Yes boys and girls, you REALLY need to carry a spare...

[Desert_Captain]

This pic does not show it but the the tire split right down to the rim and scattered tread for about 50 yards:





Left last Tuesday for a week on the Colorado River at Ehrenburg. On Monday {as is my habit before every trip} I took the Class C into Discount Tire to have the tires checked and aired up to my specs - 65 on the front and 75 on the rears}. "You are good to go, tires look fine and are aired up as per your request." We were towing our Polaris Rzr in the 10' cargo trailer and running pretty close to our GVWR of 11,500#.

We were 107 miles west of the River when my left rear {outside} Michelin grenades. Now the shoulder of Interstate 10 west of phoenix is no place e you want to spend any time but spend time we did. I got us completely off of the pavement and called Coach Net {for the first time in 10+ years}. They got a guy out to us in about an hour. In the mean time I placed three emergency triangles at 25, 50 and 75 yards behind our rig and my bride and I got as far away from the coach well back from the shoulder and waited.

The guy from the towing company was driving a half ton pick up but had all of the requisite tools. Said he would have us gone in ten minutes... 45 minutes later we were on our way. When the tread separated it ripped the mudflap nearly off and wedged it between the two tires and bent the mudflow steel support frame. I thanked him profusely and tipped him a twenty.

Yesterday I called the nearest Discount Tire store {In Yuma} and made an appointment for 1030 this morning. The tire that exploded had a DOT Code of 50/13 making it about 5.5 years old... yep, my bad, should have replaced it sooner even though it looked great. Found two others that also looked fine {same DOT Codes} and replaced all three and my spare returned to its mount under the rear of the coach {Thank you Nexus for the outstanding custom mount they installed 4.5 years ago.

Bottom line... without a spare ready to deploy we would have been up the proverbial creek and would have spent considerably more time in "The Dead Zone - aptly named, on the shoulder of one of the busiest interstates in the country.

Without a spare they would have had to dispatch a full on tow truck equipped to install a new tire on the old rim and I shudder to think what that tire would have cost {assuming they had one available}.

I carry all of the tools needed to change a tire but I will be 68 next month and really had no desire {and not much ability} to crawl under the rig and make it happen.

For the record 3 new tires, installed and I was out the door {in an hour} for a little over $700. Discount has the highest prices of any major chain but their customer service is excellent and they are almost everywhere. I was in no position to shop the tires so bottom line... problem solved and I drove home once again a happy camper.

Seriously folks... get yourself a spare!

:S

[jamesroadking]

The Bigfoot hydraulic jacks are rated at 8000 lbs each

[Grit_dog]

Desert captain, little mis spelling in my post, but yes, I meant innie vs outie. Typically duals, even with hubcaps or trim rings are still "innies". Never seen that before.

[Grit_dog]

Vehicle would have to be super heavy, like really overloaded to bend the frame by jacking one corner up only. However the leveling jack will cr@p out long before you could put enough pressure to permanently deform the truck frame.
Lifting one side or one and with 2 jacks simultaneously is to protect the jacks, not the vehicle and it's a good, almost necessary practice with RV jacks.

[ron_dittmer]

jamesroadking wrote:
I guess you could twist the frame.

I understand where you are coming from. But I figure the suspension is mounted near about the four corners of the frame. Imagine hitting a rise in the pavement on one side or the other.....frost heaves to Alaska being an extreme. Each time a tire hits, it not only lifts a corner, it does so with a lot of force. So I figure a slow gentile lifting of a corner (in the right place of coarse) should be much less of a concern.

I use a bottle jack and lift where the rear axle is mounted to the suspension. Up front, I lift on the lower control arm in just the right place where it is balanced and strongest. I would lift at the frame, but the bottle jack is too stubby. I'd have to set it on tall blocks of wood or similar.

[jamesroadking]

Bigfoot Florida told me if I manually to raise our Entegra 24B to raise it by the two left side jacks, or the two right side, or the two front, or the two rear, but do not raise just one corner at a time. I guess you could twist the frame.
I guess if you were to carry a spare in the rear you probably should have a mounting bracket that fits into the 2 inch receiver hitch, mines rated at 7,500 lb. towing 750 lb. tongue weight.

[Desert_Captain]

I initially mounted our spare on the rear bumper. Bought what I thought was a fairly heavy duty mount and set out from Arizona on a cross country trip. Made it as far as Maine before it completely failed with the steel bracket fracturing when we hit one too many potholes.

IMHO: Most bumpers found on smaller motorhomes are woefully under engineered for carrying the weight of a spare, multiple bikes and the ever popular generator mount.

Apparently there is just too much weight and movement in a vertically mounted spare much like an overloaded bike rack that a structural failure is inevitable. Fortunately I heard it break and was able to remove the tire and bracket without any issues {the spare lived in the overhead of the cabover until we got to the Nexus factory in Elkhart where I had them install the under the coach custom mount}.

The weight is down low and though you do have to crawl under a couple of feet to loosen the bolt that secures the spare it has served us well. About every third time I have the other tires checked/set for the appropriate psi at Discount Tire I ask them to check the spare as well but I always bump up the tip for having them crawl under.

:C

[bobndot]

My shop uses my jacks to raise the entire rv off the ground. They support it using HD jack stands.
AFAIK, the idea is to raise the rig as level as you can w/o lifting one end too high. My jacks might have an extension height limit as you lift each jack at a time, I assume its to prevent damaging the jacks at too steep an angle.

