Why do they sell RVs without a spare Tire!

[John From Detroit]

22.5" tires do not that often go flat. and Well if it is a steering tire the spare may not be all that needed as the RV may not be all that repairable less you have the proper training and a fast response time (I do but never tested it) And if it is a dual.. You may neer know it till you get parked and inspect (I did not)
I have changed one 22.5 I'm big. I'm strong. I have the tools including air impact wrench and too much compressed air (needed every PSI too) I don't ever want to do it again.

And that's why they sell 'em no spare.... Every place in the USA has a truck tire place that can get you a new tire fairly fast.

 

[Kirk]

I traveled in a 1987 Allegro with a P-30 chassis for 9 years and then a Cruise Master with a 1999 F-53 chassis for 12 years fultime and a total of 14 years. The Allegro had 16" wheels and the CM had 19 1/2" wheels. Each had a spare tire and neither spare tire was ever on the motorhome. Between the cost of the wheel & tires and the fact that I always had road service on the motorhomes, the spare tires were a waste of money.

We just sold our travel trailer that did have a spare tire after 11 years of use it's spare was never used. The same was true for the truck we towed it with.

 

[Skookum]

I'm all for full-size spares for vehicles, trailers, etc. Not for our motorhome. Changing an actual 22.5" truck tire is a lot of work, tools, lots of extra weight to be storing and carrying around.

Semi truck drivers don't typically carry a spare for the tractor. They rely on roadside services across the nation. We typically aren't traveling in places they aren't, so, knock on wood.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Carrying a spare tire, mounted or not, is mostly just a convenience. Especially for vehicles with large heavy tires, e.g. Class A coaches. And the big Class A tires rarely fail, despite all you read on the good ole Internet. Sure, if you routinely travel in places where services are limited you should probably have a spare & the equipment to change it, but that's a rather small percentage of RV usage overall.

Even a couple of decades ago, studies (AAA & others) showed you were far more likely to need a spare battery than a spare tire, but who carries a battery?

 

[Tulecreeper]

If you weigh 200 lbs, a 3 ft breaker bar will give you about 600 ft pounds of torque when you stand on the end of the bar.

True, and if nothing else you can get it tight enough to get it to a service place and give them $10 to finish it for you.

 

[CharlesinGA]

Even if you cannot physically change the wheel yourself at the roadside, having a spare means any roadside assistance would be quicker due to them not having to locate a correct tire before attending.

Tony hit the proverbial nail on the head here. I have read of several instances where Class A's happened to have odd sized tires, or were simply in a location where large tire inventories were limited, and carrying a tire, un-mounted is worth it as the owners would have been stuck otherwise. If you have the tire, a good tire shop road service truck can mount it. I see a fair number of semis carrying unmounted spares, for them its cheaper than buying one on the road, and they have it when they need it.

Charles

 

[solarman]

by "RV" do you mean a motorized vehicle or a towed trailer/5th wheel or both ?

the small number of towed trailers i have owned all came with a spare tire.

 

[Tulecreeper]

by "RV" do you mean a motorized vehicle or a towed trailer/5th wheel or both ?

the small number of towed trailers i have owned all came with a spare tire.

My question also. I seem to be one of the few on here who consider all of them to be RV's, but I think a majority only consider motorhomes as such.

 

[jymbee]

My question also. I seem to be one of the few on here who consider all of them to be RV's, but I think a majority only consider motorhomes as such.

?? I don't know anyone who does not consider trailers, motorcoaches, vans, etc.-- all as recreational vehicles.

 

[jymbee]

Watch the video this will work on your rig too. You never have to lift the wheel and tire. With the right jak and wrenches you can easy change it.

Ok, first problem: "watch the video". I could only stand about 10 seconds of that "production" what with all the jumping around.

Also, I assume you're not suggesting folks try to follow that mess and actually build something like this? Nothing more to say about that.

Apparently there are pre-built commercial options out there (?) but hell will be getting freeze warnings before I even attempt to change my own 22.5 inch tire on our coach when on the road. While I might have the physical ability, again-- not gonna' happen. Two words (or one hyphenated) word: COACH-NET. No cell service? Disconnect and drive.

 

[Tulecreeper]

?? I don't know anyone who does not consider trailers, motorcoaches, vans, etc.-- all as a recreational vehicles.

It was suggested in a reply to one of my posts several months ago that the majority of people would probably only consider the term "RV" to apply to motorhomes. Possibly a couple of the high-end 5th-wheels might be considered as such, the rest are "trailers" or "campers".

