complete pre trip before each move. Only one of the service calls might have been avoided in hindsight. Thanks for the suggestions.

<p>Gene & Colleen2009 Volvo 670 customized by Gregg RV Haulers, 2014 New Horizon 5th wheel, 2012 smart car on the deck. Full time 6/17/2014

Vmmonline.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gene,

 

CLUE usually falls off after three years. Not saying roadside assistance insurance falls under them but you will know pretty soon after you apply with a different company. Hope they don't. Good luck and hope no more troubles.

2006 Volvo 780 "Hoss" Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

Bed Build by "JW Morgan's Custom Welding"

2017 DRV 39DBRS3

2013 Smart Passion Coupe "Itty Bitty"

 

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Suite. Like Hone Eagle said "stuff happens" it's part of the lifestyle. I knew about claims on homeowners and auto insurance and only used those for MAJOR loses, never thought about it for roadside assistance. Learned a lesson. Maybe my experience will help someone else.

<p>Gene & Colleen2009 Volvo 670 customized by Gregg RV Haulers, 2014 New Horizon 5th wheel, 2012 smart car on the deck. Full time 6/17/2014

Vmmonline.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roger, because I am not a mechanic I had Gregg repair/replace ANYTHING that was slightly suspect. He was VERY thorough. I have a CDL and I do a complete pre trip before each move. Only one of the service calls might have been avoided in hindsight. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Gene:

 

How many miles have you put on the 2009 since you bought it from Gregg?

 

A BIG and common problem with these Volvo engines is oil leaking down a wiring harness and into the Engine Control Module (ECM). Check to see if you have an engine oil leak. My engine was leaking from the day that I bought it. Thanks to forum members, I was able to identify the problem and have the harness replace (about $3,000). If the oil leak continues for too long, the oil will penetrate the ECM and destroy it. Then you will be stuck on the side of the road in need of a tow. Also, you will need to buy a new ECM.

 

Search this form and you will find more info on this problem. If I can find the link I will post it for you.

 

BTW. I think that we may have camped next to one another, last year, on my return home from the WC-HDT Rally. I had a purple Volvo 2008 780. We were staying on working ranch that had an RV park on part of it.

 

On edit, here is the link to the wiring harness problem,

 

http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=120540&hl=

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After reading this post I expect to receive a cancellation notice from Good Sam/All State relatively soon. After three incidents in two years we have cost them more than $3,000. Great return on our premiums but not so good from the insurer's point of view. Sounds like I'll be self-insuring for a while until my claims fade away. Nothing against Good Sam/All State as they have, over all, done a good job for us.

 

The biggest problem with the roadside assistance programs is explaining to the customer service person that a regular tow truck won't work. However, once we were straight on the tow rig we need, we have had some good service. The best service was at a breakdown 120 miles north of Las Vegas on a two lane highway. The tow driver hooked up the Volvo with the trailer attached, drove us to the Clark County gun range/RV park, dropped the trailer at our campsite so that we were perfectly parked for the utilities and then towed the Volvo to the dealer.

John McLaughlin

2010 Volvo 730, D13, I-shift, singled and decked

2014 Lifestyle 38' Fifth Wheel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My understanding from Coachnet is you are allowed 3 a year. Another thing to check is the small hose above the alternator on the drivers side of the Volvo engine. In my case the hose was gishy so it as replaced at the same time the injector harness was done. Horizontal hose about 1" diameter and 6" long. Difficult to replace.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a comment for everyone else.

 

While pretrip inspections are critical, you really have to go beyond them. You need to really look hard for things "strange" or different. The radiator neck on these trucks are common failure points that need to be watched closely.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...