breaking down in middle of nowhere???

[raw food philosophy]

AAA does not come out to dirt roads!!! I called them.

If vehicle completely breaks down when camping, how are people getting their vehicles out?
Yes, if you're with other vehicles you can use a tow rope. 
What do people do when people are camping by themselves?

 

[bass_sears]

Call local guys like this:
https://www.youtube.com/c/MattsOffRoadRecovery
... that specialize in off road recovery.

-- Bass

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

. . .
What do people do when people are camping by themselves?

You call a tow truck and pay the bill.

A good reason to know how to repair as much as you can and to carry at least a few important spares.
Also a good reason to travel in a group.
And have a 3AM friend you can call.

 

[MrNoodly]

Be aware of your vehicle's condition, watch for signs something isn't right, get things fixed before they break, do regular servicing, all so you greatly reduce the odds of breaking down... anywhere.

 

[Malamute]

I never actually broke down out in the hills, but got stuck many times. Flagging down passing people in trucks or jeeps is often a good way to get help getting pulled out, but mostly I had to do it myself. Lots of shovelling mud and snow, digging out and piling rocks and logs under the wheels, jacking up with bottle jacks, stacks of wood, hi-lift jacks, tow chains, come-a-long winches, all were useful at one time or another. Little wimpy folding shovels are pretty patheic when you get seriously stuck, theres no replacement for a full size long handled round point shovel.

Stuck my 1960 Willys pickup in crusted snow once, I started digging out, with a pathetic army folding shovel, stopped when i got 3 feet below the tires and it was still snow. Put the snow back. Used salvaged boards id found at a camp spot to drive on to get out, 4 feet at a time. Think that was about an 8 hr adventure.

I guess I had a dead battery once when tipi camping with friends about 30 miles out on dirt roads. B and I hiked several miles to a fire watch tower and talked to the lady there, she was super busy relaying active fire info to the hotshot crews, but said one busload of hotshots would be coming back along a nearby road soon, so B and I hustled out and caught them. They gave us a jump. Cool! Driving back to town, about a third of the way, huge thunderstorm coming in from the west.....I stupidly said "Well, about the only thing that could stop us now is a flat, I dont have a spare"...I seriously no sooner said it than we heard air hissing out of a tire. Pulled over, took the unmounted good spare tire and spare rim with bad tire, Max and I caught a ride to town while her hubby and B jacked up the truck and get the dead tire off, we rode in with some turkey hunters in the back of their truck. Got the tire mounted at the tire store, hunter guys drove as the 20 miles back out, slammed the wheel on as the first drops of the storm start falling heavily, jumped in the truck...then the rain came hard!

There are good people in the world.

 

[bullfrog]

There is usually someone that eventually will help but seldom do they have a tow strap or a way to attach them correctly or jumper cables or an air compressor/plug kit. Even an extra pair of gloves can make a difference when using a shovel as well as a cold bottle of water. Knowing how and what to do as well as having the gear to do it with is your responsibility. Until you feel confident you have the skills and necessary gear stay within walking or cell phone distance of civilization.

 

[eDJ_]

When I was first starting out and my Dad was teaching me his wisdom & experiences I remember him stressing....
You will be out there on your own. Good judgment is everything and I cannot teach you that. You have to develop it as a function of your thinking.

I wasn't out on the road too long and I thought I'd find some wooded area I could pull off the road into to go "hide and sleep". Everything went OK until early the next morning when I couldn't get the Van to start. After a few hours spent trouble shooting.....I discovered a second fuel filter (Dad had failed to tell me about) an it had enough water condensate in it to block fuel going thru the filter media. Io didn't have a spare and this was before cell phones to call for help.

SO...I had to pull the fuel filter (then figure a way to plug the fuel line from the tank so gas wouldn't pour everywhere. Pray no sparks. So I blew thru the filter to get the water out of it and restore it to service. Driving over the rough road had sloshed the water all over the filters internal media screen. Not a good or safe place to perform this simple task. (in the event of a fire I would have lost the Van, perhaps died in the fire, and worse set the woods on fire)

When you are in a town with paved streets & parking lots you aren't so likely to have this problem. (depending on how much water may be in your filter) This is the same for engines with a Carb or fuel injection.

