WE bought one to go to Alaska in 2003 - thought it was required by our caravan. In 2007, bought all new tires and took old spare out - it never saw the sun but was aged just the same. Did not replace spare - after 5 yrs, we have not had any need for one, it is heavy and takes up a lot of space.
Yep, but I have 16" dually-style wheels and I can actually work with the spare, if necessary. If I had bigger wheels I'd ditch the spare, too.
I also carry an air compressor and lug wrench/breaker bar.
Related nonsense: the previous owner told me how he blew the inside left tire near Chiefton, FL, put on the 7-year old OEM spare, and blew that twenty minutes later. He replaced two tires and the spare. When I bought the rig two years later, I replaced all six tires on the ground, because the tire dealer sold him two tires with 1002 DOT stamps!
Yankee Clipper
1997 Coachmen Catalina 330MB on F53/Ford 460efi
1991 Explorer Sport 4 down toad/Blue Ox
Two dachshunds/4 cats that actually rule the place
Not overly concerned about depreciation with this rig...
I'm a believe in carrying a spare tire & wheel. All too often it takes several hours to get someone out to change a tire and in some cases there aren't any service trucks willing or able to come out.
We've had to use our spare twice in the last 2 years. Once when we had an alignment problem causing wear on the edge of the left front tire (both front tires got replaced and the front end aligned), and a second time when we ran over something in the road puncturing a tire.
We have roadside insurance, but in both cases the company said it would be at least 2 hours before they could send someone out. It took less than 1/2 an hour to change the tire and be back on the road.
Last year in Alaska several people on our caravan had problems, some with tires, others with equipment failures. Most people had roadside insurance but no one had any luck getting a service truck out to help them. In every case they were told either to bring the coach to the garage (that's hard to do with a slide stuck in the extended position) or be willing to wait a day or two.
For the difference in fuel mileage I'd rather carry it around than wait for a service truck which could take several days.
A spare on a car may be a waste but if ever there was a vehicle that should have one, its a motorhome. Next time you are around a group just take a poll on how many have had a tire blow on there rv, Yep most of them! Ask the same about a car and you will find few that have had that experience. Well, if the odds are that you are going to have a tire blow, a spare is a very handy thing. RV tires are big, expensive and apparently prone to failures. The fact that many manufacturers don't include them only means they will save a buck where they can.
I carry a spare mounted on rim all balanced ready to go. Have everything to change it myself if need be.
1994 Pace Arrow 33L Class A 454 P30 2002 F250 lariet crewcab 4x4 7.3 PSD srw short bed auto 3.73 gears,reese 16k slide hitch,reese brake controller ford factory aic,autometer three guage pod trany temp,pyrometer,turbo boost,banks 4inch monster exhaust,aFe air box,sonnax valve and tri springs,magnafine trans filter,Wicked Wheel,TS flip chip 75/100/125/OMG,03 tt heated/signal mirrors,runningboard leds.Other than that its all stock
2oo4 ground up ridgid chopper 120rwhp http://community.webshots.com/user/oneHD
I don't have a spare on my motor home. I have 22 inch tires so they are very heavy and the torque on the lugs quite large. I don't think I would be physically able to change the tire myself, so I am going to have to just wait until someone can get to me with a tire.
2004 Gulf Stream 36 ft Sun Voyager triple slide
Workhorse W22 8.1
2004 Saturn VUE w/stowmaster towbar
Two Ole Pharts & One Little Shin Tzu named Isabel
I would never even think of running without a spare. I carry a mounted 11R22.5 tire (when I replaced tires, I took the best of the old ones as the spare) and the tools to change it.
John
1984 Ford B-700 school bus conversion, Thomas body
A bunch of other vehicles
3 nutty cats (Maya, Vierna, Briza)
One lazy dog (Marmaduke)
One wife (Liz)
"A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age"
-Jim Steinman
Dumped mine too after buying a set of four new Toyo tires. I carry a plug tool, air compressor, Fix-A-Flat, Jacks, and a cell phone; oh, and my AAA card. I'm happy to be hauling 100 LESS pounds around - I'll take my chances on a blowout. I don't carry a spare starter and alternator either, and I've had to replace BOTH those items several times in my 35 years of driving, against my ONE blowout (a recap)...
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