Forest River Roadside Assistance-Total Failure!!

[reubenray374]

After RV'ing on and off for 13 years I had my first flat tire. I picked up a bolt on the rough section of I-20 just West of Jackson. After checking the tire my wife called the roadside assistance number. After being put on hold for 20 minutes an agent finally set up Jack Rabbit USA to come change my tire. A link was sent saying it would be between 10 and 40 minutes along with a map showing our location and the truck's location. I should have known something was wrong being the map showed two blue dots, but they were right beside each other.

After waiting a hour my wife called them again. After going through the entire process again they said a truck would be there in 24 minutes. After sitting on the interstate for over a hour and half we got a text saying the repair has been done and are we satisfied. No one has ever shown up.

About this time a good Samaritan stopped by and he mentioned he had a roadside assistance company and if we wanted him to help he would take his family home after eating lunch after the Sunday services and come right back. At this time my wife was on the phone with roadside service a third time. This time they said it would take 54 minutes to get to us.

So we contacted the good Samaritan to see if he could help. He was there in about 15 minutes. When my wife called him she mentioned that we would need a receipt to get out money back. He said there would be no charge. Not only did he remove the flat tire, he plugged and patched it also. He still refused to bill us, but I gave him a good tip instead. If not for this person we would have been sitting longer than the 2 1/2 hours that we were already. He even called about a hour later to check to see if the tire was OK. I tried to get a business card from him, but he had none.

I have two other roadside assistance plans that I plan on using the next time, instead of the free plan that Forest River provides.

[markcee]

We retired and got our first trailer a few years ago and had a blowout during our first long trip. We waited about 4 hours for roadside assistance through 'Good' Sam before giving up and calling Geico (our truck insurer). They responded in about 40 minutes. After repair, a second 'China Bomb' tire let go about 100 miles down the road. Repeat process with Geico, this time about 90 minutes to respond, plus the need to find another tire and get it mounted etc....several hours overall.

Needless to say, I was totally unprepared on that first trip. I now carry (2) 6-ton bottle jacks, cribbing, compressor and plenty of tools to handle a tire change (and many other things) on my own should need be.

[BehindBars]

Looks like you got what you paid for with the free Forest River assistance plan.

[Touch racing]

Any roadside assistance program is only as good as the service providers in the area. If you have a problem and Big Al’s 1 star towing is the only company in the area you are going to have a bad time.

[reubenray374]

Originally Posted by Touch racing

Any roadside assistance program is only as good as the service providers in the area. If you have a problem and Big Al’s 1 star towing is the only company in the area you are going to have a bad time.

The big issue my wife had with contacting Forest River was that it took about 20 minutes each time to get a person on the phone and each time they wanted a ridiculous amount of info. They wanted who we bought the trailer from, when we bought it and our name and Forest River id number. The name and id number show be all they need. There also should be a way to actually talk to the roadside assistance company. The last time she called the man could barely speak English and she finally just hung up.

One of the policies is with our insurance company and we will use it next.

[NMWildcat]

We stopped using any type of road side assistance policy many years ago. We found it was always faster and easier to just use google to find local companies and call them direct for problems we couldn't handle ourselves.
Local companies seem to not like dealing with these type of policies, as they usually get paid the minimum and payment can be delayed. So you will be last in line if they are busy according to one wrecker driver we talked with.
We rarely have to call fir help on the road, so for us, having/using a policy is just not worth it.

[Bob K4TAX]

I agree that using GOOGLE to locate nearby service facilities is usually best. I've found that extended warranties and service plans are major profit makers for companies. On the other hand, I carry the necessary jack, blocks, and tools to change my own tires.

Immediately after acquiring our used 2016 TT, I replaced all 4 tires and the spare with new ones. As a general rule, tires age out and do not wear out. While doing so, I removed and inspected the wheel hubs, brakes, bearings, and races, and cleaned and repacked the bearings. Fortunately, even at 80 years old, I can still do this type of work. I'm a retired Electronics Engineer by education and profession. Many things are simple in my book. Common sense goes a long way in that direction.

Bob

[reubenray374]

I do want to point out that my TireMinder TPMS worked great. It set off an alert and my wife said it showed that was loosing pressure. I was lucky to get over to the side of the road before a major intersection. By the time I got over the TPMS was showing no signal. I first thought that maybe the bouncing bad road made the pressure leak out. But then I saw the 1/4" bolt in the tire. This was our first extended trip in the new travel trailer.

[bikendan]

Just to clarify, FR doesn't have their own roadside assistance program.
It's through a company called SafeRide RV:
https://saferiderv.com/

Sent from my SM-G781U using Forest River Forums mobile app

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Just to clarify, FR doesn't have their own roadside assistance program.
It's through a company called SafeRide RV:
https://saferiderv.com/

Sent from my SM-G781U using Forest River Forums mobile app

Thanks. I was wondering about “Forest River Roadside Assistance”.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

Thanks. I was wondering about “Forest River Roadside Assistance”.