[ron_dittmer]

jamesroadking wrote:
I've never owned a dually before, so on the Ford E450, are all 6 wheels the same?

Yes!

A spare tire with standard Ford E450 steel wheel is used in all 6 positions. Some people like to rotate their 6 tires around. I personally think that is a bad idea for the rubber tires, but I mention "rotation" to support the fact that the spare is used in any position.

Regarding using your hydraulic lifting jacks for changing any tire. If you can raise any corner so high that you can lift the tires completely off the ground, you can utilize the jacks for that purpose. BUT, you need to take extra precaution. You MUST first block the other wheels adequately so the rig does not move when working on it lifted. Break loose all lug nuts prior to lifting the rig. After the tire change, snug the lugs as much as possible with the lug wrench without jerking the rig, making sure everything is in position with no "play", then lower the rig so the tires make limited contact with the ground so they don't spin, then torque them to proper specification. Then completely lower the rig and check the lugs again.

This is my opinion. Others may contradict my post here.

[jamesroadking]

Some good points made about not having a spare tire.
So, I came across 2 different bumper mounts and an underframe mounting system for a spare wheel/tire. I was Looking at buying a spare wheel also, I've never owned a dually before, so on the Ford E450, are all 6 wheels the same wheel, just the 2 rear outer ones reversed? Is there anything else I need to know about changing rear dually wheels myself? My class C has Bigfoot hydraulic leveling jacks is it OK to use those for lifting the wheels completely off the ground? Thanks.

[Desert_Captain]

"Gotta ask though, what’s with the backwards looking hub caps on the rear duals?
Never seen hubcaps in droves that make them look like steers before. "

Grit dog, I don't have a clue what you're referring to. This is how the rig came from the factory and I see these rims frequently on other motorhomes. Is it that they are "outies vs innies"? :h

Freedom RV did a nice job of buffing out all 4 though and I plan on taking the coach back to Freedom for a buff and wax job after our long January - Quartzsite, Ehrenburg and Lake Havasu trip.

:C

[Grit_dog]

Glad they got er fixed up without it being a challenge to get covered/fixed properly.
Gotta ask though, what’s with the backwards looking hub caps on the rear duals?
Never seen hubcaps in droves that make them look like steers before.

[ppine]

Thanks Dad.

[Desert_Captain]

Freedom RV {here in Tucson} completed all of the repairs to our coach and this morning I brought it back to our storage yard. I am nothing but amazed at the thorough, high quality job they did. As noted above the damages were significantly more severe than initially thought.

The force of the explosion blew the top of the wheel well right up through the floor doing additional damage to the interior cabinetry. The tech said that often such an event can result in the cabinets being blown right through the roof. We were lucky...

The wheel well was completely rebuilt, the twisted steel bar cut out and replaced, the bent frame straightened along with new mud flaps, misc bolts and wiring repairs. The cabinets got quite a bit of new hardware to replace the pieces that were damaged and/or destroyed.

They then detailed the damaged area and the interior of the coach. Here are a couple of shots of the finished repairs:





Total cost was $4,131 less my $500 deductible less the $251 GEICO reimbursed me for the blown tire... total out of pocket to me = $249.

Nothing but good things to say about the entire staff at Freedom RV and the folks at GEICO who handled my claim. If you are in the Tucson area and need any RV work give them a call.



:C

[4x4van]

pnichols wrote:

4x4van wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:
Good points Phil...

We all hope to never need help but all too often an injury, even a minor one can spell disaster. I carry a serious first aid kit and have been trained in its use {the same medical kit I carried when doing extended offshore boating trips modified slightly for the RV environment}. From a suture kit to serious pain meds, I am prepared to deal with burns, fractures and bleeding.

Often we are either beyond cell phone coverage or at its outer limits where help can be hours {or more} away. I also have the GS emergency travel assist but admit to some trepidation as to how effective it will ultimately be. Since we often are riding our motorcycle the possibility of even a minor accident could render us less than able to get ourselves and the rig home.


Yep, plan for the worst and hope for the best, once a Boy Scout always a Boy Scout...
Be Prepared!

:C

This is a good point (albeit a bit off the OP's subject). We camp in the desert, oftentimes a long ways from "help", and we engage in relatively dangerous pastimes (ATVs, motorcycles, PWC, etc.) I have always carried a small first aid kit, but the reality is that those are really of limited use; more for comforting kids than anything serious.

Then, a few years ago, my son's fiance broke her neck way out in the dunes. After a $100,000 helicopter ride, she thankfully has made a full recovery, but it made me realize that I needed something more serious than a few band-aids. I now carry a large trauma kit in the RV that can address things like heavy bleeding, broken bones, neck/spinal injuries, burns, etc. Although I hope to never need most of the items in it, I am comforted a bit knowing that it's there.

I'm curious ... was that $100,000 helicopter ride covered by air medivac insurance?

I guess a takeaway might be: If a remote area RV'er does have the insurance or personal money for air medivac, they probably should have a way of calling for air medivac when cell phones can't get out.

Luckily, her regular health insurance covered it (no different than an ambulance ride; it was deemed necessary due to the injury and the distance to a trauma center). She was brought out of the dunes on a litter on the side of a BLM buggy, then an ambulance to a nearby hospital (Brawley). After x-rays determined the severity, the helicopter ride 100 miles to the trauma center (Palm Springs). Her out-of-pocket cost (helicopter, ambulance, 2 hospitals) was about $3,000 total.

There are policies that can be purchased specifically for Air Evacs, but most normal health insurance will cover it as well if it is deemed necessary.