best approach for changing tires on same wheels?

[muddyrode]

i have done both taken my trailer to the shop and taken the wheels of and taken to them as we a a rural small town tire shop that gives great service and does a lot of farm equipment and big truck work also

[itat]

Originally Posted by D-mo

I'm at the same point with my tires...I have 2 new load range d s in the garage.
I will jack one side...remove the wheel ...replace with the spare... then drop.
other side I will jack...remove the wheel...and leave the hydrolic in place with a support to the front of the wheel.
chock everything...so no movement is an issue....and off to your local mechanic you go.
my guy does it for about 25 bucks a wheel...balanced.
most garages have the ability to do 13 inchers...as new equipment had to be purchased in the last 10 years to enable them to do all sorts of rims.

dmo

D-mo, you should consider changing the spare, too, especially if you are going to go with a higher load rating. The spare will be just as old as the other factory-installed tires.

I had a local truck and trailer tire shop change all 5 of mine (4 plus the spare). I had to tell the tech where to jack though, and I double-checked the torque on the wheels myself before leaving.

[D-mo]

no...it's a spare...why change a spare..that has no mileage on it....i don't think you got the scenario....
pls re read my post...it will help others.
whoooof...spares are spares.....you replace a spare with all your tires on your trailer?

give your head a shake....


thx dmo

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by tuckerdog1

Just a word of caution. Check your wheels for any stickers that indicate they are directional. Mine had these stickers. Looked my wheels over closely, and could see no difference between the wheels from the left side vs the right side. BUT, why tempt fate. I made sure, when I got new tires, the wheels from the left side went back on the left side, and ditto for the right.

Tuckerdog1

Tuckerdog, I think what you may have seen is what is sometimes on complete axle assemblies. The left and right has to do with the brakes, which have to go on the correct side.

The stickers alert the installer so they can put the axle correct for the brakes.

https://www.etrailer.com/question-20024.html

https://www.etrailer.com/question-114333.html

[itat]

Originally Posted by D-mo

no...it's a spare...why change a spare..that has no mileage on it....i don't think you got the scenario....
pls re read my post...it will help others.
whoooof...spares are spares.....you replace a spare with all your tires on your trailer?

give your head a shake....


thx dmo

I’ll give you 3 reasons to change your spare:

1. It’s the same tire that the factory put on your axles. Did the factory put good quality tires on your trailer? (OP is replacing their factory tires.)

2. Like many people here, I changed to a higher load rating when I replaced the factory tires. If I need to use the spare I want the spare to be the same load rating.

3. I change my tires based on age not number of miles. If you don’t change the spare at some point, how long do you trust that rubber to be good?

[HangDiver]

.....

[wmtire]

I'll agree with itat on changing the spare. Here is a post from several years ago in a different thread on this subject matter and the reasoning behind it.

Originally Posted by wmtire

Hi Vladio, sorry to hear of your tire troubles. I encounter this mindset from many customers, who only want to purchase either one or three tires to go with their "NEW" spare they want to mount on their vehicle. This happens many times on trailers and trucks. It's not so common for cars as they usually have a tempo-spare.

In reality, your spare was "unused" but not new. Vulcanized rubber like in tires, actually starts the deteriorating process from the day the tire is made. If you have a 2008 trailer, then the minimum age of your spare is 4 years old, but is most likely older than that. If you know how to read the DOT date code on the tire, it will tell you exactly how old the tire is (at least to the week and year it was produced). The complete DOT code and name/size of the tire will help us determine if there was indeed a recall on your tire....if you can post it.

Trailer tires have an expected life range of 3-5 years, irregardless of use. I know that stinks, but it is what it is.

I have posted about tire blooming in several forums and here it is again. A spare tire that is not used, never blooms........which is why people should use their spare tires in some kind of rotation pattern, or not trust an older one to hold up if they don't. Spares should be replaced, just like the ones pounding the pavement.....solely from a time factor (as you unfortunately experienced). This is also why you want to learn how to read DOT codes and not purchase tires that have been sitting on dealers racks/warehouses for a long time either. You will want your new tire to be as new as it can, and not just unused.

