Fifth Wheel Trailer Towing

Unlike a standard tow, fifth wheel trailer towing demands specialized hitches, vehicle compatibility, and experienced operators. At Riverside Towing, we provide expert fifth wheel towing services across Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, and surrounding areas.

Whether you’re moving a recreational RV, livestock trailer, or gooseneck equipment hauler, we bring the correct equipment and training to ensure a safe, legal, and efficient transport.

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A fifth wheel trailer uses a specialized coupling device—known as a fifth wheel hitch—mounted in the bed of a pickup truck. This type of hitching system sits over the rear axle rather than behind it, offering significantly better weight distribution, turning radius, and towing stability. Fifth wheel trailers are most often used for:

  • Large RVs and mobile homes with extended frames
  • Horse and livestock trailers requiring greater balance
  • Gooseneck commercial haulers with high-capacity loads
  • Toy haulers and enclosed cargo trailers with heavy contents

Because of their size and design, these trailers require towing professionals who understand not just connection mechanics, but the physics of load transfer, sway reduction, and hitch articulation. Incorrect attachment or the wrong vehicle match can lead to dangerous handling, equipment damage, or highway liability.

Specialized Equipment for Fifth Wheel and Gooseneck Compatibility

At Riverside Towing, we maintain a diverse fleet of towing vehicles that are fully outfitted for fifth wheel and gooseneck towing, with the necessary hitches, receiver plates, and kingpin adapters. This includes:

  • Heavy-duty wrecker systems with integrated fifth wheel and gooseneck hitches
  • Adjustable kingpin receivers rated for high-torque coupling
  • Axle support and trailer stabilization gear for damaged or off-balance loads
  • Tow lighting systems, braking control integration, and sway prevention measures
  • Recovery skids and lift gear for off-road repositioning

Whether your trailer is at a campground, roadside, construction site, or storage lot, we’ll dispatch the right team and tools for a seamless hookup and safe relocation.

How We Handle Complex Fifth Wheel Trailer Jobs in Practice

Riverside Towing performs complex fifth wheel trailer recoveries throughout Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island, and East Moline. These are not standard tows—they require specialized hitches, axle stabilization, and DOT-compliant transport. Examples of recent operations include:

  • RV Breakdown on I-80: Mechanical failure during travel. We dispatched a wrecker with a fifth wheel adapter, secured the trailer over the axle, and transported it to a certified repair shop.

  • Livestock Trailer Axle Damage in LeClaire: After a structural failure, we stabilized the trailer, winched it from gravel terrain, and re-hitched it for short-haul transport without animal injury.

  • Gooseneck Commercial Hauler in Downtown Davenport: A disabled equipment trailer was moved from a tight urban lot using rear-approach fifth wheel hookup and escorted through city traffic.

  • Horse Trailer Tire Blowout on US-61: Emergency roadside response with livestock onboard. We stabilized the trailer and towed it to a secure location for tire replacement.

Each job required proper hitch matching, trailer lighting and brake system checks, and load re-balancing to ensure safety and compliance during tow.

24/7 Emergency Towing

Heavy Duty Towing

Fifth Wheel Trailer Towing

Trailer Swaps and Load Transfers: Engineered for Safety, Designed for Uptime

Fifth wheel towing isn’t always a straight pull-and-go. When trailers are disabled, overloaded, or no longer roadworthy, Riverside Towing steps in to perform on-site trailer swaps and cargo transfers—executed with precision, safety, and full DOT compliance.

These aren’t makeshift fixes—they’re professionally managed operations backed by certified operators and load-handling equipment. Our most common trailer swap scenarios include:

  • Coordinating compatible replacement trailers with proper fifth wheel or gooseneck configurations, staged and dispatched on a timed schedule

  • Offloading and rebalancing cargo using forklifts, pallet jacks, hydraulic dollies, or rotator-assisted lifts, based on load weight and center of gravity

  • Performing mid-route load transfers after coupling failure, axle damage, or tire blowouts—especially when trailers are blocking high-traffic roads

  • Managing seasonal RV swaps and fleet transitions, including dealer-to-dealer moves, campground relocations, and final-mile delivery resets

  • On-the-spot freight repositioning due to trailer listing, load collapse, or improperly secured goods flagged during inspection or roadside checks

Every transfer is planned and executed according to DOT securement rules, FMCSA cargo handling regulations, and weight distribution standards. Our goal is to prevent cascading damage, protect your freight, and eliminate avoidable downtime.

Tools we deploy for safe swaps include:

  • Forklifts rated for 10K+ lbs

  • Pallet lifts and winch-based repositioning systems

  • Load bars, binders, and dunnage for re-securing cargo

  • Backup trailers and certified operators ready for legal reattachment and haul-away

Trailer swaps are not a last resort—they’re a controlled solution we execute daily for carriers, fleet managers, and private RV owners across the Quad Cities. At Riverside Towing, we don’t guess. We calculate, stabilize, and move your cargo legally, safely, and without delay.

Certified Operators, Legal Routing, and Full Documentation

Every fifth wheel or gooseneck towing assignment at Riverside Towing is handled by professionals who do more than operate a truck—they manage liability, legal compliance, and safety-critical logistics at every step.

