As the new owner of a 1991 GV, I am not exactly excited about the prospect of having the spare wheel/tire sitting way up on top, in the rear clam-shell box.
It was placed there by a guy with a fork-lift style attachment for a large farm tractor. Getting it down if I need it might be dangerous, but putting it, or a damaged/flat wheel and tire back up there is an even more daunting concept.
Has anyone ever come up with a method of mounting the spare underneath the coach? Looking under the front, it seems as though there "might" be enough room in a couple of locations. I did not take a tape measure with me when I was crawling around....
I'd sure like to get it off of the roof, if anyone has any suggestions. And my wife says "NO" to putting it in the closet inside! ;)
Tell us what GV you have-- there were several different chassis used in 1991.
Why would you even want to carry a spare? And why take up all that room for not only the spare, But the equipment needed to change it. That's why there are roadside emergency services available. Even if you keep the spare. It would still be wise to have a roadside emergency service for the other things that may crop up on your adventure.
Take the tape measure next time - you'll see that it probably would not fit and still allow room for the suspension to operate. Besides, getting the tire up and down from that position would be almost impossible sitting in the bar ditch on the side of the road.
Some members carry a mounted spare in one of the storage bays. Some just carry a good unmounted tire. Takes up a lot of valuable cargo room. As you have noted, carrying a spare up on the roof is possible, but not real practical.
Agree with Bigdog - unless you are a glutton for punishment and possess superhuman strength, I wouldn't worry about carrying a mounted spare. Keep good tires on your coach, and keep them properly inflated. Get a good roadside breakdown insurance policy, keep it paid up, and hope you never need it. It has worked for us for 4 years (knock on wood).
Actually, many years ago, I recall seeing a mounting that did allow the carrying of a mounted spare under the front end.
Sorry, do not recall which chassis this was on or exactly how they mounted it.
Agree, I would not do it. Even when traveling deep into Mexico where our size tire was not available, just carried an unmounted spare tire on the roof with a Sunbrella cover to keep UV light off it.
Yes, used a fork lift to get it up there. But really easy to get down! And, no interest in putting a bad tire back up there.
It's still up there! With different size Michelins now, it is coming down (by gravity) when we get to Ajo! ^.^d
Carrying a spare is on my wish list too. I have to get to work on the mondays and waiting for a tire for a couple days isn't a good option. Also nothing like being held hostage on the price of a tire because they know they have you by the short and curlies.
Another reason I should get rid of the dolly and get a trailer, another place to mount said spare.
People mount motorcycles on the front of their coach so why not a spare tire?
Engine & radiator are in the rear, so why not up front?
Can't weigh as much as a motorcycle?
Put a nice fitted cover on it, like one sees on the back of RV trailers.
Tire could go right behind the Puch.
3Pcs Tire Changer Tire Mount Demount Tool tools tubeless truck 17.5" to 24" Kit (http://www.ebay.com/itm/3Pcs-Tire-Changer-Tire-Mount-Demount-Tool-tools-tubeless-truck-17-5-to-24-Kit/232444145887?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649) Get this set and change your own.
Brett, FTX Oshkosh's ORED's could fit a 9r22.5 under the front. Fit quite a few back then. Roof pod worked also
Thanks for some words of encouragement, and those who frown on the idea... I do appreciate your honest opinions.
The chassis is Oshkosh, and the code GVF ORED SBI is right, I think. Underneath and in front of the axle is the hydraulics for the lift/level system. The tire and wheel might hang down, but still would not be as low as the axle itself, I don't think.
The other option would be behind the axle, in front of the fuel tank. That space is pretty much "open".
Just so no one thinks I have lost a grip on reality, what I have in mind is a tethered system like used on many SUV's and others where the spare is carried in the rear and underneath. I'd be attaching cross-bracing between the frame rails, and using a much sturdier than SUV crank-cable lift setup. Custom made parts, and some scavenged ones might get it done, if it will fit and not interfere with any of the current equipment. The wheel is the 6-lug aluminum 22.5 X 6.75 rim, and the tire is a Toyo 245/75.