 

[WME]

Many years ago, the Winnebago 21ft Toyota Class C gave you a choice. Microwave, generator, spare tire. You could get 2 of the 3 your choice.

 

[Isaac-1]

I have needed a spare tire on my coach once since I bought it in 2016, that was in western Nebraska in the summer of 2017, a few months after I started carrying a hitch mounted spare. I hit a pothole on a bridge in a single lane construction zone on I-80, no way to miss it, and it caused a belt separation and the right front tire to go egg shaped, I got off at the next exit and slowly drove 7 miles into the next small 1 stoplight town on US138 which paralleled I-80, at first I could get up to about 40 mph before I felt shaking, by the time I made it to town I was barely doing 25 mph. Thankfully there was a mom and pop tire shop in an old gas station building, and I was able to get them to do the heavy lifting and put the spare on the coach, and lift the damaged tire back onto the spare carrier (the hard part), I paid them $20 even though they were only going to charge me $12. Though of course my coach has 19.5 inch wheels, not 22.5's so a mounted spare weighs in at only about 135 pounds, and should only be torqued to 175 pounds.

 

[Natetheskate]

Yup, my 2001 Four Winds Fun Mover didn't have a spare tire or a rack, either. So I built one. Good thing, too, because that rig eats tires.

 

[PancakeBill]

I had spare with my 97 Southwind, it was stored under the coach with a winch like pickups. Crank and connection were in the back compartment. I did have a flat (or 2) with that rig. I called roadside, had the spare lowered and ready to go. Let them do the jacking and wrenching, but it made the service call faster.
The SW used 16.5" tires though. One of the reasons I sold. Wanted at least the 19.5's. The Winnebago had them, but not sure if it carried a spare? Didn't own it very long.

 

[UTTransplant]

How do you call road service if there is no cell service? If you watch the video you never have to lift the tire. Storage is on the rack I built so space is not an issue. Yes your tires are more robust, I would not run a tire more than 5 years. TPMS are great I have one I added to mine.

I have a toad that can carry me to where cell service is available. I also have a Starlink that I could set up in about 10 minutes. And your continued insistence on us watching your (poorly edited) videos make me suspect you are attempting to monetize them. Gotta get those views up, right? Accept that not everyone agrees with you. Like Gary said, the heavy duty tires on my 32,000 pound Class A are very robust. And I have no intention of buying a new spare tire at $600-&1000 every 5 years when the previous spare ages out. I am retired, and I no longer have to keep a schedule; I can wait for tire service.

 

[Kirk]

I seem to be one of the few on here who consider all of them to be RV's,

Really? Then would you mind educating me on what the towed ones are if not recreation vehicles?

If you watch the video you never have to lift the tire.

Let's be honest here. The real point of your post is to promote your personal YouTube channel and has nothing to do with needing to carry a spare tire.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Really? Then would you mind educating me on what the towed ones are if not recreation vehicles?

You misunderstood. I said I do think of all of them as RV's. But a few months ago I made that comment and had several people on here correct me and sy that the term 'Recreational Vehicle' normally brings to mind for most people a motorhome, not a travel trailer or a 5th-wheel.

 

[garyb1st]

The weight of a 22.5 wheel and tire is probably more than I'd be able to manage. That said, I'm thinking of carrying a spare wheel since the 22.5-6.75 8 lug wheels on my coach are nearly impossible to find.

Workhorse used the 8 lug wheel for a few years and that's what my coach has. The only ones I can find are manufactured by a company in Turkey. They want $300 a pop which hopefully includes delivery. The only used wheel I've ever come across was advertised for $250. That was by a company in Arizona selling used RV parts and the wheel had already been sold.

I know I can get tire service on the road, but if I need a wheel I'm in trouble. Had one fail about a year ago. Had it welded a year ago. It's held up for close to 6,000 miles, but I'm still not comfortable with it. My solution is either to buy two of the high priced steel wheels or go with four aluminum wheels. My tire dealer says he can get me aluminum wheels for $325 each. So four for $1300 or two for $600. I'm inclined to go with the aluminum and then sell two of the four wheels they take off to offset the cost of the aluminum wheels.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

by "RV" do you mean a motorized vehicle or a towed trailer/5th wheel or both ?

the small number of towed trailers i have owned all came with a spare tire.

Typically a dealer or factory option, though. Few trailer models include a spare in the base price.