Chinook RV

this will sound dumb but: I am a strong 57 year old male. will I be able to change a flat tire on the "duals"...on my Concourse, if I can't contact a tow service. I don't have the room for a big floor jack like my dad use to carry in his 34' Pace Arrow.

A steel 16" wheel and tire is going to run about 75#. Bottle Jack does the trick. I like a long breaker bar; I think mine's about two feet. Hardest part is crawling around getting the jack placed properly.

I have changed all of my tires at a boondock. Once for painting rims, and once so I could ferry them in to a nearby town in a friend's car for tire work - I hate bringing the Chinook in!

I'm not super strong or super young. Even for changing a tire on the road I had to upgrade my kit from what comes stock. Here is what I carry:

1) I do still have the stock jack, but it's tough to raise the rear with it, for me. On the plus side it has the long extension handle so you can stay well out from under the rig. But for the rear I borrowed a friend's hydraulic bottle jack, and will likely get one (same approximate physical size as the Ford screw jack).

2) I have a set of Lynx blocks I use for leveling and they can come in handy, plus chunk of wood for under jack, etc.

3) 24" breaker bar with socket and extension (about 6" extension needed for rear wheels as they are dished quite a bit) for loosening things. Note that even this might not be enough if I let tire shop employees tighten my lug nuts however they want to (which translates to like 250 ft. lbs. ). It's fine since I torque them to the correct setting myself. I got a little socket in a plastic box that's meant for wheels, from Amazon - this has sockets that work on my trailer wheels as well.

4) Torque wrench for re-tightening (140 ft. lbs. if memory serves, but I usually look it up as I don't remember between the Ford, my trailer, and etc.)

I kept the original Ford "breaker bar" as I have found one very convenient use for it. When I go to put the rim/tire back on, I set the tire up just by the lug nuts, but of course then have to raise it an inch or so to get it on the lugs. I put the "prying" end of that bar under the tire and use it to lever the tire up that little bit. Works like a charm.

Side note is I also have a socket that fits the nuts that hold my spare onto the tire carrier. In my case (front mounted spare) they are a different size than the lug nuts. I keep all of this in the "tire locker" compartment along with a set of reflective triangles, gloves, etc. (not with all of my other tools).

Oh, almost forgot but when I ran the simulators (fancy hubcaps), I also carried a socket for those. I think it was 1-1/8" but don't remember for sure.

With these tools I've moved my tires/rims around a few times. Always in a boondock on dirt/gravel. Humping the tires/rims into the back of my friend's station wagon was the hardest part (oh, plus jacking up the rear axle with the stock screw jack).

thanks so much for the info. 75 pounds aint no walk in the park.

great thing about these Concourses, you can drive into the woods and not worry about getting fouled up pulling a trailer. I appreciate all the help!!

and I am "assuming" the front and rear rims are identical?

I had sworn off motor homes after my dad's old beater Pace Arrow worked me to death. he had treated it like a 4x4. torn to hell.

but I find travel trailers boring.

Yes, the front/rear/spare rims are all the same on our dually rigs. They are heavily dished so that the inner rears clear the brake drums/discs. The open part of the "dish" faces in on the inner rear rim, which clears the brakes, and then the other rear rim backs up against it (so the dish faces out on the one you can see). The fronts are the same so that one spare covers any wheel position. Hence why non-duallys have different rims (more like regular ones without the big dish).

So if you are ever speccing anything related to the wheels (or anti-sway bar, etc.) you have to mention that it's a dually E-350, not just a regular one (without dual wheels).

I could never really lift one of our wheel/tire combos. Hence I "maneuver" them with the original crowbar wrench, gravity, etc.

The weight is one reason I moved my spare to the front. The other is that I didn't like it "in my face" by the rear door, plus blocking the storage compartment. Because of the combination of how far aft it was of the rear axle, plus physics, plus moving it forward (more physics ), I figured I removed around 200# from the rear axle. Since I like to tow sometimes (boat), that was great. I have plenty of extra capacity on the front axle, but the rear was close. And it's so much more open outside the camper door without the tire there, plus easy to get in and out of that compartment (which is where I keep kayaking gear, plus other stuff).

I still kept the bracket for mounting the spare on the rear bumper. I might move it back if I wanted to carry something else on the front hitch that would be even less convenient at the rear (bike or etc.). Or if I were taking certain ferries a lot because it lengthens the rig by probably a foot if measuring (but since it's only a small spot in the center it's not very noticeable when maneuvering since it's not out at the front corners). But other than that I really like the spare on the front.

Speaking of wheels, one mod you might consider is extended valve stems. My Chinook came with the floppy valve stem extenders (they screw onto the regular valve stems) and I was not a fan. More places to leak, hard to deal with, etc. So I got the extended valve stems (one piece metal stems that are custom bent - I have them on all six wheels and now checking pressure and adding air are a pleasure vs. a chore. Two companies I know of that make them are Tireman and Borg. I have the Tireman, but have seen the Borg and they look just as nice (and come in chrome type option if desired - mine are brass). I think I have photos of them in another post on the forum here.

I carry a tire plug kit and have onboard air as well. Could save some major labor if a tire just has a nail in it or a hole. A plug will allow you to air the tire back up and at least get to a tire shop.

I carry a 5 ton jack, plug kit, breaker bar, and electric impact wrench. (I can wait to get to a tire store to have wheels torqued) I am hoping to never have to change a tire and if close to a major city would call a local tire store such as a Les Schwab for roadside service especially on the rear.

as always, thanks for the information. as they say the only dumb question is the one not asked. surely I am not the only one that has fretted intensely over paying a lot for an old motorhome. it may be a year or it may be a day. but I think this train will leave the station. I think I am ready to just sit back and read the posts of others. thanks again

Did you find one already? Or are you pre-fretting (as one is wont to do )

We recently bought a 1999 Concourse and it is missing the spare tire bracket. If you would be interested in selling yours I would love to buy it.