Our operators are:

  • WreckMaster and TRAA certified in advanced trailer recovery, weight distribution, and specialty hitch systems—essential for safe attachment and transport of fifth wheel RVs, commercial haulers, and gooseneck equipment trailers.
    Example: In a recent livestock trailer recovery near LeClaire, our operator executed a fifth wheel re-coupling in muddy conditions with zero injury or cargo loss—thanks to WreckMaster-certified gear placement and securement.

     

  • Trained in DOT, FMCSA, and OSHA compliance, including brake testing, lighting systems, reflective compliance, and hitch safety checks before every haul.
    Example: During a commercial equipment tow in Bettendorf, a faulty lighting harness was identified and corrected on-site by a certified tech—preventing a likely DOT violation during inspection.

     

  • Experienced with sensitive cargo, including animals, fragile goods, and mechanically vulnerable trailers.
    Example: A vintage Airstream RV stalled on I-74 was winched and secured using soft-strap rigging and frame-safe attachment to prevent frame warping—an operation few companies are trained to execute.

     

  • Compliant with full documentation standards, including timestamped photo logs, custody chain reports, and signed incident reports as required by insurance providers and law enforcement.

Routing and Legal Oversight Includes:

  • Axle weight and gross vehicle weight compliance based on tow vehicle and trailer combination

  • Interstate and intrastate transport permit management for oversize/overweight loads

  • Escort vehicle coordination and flagging for routes across Iowa, Illinois, and beyond

  • Advance route planning for bridge clearance, urban restrictions, and hazardous zones

Whether we’re moving a mobile office across state lines or recovering a fifth wheel camper after a mechanical failure, every detail is logged, reviewed, and executed to legal standard. With Riverside Towing, your cargo is protected—not just physically, but legally and professionally.

Call Now for Expert Fifth Wheel Towing in the Quad Cities

Whether you’re stuck roadside with a broken hitch, need a secure RV tow, or facing a mid-route trailer failure, Riverside Towing is ready 24/7. We provide safe, compliant fifth wheel and gooseneck towing across Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, and beyond.

Don’t leave your high-value trailer to a general tow truck. Call the team with the equipment, certifications, and regional experience to get the job done right—Riverside Towing.

Our Fast Response Services Include: 

At Riverside Towing, we offer a full spectrum of professional towing, transport, recovery, and roadside assistance services throughout Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge, Blue Grass, and the entire Quad Cities region. Our 24/7 dispatch team is always ready to deploy certified operators and specialized vehicles for fast, safe, and reliable service—no matter the weather or road conditions.

Heavy Duty Services

  • Heavy Duty Towing

  • Heavy Wrecker Towing

  • Heavy Wrecker

  • Rotator Crane Service

  • Heavy Cargo Services

Medium Duty Services

  • Medium Duty Towing

  • Medium Duty Wrecker

Roadside Assistance

  • Lock Outs

  • Tire Changes

  • Fuel Delivery

  • Jump Starts
Towing Services
Truck & Commercial Vehicle Towing

  • Dump Truck Towing

  • Box Truck Towing

  • Work Truck Towing

  • Motor Coach Towing

  • Rivian Truck Towing

Recovery Services

  • Off Road Recovery

  • Winching

  • Up Righting

  • Mud Road Recovery

  • Ag Implement Recovery

  • Sunken Trailer Lifting
Additional Services

  • Semi Towing

  • Long Distance Towing

  • Transport Towing

  • Motorcycle Towing

  • Mobile Tire Change

  • Battery Replacement
  •  Load Shifts and Restacks
  • Semi Breakdown Assistance
Specialty Equipment Services

  • Decking & Undecking Services

  • Bunking & Unbunking

  • Equipment Storage

Other Specialty Services

  • Truck Decking

  • Trailer Stacking

  • Mud Extractions

  • Mobile Car Repair

Storage Solutions

  • Semi-Truck Storage

  • Tractor-Trailer Storage

  • Cargo Storage

Fifth Wheel Trailer Towing: Frequently Asked Questions

What qualifies as a fifth wheel trailer?

Fifth wheel trailers connect to a special hitch mounted in the bed of a truck (not the bumper). They are commonly used for RVs, livestock haulers, and large utility or equipment trailers due to their better stability and weight capacity.

Yes. We are trained in the safe towing and recovery of fifth wheel trailers with slide-outs, hydraulic leveling systems, and custom builds. We assess each unit’s configuration before moving to ensure stability and avoid damage.

Not necessarily. If your trailer is stranded or parked on private property, we can recover it without your presence, as long as we have access and the appropriate ownership details.

Yes. If your towing vehicle has broken down along with the fifth wheel trailer, we can dispatch the appropriate equipment to transport both units safely—either as a tandem recovery or with separate vehicles.

Absolutely. We perform trailer swaps and cargo transfers on-site, whether it’s due to a mechanical failure, seasonal move, or mid-haul load shift. We use forklifts, dollies, and winches to handle transfers safely and legally.

Our operators handle all DOT checks, brake inspections, lighting and hitching protocols, and route clearance. For interstate hauls, we manage the necessary permits and escort coordination as needed.

Yes. We are fully insured, and all heavy recovery operators are WreckMaster and TRAA certified. Every tow includes timestamped documentation and chain-of-custody logs suitable for insurance claims or commercial compliance.

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