A spare wheel might be harder to source than you think!

[2manytoyz]

Most new motorhomes don't come with a spare tire. My first Class A motorhome did, a 1999 Bounder, and it was tucked up under the chassis. The disadvantage to not carrying a spare is a flat tire can ruin a vacation. My last Class A, a 2015 Forest River Georgetown 3218TS, used a common size tire, but the wheel (8" wide) had been discontinued. Many RVs use a 7" wide wheel, which didn't fit. It took a week to special order a spare.

We recently traded in our Class A, for a new 2023 Thor Quantum KW29 Class C. It's on a very common Ford E-450 chassis. However, it's a cutaway (RV) chassis, which uses larger brake calipers. Standard E-450 wheels DO NOT FIT as they hit the calipers.

I contacted many companies, and searched the internet for 3 days. I finally found a used one of eBay. It was their last one. Spare tires are often easier to source as you can change brands. Wheels are another story.







I have a Road Master spare tire carrier that mounts in the RVs hitch, and provides another hitch point. This was used on my previous Class A, and I transferred it to the new Class C.

I highly recommend that you check the P/N on your wheel, and checking the availability, especially if you're not going to carry a spare. You might source one in a day, a week, or if you have a wheel like mine, someone just bought the only available one (ME!). Ford can eventually get you one, but those are over $1K, and with the difficulty getting parts, you might be stuck somewhere for far longer than you intended.

For more information on the spare tire carrier, pics and details here: http://2manytoyz.com/spare-tire-carrier.html

[dedmiston]

Bla bla bla.

Some of you will argue about ANYTHING.

[JRscooby]

BTW, to anybody else that is in OP's position. If the issue is clearing the caliper, but you have a wheel/tire that will bolt up, and be the same height 2 out of the 6 don't need to clear the caliper.

[JRscooby]

JaxDad wrote:

With all due respect here guys, calling AAA to change a commercial truck tire, to use your anology, would be like going to McD’s for dinner and complaining about the really bad steak they served you…..

I repeatedly said “reputable tire service” not teenager in a tow truck.

This is my point! I don't expect cripple A to service a commercial truck tire! I call a tire service guy.

The idea OP, and many other RVers can't seem to get between their ears is when it comes to changing a tire, it is more like working on a light commercial truck than working on a car. The guy that would respond when you call a tire service will have no issues. And when he is done, you are ready to continue the trip.
OTOH, the service that says you must have a spare mounted on wheel expects to send somebody that has enough tools & experience to change car tire. And best case, when he is done, you are expected to go to a shop to finish the repair.

[JaxDad]

JRscooby wrote:

JimBollman wrote:

JRscooby wrote:


I think you missed my point; I have no doubt that if I call for tire service truck, unless it is for antique with split rims, the guy that shows up will know what he is doing.
OTOH, I would not place a bet, if cripple A or some other service that declares they can't mount a tire on wheel could safely jack up the RV, or deal with a tire larger than a car. Will he have wrench to fit the larger nuts? Or one to handle the torque to remove?

I would not bet on that. I called AAA to change a tire on the side of an interstate in PA, I had a spare but didn't want to try and change on such a busy highway and a narrow berm. I warned them the spare may be low on air. After about 3 hours he showed up with a light weight jack that could not lift my F250 with an 8' popup camper. I finally told them to jack up the frame and I used my Ford jack to jack up the axle. They got the spare out from underneath and it was low. He took an inflater like you might buy for $50 at Harbor Freight and started inflating, every 10 minutes or so it would stop and need to cool down. Finally at about 35lbs he said that's good. I said it was suppose to have 75lbs and he said that was probably why the other tired failed. It had a 1" hole in the tread like a ran over a hole saw. I limped off the interstate and found a gas station and paid 25 cents per so many minutes to fill it.

