Who to call if your trailer breaks down on the road?

[SkiTundra]

I had an incident a few years ago with a flat tire (twin axle Prestige trailer w/ 211TE) and no spare (I now have a spare and try to always remember a jack, jack stands, etc). Towing companies response was 'we don't do trailers with boats'. I think part is that even with the longest flat bed the angle is too steep to not have the rear end jam on the ground?

So if you have two flats or a busted axle or busted bearing or something else. Who do you call?

[bturner]

BoatUS has trailer towing and is supposed to have a network of companies that are experienced dealing with boat trailers. Is that true? That's what they say but I really couldn't tell you from experience. From a technical perspective, I personally would expect that any "Rollback" or flat bed tow truck would be able to handle just about any single or tandem axle rig. As far as clearance goes, I don't see how that should be a problem with a flat bed rig, I've seen them load exotics on these trucks that I doubt the nose would clear my driveway. Now as far as what types of services is a specific tow company willing to deal with goes, that's a wild card. Just because a tow truck can perform a service doesn't mean the company that owns the truck will want to offer that service.

The other option a tow company would have would be to "dolly" the axles but this would be a ton more work. If you've severely damaged the trailer or axle you're probably going to need more than a standard tow company and will need a company that specializes in recovery. BoatUS is supposed to be experts at this as well but again, I couldn't tell you that for sure. You may want to give BoatUS a call and ask how they handle these types of situations.

[SkiTundra]

Thanks. We'd looked at them a bit ago but it's basically Geico who doesn't have a very good reputation when it comes to paying claims. I think they (BoatUS) do seem to have much better roadside assistance than our current carrier who basically has none. OTOH, our carrier has so far seemed quite good with covering repair costs to all of our craft that were damaged in a storm this summer.

I wish we could get just the roadside assistance from BoatUS.

[Scooter G]

Spring of '18, I'm backing down the ramp and I watch this tire and rim roll down into the water. I'm thinking, who's the nimrod that lost a tire?
Realizing, I'm that dude. Didn't ruin the day, still got some runs in, and waited for the tow rig.
I give these guys credit for tenacity, "can't do it" wasn't in their vocabulary. It was quite the redneck sketchy sight going down the road, but they got it to my driveway at home in one piece. I think AAA picked up the tow bill.
That's when I switched out all the hubs and axles to the vault system, best peace of mind I ever spent.

[srock]

Just remember your truck jack is too tall to fit under the axle and too short to work from the trailer frame.

[MN Ryan]

Scooter G When I bought my current boat, we we're driving back to MN across WI on I94. I was being sure to keep an eye on the trailer frequently in the mirrors, and at one point, noted that something looked off. I pulled over, and somehow, all 5 studs had sheared off on the driver's side front wheel--I was rolling down the freeway on 3 wheels (and it towed surprisingly well that way). We limped to a small town and found a tire shop who got us back on the road in under 2 hours. I gave the shop guys an extra $100 for saving my day. I still wonder when I lost it and where it ended up.

[Scooter G]

Crazy story! I guess if you don't have a story to tell, you're not towing enough, lol.
I wonder if that rim had loosened up enough that it started walking a little on the hub and eventually sheered all the lugs, you think you would of picked that up in the mirror at some point, maybe not. I've heard of guys chaining the bum axle up to the frame and limping in, good thing you made it to safety (that could of gone from bad to worse).

Post on Craigslist: Lost - Boat rim & tire, somewhere on I-94, reward

[MN Ryan]

My guess is that is what happened. The guy I bought it from lived down the street from the boat landing that he used most of the time, so I think he didn't do much trailer maintenance. I'm guessing they were loose and coudn't hanlde the stress. I now check that they're properly torqued way more than is probably necessary!

[SilentSeven]

These stories give me the willies. Being broke on the side of the highway is my worst nightmare and while I've had several near misses I have never (yet) been "that guy". It also makes me OCD on my trailer maintenance prior to any tow that gets me out into the sticks.

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