Towing truck camper (expecting first experience today)

[bobbolotune]

I am stuck in a Walmart parking lot with my truck that won't start. So unless it turns out to only be the battery (which I doubt from the way it suddenly went totally dead) I am going to have my first towing experience today.

The manual for my RAM 3500 4x4 says that for 4WD models flatbed is the best towing method. However, with the camper on the truck I question if the height of the truck camper and flatbed combined would exceed height limits. So this is my question. Is flatbed tow of a truck camper possible? The manual says the other acceptable method is flat tow on 4 wheels.

The manual says the wheel lift is not acceptable.

I am concerned if I am going to have to argue with the tow truck about this. A while back I asked a friend of a friend who owns a tow business about this and he said "Ah, I would probably just lift it". Well the manual says lifting the front or back will cause "severe transmission and/or transfer case damage".

I have Good Sam towing. Does anyone have experience with this? Do they know enough to send someone with the proper equipment?

Finding someone to fix the truck is the next question. I believe that Good Sam only says whey will tow to the nearest repair facility. Well, what if that facility can't work on it for 2 weeks? Or even if only more than 1 day is a problem because I am traveling alone with my dog. Unless they let us sleep on their lot it will be a mess what to do. Dog friendly hotel?

So I have been googling and calling local mechanics trying to find someone who will work on it today, or at least let us sleep on their lot if it can't be fixed same day. Since I have been calling on Sunday I have no responses yet.

Any suggestions how to approach this are welcome and appreciated. But my main question is about the towing and what to expect from Good Sam.

[monkey44]

A little late to the party here, but we stopped at a rest area on 1-70. Ready to get back in the road ... Dead truck battery. We ran my jumper cables from camper to truck battery - fired it right up. Drove to battery shop, bought a new battery. We always carry jumper cables, and a tool box with minimal fix-it tools.

[AnEv942]

Glad OP resolved issue.
We carry 25' jumper cables (surprised no ones mentioned) that reach from truck to camper which I've used once for that purpose. Our camper batteries are pain to access and remove, even if removed wouldn't fit in truck. Managed, setting 3 days at camp getting in/out of truck, newly installed electric truck steps killed trucks batteries. I now turn off steps when camped. Even if camper wouldn't start truck having cables most would offer to jump.
Starting a truck amp load is huge, hundreds of amps. Batteries dying natural old age death just get weaker until they wont turn over engine, however every camper & truck battery Ive replaced was due to battery just failing without indication.

As to towing we also had ours flat towed with front lifted, driveline removed. When calling need to stress overall weight and height so tow truck big enough sent out.

[CA_Traveler]

Or replace the truck battery with the camper battery (if possible) to then be able to drive for resolution. The refer etc would be OK without a battery for a few hours.

[mkirsch]

Yup, hindsight being 20/20, you were in the second best place on the earth to break down with a dead battery. Walmarts have all the tools you'd need to replace a battery, and all the batteries you'd need to replace a battery. Even better an auto care center with people who would do the job for you.

Most of us wouldn't have lost more than an hour or two in that situation, and next time, you won't have to!

As far as using the camper battery to jump the truck battery, if you can physically access it, lift it, and carry it to the front of the truck, it will work in a pinch. When you're stuck on the side of the road with a dead battery, a battery is a battery. As long as it didn't get drained too.

Battery disconnects work both ways. The batteries are disconnected. "Automatic" disconnects are set up to disconnect with the key off, connect with the key on. That way the camper battery charges when the engine is running, and does not get drained if the truck battery goes bad, and does not drain the truck battery if you use too much power.

[CA_Traveler]

bobbolotune wrote:
About the camper batteries powering the truck. The camper dealer once told me that the batteries are just wired together. Specifically he said when plugged into shore power the engine battery is being charged. That's all I know. There is a battery disconnect to prevent the camper from running down the engine battery but I thought not in the other direction. But above posts say with the distance and wire gauge the camper batteries won't be able to turn the engine. Interesting idea whether you could physically move a camper battery to the engine compartment to jump the truck.

Now here is a real laugh. From hints above I just googled and the Walmart I was stuck at has an Auto Care Center that was even open on Sunday. I could have asked a mechanic there. Oh well, I made it to my destination campground in West Yellowstone only 1 day late so all good.

Fantastic - wish I was in Yellowstone. A switch between the 2 batteries isolates them for both discharge and charge. The small gauge wire and it's length between the batteries is fine for charging in either direction over a number of hours. But it cannot handle the very high amps and voltage drop required for starting from the house battery.

[Grit_dog]

@bobbotune. Glad you got er back on the road.
Happy trails.

[Grit_dog]

Bedlam wrote:
Ford uses a switched power connection to the trailer plug. Only when the ignition is turned on is there a connection between truck and camper batteries.

