Roadmaster Spare Tire Carrier

Wow, thanks for the excellent advice, guys. I was also considering this product but think I'll pass on it.

I've made many trips up to Alaska and I will not make that trip without carrying a spare. There are places on that trip where you're 100 miles from the nearest town...or so it seems.

For example, I had a blow out around 25 miles from Vanderhoof in central Canada on my way to Prince George. Driving my Bounder. The roadside service had the equipment to put my spare on for me no problem. But I was curious so asked them about a replacement tire and they didn't have one. They would have had to send a truck to Prince George, pick up a 19.5 for me and bring it back. Tire guy told me it would have taken 3 days for them to be able to get me back on the road. And I was parking in a farmer's field, miles from anything, and being back on the road quickly was critical. As it was, because I had the spare, we were only delayed 3 hours.

That was a lesson I'll not soon forget, considering some of the lonely roads I've traveled even in the Western US.

My Winnie has 22.5 tires so I'll only carry one casing instead of both it and a wheel like I use to carry in my Bounder, which used 19.5's, but I'll keep carrying it...somewhere.

I was giving some serious thought to carrying a spare tire awhile back. I called a truck tire store and the manager told me, he wouldn't spend the money on a used tire, that I may never need. His reasoning was, I may never need it, and it will deteriorate in 7 years or so. Plus my tire size is very common and he said I shouldn't have a problem with any road side service having one. After talking to him, I decided against it. I thank him for his honesty.

Astro: Unlike your gasser the OP's chassis has plenty of ground clearance and does not drag like a gasser. The underslung carrier I referred to is mounted in front of the engine/diff. No worries about anything dragging. We do not carry a spare for our 08 Dynasty and this has never been a problem.

Moisheh

Ed Manifold wrote:
Thank-you for your responses of which has convinced not to get the spare tire carrier plus your great responses saved me $600.00. I thank everyone again.

Gee. All of this negativity from people who apparently don't own one.

We have one on our Winnebago (yes..a gasser) and I'd never want to go back to the under the frame rack. It works great and would make accessing the spare tire for me (or a road service tech) much easier than with under the frame rack. Also, the tire doesn't bottom out when transitioning some driveways like it used to. They have several sets of holes in the drawbar so you can adjust the fit and distance from the rear of the coach.

Have you looked at the online information about them from Roadmaster? Funny thing, but they show one being mounted on a diesel pusher. While we don't have a rear radiator diesel, ours has 12" of space between the tire and back of the coach which I think would be plenty of distance for air circulation. If in doubt, why not contact Roadmaster and see what they have to say?

http://roadmasterinc.com/products/spare_tire/index.html

Thank-you for your responses of which has convinced not to get the spare tire carrier plus your great responses saved me $600.00. I thank everyone again.

Bad idea to mount a spare behind your rad. You will have overheating problems. I think you have a Freightliner chassis. If you do a search there are plans for an undermount for tire and wheel. Attaches to the frame and uses a small electric winch. I had one on an 02 Bounder DP. Worked great.

Moisheh

A mounted spare is only good part of the time as front and rear wheels on most coaches have a different offsets and you can't interchange them. You would also need the tools to change the tire. When we went to Alaska we carried a spare tire in our toad, (no Wheel) because getting road service is possible but finding the right size tire could leave you stranded for days. I would not carry a spare exposed to heat on the rear of a dp.
imho

A rear radiator would expose a tire mounted immediately behind it to excessive heat. Would not consider it.

I am looking into this item. I hate not having a spare tire. I may or may not be able to change it myself as I age, but having one means road service can definitely get you back on the road quickly. I'd hate having to buy an odd tire at an inflated price when I could have had one. On a similar subject, I will be obtaining a set of belts and filters that will travel with me.