Here is the article again:

Vehicles which are parked for extended periods often experience tire sidewall/tread deterioration. Sometimes called tire dry-rot, these sidewalls/treads literally dry, check and eventually crack and split. Each year the loss for RVers, trailer boaters and owners of classic cars adds up to millions of dollars. This article examines this problem.

Tires today commonly contain chemical ingredients which lessen damage from ozone and ultraviolet light, the main environmental enemies of tires. Ozone is an odorless gas, which some people call the electric train smell. Although it is more concentrated in cities and manufacturing centers, ozone is a normal part of the air we breathe everywhere. When combined with ultraviolet (UV) light, ozone causes rubber to dry and become brittle and results in tire sidewall deterioration.

Black Tires

To protect rubber against UV damage is why tires are black. Tire makers use a common type of UV stabilizer called a competitive absorber. Competitive absorbers capture and absorb the UV light instead of the tire's rubber. Carbon black, a very cheap ingredient, is used as a competitive absorber whereas, all other UV stabilizers are extremely expensive. This is why tires are black.

UV stabilizers are called sacrificial, meaning they are gradually used up and reach a point where they can no longer protect the tire against UV damage. As carbon black loses its ability to do this job, it turns gray, which explains why tires appear gray as the get older.

Ozone Protection

Waxes are used to protect tires against ozone. When tires are being driven they flex. This flexing causes the protective waxes to move to the surface where they form a physical barrier between the air --which contains ozone and oxygen-- and the tire polymer. This is called blooming.

When tires are not regularly used, such as a parked RV, boat trailer, classic car, spares, this blooming does not happen. Ozone then starts eating away the protective wax and before long reaches the tire polymer. Often by this time, the surface carbon black has lost its ability to protect against UV. With UV light and ozone working together, deterioration starts. The tire dries, checks, and will eventually crack.

Other Degradants

Petrochemicals and silicone oils can also remove protective waxes and increase the rate of decay. Common automotive protectants and tire dressings can contain chemicals and/or silicone oils which dissolve protective waxes and can actually attack the sidewalls. In the event of failure, one of the first things tire manufacturers look for is evidence of the use of these types of products. If it is found it may be a cause for invalidating a warrant against manufacturing defects.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by wmtire

I'll agree with itat on changing the spare. Here is a post from several years ago in a different thread on this subject matter and the reasoning behind it.

What do you do about the temporary spares on modern vehicles? I typically own my vehicles for at least 10 years/200K miles, and replace tires by wear. But that temp spare gets used maybe once for 20 miles in the 10 years, and is stored in the trunk or underneath the vehicle.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame - stored in garage, plan to replace all 3 tires next year (maybe 12K miles on tires)
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan (still going good at 190K miles)

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by pgandw

What do you do about the temporary spares on modern vehicles? I typically own my vehicles for at least 10 years/200K miles, and replace tires by wear. But that temp spare gets used maybe once for 20 miles in the 10 years, and is stored in the trunk or underneath the vehicle.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame - stored in garage, plan to replace all 3 tires next year (maybe 12K miles on tires)
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan (still going good at 190K miles)

Temporary spares are just that, as the name applies, and to only be used very temporarily... basically to get you off the road and to a tire facility. They are also only normally used on cars/suvs and wouldn't be something you would ever want to use on a RV or tow vehicle with an RV attached where weight is a major concern (which is what we are discussing). They are a different thing altogether from LT or ST spare tires.

Here is an article from tire rack discussing full size spares being integrated into a vehicles rotation pattern .... as well as an explanation on temporary use ONLY tires.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=141

P.S. Being in the tire business, and knowing the limited capabilities of temporary use tires, I shudder when I see vehicles with a temp-o-spare tire mounted on them doing 70 mph down the interstate.

[MontyPP]

And most of the donut spares are hidden away out of the weather and sunlight.

[D-mo]

I apologise, I did not my make response clear.
it should have read...that once I return with my new tires mounted, I would then rejack...put both new tires on the axles and return the spare to the back of the trailer.
dmo