I hate bringing up subjects we all (me, at least) mentally cringe from. It's kinda like saying "shank" on a golf course; nobody likes to hear it, nobody wants to see it (a bit like whoopsing one's cookies in public).
And I'm thinking the best preparation for towing is (probably) getting insurance with a company accustomed to towing our buses. So that's my first question: Can anyone recommend a decent (and reasonable) towing service?
But let's say the particular driver they dispatch (my sort of luck) knows nada about buses? What should I do - or instruct him - to do?
I've heard horror stories of unecessary (and expensive) damage from sloppy tow jobs (For those with a more bawdy sense of humour, that's spelled 'TEE-OH-DOUBLE YOU' :))
Questions that come quickly to mind: 1) To lift from front or back? 2) All wheels down? 3) Preventing the park brakes from engaging (if no air pressure)? 4) Pulling the drive axle (on a 4-speed standard shift)?
On that last, I've heard from reliable sources that it isn't necessary; OTOH, I've also heard that it's advisable on long distance tows.
I imagine this topic has been beat to death at some previous time, but I wasn't around then. And even if it was, I'd I'd feel more secure with updated information.
Thanks to all,
Nellie Wilson
Why do you want to tow your bus? If roadside emergency towing is the issue, join Coachnet and let them worry about it. they seem to have a really good reputation for doing things right.
Brian
I also vote for CoachNet. Tell them you want the bus transported on a Landoll. You may have to insist on it a bit. If they resist, ask if they will be liable for damages if towed any other way.
The more I think about this, the more I am interested in some of the questions.
Front or rear would depend to some extent on what was broken. In preference, I would pick up the front. It's a lot lighter, and there is no really positive way to lock the steering.
I wouldn't think that there is any need to drop the driveshaft or pull the axles on a coach with a 4 speed Spicer, unless the problem is the transmission itself. There is nothing in there that will be harmed by it running in neutral that I can think of.
Now the big one that I don't feel sure about is how to get the emergency brake off with DD-3's if there is no air pressure. Usually you could release them with air applied through the emergency fill in the front bay under the driver. What if there was a failure in the air system? Won't the DD-3 apply automatically under 45 psi? There is no cage bolt to force them to disengage...
Good questions!
Brian
Brian -
It's not that I want to tow my bus. I just worry about the potential 'what ifs.'
RE: the DD3s: For some weird reason, mine don't always apply with lost air pressure. But usually they do, and that would sure make for some tough towing (all that screeching and smoke and such). Once they did apply on the highway (loss of air pressure)... they came on gradually, but locked up solid by the time I pulled over. An experience I'd rather not repeat.
Thanks for CoachNet recommendation: If two bus nuts actually agree (you and Ed) it's probably sound advice. :)
Nellie
There should be an air fitting in the compartment under the driver's seat to connect an air line from the wrecker to maintain air pressure in the coach while towing. Best towing position is on a landoll. Next best would be to have it towed by picking up the front wheels with the underslung arms on a large wrecker. Jack
Since I heard that Dallas makes house calls, I dropped my towing package LOL
Good luck with that and please, don't this serious, Will
I also vote for Coach Net
Paying the yearly fee as chased the need of using them away :)
We also use Coachnet. Haven't needed a tow...yet ;D. landoll isn't an option for us (unless there is a carefully mapped route), because we are 13' tall right now (and I haven't seen a landoll that the deck is six inches off of the ground ;D :D ;D). So it would have to be a truck tow onto the front wheels, like Jack said.
God bless,
John
I have Coachnet and like them. Unfortunately, I had to call them this past fall when I ran out of fuel. I was partially blocking a road so Coachnet called a tow truck to at least get me out of the road. Fortunately, I was able to get some fuel in the tank and the engine reprimed before the wrecker arrived. I was able to call back and cancel the tow.