SafeRide RV is the same company also used by Escapees and FMCA.

Ray

[bikendan]

So it's not Forest River Roadside Assistance program.

Sent from my SM-G781U using Forest River Forums mobile app

[PhilFromMaine]

I searched Google for RV roadside assistance in Maine and didn't get any hits other than Good Sam, etc. I am thinking that maybe I am not using the correct search words. Can anyone tell me a more correct set of search words to use? Thanks,

[PhilFromMaine]

Doing research on the subject, I found out to my surprise and my ins agent's surprise, State Farm has coverage built into my RV insurance.

I have the full equipment minus an impact drill capable of removing the lug nuts. Lug nuts are always the issue for me.

[reubenray374]

Originally Posted by PhilFromMaine

Doing research on the subject, I found out to my surprise and my ins agent's surprise, State Farm has coverage built into my RV insurance.

I have the full equipment minus an impact drill capable of removing the lug nuts. Lug nuts are always the issue for me.

I plan on reading up on the policy I have with my insurance and the package that I paid for when buying the trailer.

[Bob K4TAX]

Yes, we have State Farm for our vehicles and travel trailer. It covers roadside assistance and towing coverage. It also covers liability, comprehensive, medical coverage. The deductible on the travel trailer is $500 with replacement cost included.

Now as this was discussed earlier, the replacement cost is "like value" and not replacing the old trailer with a new trailer as some seem to think. Thus if the book value on the trailer today is $35K then the replacement value is $35K less the deductible. It is not what one paid for the trailer 5 years ago.

Bob

[FarmHand357]

Originally Posted by PhilFromMaine

I have the full equipment minus an impact drill capable of removing the lug nuts. Lug nuts are always the issue for me.

Impact wrench-tightened lug nuts are often a problem on any vehicle. I've use this many times; it comes with four standard 3/4" sockets and the telescoping handle extends from 14 to 21 inches for easy storage and maximum leverage:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[PhilFromMaine]

Originally Posted by Bob K4TAX

Yes, we have State Farm for our vehicles and travel trailer. It covers roadside assistance and towing coverage. It also covers liability, comprehensive, medical coverage. The deductible on the travel trailer is $500 with replacement cost included.

Now as this was discussed earlier, the replacement cost is "like value" and not replacing the old trailer with a new trailer as some seem to think. Thus if the book value on the trailer today is $35K then the replacement value is $35K less the deductible. It is not what one paid for the trailer 5 years ago.

Bob

I really should find my policy and read it. Insurance turns me off, LOL. From memory, I have no deductible. The trusted agent told me the difference between a 500 deductible and no deductible and I went with no deductible. But like I said, I need to get out the policy and read it to be sure about any of this. I did just pay the 316.00 premium though.

[mnoland30]

I was up in the hills following a friend out. He had a flat, and had a plug kit but no compressor. I had my Viair compressor. It took him less than 5 minutes to fix the tire. We drove 200 miles home at highway speeds with no issue.

It won't help with a blowout, but it sure works with a nail or screw hole.

As for the gorilla wrench, I carry a cheater bar. It is an iron pipe that slips over the wrench to give you better leverage.

With dual wheels the Anderson leveler eliminates the need for a jack unless you have two flats on the same side. I consider that a real possibility, so I carry two spares. The chances of finding a tire match while traveling seems remote.

I've upgraded the load rating of my tires and haven't had a flat in 6 years.

I stopped to help a woman with a flat once. She was dressed in her sunday best, and had called for roadside assistance. We could not find the spare. She called the dealer and they told her it was under the bottom of the trunk. I didn't believe it, but she insisted I rip out the bottom to see. It wasn't. This was in town, and it still took 40 minutes for the assistance to get there. I had found and changed the tire by then. I would have liked to hear her conversation with the guy that told her it was under the trunk lining.

Another friend had a flat and found the dealer had put a spare with the wrong number of lug holes.

All of this is to say it is much better to figure all of this out at home first.

When my truck died 10 miles out of Blanding Utah, It took an hour for the tow truck to arrive. Waiting in 100 degree heat with the DW and 3 dogs wasn't fun, but it wasn't something I could fix.

[TheLutter]

We called the provider that Good Sam was sending directly- got his number from Google Maps. Got an automated service that connected me with a guy who said he was in our hometown in MN despite we were on I-80 in Nebraska. They said they wouldn’t dispatch til Good Sam paid. I called local police and they said there was no tow company at the Google maps location. We ended up using the company recommended by the PD and they said it’s a scam. Good Sam, Saferide, and we all got taken. Later in the trip, in another state, we called another repair off Google and got the same automated service! Many more details that I’m not including, but this is a pretty sophisticated operation and I’d like to know how many others have been affected.