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03-14-2015, 06:24 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,645
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Can the basement compartment handle carrying a spare?
I have a 2014 Fleetwood Excursion, but I think this question applies to many different MHs. I decided I'm going to carry an unmounted spare in case of a flat. I have coach.net, but figure its better to have a tire available instead of getting stuck waiting for the wrecker to find one.
The tire is a 255 70 22.5 and weights about 90 pounds. It fits in the basement of my coach, but just barely. The basement of my Excursion are plastic watertight compartments that run side to side under the coach. There is a steel bar under the plastic for support, but it doesn't seem super strong. I'm just wondering if it can handle weight of carrying the spare. I don't see much in the coach literature about loading the basements or capacities.
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2023 Winnebago Travato
2023 Airstream Flying Cloud BH 30'
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03-14-2015, 06:39 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Bartlett, TN
Posts: 1,324
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I have a Bounder, so I am guessing the compartments are made of the same material. I carry a 80 lb scooter in one of mine, plus a few other things. I don't see 90 lbs being to heavy.
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Brian and Tammy
2017 Entegra Aspire 44b
2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
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03-14-2015, 08:56 AM
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#3
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: In a lawnchair
Posts: 11,993
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I'd say call Fleetwood and ask. I know the compartments on the bottom of the slide on our Bounder have a maximum weight capacity of about 300 pounds total IIRC. Personally I wouldn't bother with the spare; takes up too much space.
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03-14-2015, 09:24 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 4,027
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There are probably 100,000 units running around with no spare.
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Moisheh
2008 Dynasty 42' Diamond IV
1988 Bluebird PT38
2009 Silverado Toad
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03-14-2015, 09:34 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,645
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moisheh
There are probably 100,000 units running around with no spare.
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Which is an interesting fact that has nothing to do with my question
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2023 Winnebago Travato
2023 Airstream Flying Cloud BH 30'
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03-14-2015, 11:41 AM
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#6
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"Formerly Diplomat Don"
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Moorpark, Ca.
Posts: 23,922
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"jondrew".....I had a different coach (Monaco) and carried an unmounted spare around for years. I had the same size tires as yours and they are hard to find, so for me the spare was a good idea. My coach had a slide out tray and the spare sat atop the tray. I made a small metal stand out of 1/2" square tubing that supported the sides of the tire where it would span the open area of the slide tray. I wrapped the tire in plastic wrap and then bought a roll of masking tape and wrapped it again to keep it clean and preserved to a certain degree. I filled the center of it with items and didn't really lose a bunch of space.
Even though your storage bays are plastic, they're strengthened by their one piece design. You might think about attaching some angle iron down both sides of the bay and build a shelf across the bay. It will be cumbersome to get the spare up on the shelf, but it will be out of the way. Attach the angle iron at multiple points and use large flat washers. I like to get things high up in my more storage bays to gain space.
Crawl into your storage bay and move around, you'll see tat they're pretty stout.
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Don & Mary
2019 Newmar Dutch Star 4018 (Freightliner)
2019 Ford Raptor
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03-14-2015, 11:43 AM
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#7
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Community Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 53,430
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The 90 lbs won't be an issue. I couldn't fit a mounted spare in my Bounder so I carried an unmounted one. There's always an argument for and against and those who'll say they carry a credit card. When you travel to far away places you quickly realize that your not in Kansas anymore and a spare may take a few days and a huge % increase in cost to obtain.
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Cliff,Tallulah and Buddy ( 1999-2012 )
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03-14-2015, 11:54 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,645
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don
"jondrew".....I had a different coach (Monaco) and carried an unmounted spare around for years. I had the same size tires as yours and they are hard to find, ......
....Crawl into your storage bay and move around, you'll see tat they're pretty stout.
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Thanks for affirmation on my decision. You're the second person to tell me this size is hard to find. It's Ive played around a bit in the bay moving things around and it's probably fine. I put a piece of cardboard under it to make it easier to slide in and out.
Like any other insurance, I'm hoping it just sits there until it dry rots.
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2023 Winnebago Travato
2023 Airstream Flying Cloud BH 30'
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03-14-2015, 11:56 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Mcdonough, Ga.
Posts: 5,927
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jondrew
I have a 2014 Fleetwood Excursion, but I think this question applies to many different MHs. I decided I'm going to carry an unmounted spare in case of a flat. I have coach.net, but figure its better to have a tire available instead of getting stuck waiting for the wrecker to find one.
The tire is a 255 70 22.5 and weights about 90 pounds. It fits in the basement of my coach, but just barely. The basement of my Excursion are plastic watertight compartments that run side to side under the coach. There is a steel bar under the plastic for support, but it doesn't seem super strong. I'm just wondering if it can handle weight of carrying the spare. I don't see much in the coach literature about loading the basements or capacities.
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We were a Fleetwood dealer. Fleetwood bragged on their storage compartments. If i remember correctly they called it their power platform. The compartments are a composite material and are rated to carry 300 pounds. You can carry the spare and put somethings in the middle also.
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1998 Pace Arrow 35 ft. F53 Ford V10 2014 Honda CRV toad
32 years mechanic at Delta Air Lines 15 year motorhome service manager. 3 popups....2 travel trailers....5 motorhomes....loved them all.
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03-14-2015, 03:09 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Tuckerton, NJ
Posts: 164
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I carry an unmounted 275/80-22.5 in my basement. Unfortunately, I had to remove the sliding tray so I could squeeze it in. But, if I have a blowout, I won't have to buy a no name crap tire for $700 or $800! I'll have a Michelin to install.
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2005 Itasca Horizon 40FD
FMCA 428291
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03-14-2015, 03:36 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Fulltime, USA
Posts: 16,706
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Can the basement compartment handle carrying a spare?
I googled "buy michelin 255/80 22.5".
Seems everyone has them.
I had spares on my rigs with 16" tires, but they had a spare tire rack!
In over 100K miles I have not had a flat (jinx), but did have ply separation on one 16".
When we vacationed with 22.5 tires, we had space for a spare but didn't buy one, didn't need one.
Now fulltime, there aint nuff space. A spare would have aged and, not totally trusting it I would have a new tire installed after the on-road swap and place the spare back into a space I don't have. That would make 2x the cost.
But each to their own ways.
Happy trails
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03-14-2015, 06:35 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,978
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You compartment can definitely handle the weight, but if you are concerned about point loads on the plastic put a piece of plywood under the tire.
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ernieh
2019 Phaeton 37BH
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03-14-2015, 09:14 PM
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#13
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"Formerly Diplomat Don"
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Moorpark, Ca.
Posts: 23,922
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CampDaven......The OP has 255/70-22.5, not 255/80-22.5. Luckily, it's one of the sizes that Hankook makes, but usually takes two days to get in a major city. Getting stuck in a small town on a Saturday, could take until at least Tuesday to get back on the road.
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Don & Mary
2019 Newmar Dutch Star 4018 (Freightliner)
2019 Ford Raptor
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03-14-2015, 09:18 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Fulltime, USA
Posts: 16,706
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don
CampDaven......The OP has 255/70-22.5, not 255/80-22.5. Luckily, it's one of the sizes that Hankook makes, but usually takes two days to get in a major city. Getting stuck in a small town on a Saturday, could take until at least Tuesday to get back on the road.
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Ah! My bad. An 80 is too big?
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