Brian,
You bring up a good point. If we ever have an issue, in traffic, or in a dangerous location, the first thing that we do is to call a tow. Then we proceed to try to fix things ourselves. If we get rolling, cancel the tow. You can't get going, you have the tow.
FWIW
God bless,
John
If height allows Landoll is the way to go. Lift the front means either pulling the axles or disconnection the drive shaft. Although I had problems with coachnet, I'm over it, I still use them. They are about the best out there.
But do not run without any road side assistance, I have used it maybe 5 times in the past 25 years.
John
I own a 1971 mc7 and I read in my coachnet literature (or maybe it was on their web site) that they will not insure vehicles over 40 years old. I still subscribe to their service this year but I think I will need to make a phone call to Coach Net next year when our bus hits that magic 40 years old.
Does anyone have any experience with coach net turning down a vehicle that is older than 40 years old?
I copied this from Coach Net Web Site.
=====================================
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This guide is your contract with us, subject to the following:
1. The benefits and services offered by your membership are described in this guide. Please read this benefit guide to become familiar with the benefits and services. In the event there is any inconsistency between the languages of this guide and the information provided by an employee, representative, independent contractor or sales brochure the language in this guide shall govern. To ensure that our representatives are providing quality service, members are deemed to consent to monitoring of inbound and outbound calls.
2. All benefits are applicable to the member, spouse and his/her dependents (children under the age of 24) for one RV and all family vehicles, except if you received your coverage from your vehicle manufacturer, in which case your coverage is limited to one RV and one family automobile or truck. Any membership plan that is provided to the vehicle owner free of charge by a manufacturer is not intended to substitute for coverage that may or may not be available by the vehicle's chassis manufacturer. Benefits are not applicable to commercial vehicles, or vehicles over 40 years old. As a courtesy tow dollies and boat trailers are covered for a tire change to a good mounted and inflated spare.
3. Whenever we refer to "you" and "your" throughout this Guide, we refer to the registered member and his/her spouse; whenever we refer to "we," "us," or Coach- Net, we refer to Coach-Net, an Arizona corporation.
4. The terms of this Benefit Guide, which are in conflict with the statutes of your state of residence, are amended to conform to the statutes of that state.
Hi Nellie
On our way home from Arcadia we burned up our transmission outside of Marianna,Fl. Coachnet towed us to Panama City, Fl. (about 90 miles) Would have cost 900.00 if I had to pay it myself.
Richard Olson
1964 GMC 4106
I wonder how they choose 40 years as the age limit? I'm surprised if they have a limit that it isn't something more like 20 years.
I know most busnuts are different, but we all know folks with vehicles 20 or 30 years old that don't do anything besides maybe change the oil. Their ideea of maintenance is having their roadside assistance tow the vehicle when something breaks.
Landoll, the only way to fly. We have roadside assistance, the photo below is from the Q rally atempt last year, a $1,300 move, zero out of pocket.
Nobody knows da truble I've seen" ;D
They even sent a matching colored rig, now thats service ;D
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi457.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fqq292%2Fcwvanhagen%2FDSC01658.jpg&hash=c6d5db2fe49fd51553a80160346e648767df2699)
Towed from the from the front only (or landoll) - pull the axles and seal (short pulls off the rdwy w/o pulling OK) - auxilliary air connection - HTH
What are the primary differences between coachnet and good sam? I have Good Sam and when my daughter needed a tow when she hit a deer with one of my jeeps, she called me and I called Good Sam and they sent a local wrecker to pick up the jeep and bring it home, I heard that Coachnet only covers the bus but we had good luck with Good Sam covering road service to all our vehicles, course that deer hit was the only time we used them so I don't know.
Let me add a couple of options. We have towing coverage from both Progressive and AAA.
