Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 02-02-2017, 09:44 AM   #1
Skoolie
 
Clayton's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Alberta
Posts: 134
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas 72 passenger
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: 230HP DT466 engine MD3060 transmission
Ideas for mounting a spare tire under a skoolie

Im looking for ideas on mounting a spare tire under my bus. I have Dayton style rims, so its just a ring with a tire on it. Im leaning towards a rack like under a semi trailer. How did you do this?

Clayton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2017, 10:10 AM   #2
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 1,358
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Crown, integral. (With 2kW of tiltable solar)
Chassis: Crown Supercoach II (rear engine)
Engine: Detroit 6V92TAC, DDEC 2, Jake brake, Allison HT740
Rated Cap: 37,400 lbs GVWR
I made a spare wheel/tire mount under the front of my bus, similar-ish to what Crown offered as an option from the factory. There are four 1" grade-8 studs hanging down from two cross tubes between the frame rails, and the wheel bolts onto these studs through four of its ten holes. Because a 12R22.5" wheel and tire is well over 100 lbs, I also made a lifting mechanism using a Harbor Freight worm-drive winch that hooks onto a separate lifting dolly under the tire. This lifting dolly folds flat when not in use, and has four wheels on it so when the tire is on the ground I can easily move it around. All I have to do to release the wheel is to get under the bus, undo the four 1" nuts with a long-handled socket wrench that I keep there for this purpose, lower the wheel to the ground on its dolly and move it out from under the bus. Easy! And to make it even easier, I can remove the handle from the winch and turn it instead with a cordless drill.

Because there's little point in having a spare wheel/tire if you don't also have the means of changing it, I also have six blocks of 6" x 8" timber, a 40"-long 1"-drive breaker bar with a Budd socket and extension, and four bottle jacks (two 20-ton, a 12-ton and a low-profile 12-ton) and two squares of thick steel to go under them. There's also a 120V air compressor for emergency tire inflation or for air tools. In practice however I would probably just call out Good Sam to change it, but what would happen if they couldn't send someone for several hours - it's always good to have a Plan B.

Spare wheels/tires are like umbrellas - if you have one you may never need it, and if you don't have one guess what happens . . .

John
Iceni John is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:35 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.