Please School Me on Class A Tires and Wheels!

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Zulu Kono

Zulu Kono

Well-known member
Joined
May 28, 2022
Posts
159
Location
USA
Hi folks!
Sold my travel trailer and am now looking for a class A.
A new one is not in my budget so I'm
looking at late '90s/early 2000s coaches.

I have a pretty good idea of what I want.
-Chevy chassis with Vortec 7400 or 8100.
-Winnebago/Itasca.
-32' or shorter.
-Prefer driver's door.
-Walk-around rear queen bed.

One I'm looking at has what look like
five-lug rims on the front and ten-lug rims
on the back and the tire size just says "8r19.5".
Based on that situation it looks like you can't
rotate the fronts to the back or vice versa?
And is there a sticker on the coach somewhere that tells the
recommended tire size and inflation like on Chevy pickups?
And what else should I be aware of?
Thanks in advance!
 
HueyPilotVN said:
Are you sure that it is not just the wheel cover that you see with 5 lugs?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply!
Very well may be a wheel cover.
Didn't know that was a possibility,
that's why I need schooled.
Here's a photo:
434305346_1466414797311924_3195862211412551868_n.jpg
 
Zulu Kono said:
Hi folks!
Sold my travel trailer and am now looking for a class A.
A new one is not in my budget so I'm
looking at late '90s/early 2000s coaches.

I have a pretty good idea of what I want.
-Chevy chassis with Vortec 7400 or 8100.
-Winnebago/Itasca.
-32' or shorter.
-Prefer driver's door.
-Walk-around rear queen bed.

One I'm looking at has what look like
five-lug rims on the front and ten-lug rims
on the back and the tire size just says "8r19.5".
Based on that situation it looks like you can't
rotate the fronts to the back or vice versa?
And is there a sticker on the coach somewhere that tells the
recommended tire size and inflation like on Chevy pickups?
And what else should I be aware of?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Most motorhome owners never put enough miles on tires that rotation would ever be an issue. I suspect as well, in a 20+ year old motorhome, tire rotation is going to be way down there on your list of priorities.
 
When you get up into these tire sizes, you will find the fronts will be "steer" tires,, and rears will be "drivers" tires.. Not normally rotated. and not needed...I have been known to switch the fronts side to side to even out wear do to the crown in the roads..The right "steer" tire seems to get more punishment,, you will also find that 19.5 tires have been phased out and now are hard to find..Be careful..>>>Dan
 
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I agree with the others, having said that this will be a P series chassis, it uses the same wheels on front and back just on the front they are only held on with 5 lugs, ie a lug through every other hole in the wheel.

Be aware the parts availability for both the P and W series Workhorse chassis has been getting worse in recent years, the same is true of the 8.1L engine which only had a production run length of about 7 years. It seems every year more and more items are becoming junk yard only items. For example front wheel hubs and spindles are now unobtainable for the P series coaches, and good junkyard spindles are nearly impossible to find, as a result the ones that are out there are selling for insane prices ($3,500+ each). This is likely driven by owner failing to follow the front wheel bearing lubrication schedule that calls for repacking the front bearings every 12,000 miles. Other no longer available parts include numerous hoses that are unique to the motorhome chassis, thankfully many of which can be custom fabricated, though some may be challenging due to type of fittings, etc. I recently had a power steering hose rebuilt by a local hydraulic hose shop reusing the metal ends for this very reason.

I am not saying don't do it, I am just saying go in with yours eyes open, I bought our P32 chassis coach in 2016, and since then I have seen a MAJOR reduction in parts availability, worse yet there have been multiple parts that I have bought that show less than 10 left in national inventory, and when they're gone they're gone.
 
Last edited:
Your tires will age out before you'd ever need to worry about rotation. Rotation is possible with dual rears but you have to do it often or the tire diameters get too far apart and you end up with other problems. You will be replacing tires with lots of tread left without rotation so save the thought and effort of it.

All vehicles as far as I know come with a chassis builder/finisher placard with axle weights and tire pressures for the supplied tire. There generally accurate for any other similarly rated tire. Many folks will weigh their RV and set tire pressure based on inflation charts from the tire manufacturer but there won't be much difference. Either way there won't be a question what the pressures should be.

My 2005 Itasca 30' has a queen bed with space around it. 'Walk around' is subjective with maybe a foot of space on one wall. But better than none, works for me.

Knowing what I do now I would not get a P32 chassis. Parts are becoming unobtanium and it's not a chassis I think is up to this level of service. I haven't done a deep dive into the W series for parts and issues and reports are they're 'better' but it's still an orphan chassis. Don't get drawn into the 'it's a GM' ruse, there are enough parts that are different that makes working on them a pain. You see far more available aftermarket support for older F53's so before going all in on an orphan workhorse keep an open mind.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Another major thing to look for is RUST,,roll under and look diligently for frame and steering component rust,, the south east and state of New York are particularly bad for MAJOR RUST that will junk any vehicle. I own a 98 diesel pusher that has ZERO rust anywhere ( always garage kept when not in use,) and it makes a huge difference in maintenance..>>>Dan
 
Thanks for the replies!
Not of lot of Chevy love going on here.
I bought my first Chevy pickup in the '90's
and haven't owned anything but since.
In fact the last Ford I owned I named "The Last Ford I'll Ever Own".
Maybe it's time for me to rethink that mindset.
 
