Stuck in the mud

[C20]

On the way home from the 500 stopped to see dw's parents. Backed into a spot and got stuck in the yard. I'm calling coach net Friday when we are ready to leave. My question is where are the correct places on the front of the 08 itasca horizon for the tow truck driver to hook on? I'd like to know in case he doesn't.
Thanks.

[C20]

Update for all of you kind enough to offer your advice:
Tried for 2 hours lifting and blocking with no luck. Called coach net and within 45 min they had a tow truck there who winched me out. He wanted to put his hook on the axle next to the tag that said don't tow here!! Once we found a good place on the frame out it came. No charge and coach net called back to make sure everything was done! Very happy with them and the tow company.

[Daveinet]

Oops posted in the wrong thread. Not enough sleep last night. Wish this forum had a delete option, but since they don't, I'm going to waste this space by posting nothing important.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Here is a link to our blog that relates to our stuck in the mud episode in Mexico last year. With photos.

http://jacksonsjourneys.blogspot.ca/2012_11_01_archive.html

[RCMAN46]

Daveinet wrote:

RCMAN46 wrote:
DO NOT ALLOW the tow driver to attach anything to the front axle! My father had a towing business. He had an inexperienced tow driver hook to the front axle of a truck stuck in the mud. All that came out of the mud hole was the front axle. The truck stayed in the mud hole. My father had a very expensive repair to pay for because of that error. There is a You Tube video of the front axle being pulled off of a Jeep that was stuck in a mud hole. Jeep axle failure

I don't think that Jeep video applies to a motorhome. It really depends on how bad it is stuck. If it will almost get out on its own, but just needs minor help, the axle isn't going to come off the vehicle. If the differential is on the ground, that would be a different story.

To the OP. It is your Motorhome and the axles on it are low to the ground and easy to throw a chain around. The experts have spoken so go for it. As for the jeep video the jeep may go 3500 lbs and your motorhome may go beyond 25,000 lbs so I agree the jeep video does not apply.

[okgc]

Wonder if that Toyota had a 300,000 lb rated trailer hitch when it pulled the space shuttle?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/driveon/2012/10/13/toyota-tundra-pickup-space-shuttle-endeavour/1631235/

[Daveinet]

RCMAN46 wrote:
DO NOT ALLOW the tow driver to attach anything to the front axle! My father had a towing business. He had an inexperienced tow driver hook to the front axle of a truck stuck in the mud. All that came out of the mud hole was the front axle. The truck stayed in the mud hole. My father had a very expensive repair to pay for because of that error. There is a You Tube video of the front axle being pulled off of a Jeep that was stuck in a mud hole. Jeep axle failure

I don't think that Jeep video applies to a motorhome. It really depends on how bad it is stuck. If it will almost get out on its own, but just needs minor help, the axle isn't going to come off the vehicle. If the differential is on the ground, that would be a different story.

[msmith1199]

jhilley wrote:
Here is benefit from their WEB site

"Winching
Winch out or extraction services required in order to tow the disabled vehicle. Covered up to 100 feet off of a maintained road or in a commercial campground equipped for camping vehicles."

Then it sounds like the OP is probably covered based on the description of how he's stuck. Assuming it's not a really big yard.

[crasster]

Yeah, throw some good boards under the jacks. Displace the weight.

[jhilley]

Here is benefit from their WEB site

"Winching
Winch out or extraction services required in order to tow the disabled vehicle. Covered up to 100 feet off of a maintained road or in a commercial campground equipped for camping vehicles."

[msmith1199]

Do they define what they mean by off road? For example if I cut a corner too sharp and my tires fall off the pavement and get stuck in the mud, are they going to tell me I'm off road? The OP said he tried to back into a space and got stuck in the yard. I'm guess he wasn't too far off road. Many campgrounds have gravel roads is that off road?

[willald]

..Aside from how this should be done or not done:

I'll be curious to hear if Coachnet actually pays for this tow or not. They may well not, in which case you can expect to have to fork out some substantial $$ to tow a rig this big.

I haven't read all of Coachnet's contract, but I do know that with Good Sam ERS and I believe AAA RV plus also, their contract states they will NOT provide a tow if you are off road. The contract states that they will pay for a tow to nearest repair facility when broken down. That towing coverage does not include towing out from being stuck off road somewhere.

I'm sure they'll still help you get a tow truck company out there to help, but I'd be prepared to foot a good portion of the bill for this.

[RCMAN46]

DO NOT ALLOW the tow driver to attach anything to the front axle! My father had a towing business. He had an inexperienced tow driver hook to the front axle of a truck stuck in the mud. All that came out of the mud hole was the front axle. The truck stayed in the mud hole. My father had a very expensive repair to pay for because of that error. There is a You Tube video of the front axle being pulled off of a Jeep that was stuck in a mud hole. Jeep axle failure

[B_s_Bunch]

If you have a genny slide out make sure it doesn't get attached to that:S Larry

[michelb]

msmith1199 wrote:

Rich D. wrote:

C20 wrote:
Thank you all. I looked up towing companies here and there is one that does heavy trucks and rv's. ill ask coach net if we can use them. I got stuck once at talladega and a little one ton wrecker pulled me out but he was able to hook on the back at the hitch. Not so now.

I'm sorry if I double posted. Didn't mean to.

NEVER attempt to pull out a stuck motorhome by having the wrecker hook up to the hitch! Remember that the hitch has a rating much, much lower than the weight of the motorhome! For example, my last coach had a 10,000 lb capacity hitch and weighed 50,000 lbs. Attempting to pull 50,000 lbs with it could make for a catastrophic failure and rip the hitch right off.

If the operator can get under the front, they can safely use a wheel lift to raise the front and pull it out. Also remember that the frame may be located up quite high (over the storage compartments) and many have a removable panel at the front that exposes a tow point on the frame.

But that's a 10,000 pound rating for towing something at highway speeds. That doesn't mean if you tow something over that weight that the hitch is going to fly off. However, I would agree you have to be careful when pulling a 50,000 motorhome no matter where you attach the tow hook. I'd have no problem using the hitch as long as the truck operator pulled smoothly and as long as I was helping by driving the coach out of the mud.

I agree that the hitch is not a great place to hook to but when you are stuck somewhere you don't always have that much choice - it's not as if there are tow hooks anywhere on the motor home. Also, they aren't pulling the motor home off the ground so it's not lifting the full weight.

Best of luck. Let us know how it goes (I'm actually quite curious because I was recently stuck in a field and had a tow truck on the way but managed to get myself out (using the jacks to raise and then placing those tracks you use when stuck on ice under the wheels) but I was really worried about how it was going to pull me out and the potential damage to the motor home.