Does your RV, whether it’s a motorhome, fifth wheel, travel trailer, pop-up, van, etc., have a spare tire? If it didn’t come with a spare tire, did you purchase one for it to carry with you on your travels?
Some RVs come with spare tires, others don’t. Either way, it’s important for you to carry one with you just in case. You do not (repeat: do not!) want to get a flat tire and have to wait hours and hours, especially if you’re in the middle of nowhere, for roadside assistance. Nope!
Please tell us in the poll below – thanks!
While we would need roadside assistance to change a tire on our motorhome, my husband made space to carry a spare. It could tide us over until we can get to a place where we can purchase a new tire.
I carry two always.
Both my Chevy Class B and I each have a spare tire.
I carried a spare when we had our TT and class C but not for the DP. The reason not for the DP is twofold. 1. No place to haul it. 2. My front tires and the rear ones are not the same size. The front ones are bigger because of the weight per tire is higher.
TT owner. I used to carry only the built-in spare, but since we started traveling to Mexico, where you can’t find ST trailer tires, I added a second unmounted tire.
No spare came with my class A diesel pusher, but I carry an unmounted used tire as a spare. I have needed it once in 20 years, and a mobile tire service quickly replaced a ruined outside dual tire without even removing the wheel from the coach!
Yes, and I used it once. Although I have never had a flat on my TT, I had some unusual wear and changed that tire to the spare. I have also changed the spare tire to keep it up to date.
Class C didn’t come with one. Not wanting to be stranded for days I purchased a new wheel & tire. Local boneyards didn’t have any. Also have roadside assistance to get it changed.
No, but the one time I had a flat happened to be on my way back to the storage facility. Luckily, I used my levelling jacks, and had a local tire shop (AAA arranged the tire replacement) come out and a nice tech got the work done in 30 minutes. He said it was easy for him, as the levelers and no traffic made it a safer job.
I’m not knocking class A motorhomes but one reason I like my fifth wheel is I can Service the wheels and change tires myself because they are not as heavy.Thats just me
I also understand not everyone is mechanically inclined.
Getting it out from underneith is going to be interesting.
No good place to carry one. Too big & heavy to handle. Class A too heavy for most orange jacks. And so on.
No, our motorhome is too heavy, hope I never need it but that’s why we have roadside assistance insurance.
Yes a full size spare. Class B transit. Carry a small floor jack and a 18v impact wrench. Have taken off the inside rear dually tire with this equipment with little effort. Just carrying the impact wrench makes a big difference, from getting the spare down from under the chassis to the actual changing of the tire.
If your 18v impact is getting the lug nuts off then I would question if they were tightened properly to begin with. This is my view especially if you have a dual wheel setup as my class B does.
I also carry an extra tire in the bed of my truck so that if I get a blowout, I can have a garage pull that tire and replace it with the same make and size tire.
I do the same. Haven’t needed it so far but it’s best to be prepared just like the Boy Scout motto.
Ditto, I do use the spare as part of the normal tire rotation.
It’s a 48,000 lb Motor Coach. If it did have a spare, there’s no chance I could change it myself. This is what roadside assistance is for. BTW: I am VERY cautious about the tires, so hope to never need a spare anyway.
If your RV does have a spare…..is it in a safe enough condition to actually use?
Just asking.
I would say that when you have service done on your rv, your spare should be inspected also. Air pressure should be checked and also inspected for dry rot.
No spare AND the tire size is not a typical truck tire size. We will buy one ahead of next year’s trip to Alaska, but risk being stranded for a day or two here in the lower-48 in the meantime.
Our TT has the customary spare on the bumper. I got religious about checking the spare for air when I found it totally ‘airless’ one time. Someone had to have deflated it thinking it would be a joke because it has never lost air ever again. Nice . . .
There is an element of people…… I have a class A 34′ sitting with a list as some kind soul removed the valve cores from the two street side duals! Both tires are off the rim, about 3 yrs old and have 472 miles on them. And this is in my yard in a rural area subdivision!!!
Sorry to hear that, D and J. What a hassle! Good luck, and take care. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Yes. AND the tools to change a tire (I have yet to see a trailer come with tools or instructions how to change a tire on the road – just warnings against jacking on the tube axle).
If someone doesn’t know if their rig has a spare, the probability is they also don’t have any means to perform the task either. And for sure, they have never checked the pressure in that tire!