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Old 09-18-2015, 12:37 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by thor293 View Post
I have personally never run across this. They have always been the same size. Sales people normally talk out their arse because their head knows better. Simply check the size on the tire of front and back.
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Originally Posted by JamieGeek View Post
Doesn't sound ridiculous to me: The front wheels aren't meant to be mounted on dually's thus they had to remove the tire and remount it on one of the dually wheels and vice versa.
So apparently you have answered half of my question. ("Can anyone confirm this? If so, why would they make them different?")

If what you say is true, it's the first I've heard of dissimilar wheels front and rear on a truck chassis. I have had other dually's with spare tires that fit both in the front and rear. Having it otherwise is ridiculous.

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Old 09-18-2015, 12:47 PM   #22
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Yep. I had an F350 with dual wheels and they would rotate front - left to right and same with the back but could not (would not) rotate front to back. Could not, would not - does that sound like Dr. Seuss?
Did you carry one or two spare tires and wheels?
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Old 09-18-2015, 12:49 PM   #23
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Here is a link that explains it (presumably). Has to do with fancy wheels vs. plain wheels. And no. I only had one spare.

front and rear dually wheels - why different? - Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com
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Old 09-18-2015, 01:02 PM   #24
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I had my wheels rotated at 10000 miles and they took the two off the left rear and put them on the front and the two on the front on the left rear. I ran them for 15000 miles this summer and I ran my last set of Michelins 36000 miles, rotating them twice, the same way. I was told by an old time tire guy who had letters confirming it from several tire manufactures that not rotating tires from side to side (so they rotate the opposite way) is an urban myth. When radial tires first came out, the manufactures did not know how they were going to react to long term wear and stresses, so to be cautious, they told their dealers to only rotate back to front so the tires continued to turn in the same direction. Turned out that it really makes no difference, but the myth is still out there and many tire guys still swear by it.
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Old 09-18-2015, 01:26 PM   #25
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Here is a link that explains it (presumably). Has to do with fancy wheels vs. plain wheels. And no. I only had one spare.

front and rear dually wheels - why different? - Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com
Thanks for the link.

There seems to be some confusion on "The DieselStop.com" forum. But the predominant answer appears to be along these lines:

"The wheels can be mounted on any position on the truck. If they couldn't be, then you would need two spares, one for the front and one for the rear..... The only dually wheels I have seen with the markings on them were aluminum and I always presumed they were marked as such (due to which side was finished) to ensure that parts folks could easily identify the correct wheel for its placement (front or rear)."

This is in reference to Ford Dually's not RV chassis.
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Old 09-18-2015, 01:31 PM   #26
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There does appear to be some confusion but I think you nailed the gist of it. Basically, it has to do with fancy wheels. I know my tire dealer wouldn't rotate from front to back but I didn't know why. Now I do. It was simply more work.
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Old 09-18-2015, 01:32 PM   #27
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My limited experience with dually trucks is that the wheels are universal. It's why the wheel or hub cap sticks out so far on the front....
This is the first i've ever heard of something like this.....

My intuition tells me this is a classic case of a salesman, like a lot of people, are too afraid to say "I don't know"....so the fill the silent space with empty words....

and my intuition tells me that pstandiford's F-350 tires were rotated that way for some other reason... maybe convenience, maybe for some other reason such as wear pattern recommendations....and the mechanic, just like the salesman... instead of saying I don't know why we do it that way, he wanted to sound smarter so he filled the air with something that sounded better.... or maybe it was the guy that explained it to him and he was just parroting what he had been told....
Again, just my intuition.... I could be wrong
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Old 09-18-2015, 01:35 PM   #28
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I did have polished wheels on the outside and steel wheels on the inside so it makes sense that they wouldn't move the steel wheels to the front but they could have moved the polished wheels to the front.
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Old 09-18-2015, 01:42 PM   #29
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Yes. On the Ford E-350, at least, any standard wheel can be used in any position on the truck without dismounting it.
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Old 09-18-2015, 01:44 PM   #30
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I did have polished wheels on the outside and steel wheels on the inside so it makes sense that they wouldn't move the steel wheels to the front but they could have moved the polished wheels to the front.
Yes that makes sense. But in my case the wheels on my Windsport 27K are steel with stainless steel covers. The reason that I am asking the question is because I'd like to carry a spare in the trailer we tow, but according to the service people at the RV dealership the wheels are different.
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Old 09-18-2015, 03:39 PM   #31
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The covers in the front and back are different because they cover different sides of the wheel. In the duals the side that is outside is the one that is inside in the front. The Windsport is on an E-350 chassis and unless Thor changed the wheel mounts (which seems unlikely) then all the wheels are the same. Don't listen to salesmen, don't listen to me - I'm not an expert. Go to an expert tire guy in your town and discuss it.
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Old 09-18-2015, 03:44 PM   #32
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On this carrying a tire issue, does everyone who carries a spare wheel have leveling jacks so they can change a tire. I do not in my Vegas and because of that I did not carry a spare wheel in my trip to Alaska. I decided that there was no way I could change a wheel, so why carry the weight. I did carry a spare tire in case I damaged one beyond repair. That fit in my rear storage area. I figured that if a repair guy could lift my Vegas, then he probably could change the spare tire onto the rim. Luckily I never had to test this theory.
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Old 09-18-2015, 04:24 PM   #33
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On this carrying a tire issue, does everyone who carries a spare wheel have leveling jacks so they can change a tire. I do not in my Vegas and because of that I did not carry a spare wheel in my trip to Alaska. I decided that there was no way I could change a wheel, so why carry the weight. I did carry a spare tire in case I damaged one beyond repair. That fit in my rear storage area. I figured that if a repair guy could lift my Vegas, then he probably could change the spare tire onto the rim. Luckily I never had to test this theory.
Back more than ten years ago we had a blowout on our 38.5 foot Holiday Rambler Endeavor. Even though we were close to Boston and had lots of difficulty getting a replacement tire. We ended up with a well used tire and a $300 dollar charge for it and mounting. After replacing all of the tires and buying a spare wheel and tire, I carried the necessary tools and a 20 ton bottle jack in case I couldn't lift the RV with the levelers. I never had to use the spare until I replaced a worn front tire several years later.

