Community Forums

Barlow46 · 05-19-2011, 04:39 PM

My brother and I were having a discussion about not carrying a spare in a Class A. He has a fifth wheel and carries one. I told him I chose not to carry one and I depend on Coach-Net to save me. He responded with "suppose it is a Sunday afternoon and coach-net can't find you one. Why can't you use one of the tires on the tag axle to replace the flat and take the other wheel/tire off the other side of the tag and throw it in your toad. Then you could set your pressure regulator on the tag at "0" and see if it drops far enough down to hit the pavement (minus both tires and rims). I told him I wasn't sure what the tag would do without the tires/rims as to how far down it would go. He said, "at least, that would let you limp into a campground and take the toad to get a new tire on the rim". Sounds like a plan, what is the opinion of the group?
On Edit: I did tell him that I think Coach-net would tow me to a campground if necessary.

RickO · 05-19-2011, 04:57 PM

I would sure think that the tag axle is there for a reason and putting its load on your rear tires might over stress them while you were "limping". I think CoachNet is pretty good at find folks on Sunday too.

Rick

Barlow46 · 05-19-2011, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO

I would sure think that the tag axle is there for a reason and putting its load on your rear tires might over stress them while you were "limping". I think CoachNet is pretty good at find folks on Sunday too.

Rick

You are right Rick. But since the discussion, I just got to thinking about it and wondered if anyone had ever been in a situation where they had to try it. Also, I have heard that the 295/80r/22.5's are hard to find at times.

GaryKD · 05-19-2011, 05:21 PM

Hi Barlow46,
I do not know about the availability of your tire size. I do know my tire size (275X70X22.5) are really hard to find. That is why I carry a spare tire. Even if the Road Service folks find a tire, you'll pay over retail (bandit price) for it.

ctcamper · 05-19-2011, 05:48 PM

I am going to carry a plug kit and good compressor.. In 40 years I have had two blowouts , one because a dealer sold me a trailer with old rusted out electric brakes and one locked up on me, and the other was a goodyear tire on a mini van that was brand new..
I wonder , aside from getting a large rock caught inbetween the duals and ripping the side walls ( which would mean one spare would not be enough anyway ) how many gashes or rips do tires get.. I would think 99 percent, as with my experience, are punctures due to nails etc...
Only other scenario is if you had a habit of hitting curbs and damaging the cords in the tires and suffered a blowout as a result of that.

ejm4 · 05-19-2011, 06:05 PM

Removing the wheel & tire assembly is an option, but you would need to deflate the air suspension for that axle and some how chain the axle up to the frame rail. Depending on the type of coach this may not be possible.

As for not being able to find the correct size tire on a Sunday; most truck tire providers will have a used lo pro tire laying around which is substantially less then a new one and will get you out of the pickle until you can have it replaced with the correct size.

TXiceman · 05-19-2011, 06:23 PM

In my opinion, you need to carry an unmounted spare as a minimum. If it is a weekend, holiday or you are in the boonies, you cannot count on a road service to find you a tire. I would prefer to have a mounted spare.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Ken

Tha_Rooster · 05-19-2011, 06:38 PM

They just don't put space anywhere for MH's to put a spare I would have room for a 14 or15 inch TT but not a 295-22.5.

mikron · 05-19-2011, 06:53 PM

We had a tire rack made to fit under the chassis behind the gas tank. Bought a new 235/80 22.5 tire and feel better.

Barlow46 · 05-19-2011, 06:56 PM

Didn't mean for this to turn into a discussion as to whether or not to carry a spare. I think we would all agree that this would be the best choice if we had the room, could manage the weight of the tire, etc. I would like to know if the tag axle can be used without any tires/rims on it. Would it stop short of contacting the roadway?

Wayne M · 05-19-2011, 07:04 PM

I'm assuming that you have 22.5" tires.

If so, I hope you can apply about 400 foot pounds of torque to remove and install the lug nuts.

Call your road service. It's a lot less frustrating than you would think.

jfran304 · 05-19-2011, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barlow46

Didn't mean for this to turn into a discussion as to whether or not to carry a spare. I think we would all agree that this would be the best choice if we had the room, could manage the weight of the tire, etc. I would like to know if the tag axle can be used without any tires/rims on it. Would it stop short of contacting the roadway?

Instead of taking the wheels off of the tag axle I would just take one of the duals off in an emergency.

Jon

wa8yxm · 05-19-2011, 08:19 PM

Suppose it's Easter Sunday Afternoon (let's make it real hard)

Both Firestone and Goodyear have 24 hour, 7 day, a week, every day of the year, emergency road response trucks and drivers. They may doze but they never close.. Some other companies do as well.. Coach Net has contracts with many of those so the odds of them not being able to find you a tire guy.. Very slight, Very very slight.

In the "Old Days" I kept a list of 24 hour Tire Guys (Which by the way included a Mitchlin dealer) on the hard drive at work... We had to use it at least once a year.. The office phone number by the way was 9-1-1

Barlow46 · 05-19-2011, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne M

I'm assuming that you have 22.5" tires.

If so, I hope you can apply about 400 foot pounds of torque to remove and install the lug nuts.

Call your road service. It's a lot less frustrating than you would think.

Wayne, I would call Coach-Net first but if they could not located a tire (or if the tire cost was outrageous) would removing the tag wheels be an option instead of them towing me to a repair shop. I have no intention of wrestling with a 22.5 tire on a rim. Actual torque on my setup is about 625 if I remember correctly.