My last FORD was a 1957 Fairlane 500 convertible,, ( Got married with it) before that was a 1950 club coupe with flat head V8... All Chevy since and happy about it to..>>>Dan
 
I own both. My daily driver ford will turn 30 this year. I love how my 8.1 runs and if it weren't for repair parts drying up I'd have no issues keeping it going. But reality is a b!tch when you spend hours online or calling around trying to source what would be a common part for any other vehicle. After workhorse was acquired around 2008 the parts pipeline was emptied and support vanished. Even the GM parts have been out of regular production for almost 20 years and are getting hard to find. You can be as brand loyal as you like but plan on spending your time scouring the internet and refitting incompatible parts instead of camping.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Ok, here goes a short list for my 2002 P32 coach,

Power steering pump remote reservoir, already mentioned front hubs / spindles, just about any custom length hose (oil cooler, transmission cooler, power steering, radiator, etc.), gear shifter cable (national supply was down to I think 6 when I bought mine), automatic parking brake drum assembly, for that matter add power steering pump (discontinued, rebuilts seem almost impossible to find in stock), Steering gear box (must be rebuilt, pre-rebuilts can't be found, only a couple of shops in the US specialize in these), air conditioner condensers / oil cooler combo unit, dash air conditioner hoses, even radiators were out of stock most of last year (may be back now, I don't know), fan clutch (unique to P32 8.1L, available, but very pricey as of 2020), there is probably more, but this is what I could come up with off the top of my head in under 5 minutes.
 
Front spindles, radiator, hydroboost unit, numerous hoses, throttle position sensor, upper control arms. Sundry bushings, seals, boots and bushings you don't know about until you need one. Things like the water pump and OEM exhaust manifolds are unique to the truck/RV chassis so generic car part sources won't have them. Yes, common service parts like plugs, wires, oil filters and air filters are a slam dunk but last year I had to make a radiator hose. As time goes on even basic parts will be hard to find. Parts that are common to the likes of 1 ton GM pickups now come up 'non-stock', the 8.1 had a limited run in pickups and production ended in 2005 I believe. Sure, you can find many engine parts but it's the chassis, engine, and driveline peripherals that will leave you hanging. GM sources are drying up and workhorse had their own flavor for some that are difficult to impossible to find new, or even from a boneyard as old RV's are quickly scrapped. I do all my own work and am no stranger to tracking down obsolete parts and refitting alternate ones but with a workhorse it's becoming the rule rather than the exception. When I replaced my front end a few years ago I could only find some parts as NOS at antique and vintage truck restoration sites. There's still some life left in the better kept RV's so there can be some value in adopting one at the right price but it had better be a really good one or you'll be spending way more time under it than in it. That's not to say an old F53 will always be a walk in the park but there is some aftermarket support for these, vs none for workhorse.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Zulu Kono said:
Not of lot of Chevy love going on here.
Click to expand...
I had a 2002 coach on a Workhorse chassis and 8.1L engine. It was an offspring of the previous Chevy motorhome chassis (Workhorse bought the Chevy chassis business in 1999). Excellent gas coach chassis!

Your biggest problem with 8R19.5 tires is the size is obsolete and very few brands remain in production. None of them well-known brands either. And as others have stated, tire rotation isn't a concern with motorhomes unless you have an alignment issue that causes uneven wear. Front to rear rotation isn't worth the effort/cost.

The wheel in your photo definitely has a wheel simulator (cover). The actual wheel underneath will be 8 or 10 lugs. None of the Chevy or Workhorse P30 chassis came with 5-lug wheels.
 
Zulu Kono said:
-Prefer driver's door.
Click to expand...
My first class A had one but never again. They tend to be prone to wind noise and if you buy one that is 25 years old or older it will be pretty sure to have that same problem.
Zulu Kono said:
Maybe it's time for me to rethink that mindset.
Click to expand...
Do you think that there might be a reason that Ford is the only one left in the larger gas chassis market? We owned a Chevy P30 chassis class A and then later an F53 on one 11' longer. While the P30 served us OK for 9 years on a 25' class A, our F53 was 36' and we kept it for 14 years, 12 of them fulltime. When Ford introduced the wider stance front wheel chassis in March of 98 it was soon followed by GM selling to Workhorse and when GM stopped building the biggest gas engines, it was not long before Workhorse chassis faded into history.

Chassis factors aside, you need to realize that with any RV that is more than 25 years old, there is a high probability it will need some expensive appliances replaced sooner or later and it may also need a new roof. Be very careful as condition is by far more important when buying an older class A than is brand name or chassis.
 
And then there are the 'RV' things. Appliance parts, furniture parts, charging system, electrical isolation relays, vent covers, thermostats & sensors, air conditioner parts. The list goes on and on.
 
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