So today I keep my filters changed regularly, and I carry gas line dryer/antifreeze and use it frequently.

This was a simple thing that I learned from.

Julie Roberts sang a song, "Break Down Here". It is in youtube here

Break Down Here

 

[Tom_M]

I have emergency roadside coverage on my regular vehicle insurance. If help is needed I pay the cost and then get reimbursed by my insurance company.

 

[highdesertranger]

I know how to fix stuff. but more importantly your vehicle better be in tip top shape. frankly I can't believe that people who live in their vehicles don't have a clue how to fix them. tow insurance does no good off highway. highdesertranger

 

[B and C]

I was talking to my state farm agent the other day and I brought up that I camp off the asphalt on dirt roads. I asked if they would pay for a tow from there. I had to wait for a call back on that one. I was told to get towed, pay and turn in the bill, they would cover it. It does no good to speculate about it on here, talk to your insurance agent. Your policy will be specific to you.

 

[Malamute]

I allowed myself to be talked into the boondoggle of towing insurance on my State Farm insurance. It was about $12-$14/year. Outrageous! Waste of money!

I stopped at a rest stop about 50 miles out of a town overnight once, truck wouldnt start the next day. Went into old school mode of trying to fix it out there, got ride to town (pre-cell days), got new computer unit, blah blah, no go.....was towed to town, had it dropped at the local churches ministers house whom Id talked to and made contact. Figured it out (the pin for the distributor drive gear sheared and the gear fell down into the oil pan), then with little hope, took the tow bill to the insurance office, they asked "Did you have it towed to the closest place available to get it repaired?" Answer was yes, they handed me a check to reimburse me for the tow. The was the last time i ever tried fixing a vehicle on the side of the road. Forget that nonsense. Ive never had a problem being reimbursed by State Farm for towing, and Ive used it a number of times, the biggest tow bill was $360, that was about 20 years ago.

No idea why a towing company wouldnt go on dirt roads unless it was muddy, but thats a location and time dependent situation. Theres an awful lot of miles of dirt and gravel roads in the west. I guess one would have to ask the individual tow company if theyd go wherever you were broke down, but the insurance never asked what sort of roads. If AAA wont go on dirt roads, it doesnt give me much incentive to look into them, but then, Ive been very satisfied with the relatively minuscule amount I pay for tow insurance and the large amount of money theyve paid me back for tows over the years.

 

[RVTravel]

I was on a backpacking trip from a sleeper bus and we got stuck (not broke down) in a ditch on an dirt road in Colorado...on a Sunday before a holiday. The truck came from Pueblo and it cost around $600.

 

[raw food philosophy]

Thank you everyone for your replies!!!!!
LOL, I have state farm and the tow insurance, so i'll give them a call.

So, if we are not able to fix the vehicle, pay the tow and hopefully state farm will reimburse all or part of it.

Things to possibly get are a tow rope, portable battery charger with air compressor ($40 at walmart), gorilla tape, jumper cables, serpentine belt and distilled water. Plus enough tools to do as many repairs as possible. I just don't see how people do major repairs out in the middle of nowhere.

I was also thinking about buying a tow arm and then riding my bike to the nearest town (i'm in great shape) and renting a small uhaul pick up truck and then tow it myself.
Does anyone have any knowledge about that? I see motorhomes using tow arms and towing vehicles all the time. Maybe I should start a new thread of tow arms.

I love camping way way out in the boonies, just don't want to spend a $1,000 on a tow bill.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

. . .
Things to possibly get are a tow rope, portable battery charger with air compressor ($40 at walmart), gorilla tape, jumper cables, serpentine belt and distilled water. Plus enough tools to do as many repairs as possible.
 . . .
I was also thinking about buying a tow arm and then riding my bike to the nearest town . . .

Tow rope or strap - at least 10,000 lbs rated. If your 3000 lb vehicle is stuck you can easily put 6000 lbs on the tow strap.