He has a Ram.

[Bedlam]

Ford uses a switched power connection to the trailer plug. Only when the ignition is turned on is there a connection between truck and camper batteries.

[bobbolotune]

I'm the original poster.

Problem solved. Turned out it was the battery. Thank Google and a local mechanic that I found via Google. Owner drove to me, turned key, expressed opinion it is the battery, gave me a jump. Total time elapsed 90 seconds.

He said leave it running, we punched his shop address into my GPS, I drove to the shop, auto parts truck showed up 5 minutes later.

No need for any tow.

Two lessons learned.

This was my own fault. It was original battery in 2016 truck, over 6 years old. I thought about replacing it as preventative maintenance but it was working fine. I thought a battery would give warning before failure. As above discussion said, I now know not necessary.

Now Google the topic I was living on borrowed time. Battery should be replaced after 4 to 5 years. Especially if going on a road trip I going to replace after 4 years after this.

Second lesson is if possible forget Good Sam or AAA towing. That's for when you are really stuck. If possible call a local mechanic. Same thing happened to me in a remote area of Florida. Truck was still under warranty and had towing. Talked to nearest dealer 150 miles away. It would be covered by warranty but started becoming very complicated including a 150 mile tow. Meanwhile someone who worked at the campground said call Larry the local mechanic. He drove out and had it fixed in 5 minutes.

I did consider giving it a try to buy a battery at Walmart. Since I was stuck in the Walmart parking lot for 2 nights waiting for Monday morning I wandered into the Walmart auto section. Found the batteries but the book to look up battery types didn't include my truck. Gave up. Besides at that point was before I posted here and learned batteries do die suddenly. I was convinced it was something worse and that replacing the battery probably wouldn't fix it anyway.

About the camper batteries powering the truck. The camper dealer once told me that the batteries are just wired together. Specifically he said when plugged into shore power the engine battery is being charged. That's all I know. There is a battery disconnect to prevent the camper from running down the engine battery but I thought not in the other direction. But above posts say with the distance and wire gauge the camper batteries won't be able to turn the engine. Interesting idea whether you could physically move a camper battery to the engine compartment to jump the truck.

Now here is a real laugh. From hints above I just googled and the Walmart I was stuck at has an Auto Care Center that was even open on Sunday. I could have asked a mechanic there. Oh well, I made it to my destination campground in West Yellowstone only 1 day late so all good.

[LMHS]

Why don't you see if WalMart has a battery tester they can use to test your battery?

[CA_Traveler]

bobbolotune wrote:
My understanding is that the camper batteries are connected to the engine batteries. There is a shutoff which prevents the camper from running down the engine batteries, but I thought not in the other direction. So if the engine battery is dead I would think the camper batteries would turn the engine. The camper batteries are showing fully charged. But maybe deep cycle camper batteries don't have enough cranking power to turn an engine???

Engine starting requires a lot of amps and very heavy cables - think 3/8" diameter and very short wires. A truck camper would not have adequate wiring to start the truck engine.

Deep cycle batteries can and do server as a backup to start a MH engine where the engine and both battery bands are close together and connected with large gauge wire.

:h But slap my head - WHY didn't I think of moving a 12V camper battery to the engine? :@

[Grit_dog]

Jump start is free, battery is cheaper than a tow and everything else you would have to deal with. And you have a battery or 2 in the camper that you could try in a pinch, if they're still charged.
Why not start there?
Long explanation, but there is no disconnect from the 12V+ on your trailer plug. It's hot all the time, unless something has been installed aftermarket on the truck or you mean there's a disconnect ont he camper side.
Regardless, camper batteries ain't going to do squat behind 30' of 8-10ga wire to start the truck. Won't carry enough current.

[valhalla360]

If there are no bridges and the driver knows the route, it might be OK on a flatbed. traffic signals and other overhead lines, typically have a 17ft minimum bottom height, so even on the flatbed, it might be OK.

As suggested there are alternate ways to tow the truck. If you are in a parking lot, can you simply take the camper off?

Ironically, we had a similar issue about 3 weeks ago (towing a travel trailer though). We were towing across the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. Nothing crazy but a pretty good climb followed by a pretty good descent. Gave the truck a workout but she handled it like a champ. No issues, no warning lights, the gauges never budged from their normal readings. Up until this, there were no indications of any issues with the truck.

After we got to the bottom, stopped in a small town to fuel up. After filling up, hit the key...nothing. Entire dash was dark, no clicking or any reaction. Kind of lucky for us, we were blocking half the pumps and the 3 service bays, so they had to help us (actually they were really nice and helpful). After messing about with it, determined the alternator was out. $200 and 2 hour later, we were on the road again with a new alternator.

[midnightsadie]

question,your at wal mart why can,t you just go get a new battery?AAA is not going to give you a free battery,