Breakowns while travelling

Fuel tank broke in Yuma, AZ. Very few junk yards for my older pick up. Mechanic calls his brother across border, town very close to Yuma. Had to meet his brother behind a Walmart to pick up fuel tank in a taxi. (sounds like something wrong to me)
Brother shows up with fuel tank wrapped up in cardbord.. looks like big taco. Turns out reason was mechanic's wife and brother in big family fight. In my mind I thought I was helping cartel or something.

I'm not sure want to share with public????
200 dollar repair turned into 3,000 was most maddening. Another time black tank drain pipe broke because state was digging up ramp to ferry. Totally broke loose when on ferry. Van full of boy scouts yelling & screaming...hey everybody look at this. Deck hand hoses it overboard, even today I dont eat salmon if known to be from Columbia river.

Cam sensor died on previous truck and left us on the side of I-40 outside OKC. Tow company sent a roll back tow truck, loaded my pickup on it, and took it, my wife, and two granddaughters to nearest dealership that said they could check it out. They also sent a dually pickup with 5th wheel hitch, hooked up our 5er, towed it to KOA, pulled it into a site, waited while I set up and turned on A/C, then took me to the dealership. All in about hour and half time.

I had the seals on my class C motorhome's ball joints go out while traveling in Alaska. I had things checked out in Tok, the first place with service I came to once I figured something was genuinely wrong. It was going to be a wait of several days for parts and for other jobs queued up before me, so I elected to carefully drive on to Whitehorse and had the work done there. I can't say whether that was the wisest choice or not, but at any rate it worked out okay for me, and I much preferred spending a few extra days in Whitehorse than in Tok. I stayed in the motorhome in a campground while waiting my turn there.

Granted a motorhome is a little different than a tow vehicle and trailer, in that there's no question of whether you leave part behind or not, but the overall ideas are somewhat similar. If the work needs to be done urgently or somewhat urgently, there's not much choice but to trust some mechanic you've never encountered before. Luckily, there are many competent mechanics out there (but unfortunately a few who are incompetent or worse). Asking some locals for recommendations is often a good way to find one. A shop that for whatever reason can't fit you in or help you can sometimes be a particularly good place to get a recommendation.

An RV is in my opinion one of the best vehicles to have a breakdown in, if there is such a thing, since you have a restroom and a bedroom and can make a meal or two or three right there if it comes down to that. It's a lot handier than having to wait out a long time in a minivan or whatever.

In 14 years of full timing, I've broken down several times. Tires, blown engine, engine dies while at speed, overheating, funny noises, etc..

In every case, if I just didn't panic, I could usually limp to a location where I could either call my roadside service (Coachnet) or a mobile tech. Or fix it myself. Many times my problems were much more simple than I'd first imagined. There was the one issue that no solution was ever found for an intermittent starting problem, tho several techs looked at it.

Nothing that ever happened caused me to be off the road for long...except the blown engine. Where I had to stay in motel rooms for a couple weeks.

And I've traveled all over the US, Mexico, and several times up and back from Alaska.

I do have a diesel Class A though. These are built on a strong truck chassis and tend to stay on the road.

Speaking of limping...many RV engines & trannis from the late '90s on have a 'Limp' mode so you can limp back into town if need be.

Finally, once I've limped to a RV park, and paid for several days or a week or months stay, then I immediately start checking for local RV repair sources doing online searches. I even check Craigslist. And I always, always check reviews for shops on RVServiceReviews.com. And I never go to Camping World for service.

It happens. That's why I carry multiple plastic cards (only one is a credit card)

Was traveling north last spring when a gasket blew (Exhaust manifold to pipe) The shop took like 4 hours to do a 30 minute job and made excuses as to why it took so long. NOTE.. I HAVE DONE THIS JOB but did not have a place to do it.

The repair lasted 72 hours and 48 of 'em I was parked

My Regular shop (American RV in Burton MI) did it again in under an hour. no problems since.

Some times you just got to live with it.

I've got AAA roadside assistance. They are ok but the hills of Tennessee are not "remote." Come on out West...Nevada for one!

I have Good Sam ERS as well. They would tow me to a campground while the truck is either repaired or replaced in case of a breakdown. Since a carry a motorcycle I would take the opportunity to explore the area. Life gives you lemons make some lemonade.

I’ve had Good Sam road side assistant for years. I have used them 4 times in the past never a problem. it may take longer than you want but help will come. Just my 2 cents