Gear Needed for Changing a Flat Tyre

You could be excused for wondering why such a simple topic is included here! Quite simple really - depending on your vehicle it can easily turn into a super trauma if you happen to be in an isolated location. The best advice we can give any newbie is to try changing a tyre in the safety of your own driveway at home! This will let you know if your wheel changing gear is up to the task. Ours wasn't and yes this is a true story. The photos truly are those of a flat tyre. First up you need to know if your wheel nuts have been done up using a "rattle gun". Without jacking up the vehicle see if you can loosen the nuts. Be certain to try ALL wheels. This is where we came unstuck. We tried both front wheels and both were fine. However we didn't find out until we had a "real" flat that both rear wheels just weren't accessible using the wrench supplied.

The first thing you need to do is organise a suitable wrench. We found that the normal four prong style is useless for dual wheel motorhomes. All the photos on this page were taken using a Winnebago Leisure Seeker. The photo above left shows the spanner supplied. Even if you had an extension tube you still wouldn't be able to undo the rear nuts.

The photos above show the correct tools to buy. Now this setup is far from cheap but trust us - it will see you out! It consists of a 3/4" ratchet socket and an extension rod long enough to clear the OUTSIDE of your motorhome. Next you need the correct socket for your nuts. Best to take your existing spanner with you. Try to buy a socket with just the six flats in it (hexagonal). The very common serrated type slip off and you can't get anywhere near the leverage. In Queensland we have a guy making a gadget called a Wheelie Ezy. You need this if you still can't undo your nuts even with the set up descibed here. It allows you to use very long extension handles. At present our chapter can't find their address!

The photo above left shows Lee from Kenilworth coming to our rescue with the correct gear! The photo above right shows how unlucky we were. Modern radials don't punture easily but we ran over one of those serrated dooveys that bash into timber to hold a castor. As it had a hole in the middle it went down instantly! One thing we haven't discuussd here is jacking. Again you need to read your vehicle manual to learn about jacking points. It's NOT a good idea to crawl underneath and place the jack on the diff/axle. In our case on the Mercedes, a very easily accessible jacking point is provided well in front of both the front and rear wheels. Even with the large body overhang this worked well. For those without jacking points a very good trick is to drive your vehicle up on blocks to give you more clearance. Chocking is then ABSOLUTELY critical. If the flat is on the outside rim you may even be able to change the trye without the jack depending on how the wheel nuts work.