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**JRTJH** · 01-02-2022, 02:44 PM

I always recommend that a novice RV'er actually change a tire (from start to finish) in the driveway as part of the "driveway camping weekend" before ever hitching for that first camping weekend away from home.

By "from start to finish" what I mean is actually take the spare tire off the bumper or out from under the trailer, jack an axle, pull the tire off the axle, install the spare tire, let it down onto the ground, torque the lug nuts, then loosen the lugs, jack the axle, pull the spare tire, reinstall the road wheel/tire and remount the spare where it goes....

WHY ???? Glad you asked that... Often times, as Danimal posted, the tools you "think will work and are in your tool kit" don't work with aluminum wheels and far too often, the 7/8" or 13/16" lugs on the "ground wheel lugs" are not the same as the 5/8" nuts holding the spare tire to the spare mount.... Missing just one of those and you're stranded until you call for help....

Once you actually "perform the entire operation in the driveway" making those 2 or 3 or 17 trips to the tool chest in the garage to get what wasn't in the trailer, then take all of those tools and put them in your trailer so they are a "dedicated tire change kit" ....

Trust me when I say that I've seen more people "think they have what they need" and are stranded on the side of the road, in a rest area or in a campsite "wishing they had that one more tool"....

You may find, like I did on the first trailer that I had with aluminum wheels, that the lugs for the aluminum wheels are too short to tighten a steel wheel on the lugs, so you MIGHT need a set of open face lug nuts dedicated to the steel wheel spare, or possibly, swap the steel wheel for an aluminum spare so all the lug nuts fit any wheel on the trailer.... And the open face lug nuts will probably not use the same size socket as the closed face lug nuts for the aluminum wheels... So, tightening them onto the trailer axle may become an "experience" without the right tools and the only way to know you have it all is to "have done it and made sure".....

Don't forget the torque wrench, the extension so it will clear the tire and you can actually torque the lugs..... BTDT....

01-02-2022, 02:44 PM	#31
JRTJH Site Team Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Gaylord Posts: 26,997	I always recommend that a novice RV'er actually change a tire (from start to finish) in the driveway as part of the "driveway camping weekend" before ever hitching for that first camping weekend away from home. By "from start to finish" what I mean is actually take the spare tire off the bumper or out from under the trailer, jack an axle, pull the tire off the axle, install the spare tire, let it down onto the ground, torque the lug nuts, then loosen the lugs, jack the axle, pull the spare tire, reinstall the road wheel/tire and remount the spare where it goes.... WHY ???? Glad you asked that... Often times, as Danimal posted, the tools you "think will work and are in your tool kit" don't work with aluminum wheels and far too often, the 7/8" or 13/16" lugs on the "ground wheel lugs" are not the same as the 5/8" nuts holding the spare tire to the spare mount.... Missing just one of those and you're stranded until you call for help.... Once you actually "perform the entire operation in the driveway" making those 2 or 3 or 17 trips to the tool chest in the garage to get what wasn't in the trailer, then take all of those tools and put them in your trailer so they are a "dedicated tire change kit" .... Trust me when I say that I've seen more people "think they have what they need" and are stranded on the side of the road, in a rest area or in a campsite "wishing they had that one more tool".... You may find, like I did on the first trailer that I had with aluminum wheels, that the lugs for the aluminum wheels are too short to tighten a steel wheel on the lugs, so you MIGHT need a set of open face lug nuts dedicated to the steel wheel spare, or possibly, swap the steel wheel for an aluminum spare so all the lug nuts fit any wheel on the trailer.... And the open face lug nuts will probably not use the same size socket as the closed face lug nuts for the aluminum wheels... So, tightening them onto the trailer axle may become an "experience" without the right tools and the only way to know you have it all is to "have done it and made sure"..... Don't forget the torque wrench, the extension so it will clear the tire and you can actually torque the lugs..... BTDT.... __________________ John 2015 F250 6.7l 4x4 2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS