Taking a long trip without a spare tire

[Arch Hoagland]

I've done 80,000 miles worth of trips with no spare.

I had a blowout last year with the same size Michelin you have.

Road service had it changed in two hours with the same tire.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by melkyev

My 2012 Georgetown didn't come with a spare tire. I'm ready to take a 5,000 mi trip out west and am concerned that I don't have a spare tire. Do the RV roadside assistance services carry RV tires ? I have Michelin 235/80R 22.5 tires.
Should I go out and get a tire ? (Rubber only )

melkyev,
There is absolutely nothing wrong with carrying a spare tire. That is, if you have room for it and or, can protect it from the elements. There is no one on this forum or, any other RV forum that will doubt that, if you blow a tire and, call a road side assistance for service, and TELL THEM YOU ALREADY HAVE A TIRE, that your wait for service, will be considerably shorter, primarily because they don't have to go looking for your particular tire.

Now, this is not meant to be condescending but, just because one or two people have had a somewhat fast (as in around 2 hours or so) service from a roadside service which also produced the correct size tire, that doesn't mean that kind of service will happen constantly. If you're at or near "Small Town America" or, on a long stretch for which there's no towns in either direction or many, many miles, it could be quite some time before the closest roadside service, locates the correct size tire and finally gets to you for service.


Whether or not you carry one, the other side of the coin is, are you able to change it yourself and, even third, are you willing to? Knowing this is part of the basis for making the decision to carry one. And of course, the larger the coach, the more heavy duty the chassis is, the larger the tire/wheel is. And that, changes the game plan for most.

Carrying a 16" spare for small Class C coaches and, changing it in the event of a flat, is almost like changing it on a small truck. When it gets to the Class As with 19.5" wheels, that's middle of the road for most folks. Some will carry a spare and change it themselves and some won't. But, graduate to the larger Class As with the 22.5" wheels, I'd have to say that more than 95% of those owners not only don't and won't carry a spare but, won't even touch it when it comes to roadside assistance.

Even the smaller 22.5" tired Alloy tires and wheels will weigh around 120-130 lbs. or so. Not many want to goof around with that kind of weight. And of course, they just get heavier and heavier as the get larger and larger, all the way up to the massive 300 and 325 x 22.5" ones.

So, you have to decide for yourself that, if you experience a blown tire out in the out back:
1. Based on the law of average, what's the down time you'll experience?
2. What are the chances that, the roadside service, when it gets to you, will have the correct sized tire? (I know a few that have had the roadside service arrive, in an untimely manor, with the WRONG TIRES
3. If you provide just the tire (not mounted), how much will that save you in time alone and, is that important to you, based on what the conditions are where you're at, at the present time, i.e. desert, mountain passes, desolate areas, not so good parts of town--any town???

Your choice.
Scott

[coupevilleDF]

We have a 20004 GT with 70,0000 miles. The white tags are still on the original spare. Ok, it is past the magic calendar date, but it is staying under there.

[ShapeShifter]

I had a blowout after 35,000 miles, while on an Interstate highway passing through Cleveland. CoachNet found a nearby dealer with the correct size 275/80R22.5 Michelin tire, and I was back on the road in an hour and 45 minutes. Of course, I was in the middle of a big city, and as FIRE UP mentions the wait time could be a lot longer if you're in the middle of nowhere. This experience has not prompted me to consider carrying a spare, at that size it's too bulky and too heavy to make it worthwhile, at least in my mind.

If you're stuck somewhere waiting for a tire, at least you have all of the comforts of home with you.

