Tire change - Real world experience

Grumpy_G

Earlier today I had a blowout on the driver side tire on my 320 non-boondock. Not surprising given the tires are 8 years old and the tire was low when I checked them before the trip. I did air it up but that didn't keep it from failing 30 min into the drive (local 1hr campground). No biggie, I've changed plenty of tires in my life. Well, there were a couple of curveballs.... The jack in my truck doesn't fit under the frame with the tire down so I had to resort to the old method of unhitching, lowering the tongue, cranking down the rear stabilizer and jacking up the tongue again. That allowed me to remove the damaged tire but the spare wouldn't go on because it needs 3-4 inches more clearance under the hub than a fully deflated/destroyed tire. If you think about it, starting with the frame 3-4 inches lower results in the rear stabilizer being lower as well. The whole rigamarole that you might have practiced at home goes out of the window because the trailer sits lower with a failed tire. Fortunately I was on dirt off the pavement and I carry a "field entrenching tool" in the truck so I just dug a hole under the hub and could put the wheel on. 

Between the tongue jack and the bottle-style jack from the truck I could probably have pulled this off on pavement as well, with some creative re-rigging. But the moral of the story is, just because it worked at home with both tires intact doesn't mean it will work with a flat tire in the real world. 

Oh and it was 86F with no shade ....  

Gratuitous pic:

JamesC

Hope there was no damage to your Tab!

BrianZ

Yep, that was our experience too, a year ago..
https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/188151/#Comment_188151
I just used a couple of 2x8 wood blocks & backed up the blown tire onto them to get enough space for our jack.
Wow, 96° though!  That sounds rather unpleasant.  And wow - 8 years!
Driver's side is no fun if you're on the side of the road, but it looks like you found a spot with some space.  I still don't have an entrenching tool, but I haven't needed one in 6 yrs, so wondering what people use them for.  Your trick is one example.
"Live & Learn"!

Grumpy_G

I swear, I did search the forum if anybody had posted a similar issue already ! Guess my search terms weren't elaborate enough Come to think of it, I could have just pulled the blown out wheel onto the leveling blocks I carry around, would have been easier. Doh ! 

manyman297

I posted a similar question a few months ago…I had practiced a tire change at home and realized that a flat tire is going to lower the entire trailer a good 4” and my bottle jack wouldn’t fit under the trailer. I spent literally hours looking for a scissor jack that could life the trailer high enough and couldn’t find one. 

Ultimately somebody on here (the name escapes me) mentioned that I could just use my Anderson leveler (the curved wedge leveler you drive up on to level the camper) to drive the flat tire up on to gain more clearance under the camper. Brilliant solution that was right under my nose.

tabiphile

It's been said here often the often recommended bottle or scissor jack or the jack from your TV are not going to be of much use when you are flatted on the side of a busy road. If they even fit, the next worry is that they can lift the hub enough to remove and replace a wheel without toppling over. 
It's bigger and heavier, but making room for a lightweight floor jack with a sheet of 3/4 plywood to place it on is the only sure thing that you can safely expect to use in such a case. And, carry a proper breaker bar or torque wrench and socket to properly tighten, torque and re-torque the lugs. Hand tightening with a typical lug wrench is not adequate.

Cracker

I've always been self-sufficient in the past but now, at 85 years old, I have AAA with RV coverage.  Aside from that, I carefully maintain everything and I keep my fingers crossed!  The truth is, in 60 years of towing campers and boat trailers, I've never had a tire or bearing failure.  The only caveat with AAA is that they won't come to your aid if you're off in the boonies.