To have a spare or not a spare that is the question

[mel s]

Originally Posted by Clifftall

I bought a few year old gently used unmounted spare. I didn't want a new one aging out while sitting in the basement. It was in good enough condition to get me on my way and gave me time to purchase a new one at my leisure.

Clifftall

I carry the best one of the 6 tires taken of each time I buy tires as an unmounted spare.
While is true that the spare has aged out, (and continues to age in a basement compartment), it's a chance I'm willing to take.
Mel
'96 Safari

[Easyrider]

There is no right answer for this one. It's all what your preference is. We just replaced all of our tires, including the spare even though it had never been used. My thought was that if I got a flat out in the middle of nowhere, I didn't want to change the tire and then get another flat shortly after just because I used an old spare that at rotted from the inside out due to age. I've never had a flat yet with our RV, but after thinking about it that is the way I went. I did talk to another RVer who had what I described happen to him. He changed the flat only to have the spare go flat before he got to a place where he could get his flat replaced. He then had to wait a day to get someone to come take care of him.

[AFChap]

Like Mel, I keep the best of the old tires when I buy new ones and carry it unmounted in a large basement bay with stuff crammed inside it. In 13 years and 100k of RV travel I have needed a spare only once when something went through a dual sidewall 9 miles from home. Since I was replacing the rear tires in about two weeks, I elected to limp to home base rather than wait for road service on a Saturday afternoon. A mobile guy came to my house on Monday and removed the bad tire and mounted the spare w/o even removing the rim from the axle. He was amazing! And I got four new tires later that week.

[Scarab0088]

We carry an unmounted spare on a rack added specifically for it.

Kept the old tire in "best condition" when we bought new tires and mounted it underneath the rear-end (w/ Gas chassis - DP's would require alternative stowage).

This, after I asked the counter rep at the Commercial Tire place during the new tire mounting...
"How much does your company charge for a tire replacement on a mobile call?"
and
"Would having an unmounted tire be a good idea?"

His answer was...Laughing..."It's a bit inflated price, for the delivery, ya'know" and "Yes, any commercial mobile service truck should be able to mount your spare."

That's what I expected. Will we ever need it? - I dunno, but we're set-up if we do

[sdennislee]

After damaging the rear dual steel rim in a rather large pot hole, it took over a day to find a rim and new tire. I now carry a mounted spare. I have the room so no big deal for me.

[Sweetbriar]

My one flat was due to a valve stem seal failure. Destroyed a year old tire which cost me around $250 (Kelley KSR 245/70-19.5). This was back in April 2012 on Friday the 13th. The new tire, a Goodyear G670, cost me $500 on the side of the interstate. Wasn't happy but my choices were a bit limited at the time. I wouldn't so much call side of the road delivered price a gouge but they do have a captive customer.

Scheduled for new tires next summer and I'm keeping one as a spare. Probably the Goodyear.

[SpaceNorman]

My experience this past weekend may change my mind on this. We drove up to visit friends in Michigan's northern lower peninsula last Wednesday. The area is rural ... but certainly not what I would consider isolated by any stretch. We had an uneventful drive up with no sign of tire problems. However, when I was prepping the coach late Saturday afternoon for a Sunday morning departure - I discovered that the outer tire on the roadside dually was completely flat. A relatively light push on the sidewall was enough to separate the bead of the tire from the rim.

I immediately placed a call to CoachNet - and found myself faced with a choice. They could immediately dispatch a fleet tire service without a tire - in the hopes that they might be able to fix it. Or, I could delay the dispatch until such time a tire could be procured and delivered by the fleet tire service. The fleet tire service would be coming from 75 miles away - at a cost of roughly $300 (which would be covered by my Coachnet policy). The catch is - you get ONE dispatch. If the fleet tire service was dispatched WITHOUT a tire and could not fix the existing tire - any subsequent dispatch would have been on my dime. I opted to wait until the fleet tire service could be dispatched with a tire.

Well ... 295/80R/22.5 tires apparently do not grow on trees. There were none to be had locally on either Saturday afternoon or Sunday. A tire was ordered first thing Monday morning - delivered to the Fleet Service dealer on Tuesday as part of their normal shipment. It was finally delivered to me and installed on Wednesday morning.

Needless to say - the length of time it took to get me back on the road was a bit of an eye opener.

I was also a very surprised to see how the fleet service folks installed the tire! The fleet tire service tech had me "unweight" the rear of the coach using my levelers ... and then grabbed a pair of tire irons (essentially a pair of specialized crow bars). It took him maybe 60 seconds to pop the old time completely off the rim. It took him another minute or two to pop the new tire onto to the rim ... and then pumped it up. Nobody touched a lug nut!!

Like I said - I may have to rethink my not carrying a spare. As much as I hate the idea of giving up that much space in basement storage - had I of had a spare tire with me, I could have been on the road Saturday night and saved myself 3+ days of waiting to get a new tire ordered, delivered to the fleet tire service provider and ultimately delivered to me and installed. I was fortunate in that we simply stayed where we were for 3 extra days - connected to shore power and enjoying the "extended trip". Had we have had that problem while on the roadside someplace - that could have been a miserable (and potentially dangerous!) 3 day wait!!!!

[WDW]

I'm interested in how folks have built / found aftermarket carriers. We have a Roadmaster spare tire carrier. We're not happy and would NOT recommend them in applications similar to ours.


2016 Coachmen Mirada 35 BH
2015 Jeep Roadmaster AT. tow bar with RVI2 supplemental.

Taking in the sight wherever our Trolley takes us...

