Tire changing on Class C

I've done this project and Bruce's information is spot on. Notice that even if you are lifting only one side, the jack, inboard of the shock absorber to leave space for the jackstand, will be so far inboard that it's lifting more like 2/3 of the rear axle weight. In terms of its rating, a six-ton bottle jack can lift nearly your whole coach, but working under there requires handle leverage you may not be able to get. That's why so many of us use 12-ton jacks.
Please don't rely on jack only! You'll need a Stand under the raised end of the Axle!
It's likely your wheels are stuck, where the hole in the middle of the wheels center on the hub. The inner can be really miserable. What you can do, is loosen the nuts about one turn with the coach pointed straight at the place you'll raise it, with a few feet to go. Some movement, maybe with braking, should break the rust bond at the hub.
But what's your end game here, Dennis? You'll read Date Codes, right? On only one spot on one sidewall will be a long string beginning "DOT" and ending in four digits. First two are Week (01-52) and last two are last two of Year. Find out when all six were born. Most of us replace on 5-7 years of Date Code Age. I'd feel safer on 7's driven 100 miles every month than 5's that took a 700 mile trip once or twice in a year, and sat the rest of the time. Driving, warming, flexing the tires is beneficial.
I'm with you if you don't want to drive it any distance to a tire shop with a tire that's ready to blow still on the ground. If you have a spare you can mount, go ahead. Or decide on how many new tires you want and haul that one tire/rim in, have a new tire mounted/balanced and bring it home to get the whole rig to the shop.
Don't mess with suspect tires! A blowout is of course a safety issue you don't want, and of course the inconvenience and delay on a trip. But the damage caused by a flailing tread belt can be devastating to your coach, especially in the rear.
Finally, NOW's the time if you don't have custom valves, Borg Dually Valves or Tire Man, to order them up and have them installed as part of your tire change process. That should give you free installation labor, better than coming back later. If you don't do that, at least insist on METAL valves, long enough that you can get a Gauge and Air Chuck onto them. You can't if the valve on a Ford wheel is too short.

Even if the tire shop does the work, you'll need to check/torque the lug nuts before (and occasionally during) your trips. Here's screen snags from the Ford owners manual that are useful:

midnightsadie wrote:
not throwing stones at you. but it sounds like you,ve never done this type of work? take it to a tire shop,they,have the tools and know how, it will be cheaper in the end, and do as the other post said check all your tires. a blow out on a rear tire can and will tear up the under side of your rv in the tune of thousands of dollars.

You're right, I have not done this on any type of dually setup. I have changed tires on cars and pickups plenty of times but was not familiar with how the dual wheels worked.

Thanks for all the responses and pictures. At least I know what I am getting into now. I plan on calling around the local tire stores and get some prices from them before I proceed.

not throwing stones at you. but it sounds like you,ve never done this type of work? take it to a tire shop,they,have the tools and know how, it will be cheaper in the end, and do as the other post said check all your tires. a blow out on a rear tire can and will tear up the under side of your rv in the tune of thousands of dollars.

Oh! an E450.

Jack just inside of the shock mount leaving room between the jack and tires for a jack stand:



Tire recall/replacement project pics

Need more info:
Chassis: (ford, Chev, Dodge/Mercedes, etc)
Model: (e350, 3500, etc)
Year:
Tire Size: (16", 19.5, etc)

If you have a ford chassis, then chances are you have 16" tires/wheels. The torque is 145 ft/lbs. No problem for a 1/2 drive breaker bar and extension.

If you have the Chevy or Sprinter chassis, you probably still have 16" tires, but I don't know the torque values off hand.

You'll need a bottle jack and a jack stand, and a stable surface.

Jack it up to where the tires are still touching the ground, then loosen the lug nuts one at a time & gently re-snug them.
Raise the tires off the ground, put a jack stand under the axle, then lower the axle onto the jackstand.
Remove the tires/wheels.



That all said, I'd take it in to a shop & have them take care of it. You'll pay the same amount to get the tire(s) replaced whether you pull the tires or they do it.

A previous poster suggested rotating a front tire to the rear and replacing the fronts - that's a good low-cost method to take care of the short-term issue. However, if one tire went bad, the others _may_ not be far behind. Yet, they might run another few years/thousands of miles.

Some folks "peace of mind" will say replace 'em all now, but it is purely up to you.

Help that hopes!

The tires are LT 225 75 16. This is the Ford E450 chassis on a 31 ft Jayco class c. I am sure I can get the lug nuts off but don't know where to place the jack and whether the wheels use the same set of lug nuts etc

Inspect all the tires. Locate the date code. Odds are that the tires may all need to be replaced.
What size are the tires?
What is make and model of the chassis? Chevs, you remove the lug nuts and all the wheels at that location come off at once.
I would suggest having a tire shop handle the changing.
Check around for your tire sizes at different dealers for best price and tire quality.

Doubt a 1/2" drive and long extension is going to loose the lug bolts. Try that first but you probably will need a 3/4" drive. If you do not have the right tools, then take it to a tire place.
Most will say you need to replace all four rear tires... probably correct, but if the front are the same size I'd replace them with new and put one of the fronts on the rear and carry the other as a spare which you may need.
The cost to change a 19.5 tire should be $20 in GA.