Being a new owner, I have tons of questions. Before I ask, I'll be searching earlier posts, so as not to hash out old topics. If I can't find something, then you might see me here.
As for why I intend to always carry a spare, and a mounted one at that: It is a Basic Safety Net. I will have what is necessary to change it myself if need be. Yes, I already have a roadside service setup in place, but you can't always count on that! When I want to go somewhere, or get back from wherever, I don't want to wait for help which never seems to come quickly enough. I wish I'd have taken a video of the spare being lifted up on top, but I was busy being the guy on the roof.
I used to camp in remote areas and always carried an unmounted spare in the back of my toad, a Suzuki Samurai. It was easy to get it in and out, and when I was camped and wanted more room in the Samurai I rolled it out and either leaned it against the front of the coach or used it as a platform (with a piece of plywood) for my portable generator.
I have always had a road service. The benefits of having a spare are:
1. you have one and
2. it will keep you from getting gouged on the price of a replacement.
Of course it's always "to each their own". I simply use my history with flat tires and come to the conclusion that they are rather uncommon enough that I have no need to lug around a 70-80 lb three foot tall tire.
If it is simply a nail puncture under 3/8" in the crown area and not a delamination. The tire can be repaired by reaming the hole with a low speed carbide cutter to cut away the steel belt strands, then put in a vulcanized rubber plug with a cloth or rubber reinforced patch on the inner liner. This is according to the RMA. And can be done by most any tire shop that can dismount a commercial tire.
I have had ZERO flats or delaminations in 1.3 million miles on the three semis I have owned. Did have a delamination on a FedEx supplied trailer though. The last actual flat I had on a car I owned was around 15 years ago. But have had two nails recently that were slow leakers and repaired by Les Schwab.
I will say as a professional truck driver and truck owner. I drive just under 90k a year. My advice is run 295/22.5 tires on your coach if they will fit. Keep good rubber on it. Stay off of the shoulders of roads, don't scrub sidewalls on curbs. Inspect for rocks etc stuck in treads at every fuel stop and on pretrip/ postrip inspections. Check air pressure with gauge before trips. I would not worry about carrying s spare. 295/22.5 tires are everywhere. One exception if you boondock in the outback with little to no services.
My last tire issue was 5 years ago after I struck debris in the road at night in the dark. That's just under 400,000 miles ago.jmo
If you are not pulling anything. I would build a spare tire rack that inserts into the receiver hitch on the rear
wantabe
You'll find when you ask a question around here, you will get many opinions. Some are based on varied experiences, some on "common sense" (a commodity in short supply these days), and some are just wild guesses. As the coach owner, it is up to you to sort out the wheat from the chaff. You sound like a Do It Yerself kind of guy. We like those types around here - they are often the ones who lead the way down uncharted paths. Whatever you decide to do about the spare tire, please take photos and post them so we can all benefit from your activity. As you can see, there IS some interest in finding a
convenient way to carry a mounted spare - we are just waiting for the right person (you, perhaps?) to figure out the solution. ^.^d
When you get a chance, please fill in some basic info in your signature. You can do that on your profile page. Being able to see at a glance what year/model coach you drive makes it much easier to answer your questions. You might also provide us a shorter "nickname", so we don't have to call you Mr. ILikeToTravel every time we address you.
The problem with that is on our 91 model year coaches, to access the oil dipstick and coolant etc the rear engine door swings out towards the passenger side. I am afraid the tire would stick up to high. Also we have rear radiators and the engine fan blows air out through the radiator. Having something that close to the radiator might interfere with engine cooling. Im not positive but would not want it on my rig myself.
I have seen these swing down units and if cooling was not a problem this might serve the purpose. Although it would be a pain checking oil at the start of each trip.