This is the prefect description of my expectation of the tool and mindset of whoever Auto service would send out. Once they start with the idea spare must be on wheel to be useful, qualification requirements are not much above McDs, and tools will likely be minimum for average car.
When I last called a Tire service, when asked, "yes I have spare, but prefer not to use" When truck got there he had no trouble jacking up axle, used his inch drive air powered impact on the lugs, removed tire from wheel, inspected inside, plugged and patched the hole, remounted tire on wheel, wheel back on axle. In short, the mobile service, and service at shop where same except for inventory of tire. When he was done, I had no need to go to shop to finish the job.
Now given this was on a loaded 7 axle RGN rig, but I have no doubt they could service any RV.

With all due respect here guys, calling AAA to change a commercial truck tire, to use your anology, would be like going to McD’s for dinner and complaining about the really bad steak they served you…..

I repeatedly said “reputable tire service” not teenager in a tow truck.

[JRscooby]

JimBollman wrote:

JRscooby wrote:


I think you missed my point; I have no doubt that if I call for tire service truck, unless it is for antique with split rims, the guy that shows up will know what he is doing.
OTOH, I would not place a bet, if cripple A or some other service that declares they can't mount a tire on wheel could safely jack up the RV, or deal with a tire larger than a car. Will he have wrench to fit the larger nuts? Or one to handle the torque to remove?

I would not bet on that. I called AAA to change a tire on the side of an interstate in PA, I had a spare but didn't want to try and change on such a busy highway and a narrow berm. I warned them the spare may be low on air. After about 3 hours he showed up with a light weight jack that could not lift my F250 with an 8' popup camper. I finally told them to jack up the frame and I used my Ford jack to jack up the axle. They got the spare out from underneath and it was low. He took an inflater like you might buy for $50 at Harbor Freight and started inflating, every 10 minutes or so it would stop and need to cool down. Finally at about 35lbs he said that's good. I said it was suppose to have 75lbs and he said that was probably why the other tired failed. It had a 1" hole in the tread like a ran over a hole saw. I limped off the interstate and found a gas station and paid 25 cents per so many minutes to fill it.

This is the prefect description of my expectation of the tool and mindset of whoever Auto service would send out. Once they start with the idea spare must be on wheel to be useful, qualification requirements are not much above McDs, and tools will likely be minimum for average car.
When I last called a Tire service, when asked, "yes I have spare, but prefer not to use" When truck got there he had no trouble jacking up axle, used his inch drive air powered impact on the lugs, removed tire from wheel, inspected inside, plugged and patched the hole, remounted tire on wheel, wheel back on axle. In short, the mobile service, and service at shop where same except for inventory of tire. When he was done, I had no need to go to shop to finish the job.
Now given this was on a loaded 7 axle RGN rig, but I have no doubt they could service any RV.

[JimBollman]

JRscooby wrote:

JaxDad wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

And real important, IMHO, is how sure are you the guy that can't mount a tire on the side of road will be equipped both on the service truck and between his ears, to safely change the larger/heavier than normal wheel on the larger/heavier than normal vehicle?

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics there is some 13 MILLION transport trucks in the US. That’s north of 230 MILLION heavy truck tires.

Any reputable tire service doing roadside service calls will know how to dismount / mount a tire correctly.

Your call will NOT be their first rodeo.

I think you missed my point; I have no doubt that if I call for tire service truck, unless it is for antique with split rims, the guy that shows up will know what he is doing.
OTOH, I would not place a bet, if cripple A or some other service that declares they can't mount a tire on wheel could safely jack up the RV, or deal with a tire larger than a car. Will he have wrench to fit the larger nuts? Or one to handle the torque to remove?

I would not bet on that. I called AAA to change a tire on the side of an interstate in PA, I had a spare but didn't want to try and change on such a busy highway and a narrow berm. I warned them the spare may be low on air. After about 3 hours he showed up with a light weight jack that could not lift my F250 with an 8' popup camper. I finally told them to jack up the frame and I used my Ford jack to jack up the axle. They got the spare out from underneath and it was low. He took an inflater like you might buy for $50 at Harbor Freight and started inflating, every 10 minutes or so it would stop and need to cool down. Finally at about 35lbs he said that's good. I said it was suppose to have 75lbs and he said that was probably why the other tired failed. It had a 1" hole in the tread like a ran over a hole saw. I limped off the interstate and found a gas station and paid 25 cents per so many minutes to fill it.