[tropical36]

Originally Posted by melkyev

My 2012 Georgetown didn't come with a spare tire. I'm ready to take a 5,000 mi trip out west and am concerned that I don't have a spare tire. Do the RV roadside assistance services carry RV tires ? I have Michelin 235/80R 22.5 tires.
Should I go out and get a tire ? (Rubber only )

Best to have one on board and only needs to be something for getting you to a recommended tire dealer, for sorting out your problem and whether it be for a reasonable price match or for having it turned in for warranty purposes. You can't always depend on any of the above in Death Valley.
Now, having said that we blew a tire on the NY/NJ border and on a freeway, so thinking I'm going to go the route of having my mounted spare installed for getting on my way, it turned out that the people had Hankooks at a very reasonable price, so I had two installed right there on the road. This saved me a lot of time and trouble, since they were about due for new ones anyway. So, in this case, the spare wasn't required.
A cop came by during my wait and said that I was in a great place, cuz the vendors servicing the freeway by application, had to fair in their prices and services, so there was no chance for getting ripped off. That being said and if they wanted to stay on good terms with Coach Net, they'd better not be ripping people off, anyway. I think this keeps the most of them on the straight and narrow, more than anything else, so calling someone out on your own, would be taking a real chance.

[deandec]

Having a spare is like carrying an umbrella.

You only need one when you do not have one.

[Racklefratz]

Originally Posted by melkyev

My 2012 Georgetown didn't come with a spare tire. Should I go out and get a tire ?

When we bought our Beaver Patriot, the tech reminded us there was no spare tire. He also noted that the lug nut spec for our Patriot tires was 450 ft/lbs. He invited me to consider how I would provide that kind of torque, should the need arise. The answer was obvious.

We drove that motorhome for 15 years, never needing to change a tire on the road.

[Racklefratz]

Originally Posted by deandec

Having a spare is like carrying an umbrella. You only need one when you do not have one.

Yep, with one exception - an umbrella works by itself. A spare RV tire needs some pretty heavy-duty equipment to get it off the RV, and the new tire back on. Most RVs don't have that equipment.

[Steady_Rest]

If you drive the main highways I can see why most people would not feel the need for a spare, help is never too far away. Out west there are beautiful areas to explore if you are willing to drive some very lonely two lane asphalt roads. Pick up a road hazard somewhere remote and you might find yourself in for a long wait, especially so if there is no cell phone service.
Being a foolish traveler the satellite image below shows where we spent the night in our Bounder after leaving the paved highway. We left the two lane at the hamlet called Sargents heading to the red balloon, where we stopped for the night at the summit. In the morning we continued east to the squiggly white road to the far right, at this point we were back on gravel, with smooth sailing from that point. This is an extreme example, but to really see the best of the west you need to venture off the interstates, but to be prudent you must be prepared with even more than a spare mounted tire.


The second image shows a beautiful location where we camped in a river canyon. This was 24 miles from a state hi-way with 14 miles of gravel road included. The right front tire that you see picked up a nail and in the morning I awoke to a flat tire, which I changed. No cell service and we were the only campers during our 3 day stay. So there you are, the very tire that was going to betray my trust in a matter of hours.
This is another reason why a few of us carry the means to extricate ourselves from a stickey wicket.

[bigben]

I've worried about this quite a bit. I've had problems on my large SUV and no road hazard coverage. Was very expensive to put a replacement on it (a Navigator LE). So as I contemplated the issue of a flat tire or one that was unrepairable, I bought one of the few extended warranties we've ever purchased. Also, we have Good Sam Platinum Roadside Assistance. And we also have the TST 507 TPMS installed. So I worried.

Now though, I don't carry a spare but I have tried to cover all the bases - just in case.

Oh yes - fully retired and we tow an Explorer. So time not really an issue and still have transportation.

[jerichorick]

Just a comment on this topic. In certain circumstances having a mounted spare or just a skin is wise. If you frequent isolated areas for long miles, or roads that need to be improved that are rough on your tires and suspension, wisdom says to be prepared. But, if you have a big rig and need to put the skin on the wheel chances are you are not equipped or qualified to do so. You just may have to drive your towed some distance to get a cell signal to call for help. Once a truck arrives having the skin is a good thing. On the spare changing breakdowns the is good when isolated IF you are physically able to handle the task. I hope those willing to carry a spare are also practiced in doing the task of changing any position on their rig that fails.

For those of us who travel the major interstates most of the time I feel carrying a spare is not necessary unless your rig has some hard to find size. It is impossible for us carry things with to cover all bad contingencies. Good, diligent maintenance is probably the best thing we can all do to avoid failures of all sorts. Even this will not prevent all of them.

Rick Y