Spare tire mount

subdoc4 · 09-29-2013, 12:21 AM

So we were driving down the freeway, a jeep pulls up beside us and says we are about to loose our spare tire. We pulled off on the next exit, pulled over and looked under the rig. To our surprise, the spare tire was hanging about 4" above the road. The frame/mount was missing 10 out of the 16 self tap screws! Sent my wife under with some wire and took off the tire. When we got to the next camp spot I called a RV repair service and he said he has seen this a few times...They use self tapping screws instead of bolts! Called Ron Howard and he authorized the repair. Changed out the screws for bolts. You all may want to check your spare tires!

johnboytoo · 09-29-2013, 12:46 AM

I was stunned to see how low it hangs when done correctly even

atom ant · 09-29-2013, 12:45 PM

Thanks for the heads up. Self tapping with a lock washer should be just as effective as bolts and nuts. I wonder if they were never tightened properly.

subdoc4 · 09-29-2013, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

Thanks for the heads up. Self tapping with a lock washer should be just as effective as bolts and nuts. I wonder if they were never tightened properly.

The tech that repaired our unit said he thought the self taps were over torqued.

atom ant · 09-29-2013, 01:39 PM

ahh - maybe a screw gun

5th_Time · 09-29-2013, 03:42 PM

If you check your units carefully, you'll find dozens of self taping screws stripped, missing or with heads broken off. I was working in a fender well, trying to figure out why my fenders we're flopping in/out. When I touched a large, heavy shield covering the slide strut, it basically just fell to the ground near my hand. All three of the self taping bolts had heads broken off & I had to drill out the bolts.

**Dave&Ginny** · 09-29-2013, 11:19 PM

I just dropped my spare tire last week and rotated it with the other tires. When I lowered the tire I noticed that the "cast metal" wheel inside the winch was broken into small pieces. I guess I'm going to be replacing the self tapping screws now too.

**Blenhardt** · 09-30-2013, 09:29 AM

I noticed early on that mine was loose. I placed a small ratchet strap around the spare and over a cross member as a safety.

markw · 10-21-2013, 11:22 PM

5 of the 16 self drilling screws had the heads broken on our 36 RE. To much torque on the screw gun or not enough IQ buy the operator.

Mark

Tobys Home · 10-22-2013, 07:04 AM

Checked my spare tire this weekend and found that it came with a standard trailer white rim? That means that this tire can only be a dedicated spare.

I have "G's" on my unit.
All the self tappers were fine so I sprayed the winch mechanisim and brought it up and down a couple of times. I did however find that one of those fender washers holding the bottom paneling on had popped through. Need to fix with a bigger washer. I can only imagine what it would be like if I towed this down the road like most of you.

atom ant · 10-22-2013, 10:14 AM

Is the spare tire a G as well?

subdoc4 · 11-15-2013, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

Is the spare tire a G as well?

Ours is, Yes.

Oriana · 11-17-2013, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

Is the spare tire a G as well?

Negative for us, still have the original Marathon as the spare and "G"s on the axles.

5th_Time · 11-17-2013, 04:34 AM

I ordered Gs from Redwood and it came with G spare, but the spare rim is metal. Haven't looked at bracket yet...

Tobys Home · 11-17-2013, 03:10 PM

We do have a G as a spare. Checked before it went off to the shop.

**hoosierguy** · 11-17-2013, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

Is the spare tire a G as well?

When we ordered (July 2011) 2012 36RL, we ordered the G614 option and all 5 tires are the G tires, but, I think the spare is on a steel rim.

atom ant · 11-17-2013, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oriana

Negative for us, still have the original Marathon as the spare and "G"s on the axles.

I know you bought your G's after the fact. I did the same as you on the last rig, I just left the new ST tire as spare. I figured it was round and held air and would get me to where I needed.

Oriana · 11-18-2013, 06:20 PM

Affirmative, it was the first modification we made. Only 4 were for sale so we used a similar logic in retaining a Marathon tire as the spare.

Ken and Susie · 02-13-2018, 07:28 PM

When we replaced our tires with the new G114s, we also replaced the spare with a 5th aluminum wheel. We had our dealer mount the tires. Since then, we have discovered that Southern California’s rough sections of I-5 had caused the spare tire mounted below the coach to unwind, and the forward edge of the tire was just a couple of inches above the pavement. Luckily we noticed it first at a fuel stop, and that it did not contact the pavement at highway speed. Who knows what the result would have been! So now we are checking and cranking the tire up when it unwinds. I cannot find any way to lock the winding so that the crank must be used to lower the spare tire. Does anyone in the community have a solution to this problem? Thanks.

NW Snowbirds · 02-13-2018, 08:25 PM

Had the same problem multiple times. Passing drivers would blow their horns to tell me something was wrong underneath the trailer. Solved the problem by wrapping a cinching strap to firmly attach the spare tire to the framework. By the way, you may notice that the winch is held by two quarter inch bolts. In my opinion they are insufficient for holding the weight of the tire, wheel, and winch which is approximately 60 pounds. I replaced these two bolts with 5/16 inch grade 8 high-strength steel bolts.

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