Guess the tow bill

[npaden]

I did get a citation for my breakaway brakes not being setup correctly. I had connected the break away to about the 3rd link of the chain from the truck. According the the very nice (sarcasm font inserted here) highway patrol officer it has to be connected to the truck. It didn't matter that the safety chains were both still attached to the truck after the accident (they had pulled off the trailer). The breakaway cable was pretty frayed and worn so when the safety chains pulled off, the cable broke also and the breakaway brake did not activate. Looking at the pictures and recreating the accident the breakaway would not have been activated until after the wheels of the trailer were off the ground so about the only thing it would have accomplished would be keeping them from spinning in the air but he ticketed me for it anyway. The brakes were actually locked up because I was unable to turn any of the wheels but evidently that must have been because they were locked up already when the wiring harness disconnected.

 

[npaden]

Just my humble opinion and observations.
Too light duty of a truck.
Weight distribution incorrect. Not referring to tongue weight.
Too light of suspension AND cheap trailer tires.
Your very fortunate to be able to write the story.

I had this quoted in the big response but messed up and got it all jacked up but thought it was still worthy of a reply.

It is a 2500HD diesel pickup. It weighs right around 8,000lbs. The only difference between the 3500HD and the 2500HD is an extra leaf spring and a slightly larger rear end. (I think the 2500HD is 11" and the 3500HD is 12") That is in the single rear wheel configuration.

Not sure how weight distribution would be incorrect other than tongue weight being too light. That's what I think it was and possibly the weight distribution hitch hurting instead of helping me but not sure on that.

As noted in my earlier reply, I had actually beefed up my suspension a bit but not sure if that helped or hurt. I had also just replaced the trailer tires with some expensive really nice ones. F rated ones (100 psi max) up from the E1 rated ones (80 psi max) that were on it when I got it.

Agree on the last point. Very fortunate.

 

[LIK2HNT]

Glad no one got hurt. Must of a been one hell of a scary ride.

 

[mtmuley]

I've never pulled a camp trailer much but have drug around a lot of stuff in construction. Bumper pull and big goose necks. Being loaded heavy behind the axles is a recipe for trouble. As said, glad all are ok. mtmuley

 

[Kiwi]

Glad you're ok.

I guessed $10k plus, based purely on the fact that removal is on/near a road and this location makes it expensive i.e. traffic management.

 

[Nick87]

Being loaded heavy behind the axles is a recipe for trouble

It only takes feeling that sway once to cure you for life.

 

[mtmuley]

It only takes feeling that sway once to cure you for life.

Yep. Been there. 24 foot enclosed loaded with cabinets and trim for a large home. I wasn't there when it was loaded and picked it up really early in the AM. A five and a half hour drive took a lot longer. mtmuley

 

[Redmt]

I had this quoted in the big response but messed up and got it all jacked up but thought it was still worthy of a reply.

It is a 2500HD diesel pickup. It weighs right around 8,000lbs. The only difference between the 3500HD and the 2500HD is an extra leaf spring and a slightly larger rear end. (I think the 2500HD is 11" and the 3500HD is 12") That is in the single rear wheel configuration
My
Not sure how weight distribution would be incorrect other than tongue weight being too light. That's what I think it was and possibly the weight distribution hitch hurting instead of helping me but not sure on that.

As noted in my earlier reply, I had actually beefed up my suspension a bit but not sure if that helped or hurt. I had also just replaced the trailer tires with some expensive really nice ones. F rated ones (100 psi max) up from the E1 rated ones (80 psi max) that were on it when I got it.

Agree on the last point. Very fortunate.

I'm not going to argue your rebuttal. There's no point. I had forgotten that the difference between a 2500 and 3500 is more of a name plate change. The difference between my F250 and my F350 is huge. It's a whole different class of truck.
Weight distribution is a percentage of weight front and back of the axels,,,hitch weight . Actual on the hitch weight.
Hopefully you can get to the root of the cause and recover some of your losses.

 

[Nick87]

Yep. Been there. 24 foot enclosed loaded with cabinets and trim for a large home. I wasn't there when it was loaded and picked it up really early in the AM. A five and a half hour drive took a lot longer. mtmuley

Happened one time with a machine. That was a pull over right now and re adjust moment.

 

[CT_SD]

Lost my 5th wheel several years ago due to high crosswinds. Luckily my b&w hitch performed as designed and broke away keeping the pickup upright. Insurance company picked up the 80 mile tow bill and treated me really well on the totaled camper. Glad you are all safe.

 

[rjthehunter]

It's not the trucks fault as some are suggesting. If anything it sounds like you might have been going a little too fast over a dip... but it's almost impossible to know about a dip before you're hitting it if it's not marked. A dip mixed with a potentially overloaded rear is a recipe for disaster.