Our Progressive insurance policy for the bus has the towing coverage and we have used it twice with absolutely no significant problems. The only issue I had was that the first time I broke down (Voith transmission would not function - 10 miles from home) they told me it would be at least two hours. I told them no problem, as I was in a safe location. Indeed, I had enough equipment that I just worked on the interior a bit. The problem was that Progressive called a wrecker that was well over 100 miles away. They don't seem to have a sense of geography. Used them again when we had a transmission control problem in TN (turned out to be a loose connection). Both times they sent the equipment that was up to the job.
We have had AAA towing for our cars since the 60s. Used it quite a bit when the daughters were still at home (their cars were very basic transportation). A few years ago, we read that our policy could be upgraded for "motorhome" for a nominal fee. I had my doubts, but I had to use them when the 6V92 spit up and they were very accommodating. They have an excellent "network" of towing companies.
The three times I have had to use towing for the bus, I explained in detail what kind of vehicle they would be towing. I was especially careful with AAA, since I doubt that they are used to towing vehicles as large as a bus.
I don't have the costs of each, but they are very nominal. I think Pat said that our AAA was less than $100 per year.
Without question, our towing insurance has paid for itself many times over.
Jim
Cody, the info I have on Coachnet is they cover your bus and the one car you're towing. Also they will change a wheel on your trailer or tow dolly (they say 'as a courtesy'). And they also have extensive medical coverage.
Question re: Good Sam: I'm not a member of their club. Is that required to get their insurance?
Thanks, Jim. I just dropped my CAA (AAA's Canadian branch). They treated me well - only used them once - but the yearly premium was $250. Too much for my meager budget. But if it's around $100 down here, I'll take another look.
Nellie
Coach-Net covers all vehicles you own even motorcycles.
One of the problems I have read about with RV coverage from AAA is AAA is regional. People have had trouble getting RV coverage from AAA outside of their region. I like Coach-Net because they specialize in RVs.
If Coachnet covers all my vehicles and Good Sam does too, then I'm not sure I see an advantage to changing from Good Sam, which I've had for years, I've only had one experience with towing and the job was done promptly with no issues or costs to me at all so I'm happy with Good Sam at this time but I was wondering cause so many people like Coachnet, just where the differences were.
Cody, how much junk mail do you get each month from Good Sam? :( None ever from CoachNet. ;D I had to have the jeep towed twice with CN. No hassles either time. When we were Good Sam members, 1/2 of our mail was from them wanting us to buy stuff from them. We use a mail service so i was paying to have this stuff forwarded to me. Even after i dropped them i got mail from them for well over a year.
I don't recall getting any junk mail from good sam, at the most maybe 1 or 2 letters a year and those are mainly renewal notices. I did uncheck the box on the application that asked if I wanted to recieve offers tho, maybe that made a differnce, don't know lol.
Hmmmm..... i don't recall ever seeing that option. :(
Quote from: bcaddel on February 01, 2010, 07:36:51 PM
I own a 1971 mc7 and I read in my coachnet literature (or maybe it was on their web site) that they will not insure vehicles over 40 years old. I still subscribe to their service this year but I think I will need to make a phone call to Coach Net next year when our bus hits that magic 40 years old.
Does anyone have any experience with coach net turning down a vehicle that is older than 40 years old?
I copied this from Coach Net Web Site.
=====================================
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This guide is your contract with us, subject to the following:
1. The benefits and services offered by your membership are described in this guide. Please read this benefit guide to become familiar with the benefits and services. In the event there is any inconsistency between the languages of this guide and the information provided by an employee, representative, independent contractor or sales brochure the language in this guide shall govern. To ensure that our representatives are providing quality service, members are deemed to consent to monitoring of inbound and outbound calls.
2. All benefits are applicable to the member, spouse and his/her dependents (children under the age of 24) for one RV and all family vehicles, except if you received your coverage from your vehicle manufacturer, in which case your coverage is limited to one RV and one family automobile or truck. Any membership plan that is provided to the vehicle owner free of charge by a manufacturer is not intended to substitute for coverage that may or may not be available by the vehicle's chassis manufacturer. Benefits are not applicable to commercial vehicles, or vehicles over 40 years old. As a courtesy tow dollies and boat trailers are covered for a tire change to a good mounted and inflated spare.
