Spare Tire Question

[MarYJac04]

I am new to RVing so this may be a stupid question. The salesman told me very few people actually carry spare tires in their RV. I am now questioning this so would like to get some comments.

[QuiGonJohn]

I'm a newbie as well, but that does not sound true to me. I know my in-laws, who full-time do. When we bought our RV just this past April we had to have all 6 tires on the RV replaced. In discussing with my father-in-law, he said the spare is probably in better condition, being under a good cover all the time. The tires on the RV were all dry rotted, with lots of cracks and were over 7 years old. So we got those replaced and kept the same spare.

[RVerOnTheMove]

The size of your RV and the type tire required makes a difference in whether a spare is carried. I have a bus conversion and it requires a very large and heavy tire so I do not carry a spare. Since I also have duals on the drive I could, if all else failed, either travel with one missing drive tire to limp to a repair facility or use one of the drive tires to replace a front tire again allowing for a short limp.

It is my hope that my roadside assistance would take care of this issue instead and I would just pay to have a tire and service person come to me.

I would agree with the salesman that most larger RVs do not have a spare on board while many smaller RV may or may not have a spare.

[desertdeals69]

I always carry at least one spare. I am leaving Az tomorrow morning headed to Bremen In for a paint job. Will be gone for about 4 months. I also carry an extra tire in the pu toad. I have traveled for 36 years , 400,000 miles, and 10 motorhomes with a spare at all the times. My current tire size is 235/80r22.5. My fear has been not having the right size tire and having to wait hours or days for the right size.

[wolfe10]

Several options:

1. No spare-- the majority of coaches, particularly DP fall into this category.

2. An unmounted spare tire (much lighter than a mounted one. Still allows road service to install it where you are.

3. Mounted spare. A reasonable option IF you have the equipment and ability to change the tire yourself. If you have to have road service for this, not much advantage over #2.

We carry an unmounted spare ONLY when traveling to remote areas where a replacement tire might be hard to find.

[bobbyks]

When I purchased a 40 foot 2005 Damon it had room to store a spare, I purchased a new 275/80-22.5 R and carried it with me until I purchased a 45 ft. Mandalay, tire size same as the Damon, the storage has slide out trays and not room for the tire it sits in my storage shed . I am told by friends they do not carry spares and you would have to have road service to have a tire changed anyway most professional road service are able to get a spare for you, may cost a little more but it will be fresh.

[JRP62]

We carry an unmounted spare in our toad. Just feel better with it along.

[five]

I do not carry a spare. When I have these tires replaced, I'll save the best one and it will become my unmounted spare. On these buses, even if you have a flat and have a mounted spare, it will take some heavy duty tools and jacks (and muscle) to change the tire.

[LovetoRV7]

What I have found is with the larger RVs - your tire is a specialized size. You might call your roadside assistance company and they can mobilize quickly, but they may not be able to find the correct tire. Also - if you do find a mount big enough - you can't access your engine on a diesel pusher. But then I saw a mount that was big enough and they ended up having contact info for it. You might check it out. You don't have to do the heavy work - just have the right tire with you. http://www.rvtiremount.com/

[dickandlois]

By the way,

Welcome to FMCA , jrp62 and Loveto RV.

The only item I have run into in like 40 years of owning a Motorhome was having my road service arrive and not have the proper sized socket to remover the wheel covers on the DP that a nice sharp piece of something made a tire not hold air.

The fact that I'm just to detailed ( according to the DW) I had the size with me for the 3/4in. drive.

So no sitting at a rest area for one to be delivered.

45 min. later we where back on the road.

It took longer for the Road Service to find a tire then to change it and that fact has always made my gray mater twitch from time to time while driving in less populated areas. They are not quit as common as car tires, but once in over 175,000 miles is not to bad.

Rich.

[tireman9]

I have two YouTube videos just on spare tires

Should you carry a spare

http://youtu.be/mRy9BYZL5RQ

What you probably don't know about your spare

http://youtu.be/WMxBIKl_wn8