When You Have to be Towed

Yet, with all the complexities of buses and large coaches in general, sometimes the smallest electronic connection can put your magnificent machine off the side of the road. (See the article about Coping with Stress on the Road).

Here's the scene, you are motoring down the highway and something goes wrong. Number one rule is to pull off the side of the road where it is safe: At least six feet off the pavement. If you have a choice, pull off the road where there is no immediate entrance or exit. The tow truck is a monster and it is going to need some room to work. You may be able to use manual override to maneuver the coach a bit, maybe not.

There are countless reasons why coaches fail over the road. In one case, an owner of a preowned bus stopped dead on the Shaughnessy Turnpike in Ohio near Toledo. Since the road was under construction, it backed up traffic for many miles for several hours. The previous owner had put a 5 amp slo-blo fuse in the Prevost DDEC system instead of using the specified 30 amp fuse. A big tow, two days at Detroit Diesel and a lot of very unhappy truckers and drivers for a 60-cent fuse.

Here are some tips. We recommend that you print out this article and keep it in your coach should the need arise to be towed. It may help in the midst of what can be a very confusing situation.

Stay safe. The side of a highway is a very dangerous place. Pull way over, turn off everything in the coach and get outside on the berm of the road. Turn on your 4-ways and leave them on. Grab your cell phone. If there is a fire, being outside is good. Assess the coach visually to determine is there is any smoke, fluid leaking, or other visible change from normal operating condition. If there is no visible change and everything looks good, wait a little while and try to start up again. Try to determine what has gone wrong and call either your most friendly service person or any 24-hour service number you have to help determine the most likely problem. This will be important information.

Assuming that no one is injured or in need of any medical treatment, don't call the police. They can't help you, and in many states, they will only complicate an already tricky situation. If you need protection from other drivers blasting on by, then call, but only if you really need them. You have other things to worry about.

By now, you have some idea of what went wrong. Your first call now is to, hopefully, FMCA or other towing insurance. If you don't have it, get it now (before you finish reading this article). At $125+ per hour, that 50-bucks a year for towing insurance is a bargain. Any towing insurer will try to get you to the closest possible facility to keep their costs down. Don’t be afraid to be assertive. One coach owner blew an engine on Raton Pass in Colorado and the company insisted on taking the coach to a local tire dealership. After a long negotiation, an arrangement was made to take it 110 miles to the Detroit Diesel shop. If you know what is wrong, you can wind up in the right place. If you don't know what is wrong, you may wind up with a kindly person scratching their head wondering why you are there with a coach that doesn't run. Bad. Know what you need and stick to your guns.

No matter the size or weight of your coach, you are going to need a really big tow truck. Most tow vehicles have 125,000 lb GVW permits in order to tow a sizeable coach or semi-tractor trailer. These are the big boys. But the truck itself is only part of the equation, as you need to have someone who knows how to tow a coach. As you will see, it is a different enterprise than towing any other type of vehicle. Build rapport, bribe or otherwise ingratiate yourself to the tow driver. This is the person who is going to take apart a portion of your coach and drive it down the roadway at high speed to the shop. You want this person to like you a lot.

If the engine can run at all, you will want to have air up in the coach. The tow person will have to get under the front of the coach with extension arms from the truck up and under the front axle, which will be chained tight. This will be the connection for transporting your coach to the shop.

This is exactly the time that you will want to help the tow guy. Don't even think about it. This is the time to calm travelling companions, puts and try any relaxation therapy you may have learned. Assuming that your possessions were secure before you broke down, there is nothing else to do but have a good sense of humor and pace.

The next step is the removal of the drive shaft. The drive shaft absolutely must be removed before the coach can be towed. If not, you will have the opportunity to purchase a new transmission, or have the towing company purchase a new one for you. Any driver who does not want to remove the drive shaft should be sent home, period. The drive shaft must be removed before towing your coach.

If the position of the coach is such that removal of the drive shaft is difficult, or if it is not properly lubricated, it is tough to get out. The only way to move a coach if the drive shaft can't be taken out is to get a tire company to also come on the scene, remove the tires and take out the drive axles. You don't want this to happen. If you have kept air in the coach, your level low or automatic leveling system will allow you to raise the rear end of the coach up high enough for the tow guy to get underneath and remove the drive shaft. (This is about the only time the tow guy wants to talk with you, the truth be known).

In order to tow your coach, the suspension will have to be up and brakes operational. The tow truck will supply air to the front (brake) tank for air brakes and the rear tank for the suspension system. Check (as if you aren't paying attention) your gauges to see that the appropriate amount of air is coming into the system. Most tow trucks run much higher pressures than coaches and they must regulate their air supplyto your coach.

Here's the tricky part: The tow guy should be adjusting the popoff valve on your air dryer to allow for proper air pressure in the system before taking off down the road. This will keep a balanced air flow from the truck, through your coach's system and relieved to the outside. Too much pressure can damage other parts of your coach.

If you have your tow vehicle with you, you can follow the truck, or one person can ride and another follow in your dinghy. After all you have been through, someone should get to ride in the big truck for kicks.

You may have noticed during this operation that fellow coach owners don't wave at you or honk or stop for a support-group session. No one wants to be towed and the prospect of being towed is generally one of those things that others don't want to even see. This is one of those things that you are going to experience yourself.

You will learn to hate the 20-year old gas campers bombing past you while all of this is happening, imagining what they are saying about you. The newer, the fancier your rig, we can only imagine what they might be saying.

Most tow guys want to have someone from the repair shop there when they deliver the coach. They want to make sure it is place in the right location, to discuss any problems they may have detected in the hookup and transfer. The really good tow guys are specialists at everything and they can provide very helpful information to get you back on the road. (This is also a very good time to give them the tip).

Don't expect everyone in the repair shop to drop everything and rush to your aid. They see coaches come in all the time on the back of those large trucks, but most shops will do what they can to accommodate your needs. They will have to put you into their schedule, assess the problem, get good information from you as to what really went wrong, order parts and the like. It is going to take some time, as most coaches do not break down at the right time or place. Be prepared to spend a few days at this location. Change your plans, be flexible. Your coach isn't going anywhere until it is fixed; get used to it.

The business of being towed is the best possible reminder of good maintenance. Even with the best maintenance, a coach can run into trouble and require a tow. Circumstances, vintage of coaches and conversions make differences in how they are towed, but the basics remain.

Keep the drive shaft lubed; not only for tows, but in general. Stay on top of the little things. Be mindful that even the very best tow job will likely result in some at least cosmetic damage to your coach.

PREVOST, The Ultimate Class