3. Whenever we refer to "you" and "your" throughout this Guide, we refer to the registered member and his/her spouse; whenever we refer to "we," "us," or Coach- Net, we refer to Coach-Net, an Arizona corporation.
4. The terms of this Benefit Guide, which are in conflict with the statutes of your state of residence, are amended to conform to the statutes of that state.
I called Coachnet today on the age issue. The age thing applies only to vehicles OTHER than your RV. It does NOT apply to your RV. I hope this clears up any issues. By the way i have only been with them a couple of months and have yet to use their services. When signing up and several subsequent phone calls the customer service has been outstanding.
Don & Sheila
Cody,
I switched from Good Sam to Coachnet. I have not had to use Coachnet yet, but took the suggestion of the satisfied customers on this board. A had a problem with Good Sam when I needed a tire changed on my former bus. I described in detail the size of the vehicle and needs to the lady on the phone, but when the guy showed up, he was clearly inadequate for the job. He came in a minivan. He had a tiny pull-cord gas compressor to push a small, 1/2 inch drive impact wrench, and did not have a socket big enough for the lugs. He was very accommodating and ran out to buy a socket. The bus had Dayton wheels, and he had never touched one before. I had to direct him on what to do since I, at least, had watched it being done. Actually, it was fortunate that they were Daytons since he would never have been able to remove the lugs on Budds with his toy impact wrench.
Don & Sheila
Thanks for your phone call, I also just called and confirmed the RV can be any age. I sure misread/misunderstood their Terms and Conditions section.
Thanks
Bob
I used to have Camping World Roadcare which is the sister company to Good Sam's roadside assistance. They both use the same third party from what I have read.
One time, I needed my spare tire put on because of a low tire. They sent a little bitty tow truck. I doubt the guy even had the right jacks and tools to change my tire. We decided to air up the tire instead and I drove it over to get the tire fixed. This is the primary reason I switched to Coach-Net after my year was up.
I got my renewal statement from Good Sam ,and happened to Notice a $1000.00 Maxium benefit.You can go over this fence in a hurry in some remote places??? I ran out of fuel on my way to a Cove rally,and finally got tired of waiting(after several hour) bought some gas cans & got my own fuel. I am thinking about a change.
Bill
Hey Nellie
My eagle came with a front end tow bar, hope i never need it.
Hope you don't either....Steve "Spanky"
Quote from: Spanky77707 on February 02, 2010, 07:57:51 PM
My eagle came with a front end tow bar, hope i never need it.
My Dina also came with a tow bar, but I took it out. It is still sitting in my shed taking up space. I figured no tow operator in the USA would try to flat tow a bus.
Geez, Belfert, I sure agree. Be like the tail wagging the dog, wouldn't it?
I've got tow hooks (OEM) but always figured they were for 'get off the road quick' situations. Can't feature trying something more ambitious.
Nellie
Quick update:
I ended up going with Coachnet and was quite impressed with the service and simple registration process. A nice gal - 'Mehgan' - had me confirmed and paperwork back to me (by email) within a few minutes.
Mehgan, if you ever check in here, thanks again. :)
So I plan on hitting the road today. Still hoping for some contacts (Bus Nuts and bus friendly stops) between here (Arcadia) and Homestead (S. of Miami).
Thanks again,
Nellie
Your going the wrong way Nellie! We are leaving Wisconsin next Saturday for the big bluegrass show in Palatka FL. Lot of busses at that place. Hope to meet someone there we know from the boards. If any of you see us there, come up and introduce yourself! (we also have coach-net, hope we don't have to use it)!
