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

[Veebyes]

Enough of the whatabouts & the what ifs. If you have something that wears out & is hard to find, get a spare when you can & carry it.

Rim, tire, brake pads, oil filter, fuel filter, doesn't matter. Sitting by the side of the road without it does you no good. At least having the part only leaves the problem of replacing it.

We are off to Alaska again in 2023. We will be starting off with new rubber all round. We will also be carrying a spare brake drum with Nev R Lube bearings mounted, spare truck brake pads, serpentine belt, oil filter, primary & secondary fuel filter, spare trailer wet bolts, landing leg parts, slide gears, two spare tires (truck & trailer use same tire), numerous other bits & pieces collected over the years, very few of them stock items in an auto store.

We even carry a spare trailer axle!

We are former cruising boaters where there is NO roadside assistance. We carried all of our spares, even used stuff that had some life left in it, & knew how to install it.

The trailer broke a spring in Newfoundland this year. Lucky. We were able to get a replacement pair, slightly different, & changed out both sides ourselves. Still have the remaining one good spring pack just in case.

With all of the stuff that goes wrong with these RVs I don't know how some helpless people get by.

[JimBollman]

I assumed a rim failure which reminded me of a story a friend told me years ago. He use to do cross country trips in a 1956 Ford Sedan Delivery picking on the back roads. This was in the late 70s and early 80s, don't remember the year it happened but he had a rim failure in the middle of nowhere out West. The rim was enough different he wasn't sure where he was going to find a replacement in this little town. He started walking around town thinking about who he might call that could ship him a rim and noticed a house trailer that had a familiar looking car rim holding up the tunge and took a closer look. Sure enough it was just what he needed. He made a quick deal to trade a failed rim for the useable rim and a few hours later he was on his way again. He had a way of falling into things like that.

[Grit_dog]

@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.

[JRscooby]

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

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

[mgirardo]

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

[JaxDad]

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.