Self Sufficient Damagee Tire Changeout
The question of how to deal with a flat, or blown out tire has been fully debated here and in many other RV forums. Apparently only 5% of MH owners carry a spare. I also debated this internally. At first I decided to carry a spare, but to let the roadside service people change it out. I finally decided to carry the tools, jacks, etc to do it myself.
My Thor Axis is light, 12,500 lb GVWR and has relatively small tires. My spare tire and wheel bought at Town Fair Tire for $240 weighs 60-70 lbs and the wheel nut torque is reasonable- 140 ft lbs. Bigger class As have much bigger tires and a wheel torque of up to 450 lbs. If I had one of those, I wouldn't carry a spare or tools and jacks to change it out. Too much tire weight to manhandle, coach weight to jack up and heavy lug nut torque to manage.
I am still debating where to mount my spare, so let's skip that issue. I have a 15" long, 1/2 drive breaker bar with an extension and 7/8" deep socket for the lug nuts. I have tried and I can easily remove the lug nuts with it.
I bought a 4 ton bottle jack (one rear corner of my Axis is about 2 tons, the front is lighter) and a 4 ton jack stand. The bottle jack lifts from 6-5/8" to 13" and the jack stand supports from 11" to 17". It is important to check those dimensions to make sure you can get the bottle jack under a flat tire.
I also have a TPMS and carry a 12V compressor. The most likely scenario is that I have a slow leak (happened on my cars about every other year recently) that I can top with the compressor until I get to a campsite, set up and change the tire. But I can even deal with a blow out on the road. If either of these happens I will stop by the nearest discount tire place and buy a good replacement. My spare is ok, but not top of the line.
I do have Good Sams Roadside Assistance plan but I would rather not use it nor sit on the side of the road while they try to dispatch a service truck with a new tire. The stories I have read say that can take quite a while.
David
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