Sold the TT, ordered our first truck Camper,

[autorot8]

a Northstar TC 800 from Hill's in Yakima. Now the waiting begins. I'll install the Torklift brackets so I'll be ready when it arrives.

If your vehicle breaks down and requires to be towed, will they require the TC to be taken off? If so, will Coachnet or GoodSam Roadside take the TC similar to towing a TT or fifth-wheel? I tried asking both Coachnet and Goodsam Roadside this question, and neither would reply. Thanks to all in advance that have had this experience and reply.

[autorot8]

Thanks to everyone for the replies and info.

[mountainkowboy]

We went from TC, to 5er, to Moho, and back to TC. We will always have a TC, and welcome to the the life.

[EricCO]

We broke down once and we were pulling a boat.

Tow company sent two vehicles. One for the boat and one for the truck/truck camper.

They took us to the campground so we could dump the camper in our spot with the boat. Then they hauled the truck to the repair shop.

Only missed half a day on the water.

We have Good Sam towing insurance.

[specta]

SidecarFlip wrote:


Wow is that a nice outfit and i's a Ford Camper Special too. Great find.

Thank you. It was a beautiful truck. I was dating the guys daughter when he bought the truck new.

Ranger XLT, Camper Special, tool box, 390, 4.10 gears and only 31,000 miles.

I gave the camper to my daughter because we already had a "vintage" TT that I painted to match the truck.

When I sold the truck in 2010 it only had 41,000 miles on it.

One more I regret selling. 😞

[thedavidzoo]

Kayteg, the steps did come VERY close to the pavement. I think we did something with a board under the wheel to clear (2 years ago, so don't remember details).

Autorot, we bought the Ram used from a dealer. Normally we don't buy into the extra warranty plans they push...but we knew we were going to do some significant remote traveling over the next few years. So, we ended up with a 5 year MOPAR warranty at a reasonable cost. That is what we invoked. They took care of everything. Could have milked them for hotel and food for the night, but we'd rather stay in the TC anyway. I think we had a $100 deductible though.
We don't have an RV specific insurance co. such as Good Sam. Our regular truck insurance is with USAA and they cover the TC along with the truck. I'm reasonably sure USAA would tow both as a unit. Sorry, I can't be much help in that department.

[autorot8]

TheDavidZoo, if you don't mind, did/do you have a roadside plan (insurance, Coachnet, etc. that specifically covers RVs, camper, etc.)? When I had my trailer, I always had something like that and I just want to be prepared if needed. Thanks

[Kayteg1]

Is it my impression, or the step frame is bend?
Regardless, looks to me that 1 foot back (when truck rear tires were coming onto rollback) the rear of camper was, or was close to dragging.
That's how close it gets and it doesn't take much to leave rear jacks on the pavement.
That's 4WD truck, so picture it all 3" lower with RWD pickup.

[thedavidzoo]

We had a water pump blow out somewhere in MI on our way back to VA from Alaska (good thing it didn't happen on the Dempster). Told the tow company we were BIG and 14,000 lbs. They sent this on a Sunday night. Scary ordeal with us 4 crammed in the tow truck cab with driver and his tag-along son, going down the interstate under ALL the overpasses, wondering if our AC or worse was going to shear off at the next bridge. What do you think our total COG was? Front tires must have been barely staying on pavement. Highway patrol man and tow driver surely knew we were not quite safe but they didn't care. Spent the night in the parking lot at the nearest Ram dealer which got us right in on Monday morning! We can laugh about it all now...

They obviously will and SHOULD take you as one unit.

[burningman]

Ex-tow truck operator here...
A “rollback” would destroy the thing, that’s a flatbed with a curved rear end, junk cars are winched up over the end of it and onto the truck.
“Bumper towing” (using a sling) died out decades ago. Pretty much every tow truck has a wheel lift which works just fine for towing a pickup with camper. They don’t hang stuff on bumpers anymore. They bend way too easy. Today’s bumpers LOOK massive and tough but the ones from the ‘70s and back were actually way stronger.
I don’t believe anyone used a “2500” tow truck to tow anyone’s camper. That’s something that pretty much doesn’t exist. (Unless it was some backwoods amateur dirtball that shouldn’t be in business.) Tow trucks put most of their own front end weight, the weight of the tow unit, plus the weight of whatever they’re carrying all on their rear axle. There’s a reason they’re all duallies.

A flatbed works fine if the rig isn’t too tall, but today’s basement model campers on 4x4 trucks get up around 12’ tall. Flatbed decks are more than two feet up, so the whole mess would end up overheight.

[SidecarFlip]

specta wrote:


Welcome to the camper world. 😄

Back in Sept 2005 I bought this 1972 Ford F-250 with that 1963 Goldcoast 49er camper. The truck had not been started since 1991 and only had 31,000 miles on it.
I had it towed to my home on the back of a rollback tow truck.
I've seen other truck & campers in rollback tow trucks too.

Wow is that a nice outfit and i's a Ford Camper Special too. Great find.

[work2much]

With a pop up I suspect towing on a flatbed wouldn't be an issue as far as height. I would request that as opposed to a bumper tow for a short rv like the yours.

[ajriding]

Congrats. You will have fun. Keep in mind that there is no perfect RV. You have sacrificed room and ease of install (hooking a trailer easier than loading a TC), and storage space, but lost taxes on the vehicle the trailer was….

Depends on the tow truck driver a lot of times. I had a heavy class-c and the guy towed it with a regular 2500 series truck. The front wheels of the tow truck were almost coming off the ground, but he wanted the money so just laughed it off.

The tow co will likely send a bigger truck for you. Your whole rig can go up on a flatbed tow truck - tall and top heavy but they dont care.

There is no way you can unload. No way you will just leave your TC on the side of the road out somewhere. The tow co will figure it out. The camper weight is more to the back, so lifting up on the front wheels and towing it should be well within abilities of most tucks.

[Lwiddis]

That’s beautiful, specta.

[specta]

Welcome to the camper world. 😄

Back in Sept 2005 I bought this 1972 Ford F-250 with that 1963 Goldcoast 49er camper. The truck had not been started since 1991 and only had 31,000 miles on it.
I had it towed to my home on the back of a rollback tow truck.
I've seen other truck & campers in rollback tow trucks too.