I've hauled plenty of 20,000lb excavators, 10,000lb skidsteers and everything in between with 2500s & 3500s. The one thing I won't do is let someone else load a trailer for me. I did one time, and it had 60% of the weight behind the axles. Pulled over and adjusted it right away.

Good reminder for everyone to know exactly what their insurance does and does not cover.

When do we get to know how much the tow bill was?

 

[npaden]

Going down hill around a corner and hitting a dip is really a recipe for disaster. I was going a little too fast as well. It had been towing so well up to that point that I had the cruise set on 73 and I should have slowed down around that corner no doubt.

The specs on the trailer said that you could load something like 3,500 pounds in the garage area which is 100% behind the axles. I had the freshwater tank empty and it holds 105 gallons and it is also behind the axles so I always traveled with that empty until the last possible moment. It was empty when the accident happened.

My RZR weighs right at 1,000 pounds and the 450 Yamaha ATV weighs in under 500 pounds. I had about 100 pounds of other stuff back there that I should have redistributed to the front once I filled up the gas tank but didn’t realize that was going to put it at the tipping point.

My next toy hauler is not going to have a rear enclosed garage. Having the ability to load the machines in front of or over the axles is now a number one priority while I’m shopping for another.

One extra kick in the pants is that I had a brand new roof put on it the week before I wrecked it. The tow guys said the fancy new PVC roof helped it it slide right onto their trailer. Was a $6,500 cash bill for the new roof.

 

[TheTone]

glad you made it out healthy and okay, truly scary stuff

My only bad experience with trailer sway was a small utility trailer loaded with camping gear and an atv. Atv was basically centered on the axles but we had a couple big heavy water jugs on the very back of the trailer. Didn’t take more than 20 miles and we knew the water was a bad idea. Dumped it out and had no more sway problems the rest of the 1500 miles

 

[npaden]

And the tow bill was…..

$11,807.50.

Before this I would have been right there in the group voting $4,001 to $6,000. And that’s just because I remembered Greenhorn posting the tow bill from when he wrecked his pickup.

The big ticket items on the bill were the heavy wrecker at $430 per hour for 7.5 hours, the 2nd truck and trailer to haul it off was $225 per hour for 7.25 hours and the tracked skid steer they brought to push the debris onto the trailer was $325 per hour for the same 7.25 hours. Felt like I got stiffed a little on that one because it probably only ran for a couple hours but I got billed for it for the entire time even when it was sitting on the trailer not being used. They ended up with a 4th guy out there helping so that was another $140 per hour for the 7.25 hours.

Traffic control was another big ticket item. That was surprising to me. Before the tow company got there they had a fire truck just in case somehow all the gas leaking out caught on fire, the highway patrol, a sheriff deputy, and a tribal policeman. The wheels on the tow truck barely stopped turning and they all took off. I guess if something caught on fire it was up to the tow company to deal with it once they got there. The bill for that was $185 per hour for 7 hours.

We didn’t get back to Sheridan for a couple days to get our machines so that was $130 per day storage fees.

Last item was the disposal fee. They had zero interest in salvaging anything and every pound taken to the dump was extra so we found a couple old guys in Sheridan that took the wheels and tires and the propane tanks. The fuel station and generator were worth something but they weren’t interested in spending the time to salvage them out.

They estimated $2,000 for the disposal cost and were supposed to refund us if it was less than that so I’m guessing it wasn’t less.

They did let me put it on my credit card so I got a few airline miles out of that and they didn’t charge a processing fee.

They were decent guys. It was close to 100 degrees and talking with them when we went back to the yard to sort through the debris they talked about how it is just as dangerous being a tow truck driver as it is to be a policeman or a fireman.

Still doesn’t help the sting of the huge bill entirely though.

So my main intention for this post was to let people know what something like this costs. Even if you have a $10,000 trailer and feel fine self insuring it, the extra cost of towing it off and disposal could add some serious pain to the wallet. I’m not a fan of insurance but even if my replacement trailer is paid for with cash and within my risk tolerance for losing it I will probably go ahead and insure it. Another thing I was told was that even if my trailer was insured the toys inside it would not have been insured. They ended up fine but it is worth knowing.

I haul my tractor on my trailer a few times a year and it doesn’t sound like it would be insured either.

My policy says that if I was towing someone else’s trailer it would be covered, but then several pages later says the limit they would pay is $500. Not sure I know of many trailers that are worth less than $500.

I’m going to make one more attempt with my current insurance company if somehow the tow bill or some of our household goods that were lost might be covered under my homeowners policy but I’m not holding my breath.

They are covering the damage to the truck which according to their estimate is $1,993.

I’m most likely going to be shopping for insurance and will be paying closer attention to coverages.

