Right way to change a tire?

[Fatbear5]

Having just had my first blowout (inside rear tire) I found out what a hassle changing a tire can be. The tire guy brought his own jack with him but I'm wondering if I can use the levelers to lift the coach.

I picture placing a block under the appropriate leveling jack to get enough extra elevation for the tire to clear the ground and then changing the tire. I would, of course, lower the coach onto a jackstand if available, but if I didn't have one with me, would it be safe to remove the tire using the coach's leveling jack only?

Also, do I need a heavy duty jackstand for my 35' RV or will an automobile jackstand work?

Thanks/Jeff

[gg]

1. All the leveling system I had and read about say no to lifting the wheels off the ground.

2. It is not safe to be under a vehicle suspended by the hydraulic
jack system from the coach or a floor jack unless you have a additional jack stand 1.5 times the axle rating. --No stacking up some wood under the axle doesn't count.

3 Is the side of the road level??? usually slanted to the ditch

4 How do you plan to tighten the bolts to the correct torque ? say 475 ft lbs.

Call the tow/ repair service.

Good luck

[greystroke]

Just bought my MH so I signed up for Coach-net to handle my road problems.

My jacks will lift the wheels off the ground but I would place some kind of blocks under the axles to catch the MH if it falls. I will be removing all my wheels for inspection shortly and that is how I will do it. Never put complete trust in just a hydraulic jack. If you use jackstands make sure the rating is high enough. You can determine what you need by weighing your unit.

If you raise both rear tires it is good idea to chock the tires that remain on the ground since most emergency braking is on the back tires.

Make sure to torque the bolts IAW your manuals.

[LHyzer]

Myself I prefer to leave the tire change to the Road Service provider. For one thing the tire is too heavy to be moving around and the lug nuts are a bear to break loose. My unit does not have a spare so I would have to call for service anyway. Its not worth taking a chance of being injured changing a tire. Too many things could go wrong.

A car jack stand would not be suitable for use on an RV. At least I wouldn't use one of them on mine. They are not rated for the weight they would have to support.

Your Leveling jacks were not designed to be used to lift the coach off the ground to change tires. They were designed to be used for leveling purposes only.

Please be careful no matter what decision you make when you have a tire changed.

Stay safe and have a good one.

[EngineerMike]

Obviously having somebody else change a tire is best from a number of standpoints.

If you can't, you can use the leveling jacks to lift one side of the vehicle enough to slide a suitable size jack under the axle (I use a 12 ton) and pump the axle up for tire clearance, while keeping my body out of the way should the levelers fail or jack burst (it happens). Then I take the tire out while not getting myself in harms way. I haven't had to do an inner dual yet. Would probably rig a firm stand for that chore as I'm pretty sure you'd have to get into the wheel well a fair amount to wrestle the inner off/on.

I use a 2 foot ratcheting torque wrench on a 4x torque multiplier (available thru Snap-on or practically anybody these days) with a net after friction of 3.33x. Takes a few wraps w/the torque wrench, but I only need 70-75# pull to achieve 475 ft-lbs on the nut.

Again, if I have roadside service, they get to do it how they want. The above only applied in Mexico, or in my yard when I'm doing maintenance on brakes, etc.

[DAN L]

i have a 3/4" harbor freight torque wrench and socket set which will loosen and tighten my lug nuts (475' #). my lug nuts are 33 mm and the wheel liner nuts are 1 3/16". i have 19.5" steel wheels with liners.
i use a jack stand to support the torque wrench as it takes about a 12" extension.
when the lug nuts have been loosened, i use the hwh leveling jacks to raise the axle i am working on and the other jack stand under the axle i am working on. chock the front wheels if you are raising the rear axle.
i carry an unmounted spare tire and have good sam road service.
when anyone loosens the wheels, make sure they are torqued with a torque wrench and recheck the torque within 1000 miles.
when my moho is in storage it is inside a garage. i keep the hwh jacks fully extended and the tires off the ground. the jacks have not retracted any for as long as 6 months. as long as there is an adequate fluid quantity in the hwh reservoir, my jacks are very reliable. for safety, i still use jack stands under the axle i am working on.

[Cruzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EngineerMike ......... I use a 2 foot ratcheting torque wrench on a 4x torque multiplier (available thru Snap-on or practically anybody these days) with a net after friction of 3.33x. Takes a few wraps w/the torque wrench, but I only need 70-75# pull to achieve 475 ft-lbs on the nut. Again, if I have roadside service, they get to do it how they want. The above only applied in Mexico, or in my yard when I'm doing maintenance on brakes, etc.

Recheck your math. My torque multiplier is 4:1 and I need to pull 118.75 ft-lbs with my SnapOn torque wrench to get my lugs to 475 ft-lbs. With a 3.33:1 you should have to pull 142.64 ft-lbs. I have 5 ton jack stands which hold the coach up just fine. That and a couple of pry bars to fine tune the alignment of the rim to the hub and it's not that bad of a job. I take mine off all the time so that it's easier to polish the rims.

[Wizard]

Good Sam ERS only cost $99.00 per year. They have over the years changed 4 tires for me, towed two cars and never took more tham 30 minutes to show up. Great value. BTW one of the cars was not mine but I was driving so it was covered. They cover not only my coach but anything I drive.