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by SpaceNorman

My experience this past weekend may change my mind on this. We drove up to visit friends in Michigan's northern lower peninsula last Wednesday. The area is rural ... but certainly not what I would consider isolated by any stretch. We had an uneventful drive up with no sign of tire problems. However, when I was prepping the coach late Saturday afternoon for a Sunday morning departure - I discovered that the outer tire on the roadside dually was completely flat. A relatively light push on the sidewall was enough to separate the bead of the tire from the rim.

I immediately placed a call to CoachNet - and found myself faced with a choice. They could immediately dispatch a fleet tire service without a tire - in the hopes that they might be able to fix it. Or, I could delay the dispatch until such time a tire could be procured and delivered by the fleet tire service. The fleet tire service would be coming from 75 miles away - at a cost of roughly $300 (which would be covered by my Coachnet policy). The catch is - you get ONE dispatch. If the fleet tire service was dispatched WITHOUT a tire and could not fix the existing tire - any subsequent dispatch would have been on my dime. I opted to wait until the fleet tire service could be dispatched with a tire.

Well ... 295/80R/22.5 tires apparently do not grow on trees. There were none to be had locally on either Saturday afternoon or Sunday. A tire was ordered first thing Monday morning - delivered to the Fleet Service dealer on Tuesday as part of their normal shipment. It was finally delivered to me and installed on Wednesday morning.

Needless to say - the length of time it took to get me back on the road was a bit of an eye opener.

I was also a very surprised to see how the fleet service folks installed the tire! The fleet tire service tech had me "unweight" the rear of the coach using my levelers ... and then grabbed a pair of tire irons (essentially a pair of specialized crow bars). It took him maybe 60 seconds to pop the old time completely off the rim. It took him another minute or two to pop the new tire onto to the rim ... and then pumped it up. Nobody touched a lug nut!!

Like I said - I may have to rethink my not carrying a spare. As much as I hate the idea of giving up that much space in basement storage - had I of had a spare tire with me, I could have been on the road Saturday night and saved myself 3+ days of waiting to get a new tire ordered, delivered to the fleet tire service provider and ultimately delivered to me and installed. I was fortunate in that we simply stayed where we were for 3 extra days - connected to shore power and enjoying the "extended trip". Had we have had that problem while on the roadside someplace - that could have been a miserable (and potentially dangerous!) 3 day wait!!!!

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Glad you were in a good and safe place. Your experience is why I think best to carry an unmounted spare.

[BPoland]

After hearing the stories of waiting on the side of the road for the service company to find a tire, I decided to buy an unmounted spare tire. I went down to see my tire guy. I have been dealing with him for years. When he looked up the Good Year G670 tire, all he could do was shake his head. He said his cost was $500, so my cost would be about $520. He then asked if it had to be a Good Year. I said it's a spare, and hopefully will never hit the road, and if it does, it's only to get me to where I can get a matching tire. He looked up the specs on the Good Year and matched it with a house brand tire. If memory serves me, it's an Ironman or something close to that. The price was $180 out the door. I throw it in the back of the Grand Cherokee for a trip. I would love to build a carrier under the rear of the coach for it. I just haven't had the time to figure that out yet.

[WDW]

So after some internet hunting, I found that Ryder (truck supply) sells the Fleet Engineers "Nash Style" under body tire carrier for less than $100.

This is what you see under semi trailers. Why wouldn't this be a possibility?


A spare tire is about as essential as a Fire Extinguisher - you never want to use it, but if you don't have it when YOU DO NEED IT you are glad you have a good one!


2016 Coachmen Mirada 35 BH
2015 Jeep Roadmaster AT. tow bar with RVI2 supplemental.

Taking in the sight wherever our Trolley takes us...

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by WDW

So after some internet hunting, I found that Ryder (truck supply) sells the Fleet Engineers "Nash Style" under body tire carrier for less than $100.

This is what you see under semi trailers. Why wouldn't this be a possibility? .

Where are you thinking this could be mounted? Maybe on a gasser there could be enough room between the frame rails. Our previous Pace Arrow had a spare mounted tire between the frame rails at the rear.

[Lakehouse 2]

I too feel I would rather have a spare tire and never need than to need one and not have it. I started with the idea of carrying an unmounted tire until my tire guy pointed out that many of the large tire flats/blow-outs he works with result in damaged wheels. At his suggestion I had him look for a used 19.5" x 6.75" 10 lug wheel. After a week of looking he advised that it looked like the only place to get a wheel was Ford. I checked with the local Ford Truck dealer to find out that it would be 8-10 weeks delivery with a cost of $690. It took several months but I finally found a wheel. I never imagined it would be such a deal to find a Ford wheel. Glad I was searching while at home and not stuck on the side of the road!
To carry the mounted spare I welded an extra receiver tube above the original tube and built a tire carrier that the wheel/tire is bolted to. The tire is also supported on the bottom. To keep it from moving I made a large anti-rattle that goes around both the tire rack and my drop hitch making both rock solid. I don't plan on changing the tire but will have one for the tech to change.

[WDW]

Originally Posted by vsheetz

Where are you thinking this could be mounted? Maybe on a gasser there could be enough room between the frame rails. Our previous Pace Arrow had a spare mounted tire between the frame rails at the rear.

Without scientific empirical research (crawling under the coach - but is raining out) I'm thinking there is room between the hitch and the gas tank.


Taking in the sights with our Trolley ...but life is always better under a Palm Tree

2016 Coachmen Mirada 35 BH. - our Trolley
2015 Jeep Cherokee Latitude

Western New York