Roadmaster Hitch Mounted Spare Tire Carrier w/ 2" Receiver Opening - 2"... (https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Cargo/Roadmaster/RM-195225.html)
I would like to say that this information is so good and accurate. As an owner-operator of a fleet of charter buses, when we followed this advice listed above we had little tire issues. Generally speaking, most tire issues we did have was the direct result of how the driver was driving or not maintaining his/her tires. We never carried spares even though there were special mounts for them on buses. Simply, just too heavy for a driver to handle alone and why worry about a spare tire mounted somewhere coming loose and taking off while driving.
I had a enclosed spare on a previous coach, had not noticed I needed a front end alignment and rounded off a steer tire. Put the spare on, it blew in twenty miles. Spare turned out to be dry as a bone!
We have a spare and an air jack in our only storage compartment. Won't turn a wheel without it. Used it once and the R&R took about 20 minutes. Since we live in an area without cell coverage and many of our campsites are without coverage, it's not smart not to have a spare. It's just not that hard to change a tire if you are prepared for it.
Pierce
That hitch mount tire carrier looks ace. I wonder if the OP's rig has sufficient structural support up front that he could weld up a receiver out the front?
I wouldn't say anyone frowns on it. Just been our particular individual experience that tire issues are not an issue to the point that we feel compelled to haul one around.
As most flats are from nails or small screws that create a leak that deflates over time when we fail to notice them. It makes sense to me that as we all have electricity & an air supply. Just make up a roadside kit consisting of a low speed electric drill, carbide cutter and Vulcanized rubber plug kit. That would get you under way and on the way to a tire shop to inspect the inside of the tire and apply the inner patch.
If you are intent on a spare. That receiver hitch tire carrier looks like the way to go.
I carry a mounted spare in the centre of the front (4 foot) basement storage. Bolt heads in the floor keep it from moving when driving.
I still have sufficient storage space when I travel south each winter for 5 months. The space required to do this is why I bought a 40 foot rather then a 36 foot. The jacks and tools required are carried inside the rim (except for the 500 ftLB torque wrench which is too long). The 275/80R22.5 tire with rim is 190 pounds so leverage is required to install it, but even at 74, with planning, I can change the tire solo. Even travelling major highways from Canada to California, there are long lonely stretches of road where rescue would take at least several hours, or perhaps days. I also travel in Mexico where being stranded on a road would be frightening, particularly after dark. In seven years and 35,000 miles I have not it. The one low tire from a bolt picked up on the I5, was repaired at a truck stop in southern California, because I saw the low pressure during my morning walk around. Lucky, that new tire (1100 miles) could have been shredded.
In the last post I meant:
In seven years and 35,000 miles I have not used the spare. I do agree that perhaps tire plugs and air is sufficient, so may not replace the spare when it reaches ten years old.
Using the onboard air, any good HF air impact will take a tire off. For a little more cash, a small, battery powered impact will loosen the most stubborn truck lug nut. I watched a AAA truck use one on our coach. One battery quickly pulled all the nuts with a fresh battery to torque them. If you use NeverSeez, you only need around 300 lbs to loosen/tighten the nuts.
Tubeless plugs are great to carry. They also work on leaking airbags.
A lot of AAA's Indian Country map will only have the tribal cell service so you can be out of cell reception for several days. We use Verizon's overseas service for Mexico (Canada also). $2/day and only on the days you use it. Europe is $10/day for the days you use it.
Pierce
All of the comments here are helpful.
My experience regarding flats/tires issues is that they are indeed uncommon on a tow vehicle, much more likely on a trailer or a towed vehicle. That does not mean such a problem couldn't occur, and the insurance policy seems worth it to me. I have experienced more than my share of exploding trailer tires. The first time was on "new" tires, and I was not carrying a spare. Never again!
The concept of carrying the spare on the front does not appeal to me, because I believe that it ruins the aesthetics of the coach. Certainly, I could rig something up that would be sturdy and safe, I just don't think I'd like the look. As for using a receiver mount like the Roadmaster unit linked by stump, there are issues. That specific one would not be up to the job, according to the specifications. The oil fill and dipstick are behind the side gate on my rig, not a factor. However, I intend to do some towing, and a "stacked" or extended receiver is less than optimal, with reduced weight/load capacity. But the real problem I see is that the spare would be subjected to zoned heat cycling, and at temperatures significantly higher than seen during normal use. Inconsistent or excessive temperature heat cycling is the killer of an otherwise good tire.
