Spare Tire

[AdrianLee]

John Canfield had a great idea for carrying a spare tire and one that I am seriously thinking of doing. His idea is to suspend an un-mounted tire between the rails of the chassis.

Someone on another forum brought up a good question - what effect would road grime / dirt / crud / etc have on the inside of the tire over time?

What are your thoughts?

[AdrianLee]

John Canfield had a great idea for carrying a spare tire and one that I am seriously thinking of doing. His idea is to suspend an un-mounted tire between the rails of the chassis.

Someone on another forum brought up a good question - what effect would road grime / dirt / crud / etc have on the inside of the tire over time?

What are your thoughts?

[CHIPPYSGT]

I think the tire would deteriorate just like the mounted ones. The only thing I can see beneficial about it is you would have a matching tire in case of a flat. You would still have to pay a tire service to come out to mount and change it. I think the cost will still be several hundred dollars.

I'm probably going to have to sit for several hours anyway so they might as well bring a tire with them.

[FrontRangeRVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by CHIPPYSGT:
I think the tire would deteriorate just like the mounted ones. The only thing I can see beneficial about it is you would have a matching tire in case of a flat. You would still have to pay a tire service to come out to mount and change it. I think the cost will still be several hundred dollars.

I'm probably going to have to sit for several hours anyway so they might as well bring a tire with them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree....also, it appears that the unmounted tire would hang down way too low....you're not going to save that much money anyway since the tire service will have to come anyway...

[Tom N]

Where can you access the frame rails on a DP?? I thought they were raised above the basement.

How about placing the unmounted tire in a large plastic garbage bag??

[AdrianLee]

All good responses -

My reasoning is that if I have tire damage somewhere, even though I have ERS, they might not be able to get a matching tire without waiting a day or so. It would be a matter of mounting the spare tire on the wheel.

I have not crawledunder and measured thingsw butroughly it looks like I have enough room between the rails just aft of the propane tank. The tire would have to hang between the rails. If it did not fit between them it would be a deal killer.

My tires are 275/80R 22.5 XZE Michlin's. I just do not know how common they are in some small towns.

[SargeW]

I was told by another member of the forum that the tires we have on our MH are RV tires, and are not routinely carried by many truck centers. Carrying a spare with you may cut your down time significantly. If you have roadside service, the tire change is free, and if they have to mount your spare it's less than $100. FWIW.........

[Colette and Joe]

Adrian and Barbara, Hi there.
Regarding spare tire, we will Never leave home without one. We have had 3 flats, first due to over weight on that axle, second was damage due from the first, in both cases we were very lucky to be next to an exit with a truck tire place. After the first we ordered new tires so they matched and a spare. We keep the best on the front. The rears dual were the ones that went flat.
Our third was at Mt. Rainier in Wa. pulled into cg and nail got it. Called our insurance co and they sent a service truck out that could raise the rig and mount the tire. incredible.
We learned with the first that it could take weeks to get a replacement tire and that would be a terrible delay to a trip. We carry it in the basement, but would put it in the toad if need be. Have seen some put it on the roof in a tire cover near the ladder. I think Foretravel does that, or at least that is where I have seeen it.
Safe travels to you and hope to see you again down the road.

[rebelsbeach]

Good topic....If I'm not mistaken, the last time I communicated with John, he was carrying his spare tire on the roof of his Jeep Liberty for now...I have been under my KD and have spoken on the phone to "Big Trace" of this forum who has a Horizon "FD" and we were both amazed at the abundance of space in the center rear underneath of these coaches...There was the guy that had mounted a bracket for the tire there and I also think the "bag" idea is a good one.

When my new coach arrives I am planning to purchase a new tire (no rim) and keep it somewhere...

There are indeed commercial truck tire repair vehicles with jacks that can lift the coach,but I don't want to take the chance they won't have my tire and "then" be forced to mismatch...

My third motor home is on the way and I'm wondering "when" I'll get ALL of this down to a science...

[Gary CA]

I have the 34H model. I was able to strap a 9R22.5 under the belly of the coach in a perfect void between the fuel tank and the water tank. This area allowed me to secure the rimless tire to cross rails and frame rails where they meet. There was no conflict with wiring, fuel lines etc. I simply put the tire on a square of plywood balanced on a floor jack. I lifted it in place and used two straps just to hold it up. I removed the floor jack and sat straight up with my head in the tire and resecured it using 4 quality nylon straps. The tire is square in the frame, above the fuel tank by an inch or two.

By the way, the 9R22.5 is the same height as my stock 22.5s it is an inch narrower. The 9R22.5 is readily available as a used spare at a tire store near you, $50. The plan here is not to wait for a "speciality RV tire" when I need a spare now. When I buy a complete new set of RV tires, I will rotate out the 9R.