John and Barb Tesser (GM 4107 Higher Ground)
Here you'll see TempBus, pre-paint job, on it's ride, eventually paid for by Coach-Net. At first they tried to deny the claim but after I went into great detail and explained that it was a "failure of the bolts for the hitch" that caused it to knock a hole in our oil pan, not a wreck, they relented and covered the claim, which was around $800-900 for a 60 mile ride.
After our "ride", I swore I wouldn't raise the roof on a bus, because had we been a couple of inches taller, the ride would have involved escort and permits, none of which would have been available New Years Day, 2007! Yet, what do we do, we succumb to the beauty of a Prevost which puts us at about 12'4"! Oh well, we all know Prevosts don't break down, hahahahahahaHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAAHhahahahahahahaa ::)
As for Coach-net, I rate them sort of like our system of government. . . they're not worth a darn, but still they're the best that's out there! ;) Here's the deal with Coach-net, you have to take their hand and guide them, you have to know WHAT you need, in great detail, and then you have to be prepared to help them find someone to help you. OTOH, if you do so, they will usually step up to the plate and pay for it, and they are really nice, they just don't always have someone who really understands your specific situation and the special requirements of buses. Once you know how to play the game, it's pretty straightforward and they'll do their best to cooperate. Some of the problem lies in the company that ignores what they say and agrees to take the call, not having what you need.
In this incident, I had specifically told Coach-net we needed to be "hauled" on a landoll, so when they called me back and told me they had someone coming, I insisted they tell me who, I called the company, and sure enough, they were sending out a tow trucka and didn't even OWN a landoll. Turns out, not many in the Tampa area do, so we found out WHO could take care of us, hired them, and then fought it out with Coach-net later. Another time, a guy showed up with a Wal-mart $29 booster to start our coach, so we chased him away, called Coach-net back, told them who COULD get to us and KNEW how to jump our system, and, after apologizing profusely, they made arrangements with THAT company to get paid directly from Coach-net. Still, I think they try to do the best they can and if you stay in control, you can turn a bad situation into a manageable one. If you have a sense of humour, you can laugh about it later, as per my previous post of "living on the slant".
http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=2930.0 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=2930.0)
. .AND you meet some GREAT people! Christy Hicks
Nellie, don't think you are going to get a lo boy haul every time the deck on most are 32 inches high and they check all the bridges and overpasses before they send one and if you are over 13.6 here comes a hook.
Once you get into the system Coachnet will know what to send and remember to brake down within 100 ft of the pavement LOL because none of the towing outfits will get off the shoulders on a paved road so watch the beaches.
good luck
And despite what gets said here there's lot of trucks and busses get towed every day of the week on hooks so its not the end of the world if a wrecker shows up to pick up your bus. And chances are if dispatch gives him the keys to a big enough wrecker to tow you then he knows more than most of us about how to tow you.
Well said Bob (light on your feet) Evans we enjoyed the time in Vegas
good luck
Quote from: luvrbus on February 07, 2010, 09:24:18 AM
Well said Bob (light on your feet) Evans we enjoyed the time in Vegas
Stop that Clifford. The guys already got a swelled head and you'll make it worse. :D :D
yes, it was well said, but don't tell him, for pete's sake. he'll expect the really good scotch next time.
Nellie,
Good Sam has a good road assistance program also and the price is more than reasonable. If I recall it is less than $100/yr, a real bargain at twice the price.
It also covers our other vehicles at no extra cost. GS never even mentioned the age of the bus.
We've only used the road service one time for Beth's car but it paid off even for just that one time. Knock on wood, I've never had to use it for the bus but I have called them a few times to get the names of the nearest truck repair shops. That alone is worth the price of the whole package.
As already posted, you cannot be without this service because one roadside problem can break the bank. I would rather be without collision on my bus than be without road service.
If you ever need a tow make double sure the person you talk to knows it is a real bus so they send the right size wrecker. They know how to disable your air parking brake because trucks have the same setup. I can't speak for DD3 though, evidently that is a different thing altogether.