Do you carry a mounted spare tire?

[doublechevy]

I carry an un mounted spare in the basement storage space, came in handy this year had a blowout inside dual saved a lot of time and money by having one, It was 5:00 PM at the merging of 295 and 95 North in VA. road side service was there in 45 Min. was finished in another 45 Min, Cost $160.00.

I also have a TMP that saved me on the same trip after the tire was changed and I started down the road I noticed air pressure was dropping in the outer dual same side as the as the blowout had occurred. stopped and used soap and water to locate leak, it was the TMP itself, it was removed to facilitate the tire change and was not tightened properly
.
last time I had a flat it cost me $ 1000.00 for a new tire and road side service.

I have changed my own at home using a torque Multiplier wrench for removal and a 1 " drive wrench with a 3' cheater bar to install. It is not something I would like to do on a daily basis

Also installed balancing beads at that time, they worked perfectly on my recent 1400 mile trip to Florida Still carry an un mounted spare in the basement storage

[Outbound]

Dalemschultz, I am 74 yrs old and no longer able to do that kind of work/ lifting, I would call for road side assistance and have them install tire if they could not repair flat, would save hours sitting on the side of road waiting to find a match.

[dalemschultz]

Originally Posted by CountryB

I want to carry a spare - I have the tools to change a tire on the road, but don't have any place to carry a spare (it won't fit through the basement doors).

I thinking of getting this (but I'd need to modify the way it mounts since I have the bike carrier on the back).

Roadmaster Inc. - Tow Bars, Braking Systems & RV Accessories

Thank you Mike!


Now THAT is an elegant solution! I think that makes so much sense. Thanks so much for sharing that with everyone.


Dale

[BCam]

Originally Posted by Outbound

I'm getting ready to replace my MH tires, have been thinking it might be a good idea to keep one of the old tires just in case we have a flat, my existing tires still look good but have aged out, there is zero room on MH for tire but my tow vehicle is a truck with bed cover so it would allow room for spare.
Thinking this may be the way to roll.

When you replace your tires see if the shop has a used tire with reasonable tread that's not aged out. That's what I did, it was $75 for a 3 - 4 year old tire.

My rig has spare tire storage underneath in the rear and, no, I don't plan on changing it myself. especially an inner dual.

[dalemschultz]

Originally Posted by K7JV

Aside from the shiny finish, how many of our wheels are actually dimensionally the same? I believe that my outside drive wheels and my tag wheels are identical. I don't know if the inside drive wheel and the front wheel are identical but mounted with the deep side in, or not. I suspect they are, with the exception of the shiny finish.

On our '06 Dynasty, the torque specification is for 500 ft-lbs. There are torque multiplier one could carry, but I really would not be comfortable working with that kind of lug nut torque. Also, I suspect the weight of the tire alone, much less with a wheel included, would be more than I would be able to reasonably manage, especially on the side of the road, under adverse conditions, not to mention the storage space required for a spare.

I WOULD NOT GO AROUND THE BLOCK WITHOUT A GOOD TIRE MONITORING SYSTEM on our coach!! We have sensors on our tow vehicle, too, and we never pull without it in service. There are just too many horror stories out there as a result of tire failures. And I'm sure it can be shown that many if not most of the failures are the result of inflation issues, and a good monitor system will go a long ways towards avoiding that kind of tragedy! Head off the problem before it happens! We have a friend who would not have totaled his coach if he would have had a tire monitor in use.

I will add that I regularly check my pressures, but I do it with the tire monitor. Every time you pull a valve stem cap and unseat the schrader valve to check the pressure you introduce the possibility of creating a new slow leak.

I know. This is one person's opinion, and opinions are like other things that everyone has, but I won't go there. But IMHO, todays high quality tires are incredibly reliable if they are not subjected to abuse, overloading or improper inflation. I'd invest in a good tire monitoring system and leave the spare tire in the tire shop.

Excellent information K7JV. I like the idea of using a tire monitoring system. I also agree that many tire issues could be avoided with a heads up on the pressure reading. Perhaps the only situation that couldn't be avoided would be a blow out. But many blow-outs could be because of improper pressure to begin with. It's great to get your opinion on this! I'm re-thinking this whole spare tire & wheel idea now!


Thank you,
Dale

[dalemschultz]

Originally Posted by Brews Cruise

I carry an unmounted spare in one of my basement storage bays. A mounted spare would only be good if the matching wheel on the coach is the one that had a flat tire. The front wheels are different than the rear outside wheels. Not sure about the rear inside wheels. Having an unmounted spare would save a lot of time and trouble if the roadside assistance service did not have my specific tire size in stock. I'm not going to attempt to R&R the 22.5" wheels myself to change the tire. I don't even have the equipment or a torque wrench large enough to handle that duty.

Thanks Ken,


An unmounted tire does make more sense than having it mounted on the wrong rim. A 22.5" rim is a monster and put a G670 on it and wow!


