spare tire / flat tire - how's it work ?

The big rigs don't normally come with a spare. We didn't have one on our new Phaeton. Fast forward to a few years later, got a beep on our Pressure Pro system that a rear tire was going down. Found a parking lot and pulled in and called road service. Took nine hours to get someone out with a used tire that would barely hold air. They wanted $600 for a new tire, only double what they normally cost. After that experience we decided to carry an unmounted spare. Anyone who comes to change a tire on a DP can mount it as well. We tow a Ford Sport Trac and the unmounted spare fits on the floor of the pickup bed. Never needed it yet, but have it just the same. We feel it is worth finding the space.

Dale

As mentioned AAA can be difficult to use with RVs. Best change to one of the nation wide specialists. ERS = Emergency Road Service. Also check with your insurance provider which may include ERS.

If you have a replacement tire (mounted or not) the ERS subscription may pay for the roadside service call (need to read the fine print). If you're like the rest of us and no spare the ERS will may pay for the service but you normally will have to pay for the tire (read the fine print, again). Buying a tire while on the side of the road can be expensive. A bit hard to shop around for the best price and the tire you want.

My one flat was a fast leak when the valve stem seal failed. Tire was destroyed by the time I was safely on the side of the road. Called Good Sam (aka GS) they took my info and started searching for a service provider. 15 minutes later they called back to tell me help was on they way from So and So and they should be on site within an hour. So and So called me 15 minutes later to verify location and tire size required. About and hour later repair truck arrived and replaced the tire and valve stem in about 15 minutes. Cost me $500 which I paid to GS and a 2 1/2 hour delay.

I suspect I was very lucky in that I was on I64 between Norfolk and Richmond VA which has a lot of truck traffic so help was close by. I also now have a tire pressure monitor which would have caught the leak before the tire was destroyed. My road side emergency cost may have been $0 to fix a valve stem and air the tire back up if I had caught the leak early.

From what I gather over the years, most DPs do not come with a spare. Most likely because they are simply too heavy and take up too much "storage" space. The road service people mainly service trucks (18 wheelers) so I imagine the 22.5" tires are readily available should you need a replacement.

My coach is a 2001 gasser and it does have a spare tire in it's own compartment. A 19.5 incher (NOT readily available from these road service folks) ...so when I DID have a blowout, my Coach-Net came thru and changed the tire for me on the road.

Blow-outs are far and few between....except when it happens to you. And it might....or might not. Keep your air pressure where it should be and enjoy your travels. There are 2 popular RV road service companies: Good Sam and Coach-Net. I've had Coach-Net from day one....needed them 3 times and never had a problem.

We had a trip coming back from New York to Maryland. The handling didn't "feel" right. Pulled into a rest area to check it out and found that I had worn the drivers front wheel to the steel belts (new tire less than 3000 miles). I've ALWAYS carried a mounted spare as the RV has the crankdown storage chain up under the rear cabin. Raised my wagon off the ground with the levelers and an on board air compresser with an impact wrench made quick work of it. I hate relying on others

From what I've heard Goodsam or any roadside service won't fix the flat unless the new tire is already mounted. I guess that's what everyone is saying. Best of luck and happy travels.

What Fred said....:B...I've got a lot of other "stuff" I can put in the compartments. Take proper care of your tires and you most likely will never need a spare.....I've been RVing for over 50 years and only had one flat....YMMV....Dennis

I think I would carry a un-mounted spare, it will still be 75 pounds, the rim is about another 75 pounds. Kinda difficult to get into the storage compartment too, even with a helper.

Most over the road trucks these days will not carry a mounted spare too, it keeps them from carrying 150 pounds of cargo on each run, and they need to keep a minimum tire tread on each wheel, so they change them before they get a blow out in most cases. Road service is usually only a CB call and 2 hour wait. They will typically carry a couple of 19.5" and 22.5" and 24" tires on the mobil truck, or have someone in a shop drive out the correct tire to the location of the blowout.

Then they change it right there in the grass next to the interstate. Using crow bars, and a hammer, they get the old tire off the rim then put on the replacement. Inflate it with a 10 HP gas powered air compressor in the back of the mobil truck. Takes about a hour to install one tire on a rim.

Fred.

my996duc1 wrote:

I already have AAA RV/motorcycle coverage (may switch to Good Sam now with the RV) so I should be able to get someone to come out but what should I expect when they get there ?
Do they just tow it in where it can be fixed or can they swap out or fix tires right there on the side of the road ?
Do I need to carry a tire (off rim) with me ?

Everything I've owned in the past has had at least one or more spare tires.

"AAA RV/motorcycle coverage"??? You better not stray to far from home with their coverage. AAA is a regional thing. Not all AAA regions recognize the RV part of your coverage.

As to the spare tire thing, have you ever man handled a 22.5 truck tire, and do you have the heavy duty torque wrench to tighten the lug nuts to 500 foot pounds? Many DP owners carry a unmounted tire for a spare, but then you have diameter match up problems. You can't go mis-matching tires on dual wheels!

I thought about carrying one, but I have not met anyone who has had a flat on their DP, and every once in a while I read a post about someone who did. I decided not to carry one. I will roll the dice as the odds are with me that I won't need one, and if I were to carry one it would probably be dry rotted if I did need it.

Even though it goes against modern RV trends, I would recommend that you always travel with a mounted and inflated spare tire.


Miles