JEEP TOWING INCIDENT - Insurance advice

[kimbalee]

Socal to Texas flat towing 2003 jeep wrangler TJ manual transmission behind moho. Texas back west to Cali hit some gnarly potholes which knocked it out of neutral and grenaded transfer case & front driveshaft & possibly transmission. Question: jeep has full coverage with geico - do we tell them we were driving or towing? Will they cover anything?

 

[Shrub Lurker]

Towing, that’s a comp claim. The major insurer I used to work for covered at least three of these I was involved with

 

[SBMech]

I am sorry to say, but it's highly unlikely that any sort of pothole caused it to engage a gear IMO, it would be impossible unless something like a stick or a piece of brush got up in between the transmission and the shifting linkage to cause that. You have to remember that it's spring loaded to stay in neutral.

I mean it's possible if you had something hanging on the gear knob heavy enough to cause it to move, from the impact, but that's the only way I can imagine it happening, and even then the specific leverage would be very lucky to happen.

All that negative stuff being said, it's still an accident, even if it was someone's fault for failing to check it when leaving etc. If you have full coverage insurance it should cover it?

I mean it's even possible someone was pulling a dickmove at a fuel stop and engaged it....who knows with all the weirdos running around these days.

Maybe check cameras if you have them setup to watch your behind view, maybe they caught something?

 

[4Waters]

I am sorry to say, but it's highly unlikely that any sort of pothole caused it to engage a gear IMO, it would be impossible unless something like a stick or a piece of brush got up in between the transmission and the shifting linkage to cause that. You have to remember that it's spring loaded to stay in neutral.

I mean it's possible if you had something hanging on the gear knob heavy enough to cause it to move, from the impact, but that's the only way I can imagine it happening, and even then the specific leverage would be very lucky to happen.

All that negative stuff being said, it's still an accident, even if it was someone's fault for failing to check it when leaving etc. If you have full coverage insurance it should cover it?

I mean it's even possible someone was pulling a dickmove at a fuel stop and engaged it....who knows with all the weirdos running around these days.

Maybe check cameras if you have them setup to watch your behind view, maybe they caught something?

I've had someone remove the pin holding my receiver in at the lake once, so I could see someone doing a dick move like you described above

 

[Ace in the Hole]

I am sorry to say, but it's highly unlikely that any sort of pothole caused it to engage a gear IMO, it would be impossible unless something like a stick or a piece of brush got up in between the transmission and the shifting linkage to cause that. You have to remember that it's spring loaded to stay in neutral.

I mean it's possible if you had something hanging on the gear knob heavy enough to cause it to move, from the impact, but that's the only way I can imagine it happening, and even then the specific leverage would be very lucky to happen.

All that negative stuff being said, it's still an accident, even if it was someone's fault for failing to check it when leaving etc. If you have full coverage insurance it should cover it?

I mean it's even possible someone was pulling a dickmove at a fuel stop and engaged it....who knows with all the weirdos running around these days.

Maybe check cameras if you have them setup to watch your behind view, maybe they caught something?

Saw the remnants of someone forgetting to put a jeep in neutral and leaving it in a low gear. Motor looked like a bomb went off in it.

 

[SBMech]

Saw the remnants of someone forgetting to put a jeep in neutral and leaving it in a low gear. Motor looked like a bomb went off in it.

I think that was posted here, the pusher did not even feel it, and in like second gear the engine was spinning 18k or something crazy like that till it melted and locked up !

 

[Tooned Up]

So you started with the transmission in gear and transfer case in neutral and the transfer case engaged?

 

[2Driver]

I’m pretty sure you have to tell them what happened or you’re committing insurance fraud.

 

[boatpi]

With the greatest due respect insurance claims are interesting , if you do something stupid ,more often than not if you’re honest it’s a covered event.

 

[CLdrinker]

Must of been one hell of a pothole.

Insurance covers stupid so just tell them the truth.

If you can buy a can am on Friday total it on Saturday and make a claim on Monday You can get anything covered lol.

 

[pronstar]

 

[Sherpa]

I tried like hell once (driving over 85 mph) trying in traffic to catch some dipshit in a pusher flat towing a late model jeep with the steering locked and it wasn’t even close to being straight.
He was frying those front tires big time….

Literally could not catch him let alone stop the dumbass..

I kept looking for a parts trail!

 

[Ace in the Hole]

I think that was posted here, the pusher did not even feel it, and in like second gear the engine was spinning 18k or something crazy like that till it melted and locked up !

I saw it on tiktok, post 11 has the video...insane. Maybe 10 years ago I saw a photo of a Tahoe with a wheel that was ground to a flat point that had been left in park with the e brake set...behind a pusher. It was absolutely fucked. This shit happens so I'm sure the OP's insurance has been down the road before.

 

[rush1]

I've had someone remove the pin holding my receiver in at the lake once, so I could see someone doing a dick move like you described above

I've had some one do that to me flat towing my car when I was parked for the night in an rv spot at a flying j. Good thing I check every morning before pulling out.

 

[4Waters]

I've had some one do that to me flat towing my car when I was parked for the night in an rv spot at a flying j. Good thing I check every morning before pulling out.

Yup, when I go get the trailer I walk completely around the truck and trailer, check the pin, lights, all 4 corners for damage...., someone also stole a tail light as well a couple of years ago. I use a locking pin now but I still carry a regular pin just in case and 1 extra t-light and a red and yellow marker light.