As a habit, I use an infrared no-touch heat gun to check things out every time I stop after an extended drive segment. The highest tire temperature I saw during the 2K+ miles I drove to get home from where I found the GV was on the order of 120 degrees. That was on a front tire, after a curvy descent from altitude. The rears stayed cooler than that, and run within 5 of each other.
(As an aside, yes, I also checked brake temperatures on the trip, the coach had been sitting for a while, and I was concerned about sticking/dragging calipers. One groans at low speeds in stop-and-go traffic, which I have decided is pad chatter. Temperatures of rotors and calipers are consistent between left and right.)
The 295 tire mentioned should be way too big for this coach. All of the research which I did prior to buying the FT, and looking at tires led me to believe that there would be fitment problems with even the 255's. Rim width and dual tires sidewall proximity were issues. The Toyos are about an inch smaller in diameter than the 9R. That does not bother me a bit. The effects are slightly increased wheel RPMile, and also engine RPM at the same speed. No big deal. This coach seems to really like cruise control at 65 MPH. They handle well, stability is good.
Before I will be able to "play" with the FT, my wife has indicated that I must accomplish a honey-do list first. Likely that I will not get to working on the underneath carrier until spring. But it was the first thing that came to mind as a way of breaking the ice for me on this list. Yes, I am a DIY kind of guy.....
Thank You, Everyone!
I don't know about clearance issues with body and/or suspension components, but the 6.75" Alcoa rims have been successfully run with 255/80R22.5 by many, many of us.
You might check with other ORED owners, as that would change your effective drive axle ratio, and with the 8.2 DD, you don't have a lot of power to spare.
My advice to customers long ago(30 years) was to carry a spare in the 19.5 sizes as the cut rock roads would cut the tires sidewalls as the tire leaned over in corners. A few 8r/22.5. Had the same problems. No reports of current tire issues even in Alaska.
Roads were really bad 30 years ago there and had a few customers build front shields to stop broken windshields from the opposite way high speed trucks.
Going with a slightly smaller tire raises the effective numerical axle ratio, providing increased torque multiplication. A taller tire would theoretically improve fuel economy, but cost acceleration.
In any case, the tires which are on it are NEW, and will remain there a long, long time, unless something drastic happens to change that situation.
O/T
I can't complain about the fuel economy with this setup. I tracked it using the miles traveled between fill-ups, divided by the gallons put in. I now expect that it will settle down somewhere right around 10 MPG, maybe a little higher. Probably a bit lower, if I tow. The issue with being reasonably precise there is the %&#%*@%** filler neck for the diesel. That darn thing is an abomination, and I can't see how anyone could stand dealing with it at every fuel stop for years and years. I never was able to add fuel even once without spilling some. One time, the nozzle popped out mid-fill. Fortunately, I was standing right next to it. Unfortunately, some got on me. Getting a consistent fill level is impossible. The fuel filler situation is actually higher on the priority list of items to address than the spare mounting location.
That is where your MPG should be.
Anyone want a two year old 295/22.5 tire? I haven't carried one for 135,000 miles, but decided to buy one before the Alaska Motorcade. A bunch of us did. No one had a tire problem.
Amos take it to any truck stop you will sell if real fast to a owner operator
Alan, here is some user feedback ;Tires for my 88 ORED, with 7.5 wheels (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=32110.0;topicseen)
Based on this. I just bought 6 new 295/75/ Samson/Advance tires. The model 116 or 283 are very well regarded. I like the smooth outer rib for noise and resistance to feathering. Load H rated . They are 39.5+- in tall and a little narrow at 8.5 in tread width . All tires are not the same in the same size designation.
I will mount these up in the next few days. I also will change the rear shox and adjust my rear wedge brakes.
I would assume that we have the same chassis and body , wheel wells etc. I sit close to the body only when air is dumped.
