Tire changing on Class C

[dennislanier]

I have just discovered a bad tire on my Class C. Naturally it is the inside rear on the driver's side. Looks like it is separating as there is a knot on the sidewall and a lot of vibration when driving down the road. I have a few questions.

First of all is there a video or post with pictures that will show me how to remove the back wheels. I have searched in vain so far. Also, does it make sense to replace just the bad tire. The others have very few miles on them but they are five years old. I really hate to shell out the money for a full set right now. Any information or suggestions on removing the wheels would be appreciated. I know I am going to need to buy a bottle jack but I need one anyway. I have not called around to see what tire stores may charge for this service.

[dennislanier]

ron.dittmer wrote:
To the original poster dennislanier,

There was a recall on Michelin tires made during a certain time of which were prone to blowouts like you describe with your sidewall bubble/tumor. Get the production number off your tires and call a Michelin dealer. You might get your tires replaced for free under the recall, both the tires & labor charges covered. You can also just drive your rig to a Michelin dealer and have them find the numbers for you. Even if your tires are not covered under the recall, they may pro-rate your bad tire.

Thanks for the info but I don't have Michelins on my rv. Mine are some Chinese brand called Capitol which were on the rig when I bought it. Maybe someone else will see this and be able to use the information

[ron_dittmer]

To the original poster dennislanier,

There was a recall on Michelin tires made during a certain time of which were prone to blowouts like you describe with your sidewall bubble/tumor. Get the production number off your tires and call a Michelin dealer. You might get your tires replaced for free under the recall, both the tires & labor charges covered. You can also just drive your rig to a Michelin dealer and have them find the numbers for you. Even if your tires are not covered under the recall, they may pro-rate your bad tire.

[j-d]

Because of weight close to max GVWR, we decided to go a little upscale from the truly excellent tires like MS/2, Transforce, BFG, and get Bridgestone Duravis R250. These are a "highway" tread like Michelin XPS Rib. Our R250's were 7 years old and showed zero problem signs. Not in the tread, not in sidewalls. But we had two older Brigestone V-Steel tires, same size and approximate tread pattern. THESE turned out to be 10 YOA and and were developing cracks at the bases of the tread ribs, parallel to the ribs. Several on each tire. The spare was an OEM Firestone from 2002, never on the ground. Bottom Line: SEVEN NEW R250's. You don't want to have 100 miles to a tire shop and learn you had a 50-mile spare!

[harley-dave]

Just the voice of experience here, had a tread separation and blowout, 2 year old tire. Cost us $6000 to repair. 75 miles later another separated, caught it before blow out. IMHO I would replace them all, its a lot safer and possibly cheaper in the long run. We have a 31' Itasca. Weight runs close to max all the time so don't risk it.

Dave

[tatest]

My tire shop does this work on my RV out in the driveway. Bottle jack under the shock mount, 3/4 drive impact wrenches, needed pry bars to get the wheels off the axle. A single lug nut holds both duals, but they also get rust-welded to each other and to the hubs.

They loosen the lugs slightly before jacking, and chock the front wheels to lift the rear, because the parking brake and park in transmission are both ineffective when one rear wheel is lifted.

If you have an old tire starting to come apart, the others of similar age are probably close. Learned this the hard way on my minivan when three of the five tires developed bulges on the same trip (in extremely hot weather).

My advice is to take it to a tire shop that works on medium duty trucks, because if tires are of similar age, it is time to replace them, and you want it done at a place that knows what they are doing. Lug nuts on this chassis need to be properly torqued, in stages. A lot of tire shops just run them down with an air wrench. Then, after 200 to 500 miles, they need to be torqued again. My tire shop told me to come back for that, yours should too. I didn't, because I torque them myself at the beginning of every season, just a maintenance thing like checking pressures before every day of driving.

[WinMinnie02]

Just had mine replaced, all 6 on Minnie. Chose Firestone Transforce and it rides well. Had the Ford dealer replaced them.

[midnightsadie]

I just put michilins on our C ,ms 2 are nice and can handle the job, if you have a MR TIRE in your area they can do it.

[j-d]

Oh, Dennis...

Your year E450 has its parking brake on the Drive Shaft. Located at the rear of the transmission. No more effective than putting transmission in Park. You'll have to block the wheels that are staying on the ground. Otherwise if it wants to roll, the wheel on the ground can go that way, the wheel that's raised will go in the opposite rotation, and only the drive shaft will stay still.

[hilldude]

5 years is about the limit for the tires that came on motor home.Replace them all,replaced mine with Firestone transforce.Good tire and ride.

[Vulcan_Rider]

dennislanier wrote:
The others have very few miles on them but they are five years old. I really hate to shell out the money for a full set right now. Any information or suggestions on removing the wheels would be appreciated.

My advice is to let the professionals do it.

Likely a bottle jack is not good enough.
Likely that you do NOT have access to tools strong enough to remove OR re-tighten the lugs properly.

Do you know which wheels the "parking brake" locks ?
If not, you have no business jacking it up to change tires.

5 years is when most people say your tires are getting "iffy"....especially if they sit outside unprotected all the time.

I just had exactly the same thing happen on my rig.
Tires 8 years old but looked really good.
I replaced them all at $150 each, installed. Taxes extra.
This was at a small independent truck tire dealer.

[j-d]

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.

[BruceMc]

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:

[dennislanier]

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.

[midnightsadie]

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.