Spare tire

[garmp]

Been reading post about which road service club is the best, Good Sam, Passport America, etc. Especially about road hazard/tire repair, and this brings me to ask about the spare tire. How many new manufacturers supply a spare tire? We had a recent visit to Phoenix Cruiser factory and was told the "most" RV manufacturers are not supplying spare tires since most if not all owners belong to a roadside asistance type club.
Has anyone else run across this? Or is he blowing smoke?
Doubt that I could change a tire on a dually by myself, but want to get a straight answer from members, not a salesman.

[timmac]

A spare is a must have in my book, I have 19.5 tires and can do my own flat change if needed, that's why I went with a motorhome that has 19.5 so I can carry a spare in my compartment and can change without much help.

[mgirardo]

All three of the campers we have owned came with a spare that was mounted on the rear bumper. Didn't need to use one on the pop-up or Hybrid TT, but did need the spare once on the motorhome.

We were at the same RV dealer that we bought our motorhome from recently and noticed that none of the current year Jayco Greyhawk motorhomes had a rear mounted spare tire. At our seasonal camp site, one of our neighbors bought a Greyhawk in 2014 and his did not have a spare tire. I would hope a spare tire would at least be offered as an option. I wouldn't buy a motor vehicle without a spare tire.

We have AAA Plus with RV. We used them back in March to put our spare tire on when we had a blowout on I-95. It took them a long time to find someone to come out and change the tire, but once they got there, it was done in 15 minutes. The mobile repair guy charged AAA $250 to do the work. That's more than we pay for our service.

We've never had trouble with AAA on the East Coast, where we have used it in a half dozen states, but I have heard that AAA is not as good in other areas of the country. We had Coach-net and wasn't happy with their towing option (have to go to nearest repair center, not where we wanted to go).

-Michael

[CarolynandBob]

Ours came with a spare. We bought an electric impact gun from Harbor freight that works great. Just start the Genny and plug it in. Comes in a nice plastic case that I keep the correct sockets in. When I had a flat it was the inner dual. I took out a ramp and put it on the outer dual and drove up. Then went under and used the bottle jack to lift it. The ramp just made it easier to get under and then I only had to used the jack to lift it about a 1/2". Used the impact to change everything and then a breaker bar for the final tightening. Took about 1/2 hour.

[3oaks]

Horizon170 wrote:
I will NOT drive any vehicle or pull any trailer without a serviceable spare.
Generally someone is always willing to help you change a tire.

X2

Also, all good points others have made for carrying along a spare.

[doxiemom11]

Our motorhome has a spare tire that is mounted and carried in a bay specifically designed for the spare tire. We think it's a good idea to have one, especially if you happen to need a tire on a Sunday or holiday.

[Lantley]

Tyler0215 wrote:
You would get faster service if you only needed a tire change and not a new tire and remount.

Having a spare with you will be to your advantage. Forcing the roadside service to locate a tire may result in major delays and additional cost.
Neither service is traveling with or stocking a large assortment of tires.

[Horizon170]

I will NOT drive any vehicle or pull any trailer without a serviceable spare.
Generally someone is always willing to help you change a tire.

[Bumpyroad]

all of my Class As with 19" wheels came with a spare. I would carry at least an unmounted tire so you aren't at the mercy of the road service folk who show up with a 10 year old $1,000 tire.
bumpy

[DrewE]

Putting a spare on a dually is typically not much harder than putting one on the steer axle of the same vehicle. Usually it's the same weight and number of lug nuts tightened to the same torque. On something like a Ford E-series chassis, it's really quite doable; the wheels are a bit heavy, to be sure, but not unmanageably so, and the lug nuts are torqued to 140 foot-pounds, well within the capability of a breaker bar or decent lug wrench to loosen. The only difference between the front and the back is needing a socket extension (as the lug nuts are inside rather than outside the wheel dish) and, in the case of an inner wheel, having to take the outer off and set it aside temporarily. There is more weight to jack up, too, but if you have a sufficiently powerful jack that's not a problem.

It may well be true that a majority of motorhomes do not come with a spare, and I suspect that's more true the larger and heavier the chassis is. 19" and especially 22.5" wheels are a good bit heavier and harder to manage, and typically have significantly higher torques required for the lug nuts, making it rather harder for average people to change them out. Some chassis also have different wheels for some or all of the positions.

For typical class C's, I think spares are often available at least as an option. Certainly it's not problematic to get a suitable wheel from Ford or whomever and mount a tire on it. There may not be good provisions for carrying it, though. (Mine has an underframe cable hoist system that works out nicely for me.)

[Tom_N]

The only reason for a manufacturer to not supply a spare tire is......COST.

[Tyler0215]

You would get faster service if you only needed a tire change and not a new tire and remount.

[rk911]

Passport America is not a road service club...they provide discount campsites. GoodSam and Coach Net are the two 500-lb gorillas providing RV road service. there are literally hundreds of threads discussing which is "better". to me that's no different than ford vs. chevy, less filling vs. tastes great or mary ann vs. ginger. we've used GoodSam for the last 30-years which ought to tell you something. but others are just as adamant about Coach Net.

only our first MH, a 1985 Winnebago Chieftain, had a spare. our last two MHs, a 2000 yr model and our current 2016 MH have no spare. you'd be wise to subscribe to a road service.

and by the way....ford, we don't drink alcohol but I'd choose less filling and of course, mary ann. 🙂