Yes, I would totally use up the tires that you have if you can tolerate the dynamics. In my case i want to drop the cruise RPM to 2400 as we are doing some hefty miles next summer . I really like the Samson 255/70/ tires but the PO flatspotted two rears along with the speedo being off and such I opted for new.
295/75R22.5 on 6.75" wheels???
I dont know what size wheels he has. I have 7.5.
FT went smaller latter?
Yes, Foretravel used both 6.75" and 7.5"
So one needs to check-- easily done by looking at the rear outer where that information will be stamped.
Here is an excellent tire size calculator. You can compare old/new size with revolutions per mile, percentage, etc, etc. Just type in your tires sizes and hit "calculate."
235/80-R22.5 vs 295/75-R22.5 Tire Comparison - Tire Size Calculator | Tacoma... (https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc?tires=235-80r22.5-295-75r22.5)
Pierce
Mike,
Using the calculator linked by Pierce:
Those tires would be GIANT on my GV! A tire 4 inches taller would not fit well at all, I don't think. The Toyos are indeed about an inch smaller in diameter than the 9R which was spec'd at the time of manufacture.
Note that my FT has the 6.75" rims, and does not have an air suspension. It rides well, I think, on the springs setup, at least when compared to motor homes which I have driven or ridden in previously.
I really see no need to worry about reducing the engine speed at cruise. In the 2300 miles which constituted my "maiden voyage" driving it, I found that the DD hums along at 2400, with the speed control set at 65. On cruise, it seems to handle most hills well too, holding within a couple of MPH of the selected speed. All of the information I was able to garner regarding the 8.2 indicates that it works better spinning than lugging, so dropping the RPM does not seem like it would be needed or advisable.
We're getting a bit of topic drift here, which is how conversations work well. I am out for the weekend anyway, so what I'll say is that when I get an idea as to whether I might be able to mount/carry my spare underneath, I'll post back. That means crawling under with a tape measure. Sounds like fun, eh? It is actually pretty nice and peaceful under there, looking at all the HD stuff which supports the house I get to drive around in. :thumbsup:
I was "working" on the air system under the front of our coach one balmy spring day, reclining on my "low boy" creeper with the nice padded head rest. My wife came to see how I was doing, and found me sound asleep and snoring loudly. She said she was tempted to hit the Hadleys to wake me up, but thought better of it (thank goodness). Instead she "kindly" kicked my feet repeatedly until I regained conciousness. 8)
Well, the good news is that if you were working on the air system, the Hadleys would NOT have disturbed your beauty sleep!
I have to admit, I was hoping that more GV owners would post their tire sizes and increase the Database. I doubt that the GV bodywork changed. The fender sizes ,wheel arch sizes,etc ,just doesn't make sense for such a small company to change molds to accommodate the minor variances of editions.
My rear rims are 22.5 x 8.25 with 15 degree DC. And I run 295x75 22.5 Firestones .
Alan
Your 8.2 is a higher speed diesel than the 8.3 Cummins and the 9 liter Detroit so it will be happy at the RPMs you quote. They are known for good fuel mileage. No worry about lugging any coach with an Allison as it makes it pretty foolproof.
Our U300 has 295/75-22.5 tires all the way around. I had an 11.00 R22.5 for a spare for a short time. If they were used all the way around, they would interfere with the airbags up front. Our 295s occasionally slightly touch the airbag mounting plates but nothing to worry about.
Pierce
Pierce,
Do the tires hit only at maximum cut angle? If so, that is EASILY adjusted on the Sheppard M100 steering box. All you need is a small standard screwdriver.
No, only when the coach is leaned over like an elevation change right side vs left side while turning. Just a little metal polishing with zero contact to the airbag itself. No rubber dust, noise, etc. In 40K, no sign of contact on the tires. I was curious at first but don't even think about it now. If I can ever duplicate the condition, I'll shoot a foto.
Pierce
Thankyou Andy and Pierce,
I fit the first 3 today. They fill up the wells. With no air, the clearance is about 1 finger at the closest points. I also swapped the outboard rear stems to the short style for easier filling.