2manytoyz wrote:
Most new motorhomes don't come with a spare tire. My first Class A motorhome did, a 1999 Bounder, and it was tucked up under the chassis. The disadvantage to not carrying a spare is a flat tire can ruin a vacation. My last Class A, a 2015 Forest River Georgetown 3218TS, used a common size tire, but the wheel (8" wide) had been discontinued. Many RVs use a 7" wide wheel, which didn't fit. It took a week to special order a spare.
I highly recommend that you check the P/N on your wheel, and checking the availability, especially if you're not going to carry a spare. You might source one in a day, a week, or if you have a wheel like mine, someone just bought the only available one (ME!). Ford can eventually get you one, but those are over $1K, and with the difficulty getting parts, you might be stuck somewhere for far longer than you intended.
As someone who worked in the parts department at a Ford Dealer, I can tell you that you are exactly correct and you give good advice. Ford Motor home chassis are handled differently than standard Ford trucks because the production quantity is lower. The GVWR is so much higher which often requires special wheels(diameter, offset, width, gauge, bolt pattern), lugs, lug nuts, brakes, axles, springs, etc.. Because of the above, they are often a special order part and not in stock. It doesn't help that Ford rarely sells partial chassis products direct to the consumer. They sell a partial assembly to a fabricator who finishes the chassis/coach and rarely keeps Ford OEM chassis (suspension) parts in stock.
Chum lee