[JaxDad]

JRscooby wrote:

JaxDad wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

And real important, IMHO, is how sure are you the guy that can't mount a tire on the side of road will be equipped both on the service truck and between his ears, to safely change the larger/heavier than normal wheel on the larger/heavier than normal vehicle?

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics there is some 13 MILLION transport trucks in the US. That’s north of 230 MILLION heavy truck tires.

Any reputable tire service doing roadside service calls will know how to dismount / mount a tire correctly.

Your call will NOT be their first rodeo.

I think you missed my point; I have no doubt that if I call for tire service truck, unless it is for antique with split rims, the guy that shows up will know what he is doing.
OTOH, I would not place a bet, if cripple A or some other service that declares they can't mount a tire on wheel could safely jack up the RV, or deal with a tire larger than a car. Will he have wrench to fit the larger nuts? Or one to handle the torque to remove?

No, I don’t think I misunderstood anything. They don’t dismount / remount 22” tires on a Caddy CTS on the side of the Interstate.

The tire service coming out to break down and mount the new tire will be quite accustomed to doing so with truck tires on the side of the road.

BTW, if you’ve never done it yourself (I’ve done so dozens of times) a truck tire on a steel rim is MUCH easier to do compared to a passenger car tire.

[JRscooby]

JaxDad wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

And real important, IMHO, is how sure are you the guy that can't mount a tire on the side of road will be equipped both on the service truck and between his ears, to safely change the larger/heavier than normal wheel on the larger/heavier than normal vehicle?

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics there is some 13 MILLION transport trucks in the US. That’s north of 230 MILLION heavy truck tires.

Any reputable tire service doing roadside service calls will know how to dismount / mount a tire correctly.

Your call will NOT be their first rodeo.

I think you missed my point; I have no doubt that if I call for tire service truck, unless it is for antique with split rims, the guy that shows up will know what he is doing.
OTOH, I would not place a bet, if cripple A or some other service that declares they can't mount a tire on wheel could safely jack up the RV, or deal with a tire larger than a car. Will he have wrench to fit the larger nuts? Or one to handle the torque to remove?

[Ed_Manifold]

My chassis is a2002 Freightliner, I had 22" steel wheels that I have replaced with Alcoa aluminum wheels so I have four steel wheels that i need to get rid of. I have kept one for my spare tire, I gave one to a friend and that leaves me with four left. If anyone needs a spare wheel you can contact me through this site. I live in the Placerville area i California.

[Chum_lee]

2manytoyz wrote:
Most new motorhomes don't come with a spare tire. My first Class A motorhome did, a 1999 Bounder, and it was tucked up under the chassis. The disadvantage to not carrying a spare is a flat tire can ruin a vacation. My last Class A, a 2015 Forest River Georgetown 3218TS, used a common size tire, but the wheel (8" wide) had been discontinued. Many RVs use a 7" wide wheel, which didn't fit. It took a week to special order a spare.

I highly recommend that you check the P/N on your wheel, and checking the availability, especially if you're not going to carry a spare. You might source one in a day, a week, or if you have a wheel like mine, someone just bought the only available one (ME!). Ford can eventually get you one, but those are over $1K, and with the difficulty getting parts, you might be stuck somewhere for far longer than you intended.

As someone who worked in the parts department at a Ford Dealer, I can tell you that you are exactly correct and you give good advice. Ford Motor home chassis are handled differently than standard Ford trucks because the production quantity is lower. The GVWR is so much higher which often requires special wheels(diameter, offset, width, gauge, bolt pattern), lugs, lug nuts, brakes, axles, springs, etc.. Because of the above, they are often a special order part and not in stock. It doesn't help that Ford rarely sells partial chassis products direct to the consumer. They sell a partial assembly to a fabricator who finishes the chassis/coach and rarely keeps Ford OEM chassis (suspension) parts in stock.