Dale

[windsorbill]

I don't have a spare. Sometimes I wonder if I should carry one (unmounted, of course). We had a rear outside blow out when coach was 2 years old. Hard time finding a replacement size. But finally did. Gorilla Boy came out and mounted the new tire on my rim. Made it look easy, but no way I'd ever be able to do it.

[dalemschultz]

Originally Posted by Soppy

I carry a mounted spare in my coach. Being 19.5" , it is quite a bit lighter than the 22.5" tires. When I drove truck , I always had a spare 22.5" tire and the equipment to change the tire. Operating in Northern Ontario, Canada , roadside assistance was virtually unavailable. I've changed many tires on the truck on the side of the road without impact or torque multiplier tools . Not an easy task , but it can be done. I still change tires on my farm tractors and backhoes without any special equipment.

Thanks Soppy.

[dalemschultz]

Originally Posted by Old Wrench

The wheels on a coach are torqued to 500 ft lbs.
So unless you carry a very good air impact you are not going to remove them unless you have a very long breaker bar.
The size and weight of the tire/wheel make it very hard to carry.
You can in fact change a tire on a wheel using a tire hammer and a bar as tiremen have been doing it for years....but unless you have a bead blaster getting the bead to seat is a difficult task.
So that is why semi trucks do not carry a spare.

Good information Old Wrench! Thank you.
Dale

[dalemschultz]

Originally Posted by AFChap

I carry an unmounted spare. I always keep the best of the old tires when I buy new tires. I carry the unmounted spare on a pull-out tray in a large bay. It does take up some space, but I also store stuff inside it.

A couple of years ago I had a sidewall puncture on an outside dual just before arriving at my home base. Because I was replacing the rear tires the next week I drove the last few miles at 25-30 mph to avoid blocking traffic on a narrow two lane road ... I did slow traffic down, but didn't block it. The next day a mobile tire guy came out and, using his own large bottle jack and air tools powered by his truck, removed the punctured tire and mounted my spare WITHOUT REMOVING THE WHEEL!! It was amazing to watch, and pretty quick. He said doing a front was even easier than a rear outer. I suspect they could do an inside dual by removing the outer and leaving the inner wheel mounted.

I have a lug wrench mounted to a compartment wall (came with the coach) that has never been touched, and a 15 ton bottle jack that has never been used.

Thanks Paul!

[Mr_D]

And just where would I store a 365/70 on 10" wide rim or a 315/80 on a 9" rim? My rig has 4 of each.

[DiplomatDon]

For all the ambitious souls who want to carry spares, mounted or unmounted I have a recommendation. First try picking a unmounted and also a mounted tire up and see how heavy it is. Second go to a truck tire shop and see how they air up a tire just put on the rim without a sealed bead. Still want to change your own tires? 43 years driving truck and over 3 million miles, only carried spares running to the Yukon and Alaska. If you still want to change your own mounted spare, 10 ton bottle jack. wheel wrench from a truck stop, 15/16 inch hex bar for the hole in the wheel wrench, and 4 foot pipe. That will loosen and tighten lug nuts. Unless all your wheels are aluminum you will need steel wheel as if your inner rear is steel studs will not be long enough for 2 aluminum wheels. If your tire is just flat or low slow down some and drive on it. Not on steering goes without saying. If blown tire call a service as it will continue to come to pieces and do serious damage. As said, experience plus having removed and replaced tires,dismounted and remounted tires (never on the side of the road) I will not carry a spare and try to change on the side of the road. Cell phone, roadside assistance and beer in the fridge is my answer. Just my opinion.

[JerryP]

I carry an unmounted spare for my Newmar Bay Star with 19.5" wheels. Since the storage bays are too small to hold the tire, I carry it in the bed of my Toad - Toyota Tacoma. The Tacoma has a locking cover for security.

In a previously owned Super C with 19.5" wheels, I had a flat coming home to Dallas late on a Sunday night. It took a couple of hours to find a spare tire that was the right size. It was a Dunlop, while the rest of the tires were Michelins. Not only was the tire a mismatched brand, it was also over priced. When you are stuck on the side of the road, you don't have a lot of options. I later removed the Dunlop and re-installed a Michelin. This was an expensive lesson.

Carrying an unmounted spare cures most of these issues.

Another advantage of the unmounted spare, is that you can still store stuff inside the tire. So you don't really lose all the the tire space.

Regards,

Jerry

[CountryB]

Carrying a spare does not mean you have to change it yourself. You can still call roadside assistance.
Having the (matching tire) spare available for them mount means you don't have to pay an outrageous price for a tire that doesn't even match the ones you are using - or wait several extra hours for them to find a tire in your size (whne they dont have it in their stock).

If you want to carry a spare, you would want it mounted on a "steel" rim. That way it will fit any position. If you get an aluminum rim for your spare and your inside dually tire is the one that blows, the spare may not work because the wheel studs w/could be too short (for the thickness of two aluminum rims back to back, the inside and outside tires). But a steel will fit (you can have two steel rims back to back on the duallys, or use it on any other position).