Driving Class C on the Beach

I'm trying to visualize what these spacers for the rear duals look like.

Can anyone post a picture?

VA-Apraisr wrote:
As for the spacer, I've had mine on for 10 years now and the ONLY issue I had was when I let a tire shop mount my rear tires.....they failed to properly torque the spacer correctly with the inner wheel, and less than 300 miles later, all 8 lugs snapped on my rear end when exiting the highway! I NEVER let anyone torque my rear wheels anymore....I do it myself and make sure everything is well positioned and use a torque-stick to make sure we're firmly attached. Again, having over 68k miles on this setup so far. Also, I drive up to 14 miles in each direction on a deserted island for fishing with tires down to 20-25psi and never had a tire come off the rim. Slow driving is the key. Again, XPS Michelin tires are steel walled and very rugged.

Okay..so you mount your own rears? This is not me..I am a shop guy. Maybe I could find a shop that would take this on. I live in aa place that has a few shops that tend to be adventurous.


Gary Haupt

Gosh Gary, I'm not quite sure what you are asking me to chime in with... you got some great responses it seems. As far as your inner dual tire valve issues, I can't imagine why you would have a continuing issue but I guess I DO know you. hehe

If this is about tire pressure and rocks, then yes, low pressure helps, but the issue with an RV is its weight. Off camber road sections and low tire pressure would be a potential nightmare with an RV I believe. I'd be very nervous airing down enough to be beneficial.

As for the spacer, I've had mine on for 10 years now and the ONLY issue I had was when I let a tire shop mount my rear tires.....they failed to properly torque the spacer correctly with the inner wheel, and less than 300 miles later, all 8 lugs snapped on my rear end when exiting the highway! I NEVER let anyone torque my rear wheels anymore....I do it myself and make sure everything is well positioned and use a torque-stick to make sure we're firmly attached. Again, having over 68k miles on this setup so far. Also, I drive up to 14 miles in each direction on a deserted island for fishing with tires down to 20-25psi and never had a tire come off the rim. Slow driving is the key. Again, XPS Michelin tires are steel walled and very rugged.

"yourtireshopsupply.com".......I ordered 10" brass one-piece extenders for inside dual wheel and "pig-tail" type for outer wheel. Do NOT use any of those braided line screw on extensions!! Mine came loose and broke off before. I have the tire shop mount these brass ones on and they work like magic. I air up/down at least 10 times a year, so needed something that would hold up. Make sure you also get the rubber O-ring support that goes into the chrome beauty-ring so your extender is supported in the hole securely. You may have to slightly bend the long extender to fit through the chrome ring but it will bend with slight pressure.

Pnichols wrote:
You've probably seen my photos I've posted showing three of us in our Class C rigs camped in Death Valley on a very rocky surface off a very rocky 4X4 road to get there.

We went REAL SLOW and steered around rocks on all rocky surfaces going to and coming from that place - but it was do-able. I guess we were real lucky on not getting any rocks lodged between the rear duals. However, as you talked about earlier ... there were three of us out there for the ulimate in backup in case of an emergency.

Reason Duallies are not used OFF ROAD here. You cannot rely on "luck", if you are driving hundreds of miles on a rock strewn landscape

Duallies not a problem on beaches though

Phil...been in touch with the tire shop and their view is...'Hands Off'. says that there is no shop that they know off and none of theirs would touch spacers due to liability. There are cases where the spacer has been the culprit in having the outer go off by itself. He also was quite clear, that he had buds that use them and love...but as far as a shop? nyet. So..I dunno..I shall have to continue looking into this.

I don't think I am going to re-wire and invest the big bucks for a cel station, but, I will buy an antenna and at least stretch the signal a tad. Between that and the 50w of VHF, if that doesn't cut it....mind you, Phil..one could get a ham license and all of the questions are answered.

I figure that if I get myself into that much of jackpot...'fire, fire'...


Gary Haupt

Gary ... in addition to the cellular antenna mounted up high near the top of the roof-access ladder, I have a 12 volt Wilson cellular bands amplifier inside. The antenna feeds the amplifier for incoming and the amplifier feeds the antenna for outgoing. With this setup, I can many times get one or two bars on our phones (Verizon, for the most reliable connections out in the middle of nowhere) when there would be no bars without the antenna and amplifier.

We also use this setup to amplify incoming/outgoing signals with a Verizon Jetpack for WEB access when out and about. For instance, with this setup we have been able to surf the Net 25 miles North of Plush way out there in the Oregon Outback.

However :E ... I guess that even if one can get a phone message through for help out in the middle of nowhere ... you have to be able to pay the possibly big big bucks for a rescue out there. There is no substitute for traveling with at least one other RV when going off pavement. I wish there existed an EORS (Emergency Off-Road Service) that would bail out a Class C stranded ANYWHERE in North America ... and that I could afford the premium for.

Phil..yes...seen the pics. That rig must have been some stuck if you broke the 30,000lb strap. Would a winch have been better than pulling with your rv? Just wondering how that would have stacked up.

Yeah..I really should mount an antenna too. Up here, it takes very little to be out of contact and I have relied on the VHF to this point.

I have sent a note to Off Pavement, asking him to chime in. I think that they are off cruisin the mountains of eastern Ca and Nevada as I type.


Gary Haupt

Gary,

You've probably seen my photos I've posted showing three of us in our Class C rigs camped in Death Valley on a very rocky surface off a very rocky 4X4 road to get there.

We went REAL SLOW and steered around rocks on all rocky surfaces going to and coming from that place - but it was do-able. I guess we were real lucky on not getting any rocks lodged between the rear duals. However, as you talked about earlier ... there were three of us out there for the ulimate in backup in case of an emergency.

By the way, on that same trip one of us (not myself) got off a soft shoulder (on a highway outside Death Valley) real bad and we had to wait for over an hour for ERS to get there and pull that rig out. I broke my 30,000 lb. tow strap (now I carry a high-stength chain rated for towing/pulling) trying to pull them out with my Itasca before the ERS truck arrived. Our cell phones barely would get out to reach an ERS supplier ... that was before I had installed long range cellular system access equipment in the motorhome. IMHO, most RV'ers rely way too much on cell phone connections these days to make up for somewhat lack of preparedness in their RV equipment - considering the long trips they sometimes take in the West on roads that are way out there.