Spare Tire takes a back seat

[viento1]

I will grab a camera and snap a few pictures. I should start a new thread as it will likely stir up some interest with respect to integral steering conversions.

[gus]

I carry a spare and wheel but plan to eliminate the wheel eventually. With Good Sam road service there is no reason to carry a wheel since they will change a tire on the road but will not furnish a tire.

I can use that wheel space to carry some more junk!!

I have all the equipment to change a wheel/tire but at my age that is a bit much on the side of the road. Anyway, that is the reason I have GS.

[Busted Knuckle]

Well as usuall my case is different! We do carry mounted spares on all our coaches. But that is my preference! My thinking and it has been proved. Is that if I have a spare and then call the service truck and tell him look I got a load of people stranded here with a blow out, but I have a mounted tire all you need to do is remove the blown one and replace it with the mounted spare, I find that they will go out of their way to come by and assist you first rather than go to the trash truck with 2 blown duals and no spares! I've been in FL and called a service truck and had them tell me "it's gonna be 2-3 hrs before I can get to ya". Then they catch the part about the mounted spare and "did you say you got a mounted spare? Look I'll swing by there in XX mins. when I finish this one, but really I got 3-4 more jobs ahead of you but since yours is easy I'll get you going first!"
SO we always carry a good mounted spare, but then again with us it is a matter of getting the people back en-route to their destination ASAP!
  BK 

[Lin]

You never need a spare until you need one.  Just make sure to carry one on that day.

[zimtok]

Keep in mind that if you decide to carry a spare you will need to carry the tools needed to change it. Depending on what tools you decide to carry they could take up considerable space also.

My 4104 has a spare and I will always carry it.
I also carry an air operated bottle jack,
1" air impact with impact sockets,
10ft 1/2" air hose and 25ft of 1/4" hose,
5 gal slave air tank,
1 run up block.

That way I have a choice to either change it myself or call road service.



.

[bobofthenorth]

Just because my spares are mounted as tags doesn't mean I don't carry the tools.  I intend to call Good Sam roadside assistance but if they don't show up or show up with inadequate tools I've got 2 x 20 ton bottle jacks, a 1" impact, a 1" swing handle with a 4 foot snipe and lots of blocks.

[BG6]

Mine has $1000.00 in it. It's the one with the two red dobermans chained to front bumper.

So, I get a grand AND two weeks' worth of adobo and calderetta?  What a deal!

[BG6]

Hello, I have a decision to make. The integral steering box in my MC5 cuts into the spare tire compartment. Now I have to seriously consider putting that great big dirty, smelly round block of rubber in one of my precious storage bays. I really don't want to!

Can you consider one of the rear tires as a spare? It sounds like a bad idea, I know. but In my mind it is a perfect plan.

Will it fit with the air let out of it?  Or if it's just the tire (no rim)?  If so, this might be the solution -- but STORE the tire in your garage, only putting it in when you are hitting the road, so that it doesn't "take a set."

If you don't have the tools to change out the wheel, you're calling for road service anyway.  The service call will cost a couple of hundred bux even if you have a spare.  Since we have common tires on our coaches, it's no problem getting replacement tires, you just need to be able to pay the bill.

Drive and steer tires have different tread patterns, so they really aren't interchangeable except as a get-home tire (a spare might have any tread).  Commercial truck owners who lose a steer tire will often call around for a discount on replacing BOTH steers, just so they will both be matching.  This means a bigger total bill, but takes some of the bite out of it. 

Losing a drive, though, is another story.  Any tire the right size will work to get you home.  Truck tire shops will nearly always have some good used tires, pulled from a truck getting a new set.  So, if you are going to pick a tire for a spare, pick a steer tire.

Now, WE are different from trucks in that we spend a lot of time away from the highway, where there are more road hazards such as broken concrete, potholes, nails, junk fallen out of trucks going to the dump, etc.  Take that into account before you head out with no spare and no tools.  You may go your whole life without losing a coach tire, or you might go three miles up Bloody Basin Road.

Oh, yeah, and anytime you pass by a truck or a coach with a flat, listen for the sound of your own tires picking up some of whatever was big enough to get them.  At the next rest area, pull in and do a tire check (this is when Cat's Eyes will pay themselves off for you!).  This has saved a lot of truck drivers a lot of grief.

[Ed Hackenbruch]

  I lived on Maui for almost 11 years so i know what adobo is, but can't recall if i ever heard of calderetta.

[Airbag]

I totally understand all the arguments for and against carrying a spare.  And everyone has a valid point.

However, I have and additional, slightly different outlook on this, especially as it pertains to two-axle, 35-foot coaches.

Weight distribution & collision protection.

With a 35-foot coach, and all that powertrain weight hung out behind the tail, having the spare up front helps put a little more weight on the steering axle.  May not sound like much, but I've experienced a 4106 in revenue service before and after having a tire in the spare compartment, and there is a subtle difference in the handling without the extra weight - it's more prone to wandering.

I know folk will disagree on the collision protection, and I'm ok with that.  But I still think having that wheel/tire combo right behind the bumper will help to absorb collision forces if you encounter a four-wheeler with significant force to bend the lower front end.  All bets are off if it's another bus or 18-wheeler, however.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around Viento's comment that the integral steering box intrudes into the spare compartment.  Somehow, to me anyway, that doesn't seem right.  Everybody else has gone off on to carry or not carry, missing the reason behind asking the question.  Didn't anybody else catch that???  A photo would really help here. . . hint, hint.

FWIW & HTH. . .

I know what you mean about weight distribution, driving school buses all the kids want to sit in the rear and with enough of them back there it handles funny. My two bits.

I have an MC5A with full power steering and the spare tire fits fine in the front.