There is a lot of security knowing that we had a spare wheel on that RV.
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Old 09-18-2015, 04:37 PM   #34
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Here is some information about wheel sizes from the F53 Super Duty
Motorhome Chassis spec. sheet.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas...9_SB_specs.pdf
page 96

It appears that they are the same size front and rear.
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Old 09-18-2015, 05:25 PM   #35
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If I had levelers, I would carry a spare wheel too. But even this summer, a hundred miles from nowhere, I did not feel comfortable to plan to attempt to change a tire with a jack. I decided I would rather wait for help rather than attempt it.
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Old 09-18-2015, 06:04 PM   #36
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We recently traded in a 2000 Fleetwood Pace Arrow. It had a spare tire but no jack. There were multiple warnings in the documentation that said that the levelers were not to be used while changing a tire. Also stated that changing the tire was a job for a professional and should not be attempted by others. I don't recall seeing that in anything on our new MH but wondering if that attitude is still prevalent.
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Old 09-18-2015, 07:00 PM   #37
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Yes to the extent that they don't offer a spare. The salesman said they don't want you changing it anyways. Well we camp where there is no cell reception, so it is mainly an insurance plan.
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Old 09-18-2015, 07:27 PM   #38
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Doesn't sound ridiculous to me: The front wheels aren't meant to be mounted on dually's thus they had to remove the tire and remount it on one of the dually wheels and vice versa.
If they are not the same and can't be interchanged, then what happens when you get a front flat versus rear flat if you only have one spare?

My E-350 Class C came with one spare that could be used front or back (I assumed even though I never had to use it). Many rental Class Cs also had one spare that wasn't designated for front or rear.


What really doesn't make sense to me is that if the wheels are not interchangeable front-to-back, and the fronts only work up front, then why not use standard front wheels and hubs like on a standard SRW van or truck? That would reduce unsprung weight to improve ride and save cost too.

Something doesn't sound right here.
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Old 09-18-2015, 07:48 PM   #39
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My limited experience with dually trucks is that the wheels are universal. It's why the wheel or hub cap sticks out so far on the front....
This is the first i've ever heard of something like this.....

My intuition tells me this is a classic case of a salesman, like a lot of people, are too afraid to say "I don't know"....so the fill the silent space with empty words....

and my intuition tells me that pstandiford's F-350 tires were rotated that way for some other reason... maybe convenience, maybe for some other reason such as wear pattern recommendations....and the mechanic, just like the salesman... instead of saying I don't know why we do it that way, he wanted to sound smarter so he filled the air with something that sounded better.... or maybe it was the guy that explained it to him and he was just parroting what he had been told....
Again, just my intuition.... I could be wrong
Some car tires are designed to rotate in one direction for best performance. "If" some truck tires are designed the same, it would require taking at least some of the tires off rim to rotate. I'm not sure if unidirectional truck tires exist or if they are commonly used.
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Old 09-18-2015, 08:41 PM   #40
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Some car tires are designed to rotate in one direction for best performance. "If" some truck tires are designed the same, it would require taking at least some of the tires off rim to rotate. I'm not sure if unidirectional truck tires exist or if they are commonly used.
Yes, some high-performance, high-price cars have wheels that are meant to rotate in one direction, perhaps to force air over the brake rotors and calipers. I suspect the confusion is with aluminum dually wheels in that there is a difference between the rear inside steel wheels and the outside aluminum front and rear wheels. But the specs. on the F53 chassis do not indicate a difference in size.

I have reason to believe that the famous and well-known dealer where I bought our used 2015 Windsport is a real shyster. I guess the technical term is a "stealer".
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