Class C Ford E-450 chassis spare tire -- or lack thereof

I would want to have the tire and wheel on board, plus have a road service.

I now use Coach-net for a road service and they responded in a timely fashion the times I needed them but I was near civilization at those times. I have no idea how it would work if they had to travel 50 miles to get to me.
I had to change my own tire on my former TC when my former road service (not Coach-Net) didn't respond because it was too far for them to travel.

I would use a rack like you are looking at, go on-line to find a wheel and tire combo .

What do you plan to use as a jack ? You might need a large low profile HD jack to lift your MH or use the hydraulic leveling jacks if you have them.

When I bought my new C4500 truck (Medium Duty with dual rear wheels) I was told the manufacturers stopped providing spares tires and wheels on larger trucks and chassis. This was due to the large number of folks being hurt when trying to change tires on motorhomes and other large vehicles. Most people do not have the proper equipment/tools to deal with the larger vehicles and tires or wheels.

Yup. Just about all vehicles today don't come with a spare.

There are several types of spare tire mounts for RV's.
I have used these two types successfully for many years.

This one is just for spare tire. buy at etrailer.com.


This one also can carry bikes, lawn chairs, etc along with spare tire.
buy at any RV store or RV dealership with parts store.


RV spare tire covers can be bought at dealerships and on line.

I show dogs so I strap my 4 ex-pens to the bike rack part. Been on my MH for years with no problem. You will find it's nice to have an extra space to carry your extra stuff AND your spare tire! :C

BTW: I would not pull out of my driveway without a spare tire on board my MH. Just joining a road side service will NOT help you if you don't have a spare on board to replace the flat one. They do NOT carry tires on their tow trucks.

We recently bought a gas 24' 2017 Class C with a Chevy 450 chassis. Has a spare tire and wheel on tire/wheel mount on the back wall above bumper-pretty much in the middle. Dlr. had to replace the tire because of cracks in rubber near the rim area. Friend of mine bought a new 2018 Mercedes diesel 24' Class C with no spare.

My philosophy about not having a spare on board is like getting dressed and not putting on pants. Might be ok around the house but anywhere else, not so good.

I have a spare on mine and if I could not physically change it, still would be cheaper than having a road service to a tire change off and on a rim in the boonies. A mounted spare makes life easier and much less expensive because, it's not if you get a flat, it's when you get a flat.

Happens to everyone sometime and the difference between being prepared and caught with no pants on can be appreciable, money wise.

Ponder that.

rather than a bumper mount find a compartment that it will fit in or a under frame rack. I don't think most RV bumpers will support a large tire & wheel. Or just carry a unmounted tire as a spare.

Perfect opportunity to get some weight off the rear axle, mount it to a front receiver.

camperdave wrote:
Perfect opportunity to get some weight off the rear axle, mount it to a front receiver.

X-2. You can get a receiver hitch that mounts on the frame. I've put a receiver hitch on our past 2 Ford E-350 and E-450 and put a bicycle carrier on/in it.

Dusty

The reason many RVs are not coming with spare tires is because the dealers are ordering them without them to make the price of the unit a bit lower.

When shopping for a small Class C a couple of years ago I noticed this trend. When I looked at some Thor models, the salesman told me motorhomes no longer come with spare tires. I later learned from another salesman that wasn't true, you can get spare tires if the dealers order the units with them.

I ended up purchasing a Winnebago that came with a spare tire in the storage compartment. You can tell Winnebago designed a particular area in the storage compartment to hold the spare. If I'm not mistaken, I was told Winnebago does not give dealers the option to delete the spare tire when ordering the RVs.

BTW, I would never go without a spare unless the RV was a full size diesel pusher.

On our E-350 2012 Nexus 24' C I mounted the typical bumper mount spare tire holder to our square rear bumper.... After a couple of thousand miles through pretty close to every pothole between Tucson and Maine the mount fractured leaving my spare leaning back at a 45 degree angle. Fortunarely I caught it in time, moved it to the cab over and got on down the road.

I have yet to ever encounter a bumper mount spare tire holder any sronger than the one I mounted and it quickly failed. The physics of this equation simply dictate failure. The leverage imparted by the weight of a spare combined with the bumps and motion of being located on the rear bumper guarantees a a disaster and probably sooner than later.

We solved the problem {after the failure} by stopping at the Nexus factory in Elkhart {which we happily were passing by} and had them custom weld a spare tire mount up under the rear of the coach. The weight is down low, very secure and out of the way but ready for deployment when we need it and there is no question that some day we WILL need it.

A couple of decades ago the auto industry decided that no one needed a real spare and the little mini spares began appearing in trunks across the nation. These are garbage, probably the worst idea to ever emerge from Detroit and it remains a concept {less than a real spare} embraced by the RV industry {because it saves them money to not install a proper spare}.

IMHO: Get a proper spare, fully mounted on the appropriate wheel and then... get on down to Harbor freight {or wherever} and buy the tools necessary to change said sapre - Bottle jack, jackstands, lug wrench, chocks, tire reparir kit and a compressor is a nice touch. Practice at home in your driveway and hope that when you call your ERS they arrive promptly {not likely} change your tire and send you on your way but... knowing that in a pinch you can get it done without them.

As always... Opinions and YMMV.

:C