I'm not worried about this tire getting dirty with debris or having water splashed up on it, it is out of the sun. I can cut or untie the straps quickly so the tire guy can make the change and I'm on my way........to a tire store.
Good topic

[smlranger]

Adrian:

I carry an unmounted spare in one of my compartments, primarily to minimize delays in getting a replacement tire. I had to wait a week to get my G670's, and every dealer I called within 50 miles of where I live had to order them.

You are correct there is a lot of room just in front of the rear axle adjacent to the LP tank. Joe-K has a thread that shows a nice bracket he made that allows him to carry a mounted spare. He uses the slide retraction winch to hoist it. I would think you could devise a way to hoist just the tire with some modification of his design.

If I ever need the space my spare now occupies, I plan to hang it under the coach.

Are you catching any fish at Lake Lanier?

[Ding-a-ling]

Adrian,

I thought about carrying a mounted spare, then decided that to save weight I would just carry a spare tire. In order to keep it free of road grime and stones I cut a long strip of heavy cardboard to fit across the bead on both sides. Then, using a roll of 8" heavy-weight wrapping plastic, wrapped three laps around the tire. Plastic keeps the tire clean and cardboard is strong enough to keep out stones. Finally, using nylon web straps, it is suspended between the extended frame rails of the coach.

Works for me.

[Joe-K]

I was always uncomfortable not having a spare tire. I may be overly cautious, but ever since a tire came apart on me several years ago on the way to Florida and I realized that a day of the vacation would have been lost without the tire, I like carrying one. Tomorrow I'm leaving on a 4200 mile round trip to South Dakota and Yellowstone. We've got a tight schedule that would really be thrown in disarray if I lost a day waiting for a tire. I'm comforted by knowing I have a mounted spare, but hopefully I'll never need it.


Anyway, the following is a cut and pasted version of a post I put up a couple years ago about the spare tire carrier I made. The pictures should give an idea of how the tire is carried under the motorhome.

Subsequent to the origonal post, I upsized my tires to 275/70/R22.5 so the size has changed, but the tire is still not a readily available size



I probably need to make a drawing of the mount, or else I need to lower the tire and take a better photograph of the "H" frame mount I made, but in these pictures you can get an idea of how to install the tire.

Incidently, reason I wanted to carry the spare, is that I found the 235/80/R22.5 very hard to located. All the dealers I spoke with offered to order me one and I'd have it in 2-3 days, but that would not work well if I ever needed on while traveling. I ended up purchasing a used tire for $ 50 that was inspected and was going to be sent out for retreading. It has 6/32 tread, and was mounted for free on a new steel wheel I bought for $ 105.00. I figure the $ 155.00 I have in the project is for peace of mind.


In this photograph I have opened the door where my propane tank is located. You can see the tire behind the tank where it is pulled up against the frame.



This photo is from under the motorhome and better shows the tire. The propane tank is just visible in the upper right corner. Incidently, the wire harness hanging down if for side mounted turn signals and clearance lights. Freightliner provides the harness, Winnebago just doesn't install the lights.



A closeup of the tire and frame. The 2"x2" tubing spacer is visible. The "H" frame sits on those spacers inside the frame rail to provide the height neccessary for the wheel offset. I wanted to mount the tire high enough so the tire would be snug against the frame rails.



This one is pretty obvious. The tire is mounted to four 1/2" stainless bolts welded to the "H" frame with 4 stainless washers and Nyloc nuts.

To remove the tire, I made up a cross bar, that fits into the lug nut holes and has an eye bolt attached to it. I use a winch that came with the motorhome to lower the tire by hooking the strap to the eyebolt, and bracing the winch itself against the frame that supports the propane tank. It is very easy then to crank the 160 lb tire up against the mounting bolts. I do have to slide under the motorhome to put the nuts on, but hopefully, this will be something I don't need to do often.

[AdrianLee]

You guys have convinced me to go ahead and get a spare and hang it under the coach between the rails. Thanks a lot.

No, I have not had a chance to wet a line here on Lake Lanier yet. Hopefully I will try it this afternoon. I see a lot of people fishing but so far I have not seen any one catching any yet.

John - your discription of the 10% grade - sleet - rain - snow - ice - is exactly why I am smart enough not to go to Alaska. I enjoy everyone's pictures and think it must be a really exciting trip but I do not think I have what it takes to drive in that kind of environment.

Oh- BTW John - if you run into a caravan of Newmar's say hello for Barbara and I. The wagon masters - Jim and Bev are real close friends of ours. This is their 4th trip up to Alaska. They have really given me a rough time for mot going up there with them. Stay safe.