Chum lee

[mgirardo]

JRscooby wrote:

Help me stand under this; They tell you up front they will not provide a service you are likely to require, why pay them?

Because I carry a fully mounted spare, so I don't need them to mount the tire on the wheel. They also offer lots of other services as well, not just replacing a spare tire.

JRscooby wrote:

How many flats do you have a year?

On the motorhome, we had only 1 blowout in the 7 years we owned it. On our cars, maybe a few over the last 10 years, but I change those myself. Unless it happens to my wife or daughter when they are 100s of miles from home and then AAA changes it for them.

JRscooby wrote:

How much does it cost to have a tire service truck mount tire? And real important, IMHO, is how sure are you the guy that can't mount a tire on the side of road will be equipped both on the service truck and between his ears, to safely change the larger/heavier than normal wheel on the larger/heavier than normal vehicle?

The Mobile Tire repair charged AAA $250 to pull my flat (which was an inside rear tire) and put my mounted spare tire on. My guess, if he had to remove the blown tire from the wheel and mounted the spare on that wheel, it would have probably easily been double the cost.

There are probably thousands of Mobile Tire Repair centers. I'm sure all of them can dismount and mount tires off/on to wheels on the side of the road. On much heavier vehicles than our 14.5k Class C motorhome. The question is do I want to pay them to do that. AAA pays for itself each year with the discounts we receive at Hotels, restaurants, etc..

I'm not preaching that anyone should carry a mounted spare. I was just sharing my experience.

-Michael

[JaxDad]

JRscooby wrote:

mgirardo wrote:

JaxDad wrote:
Any competent tire service can dismount / remount a tire on the side of the road. All you need to carry is the tire itself, no rim.

True, but if you have Roadside Assistance, they may not cover having the tire mounted on the wheel. When we had AAA+ with RV, they would only cover removal of the old tire & wheel and mounting the spare tire & wheel.

-Michael

And real important, IMHO, is how sure are you the guy that can't mount a tire on the side of road will be equipped both on the service truck and between his ears, to safely change the larger/heavier than normal wheel on the larger/heavier than normal vehicle?

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics there is some 13 MILLION transport trucks in the US. That’s north of 230 MILLION heavy truck tires.

Any reputable tire service doing roadside service calls will know how to dismount / mount a tire correctly.

Your call will NOT be their first rodeo.

[2manytoyz]

Grit dog wrote:
@2manytoyz, most of the problem is it appears you don’t know what wheel it is and what fits.
If a 16” doesn’t fit then it’s a 17” rim which is standard on all the dually trucks for the last 15 years or so.
I promise whatever you have if it came off the Ford line is not rare.
Start by figuring out what size the wheel is.

I know EXACTLY what wheel it is. I posted a picture of the Ford P/N. It's a 16x6 wheel, but the other numbers in that long P/N indicate offset, etc. The issue is there are a few different Ford wheels this size, but they are NOT interchangeable. This is why I recommend people go LOOK at their wheels, read the P/N, and see if it is commonly available, or if they need to consider getting a spare.

This wheel has a slightly different profile, that clears the oversized brake calipers on the new E-450 CUTAWAY chassis. This is not the same wheel used on the standard E-450 chassis.

Not only do I know the exact wheel I need, I have one. Maybe the only one available at the moment.

[2manytoyz]

JaxDad wrote:
Any competent tire service can dismount / remount a tire on the side of the road. All you need to carry is the tire itself, no rim.

And if a blowout damages the rim? "I" can't remount a spare tire on the side of the road, but I sure can swap a mounted tire. I choose to have the option of getting myself back on the road.

I don't share this information to convince anyone they should do the same! Some will find this information useful...