Guess the tow bill

[npaden]

Had a bit of a mishap on I-90 on our way to the Yellowstone area last week. No one was hurt, the truck never was off its wheels, you can see the skid marks where the truck was sliding before the trailer went over in the median.

Not sure how, because it was hooked up with a weight distribution hitch, but thankfully when it went over the hitch pulled off the ball and the truck stayed on the ground.

The truck and trailer were jackknifed for a bit and that might have been what kept it from being able to put the truck on its side.

This was a new to me trailer for just over a year and I had been having some trouble with sway control on it and had been moving things around and lowered the hitch and some other things to help and it had been pulling well on this trip with over 800 miles from the house under my belt on this trip and then things all combined to get it swaying and it was over pretty quickly. I even had my manual override on the trailer brakes maxed out but it still didn’t save it. Thankfully was down to probably 15 or 20 mph when it went over.











Location was about 15 or 16 miles into Montana on the northbound side. Tow company from Sheridan that was next up on the rotation was called in. It was about 40 miles from Sheridan.

They used a heavy wrecker and first tried to turn it back over in one piece but then separated the frame from the rest of it and put the top upside down on a trailer they had brought and actually put the Rzr and ATV back on the frame and towed the frame back to their yard.

Total bill included taking the trailer to the dump after what was able to be salvaged off of it was done.

I was a bit surprised by the tow bill so thought it would be educational for others to know what to expect if they end up with a mess on the side of the road that needs cleaned up.

I’ll run the poll for a couple days and then post the bill.

Thanks, Nathan

 

[rmyoung1]

I’m just glad everyone was ok. Holy smokes

 

[Forkyfinder]

Never have liked the bumper pull campers ive used...

What kind of stabilzing hitch?

 

[Bryerific]

glad y’all are okay. Whatever the price was, it was much cheaper than if anyone got seriously hurt! And lucky that it didn’t involve any other vehicles.

 

[Moserkr]

Glad you walked away!! Curious, was your truck a 2500 or 3500, diesel or gas? I have a 3500 diesel and a 30' trailer, just not a toy hauler. Also, what was your trailers gvwr?

Id wager that tow bill was $8-10k.

 

[duckhunt]

Glad everyone is OK but sucks your vacation is ruined.

 

[hank4elk]

Bummer.
The trailer is trash so it did not travel far after. To local dump?
Atv in the back of truck for trip home.
But this is "merica".............no idea.
I put $2-4k.

 

[tillicant]

Is that a 1500 series pickup?
Lucky the jackknife didn't pull you with it. Thankfully all are ok.
$3500

 

[thomas89]

Wow glad you’re all OK. $8K+

Side note … you can’t park there.

 

[Addicting]

Scary when these happen, glad you are ok.

 

[Hem]

I'm thinking our state is getting weary of campers crossing our borders at this point. Must be some weird lottery that takes out the occasional fun seeker.
Sorry for the loss, glad no one hurt.
Auto fatality just down the road from me yesterday afternoon. One less Sprinter van out there.
8k for towing.

 

[WNC2500]

@npaden Wow! Glad you are safe! I chose $6k-$8k

 

[WinkB]

Glad everyone was OK and able to come away from that alive and safe. We had one camper that was always a challenge to pull due to sway no matter how I loaded it. One day I took it to the scales unloaded and loaded weighed each axel and the hitch. I found that the unloaded weight put the center of gravity behind the rear axel and loaded was less than ideal as well and basically had the trailer at the max rating for the axels. Not having that proper weight distribution in my case aided in sway. I built a new standalone subframe, upsized the axels and spread them out just 6" and slid them back little bit. I then welded that whole assembly under the trailer. From that day forward that trailer pulled great regardless of how it was loaded. I no longer needed sway control or weight distribution.

The RV industry does not do the consumer any favors when they spec the axels or place them. I know several folks who are putting sway control on 3-4K campers behind 2500 series trucks due to how the trailer pulls. It is very hard to find one that has proper weight distribution when loaded. Look at how many utility trailers on on the road with weights much higher than the weight of a typical camper with now sway control.

my guess was in the 8K range. I hope you were still able to enjoy your trip.

 

[AllenG]

Had a bit of a mishap on I-90 on our way to the Yellowstone area last week. No one was hurt,

Miracle! Glad you were able to tell the tale!

 

[Addicting]

Glad everyone was OK and able to come away from that alive and safe. We had one camper that was always a challenge to pull due to sway no matter how I loaded it. One day I took it to the scales unloaded and loaded weighed each axel and the hitch. I found that the unloaded weight put the center of gravity behind the rear axel and loaded was less than ideal as well and basically had the trailer at the max rating for the axels. Not having that proper weight distribution in my case aided in sway. I built a new standalone subframe, upsized the axels and spread them out just 6" and slid them back little bit. I then welded that whole assembly under the trailer. From that day forward that trailer pulled great regardless of how it was loaded. I no longer needed sway control or weight distribution.

The RV industry does not do the consumer any favors when they spec the axels or place them. I know several folks who are putting sway control on 3-4K campers behind 2500 series trucks due to how the trailer pulls. It is very hard to find one that has proper weight distribution when loaded. Look at how many utility trailers on on the road with weights much higher than the weight of a typical camper with now sway control.

my guess was in the 8K range. I hope you were still able to enjoy your trip.

I had to weight mine out the same to try and narrow down the culprit. Eye opening when you weigh each thing like that. Come to find out I had plenty of tongue weight, close to 1200 lbs dry. It ended up being the tire sidewalls on the truck.

 

[Nameless Range]

Sorry that happened but glad you're ok. 7 years ago I watched a woman die directly in front of me when her 18 foot trailer started to sway and subsequently pulled her truck over with it. Scary stuff.

I guessed 8-10k. On the VFD I've spoken to tow truck/cleanup outfits when semis roll over, and they get paid well.

 

[Steiny77]

Wow ! Glad nobody got hurt.

Also points out how crappy these modern campers are built.
Surprising they don't fall apart more frequently just bumping down the road.

 

[Redmt]

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.

 

[Nick87]

You got lucky that's for sure
Glad nobody was hurt or worse.

 

[antlerradar]

I'm thinking our state is getting weary of campers crossing our borders at this point. Must be some weird lottery that takes out the occasional fun seeker.

Not a random lottery at all. It was the Texas license plates that took him out.

Npaden, too bad this had to happen and ruin your vacation. Happy you are uninjured and hope you are able to make it more than a few miles into MT the next time. Might want to put some mud on those license plates the next time just to be safe.