Jumper cables - better yet a jump pack.  A little more expensive than decent jumper cables but has more uses.

Battery charger - unless you have a generator, useless in the back country.  If you have a generator get a good charger, preferably one that supports 3 stage charging.

Gorilla tape - good.  Also a small collection of nuts and bolts, zip ties, sheet metal screws, bailing wire.

Belts - again good.  Also some hose repair tape.

Distilled water - I carry a pint; you really don't need any more than that unless you have a lot of FLA batteries.  For radiators I have used strained ditch water with no ill effects.  You can decide it you want to carry a tube of 'stop leak'.

Tow bars - are large and heavy.  U-Haul rents those too.

Bike - good for more than emergency transportation.  I'd take one along if I didn't have a dog.
If you are camping 'way out in the boonies', it will probably be a long ride to a town big enough to have a U-Haul.

It is always a balancing act of how much emergency and repair stuff you want to take.  The space and (especially) weight add up fast.

 

[Malamute]

This wasnt the main point of this thread, but since tow straps and ropes have been mentioned, keep in mind when using a tow strap, chain or whatever, that tow balls are not good attachment points. They function fine as trailer towing points, but if trying to move a stuck vehicle, that the pulling force is different, and often jerking motions, which is a good part of how tow straps work, like a giant bungy cord. Anyway, theres been a number of tow balls fail when used at hookup points for vehicle recovery when stuck, sometimes with fatal results when the ball shank breaks and the balls is propelled towards the other vehicle at a high velocity. You may get away with it any number of times, then one could fail, or the first time you try, it could happen. Most people that are bystanders in recoveries of stuck vehicles also dont understand how dangerous it can be if a strap, winch cable or chain breaks.

 

[VanFan]

Also some hose repair tape.

I recently added rescue tape to the automotive box, and while no experience in actual use, it makes me feel better.  Our van gets a once over every morning.  I have an ear for "changes," and we follow-up on anything that seems amiss as proactively as possible.

Moby has only needed a tow once in 12 or so years.  (Not predictive, of course.)  We were on an actually highway.  "Mater" (I kid you not!) towed us to town.  The driver told us "...not a fan of the blue oval; bow-tie man myself, etc."  The experience was a hoot, and the repair done in under an hour and 1/2 at a cost of $135.

One thing I'd add:  Know where you are!  The further afield you are, the more important it is.  (I used to quiz my kids on that.)  Okay, two things:  Watch your gauges.  That saved Moby's motor in that instance.

 

[raw food philosophy]

Hand winch!!!!!!

This is just in case you do not carry every single spare part that could possible break down in your vehicle.

Rent a uhual or enterprise rent a truck, rent a tow dolly and then use a hand winch to pull the vehicle onto the tow dolly.
Total cost $19.99 for truck (plus .69 per mile), tow dolly about $50.
If 100 miles from nearest city = 200 x .7 = $140 + $50 + $20 = $210
Much less if there is a town closer, however, it is better than paying over $1,000 for a tow truck (and that is even if you can find one willing to come out that far!!!!).

plus use the hand winch to move small trees which get in your way!

 

[highdesertranger]

if you are in the middle of nowhere how do you get a U-Haul truck? highdesertranger

 

[WanderingRose]

if you are in the middle of nowhere how do you get a U-Haul truck? highdesertranger

You walk out, that’s your only option, hopefully to a town with a UHaul place that can rent you a truck.

Which is why, traveling alone with a dependent dog, I don’t go out in the middle of nowhere by myself.

 

[MrNoodly]

Jumper cables - better yet a jump pack.

Or have both. This winter in QZT a guy came through camp wanting to know if anyone had a jump pack. He had used up the two he had and one from another camper. I told him I didn't have a jump pack but I had good old fashioned cables. He was surprised. I got him started.

A jump pack is great if you don't have anyone to jump from, and you're not trying to crank over a diesel, or your rig doesn't have some other problem that's preventing it from starting, or you have some way to recharge the pack.