No Spare tire correct

[sayoung]

Looking at the Mercedes Sprinter based MH's and have yet to find one with a spare tire . Is there a model with a spare included. I looked up the receiver hitch carrier and not a fan.
What are you folks doing ? I know about roadside assistance plans but have had a blowout on my 5er where there was no cell service so I have a concern.

[CharlesinGA]

ALL Sprinters come with a very nice German made two stage jack, and a tool kit. Its found under the passengers feet. Just turn the latch and lift up the section of the floor.

Winnebago put spares on the rear of many of the View and Navion models. Others were fitted underneath. A few models do not have a spare, due to tank installations.

Charles

[Dusty_R]

For jacking up our mh, I bought a hand hydraulic operated pump and installed it's hose to my hydraulic jack. Now I don't have to lay under the mh while jacking the rear end to change a flat tire.

Dusty

[ron_dittmer]

At age 60, I have taken the front tires off when replacing shocks. I was pleasantly surprised I could handle the tires quite well including lifting them, and I was never considered a well built guy. If I get a flat up front or in back, I really think changing one will be no big deal as long as I get the rig on a fairly flat surface. I have an advantage that my spare is easy to get to. It is stored inside the rear wall, behind an integrated tire cover as shown.


As far as a jack is concerned, the RV manufacture supplied a standard 6 ton bottle jack. I used the jack a few times to raise one pair of rear tires twice when I got into a pickle with my Lynx Levelers. The 6 ton nicely lifts either rear corner. A higher-rated jack would be harder for me to position under the rig and also be more weight and bulk in an already limited environment.


Regarding a tire iron. The RV came with the generic Ford-supplied tire iron. After reading stories of people unable to loosen their lug nuts with it, I bought an extra long 3/4" breaker bar, a 12" 3/4" extension, and a impact-rated 3/4" socket of the right lug nut size. This way I have confidence standing and even jumping on the breaker bar to get the lugs loose. If not for our rig, then for someone I am helping.


I also carry the shown emergency road-side tire repair kit. I keep this one in our tow vehicle.


I travel in comfort knowing I can take care of myself (and others), should a flat occur. We do travel most often to remote places.

With exception to the spare tire itself, everything is not a lot to carry. I would kick myself if I left any of it home and then found a need during a trip.

[pnichols]

rogerddd wrote:
My Dynamax Asata came with a spare tire and an under carriage mount. God help me if I ever have to get to it.

Our 24 foot Ford E450 Class C has the same setup with a spare tire in the rear supported by an undercarriage mount. I carry a tarp along to lay on the ground and get under there to drop it - that's the easy part. The hard part is stowing the flat tire on it's rim back up there after installing the spare. Maybe my 12 ton hydraulic jack could somehow help lift the undercarriage mount - with the flat tire on it's rim - back up into place?

In any case having a full size, fully inflated spare on it's rim could be priceless should we ever have a flat in some of the places where we camp and travel. In addition we also bring along a full power 120V AC compressor, a professional tire plugging kit, and a couple of truck tire fix-a-flat inflation cans.

Help is not always a phone call away and long wait away.

[rogerddd]

My Dynamax Asata came with a spare tire and an under carriage mount. God help me if I ever have to get to it.

[Cruisineasy]

I have a '11 Greyhawk. Same thing. Did not come with a spare tire. I got the roadside assistance plan, but you never know the truck that comes to help has the correct tire replacement. Most times a blowout is pretty violent and it shreds the tire. I purchased a new rim and tire and a 20 ton bottle jack so I can do it myself if I need to. In the process I found that there was a recall and got all 6 tires replaced. Worked out well.

[mgirardo]

I would not want a vehicle without a spare, whether it is a car, truck or RV. I know a lot of manufacturers don't provide them anymore, but they should at least offer as an option.

We have AAA, they will cover swapping a blown tire for a mounted spare. We did have a blow out in the Motorhome once. Although the mobile tire guy would have brought a tire and mounted it in place of the blown tire, AAA would not have covered it. He charged AAA $250 just to pull the blown tire and replace with mounted spare. I hate to see what it would have cost if he had to remove the blown tire and mount and balance the new tire.

-Michael

[Hank85713]

its not just a spare, but the jack, lug wrench et al. Out hyundai came without a spare also, but went to wrecking yard and got one, jack and all $40 out of new wreck. I think etrailer may have a storage rack for under coach storage. I also think motorhome mag had an article on installing one recently. I carry 12t bottle jack, electric impact wrench, torque wrench, and 100 psi electric compressor from harbor freigh (about $50) and a large elec cable to plug in to. but as noted the tire is HEAVY. have to use bottle jack to push up on locking bolt to loosen to let down. But have read some roadside services will not take spare out for ya?? and they do not necessarily have a spare to use and their costs for a replacement are $$$$.

[obgraham]

My RoadTrek CS has a spare, tucked up under the chassis. Good to have. But it is way too heavy for me to work in my old age. Coach-Net guy will have to do it, but at least I have the tire.

[ppine]

Relying on phone service and someone coming to help you is going to get you into some serious trouble. Avoid the State of Nevada for instance.

[pnichols]

Our main concern is ... not needing a spare because ERS can usually bail you out without one ... but what if you can't get enough bars on your phone to get ERS?

Our Winnebago Itasca came with a full spare and the one time that we could - and were able - to call ERS to change a flat of course they did not have a spare along and could not have repaired our tire on the spot either ... so the spare from our RV was quickly installed by the ERS technician and off we went.

BUT, BUT, BUT ... what about the situation somewhere on the open road - or worse yet off the open road - in which your cell phone cannot "get out"? You might want to have your own spare (and the equipment) along then ... and be able to somehow carefully and slowly struggle to change it yourself or have a non-ERS good Samaritan magically come along to help install your own spare. 😉

[suprz]

My 2006 Greyhawk 31SS came with a spare mounted to the rear bumper (which is WAY overbuilt and I'm grateful!) thanks Jayco 🙂

[BillHoughton]

Our 2007 Itasca has one, but I've noticed the trend to no spare in cars, too. Our 2008 Volvo has a spare (one of those little temporary things), but, when we bought it used, another Volvo on the lot, one year newer, hadn't offered one stock. The previous owner had chosen the optional spare - but it took up most of the trunk!

Early this year, I bought a 2016 Volvo, and it came with a bottle of goop to spray into the tire (for fixing a leak) and a little battery-powered air compressor to pump it up - all looking very lonely in a space under the back clearly large enough to hold a temporary spare.

But, in the several years between buying the 2008 and the 2016, I got to thinking about the last time I had to deal with a flat tire, compared to the frequency with which I had to do so in my youth. It's been quite a while.

[netjam]

Think its the way things are going. My 17 super C came without...not offered as an option..... my 2015 dodge toad also bought new without a spare.