Tire/wheel removal project in prep for recalled tire swap

As I happened to be the only one that had tires put on a motorhome at our area Costco, they still kid around about it to this day. In mid-2010 I had gotten mixed stories from various folks at the shop when I was first inquiring about putting tires on the MH, but one of them finally said yes, no problem... but as it worked out, they really didn't have the facility to do a MH, so when they put the new tires on, they left the MH in the parking lot and used a floor jack on each corner, one at a time.

I learned of this little issue when I took it in to have them balanced and rotated in early 2012, they weren't quite sure how they were going to accomplish the feat, and that day they were too busy to do the job anyway. We made a new appointment, and they stated they'd be prepared when I came in for the next appointment. I figured I'd help them out... I put the MH on jackstands, and brought the tires in with my pickup. When I appeared at the shop, they had been looking for the motorhome to pull in and hadn't spotted it. Yet I showed up at the counter, and they were pleasantly surprised!
As an added bonus, I got the pleasure of cleaning them before they were rebalanced and I got to rotate as I saw fit when I reinstalled them. They came out smooth as glass, as smooth as they could given this chassis.

Fast forward to late 2013, and guess what? They are the Michelin 225-75R16 that was recalled on December 13th. I stopped by the shop, kidded around with them about the MH needed the tires balanced and rotated again, and oh by the way, did you know these were recalled? And mine are part of that recall? No... so they did a little digging, and found that indeed, there was a recall. They took my info and stated they'd call. A week later, I got a call that the new M/S2's had been ordered, and I'd get a call when they came in.

The tires arrived yesterday, so I've put the MH back on jackstands, and took a few pics just for your enjoyment:

Lifted, Jackstands in place:

Rear:

Rear with tires removed:

Another view of rear with tires removed:

Front with tires removed:

Floating MotorHome:

Renigades! (After cleaning, ready to be loaded)

Class C

j-d
Explorer II
Jan 06, 2014
Dakzuki wrote:
First line of defense for me is ERS but I still have the ability to change a wheel if need be.

Precisely! Being able to change a wheel also means you can provide that missing socket or whatever got lost off the ERS truck.

Ron - I like having a matching spare, rotating with the front tires, and leaving the duals in place. The way you use and store your coach, I'd guess it'd come apart like those pix in service manuals... Every thing clean and fresh. But... only one way to find out!

or.. Somebody might be around who's willing to help if you just had the stuff.
ron_dittmer
Explorer II
Jan 06, 2014
Reading through this reminds me again that I really should remove all of my wheels to make sure they can be removed in case of a flat. They are still Ford factory mounted and that was in April 2007.

I would have done it sooner except that I have not yet had another reason to dismount them. I learned with my first motor home that rotating rear tires is not so good an idea. I found it best to just let the rear tires wear down in their original positions on the rear axle. It levels out the load across the 4 tires better, and they do wear fairly evenly anyway.

My front tires will likely need replacing first. I see the same thing developing with our second rig as happened with our first rig. Driving for days with a strong cross wind from one direction shows up as strange thread wear on the front tires where the outside of one front tire and the inside of the other front tire wear a bit more. On my old rig, I dismounted the one tire from the rim and flipped it so the better thread was on the outside to match the other front tire. But that was a much lighter rig. On this rig, I'll probably just replace both front tires when it gets concerning. Maybe by then it'll be time for the rears too.
BruceMc
Explorer III
Jan 06, 2014
And the new tires are on, the wheels torqued, and the first short voyage taken. I like the new LTX M/S2 a lot better than the old MS tires, they seem a bit firmer, but certainly drove a lot better. Granted the MH is empty and winterized, the only tank that is full is the fuel. Now that they've been run, I'll re-torque & be done with the project.

Another thing I noted was the lack of squish - the sidewalls seem to have a lot less bulge, and the tread is a bit narrower. Both are good attributes for the duals as I was getting some kissing going on behind my back...

The pressure is currently 75lbs in all 6 where I usually run 60 in the front and 70 in the rear. As I stated, even with and empty/dry MH, they rode well.

Pauldub, I hear ya! I can be a harrowing experience.
Dakzuki, thanks! Yep, knowledge is power. I had the necessary tools when the front end fell apart in Arches Nat'l park in the summer of 2012, we need to remove the passenger front wheel to put the parts back together. I was prepared with the bottle jack, jackstand and the appropriate wrenches.
Dakzuki
Explorer
Jan 06, 2014
What I clearly see in the pics is one RV owner that will have the following:

A) Knowing the lug nuts were torqued properly

and

B) The ability to change a wheel if it came down to it.

Good on you, Bruce.

First line of defense for me is ERS but I still have the ability to change a wheel if need be.
pauldub
Explorer
Jan 05, 2014
When I did mine, I did only one side at a time and made two Costco trips. I'm a chicken so I wasn't brave enough to have the entire motor home sitting on jack stands.
triple602
Explorer
Jan 05, 2014
My Costco said they wouldn't change MH tires.
BruceMc
Explorer III
Jan 05, 2014
Thanks! Those heavy flats are the bottom of the radius arms. The stands could be placed on the I-beams as well, just inside the radius arm bolts. On the rear, they fit just inside the inner u-bolt on the axle tubes. The jack sets next to the stand.

The first time I embarked on removing all 6 wheels, I tried to use my large jackstands, they wouldn't fit under the axles. These fit w/o raising the stand much, 1 notch for the fronts, 2 or 3 for the rear.

It has set on the stands for several days now; the new tires have been mounted and balanced, and I've put them on but have yet to remove the jackstands.

The process:
1) Loosen & gently re-snug all 8 bolts on all four corners
2) Jack up on side of the rear, position jackstand & let it settle on the stand.
3) Do the other side
4) Front, one side
5) Front, other side. now the whole MH is floating on the jackstands.
6) Remove lugnuts, wheels. Take pictures...
While the MH is on jackstands, no getting in.. or under!
Harvey51
Explorer
Jan 04, 2014
Wow, most impressive Bruce! I was tired after removing one front wheel - and worried about trusting the jack on the little horizontal post designated as the jacking point. I don't have your faith in those jack stands, either. I must get someone to give me a lesson on where to place them. I don't think I have a heavy flat beam under the front as in your picture.

Costco here must be used to motor homes. They just asked to bring it on a nice day so they didn't have to work in rain or snow.
j-d
Explorer II
Jan 02, 2014
However we do it there's value in knowing our tires can be changed with ordinary effort. Best to verify under controlled conditions!
BruceMc
Explorer III
Jan 02, 2014
Speaking of frozen/rusted hubs - the first time I had mine off, I sprayed both the wheel centers and the hubs with cold galvanizing after a good wire-brushing. They've never rusted, and never been difficult to remove since. That's the light gray stuff on the hubs you see in my pics.

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Tire/wheel removal project in prep for recalled tire swap

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