 

[Simeod]

Something to think about is how you secured your SxS and ATV. If you secured it by the wheels or lower suspension, it allows the SxS and ATV to move and sway. At the very end of the trailer this can increase the amount of swaying mass.
I had some sway issues with mine and I noticed the SxS had shifted a little to one side. I added a tie down across the body of my SxS. Ran it across the floor of the SxS to keep it from shifting and noticed it seemed to help with swaying.
Glad you and family are safe.

 

[npaden]

Something to think about is how you secured your SxS and ATV. If you secured it by the wheels or lower suspension, it allows the SxS and ATV to move and sway. At the very end of the trailer this can increase the amount of swaying mass.
I had some sway issues with mine and I noticed the SxS had shifted a little to one side. I added a tie down across the body of my SxS. Ran it across the floor of the SxS to keep it from shifting and noticed it seemed to help with swaying.
Glad you and family are safe.

That is one item that I did have sorted out. The way I had the machines in the garage didn’t allow for any movement at all. I consistently left tire marks on the walls because there was literally like 1” to spare when loading them in. I backed the RZR up first then pulled the ATV in forward.

I was fairly proud of my tie down job because the ATV was still firmly strapped to the floor even when it was mostly upside down. The RZR did fall down because the way I strapped it down was basically a big X with longer straps pulling it in opposite directions. When it was upside down the longer straps let it fall down onto the roof but one strap was shorter and was still holding that side to the floor.

 

[rjthehunter]

Dang that's expensive... thanks for sharing. I'm going to go re-read my insurance policies!

 

[Tradewind]

I've never pulled a camp trailer much but have drug around a lot of stuff in construction. Bumper pull and big goose necks. Being loaded heavy behind the axles is a recipe for trouble. As said, glad all are ok. mtmuley

exactly

 

[Addicting]

And the tow bill was…..

$11,807.50.

Before this I would have been right there in the group voting $4,001 to $6,000. And that’s just because I remembered Greenhorn posting the tow bill from when he wrecked his pickup.

The big ticket items on the bill were the heavy wrecker at $430 per hour for 7.5 hours, the 2nd truck and trailer to haul it off was $225 per hour for 7.25 hours and the tracked skid steer they brought to push the debris onto the trailer was $325 per hour for the same 7.25 hours. Felt like I got stiffed a little on that one because it probably only ran for a couple hours but I got billed for it for the entire time even when it was sitting on the trailer not being used. They ended up with a 4th guy out there helping so that was another $140 per hour for the 7.25 hours.

Traffic control was another big ticket item. That was surprising to me. Before the tow company got there they had a fire truck just in case somehow all the gas leaking out caught on fire, the highway patrol, a sheriff deputy, and a tribal policeman. The wheels on the tow truck barely stopped turning and they all took off. I guess if something caught on fire it was up to the tow company to deal with it once they got there. The bill for that was $185 per hour for 7 hours.

We didn’t get back to Sheridan for a couple days to get our machines so that was $130 per day storage fees.

Last item was the disposal fee. They had zero interest in salvaging anything and every pound taken to the dump was extra so we found a couple old guys in Sheridan that took the wheels and tires and the propane tanks. The fuel station and generator were worth something but they weren’t interested in spending the time to salvage them out.

They estimated $2,000 for the disposal cost and were supposed to refund us if it was less than that so I’m guessing it wasn’t less.

They did let me put it on my credit card so I got a few airline miles out of that and they didn’t charge a processing fee.

They were decent guys. It was close to 100 degrees and talking with them when we went back to the yard to sort through the debris they talked about how it is just as dangerous being a tow truck driver as it is to be a policeman or a fireman.

Still doesn’t help the sting of the huge bill entirely though.

So my main intention for this post was to let people know what something like this costs. Even if you have a $10,000 trailer and feel fine self insuring it, the extra cost of towing it off and disposal could add some serious pain to the wallet. I’m not a fan of insurance but even if my replacement trailer is paid for with cash and within my risk tolerance for losing it I will probably go ahead and insure it. Another thing I was told was that even if my trailer was insured the toys inside it would not have been insured. They ended up fine but it is worth knowing.

I haul my tractor on my trailer a few times a year and it doesn’t sound like it would be insured either.

My policy says that if I was towing someone else’s trailer it would be covered, but then several pages later says the limit they would pay is $500. Not sure I know of many trailers that are worth less than $500.

I’m going to make one more attempt with my current insurance company if somehow the tow bill or some of our household goods that were lost might be covered under my homeowners policy but I’m not holding my breath.

They are covering the damage to the truck which according to their estimate is $1,993.

I’m most likely going to be shopping for insurance and will be paying closer attention to coverages.

I have Farmers as well, you didn’t specifically have the camper as a line item on your homeowner?

 

[slatebuilder]

Very glad you are ok.

Honestly it I can not believe that this kind of thing does not happen more often. The tires and axles under campers just look like accidents waiting to happen. Combine the crappy axles and tires with shitty weight distribution. How camper builders can get away with the stuff they do is beyond me.