 

[Shrub Lurker]

Every one that went across my desk was “shifting cargo”

 

[coolchange]

Caught a guy flat towing a Baja in gear and pulled next to him, pointed back, then did a spinning motion with my finger. He knew immediately and the look of horror on his face i still remember. It had to be in fourth cause I couldn’t see it going more than a hundred yards at freeway speed in another gear.

 

[kat_williams]

Socal to Texas flat towing 2003 jeep wrangler TJ manual transmission behind moho. Texas back west to Cali hit some gnarly potholes which knocked it out of neutral and grenaded transfer case & front driveshaft & possibly transmission. Question: jeep has full coverage with geico - do we tell them we were driving or towing? Will they cover anything?

Same thing happened to me. Hit a big pothole, it put the trans in park, t-case in hi-4wd, and e-brake on tight. Flat spotted the rear tires bad and blew up the t-case and trans. Both driveshafts was ok. Insurance covered it.

 

[Kachina26]

I've had someone remove the pin holding my receiver in at the lake once, so I could see someone doing a dick move like you described above

They probably saw you leave your cart in a handicap space...

 

[kimbalee]

Yes - we always tow it in 5th gear with the transfer case in neutral. Double check it by taking foot off the clutch and that morning the jeep rolled back a little bit further while hooking it up to the blue ox confirming it was in neutral. We then drove 350+ miles up to Amarillo, TX and were transitioning onto the 87 north to camp for the night and hit the gnarliest bumps/holes and we think that is where it happened. We only drove 15 more miles to our camp spot, went to start the jeep and unhook it and there were no gears but the motor was fine. Then we looked under the jeep and saw the carnage with oil still visible so it had just happened.

So you started with the transmission in gear and transfer case in neutral and the transfer case engaged?

 

[kimbalee]

With the greatest due respect insurance claims are interesting , if you do something stupid ,more often than not if you’re honest it’s a covered event.

Excellent advice - thank you!

 

[kimbalee]

The husband made the mistake of watching that video - he was mortified. All in all, we got very lucky. Our jeep guy told us he has seen the driveshaft literally cut a jeep in 2 ripping the seats & center console out and destroying the motor. He also told us that this is a known jeep issue and going forward, we need to trailer the jeep for any long distances. Live and learn I guess.

 

[kimbalee]

Update: Thank you all for your responses and advice. Honesty is the best policy and it looks like Geico is going to cover everything. The adjuster is going to call us to confirm later today. Once again the knowledge-base of the RDP inmate community is unmatched. Thanks again!

 

[Groper]

Humm after owning 3 generations of Jeeps and still flat towing a JKRU im trying to figure out how this happened if the transfer case was in neutral.
With an auto trans the transfer case goes in to neutral and the trans into park.

 

[ArizonaKevin]

The husband made the mistake of watching that video - he was mortified. All in all, we got very lucky. Our jeep guy told us he has seen the driveshaft literally cut a jeep in 2 ripping the seats & center console out and destroying the motor. He also told us that this is a known jeep issue and going forward, we need to trailer the jeep for any long distances. Live and learn I guess.

I would respectfully disagree with your jeep guy on this being a known issue and requiring trailering of your jeep. Jeeps are the most common TOADs on the road, I would guess there have been millions of miles of jeeps being towed behind RV's without issue. My parents alone have about 100k of towing miles between TJ and JK without issues, my grandparents are closer to 200k of towing both TJ and JK. Mistakes happen, from what I remember of my TJ the detent of neutral in the TCase wasn't super easy to find, very possible that you got it in neutral but didn't get it in the detent to keep it there on rough roads.

Congrats on getting it covered!

 

[Groper]

I would respectfully disagree with your jeep guy on this being a known issue and requiring trailering of your jeep. Jeeps are the most common TOADs on the road, I would guess there have been millions of miles of jeeps being towed behind RV's without issue. My parents alone have about 100k of towing miles between TJ and JK without issues, my grandparents are closer to 200k of towing both TJ and JK. Mistakes happen, from what I remember of my TJ the detent of neutral in the TCase wasn't super easy to find, very possible that you got it in neutral but didn't get it in the detent to keep it there on rough roads.

Congrats on getting it covered!

This ^^^^ I ALWAYS start the Jeep and put the trans in gear to make sure that the Transfer Case was in neutral on my LJ with the JKRU the TC does have better indexing and it's pretty clear that the TC is in neutral.

 

[Bigbore500r]

Same thing happened to me. Hit a big pothole, it put the trans in park, t-case in hi-4wd, and e-brake on tight. Flat spotted the rear tires bad and blew up the t-case and trans. Both driveshafts was ok. Insurance covered it.

Aaaaand it turned the radio on, tuned it to spanish, turned the bass all the way up , blew the front speakers, ripped the driver seat base leather and spilled coffee on the back seat. That pothole was a smart sumunabitch!

 

[jetboatperformance]

10's of thousands of automobile mechanical warranty and insurance claims inspected and reviewed since 1986 , have seen one incident where a guy at Lopez lake LEFT his towed Mazda in gear after hooking the tow bar to his diesel pusher and it litterally "back ran the engine" (without ignition obviously ) Resulted in an engine loss . I'm hard pressed to see how a trans or transfer case with detented shifters could have engaged itself ... Personally I'd claim ignorance , I suspect they will still pay the claim.I deal will at least 30 insureres and underwriters , they are pretty smart cookies .... be honest

 

[Teague_JR]

Not saying it was or wasn't the pothole, but insurance covers stupidity. EX: "I forgot my drainplug and my boat sank" is covered. Its not considered grossly negligent or reckless operation.