Other than going to a truck shop, what is the best way to remove tires for DIY wheel/brake work?
It helps if you have access to a weight lifter or football player to deal with the tires.
Here is Phil Bostrom replacing his on a Motorcade. Brake Replacement (http://www.beamalarm.com/Documents/brake_replacement/brake_replacement.html)
Dave M made a great shade tree device for R&R work. After the rig is secure and won't try to kill you, jack the coach up high enough so the tire just clears the ground. Work it back and forth to get it clear of the studs. Ez with a Harbor Freight air/hydraulic jack. Don't depend on the jack, use large wooden blocks or HD jack stand to hold it up. Make super sure the opposite side tire is blocked so coach can't roll. Make sure to do all this on flat ground. Buy the correct "flip" socket for your rig. Use an extension for the rear and a HD breaker/T bar with a length of pipe to break loose the lug nuts. Use a bathroom scale and read previous posts on how to torque the lugs correctly when putting the wheel back on.
Pierce
Obviously an appropriate jack, and depending on front or rear, two heavy duty jack stands. You can get by with two 6 tons on a corner under the H frame near the air bag mounts and it is a good idea to leave the bottle jack under there so that you actually have three point support and to do only one corner at time and on a firm base such as concrete. If you have it on the dirt, make a wider base out of some good 3/4" plywood or better yet plate steel to spread the load out. On your model year, the wheel lugs will be 33"mm which you can find at most truck parts stores. A 3/4" drive works fine. A sturdy "T" handle breaker bar with a 6' cheater pipe made from some 1" or 1 & 1/4" galvanized pipe, whichever fits the breaker bar handle best. For the backs, you will need a an extension of at least a foot, and a jack stand that you can use to steady the extension. At least that is what worked for me...
YMMV!
I can't say much about the particulars on a fore travel, but for tire removal on a heavy vehicle, i used to jack up the vehicle just far enough to get the tire barely of the ground. Secure the vehicle as described before. I usually use a good breaker bar or a 1" air impact. as for the part of moving the tire of the hub, i found a wheel dolly to be the easiest.
here a link to one:
Mechanical Wheel Dolly - 1250 Lb. Capacity (http://www.harborfreight.com/1250-lb-capacity-mechanical-wheel-dolly-67287.html)
you can find larger ones on ebay though as well.
hope that helps
Last summer I decided I needed to be equipped to R&R my own wheels.
I bought the 20 ton Harbor Freight air/hydraulic Jack on sale (FANTASTIC TOOL).
A Harbor Freight 3/4" drive air impact and a set of SAE and metric sockets for it.
A 12" Impact 3/4" extension.
A 3/4"breaker bar and 4' pipe to fit the end.
2 6ton jack stands.
The 3/4" air impact is not really needed but is nice to have (as long as you have the 1/2" air lines and a proper compressor to keep up with it. Plus it can handle other repair projects when you really need some OOMPH!
I built a torque wrench with a 1/2" drive that has a handle welded to it. A mathematical formula calculates the torgue reading. Eventually I will locate a low cost used torque wrench that will read to 500+ pounds.
To handle the tire/wheel I use a 2 wheeled hand truck (about $40 or less from Harbor Freight).
It works great. Jack up the axle, Slip the bottom of the hand truck under the tire, and lift the tire enough to work the wheel off. Just as easy to put the tire back on, plus its easy to move the tire out of the way. I can do this myself with very little effort.
As already stated by others here, a small jack stand is needed to support the breaker bar and extension with socket when loosening or tightening the lug nuts when not using the impact wrench or for final torgueing of the lug nuts.
Being able to R&R the wheels/tires is something that I can't imagine not being able to do. I fought my self for a long time before I decided I needed to have this capability.
Good information here, thanks for posting. Sounds to me like you've already got your torque wrench....200 lbs standing on a 3 ft. extension with a pivot=600 ft lbs. I wonder if any of the 1/2" electric impacts would remove the lugs?
Thanks for the input everyone, I think ya'll have saved me some trial and error time.
I have 1/2 in. impact equipment however I only have about 130 psi of air. I doubt if that will work on these tires.
That psi is plenty, issue may be cfm capability
Small, hand held electrics are what the tow truck drivers use now on the big rigs. One battery to take them off, another to put them back on. Drawback is the cost. From $400 (Milwaukee) to $600 (SnapOn). Bet replacement batteries are not cheap either. This is not hearsay as I have watched them do it.
A good modern 1/2" impact will loosen any nut with 130 psi being more than enough pressure. May have to wait for the pressure to build after several nuts removed, depending on the CFM of your compressor. Anytime an impact won't remove a nut, just put a few drops of air tool oil in the air fitting and it really brings them to life.
I carry a 1" "Big Bertha" impact but have never used it. Most frozen lug nuts are the result of a tire shop using a huge impact and torquing to 800-1000 lbs.
Proper torque stretches the stud/nut so the nut won't come off. With lubed threads, you don't need as much torque to stretch them to their proper spec. Too much torque weakens/damages the stud and nut. That's why in any application, grade 8 nuts and bolts require more torque to prevent them from coming loose than lower grade varieties. It's all about stretch.
Torque specs differ from one coach to another plus dry vs lube threads torque. Some torque values are stamped on the lug nut. Steel wheels may take different maximum torque compared to aluminum.
All of the above means you need to re-torque the nuts accurately to specifications for YOUR coach after putting the tires/wheels back on. This insures they will come off without a problem if you do need to do a tire change on the road and won't come off until you want them to.
Here is an excellent read for all coach owners with Alcoa wheels. Section 5 has torque and stud/nut lubrication recommendation as well as the end of section 4. http://www.alcoa.com/alcoawheels/catalog/pdf/ServiceManual-English.pdf (http://www.alcoa.com/alcoawheels/catalog/pdf/ServiceManual-English.pdf)
And last, one side of the coach may have left hand threads. Nuts and/or stud ends marked. Check before trying to remove.
Pierce
A stubby bottle jack is needed if you have a flat front otherwise a regular size 20T bottle jack will not fit under the straight axle when the tire is flat. No need for any special device to remove the tire once the lug nuts are off. Just do it and you will figure it out soon. Also see my thread on torque multipliers.
Torque wrench for our wheels (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=9273.msg41095#msg41095)
good luck and be careful,
Rick
I just jacked up the wheels till they were clear of the ground, Then used a 3 foot crow bar,
Bit of a struggle, but can be done,
The wheels are Exceptionally Heavy, Do not get them over balanced,
They will fall over on you, It can cause severe injurys,
It also helps greatly if you have lots of Real Muscle, Hahahaha