Spare tire

I'm a pretty self sufficient kind of guy. While I have had AAA for normal POVs I have never used them to come out and change a tire on my POV. It is just easier and faster to do it myself.

I did have a class A RV with 19.5s and hydraulic leveling jacks. I changed a few tires on that myself.

Now I'm driving a semi with 22.5 lo-pros. The particular size is not real common and not likely to be readily accessible at the spur of the moment so no matter what I'll be carrying a spare. I can get a new steel rim for $100 from my local truck tire shop so I see no reason not to go on and have it mounted.

So, I'll have a mounted spare ready to go.

Do any of you change your own tires or do you just call a service truck and bite the $$ Bullet?

 

Already understood about the tools.

I stopped by my local truck tire shop today and talked to my guy there about what they do when the air gun breaks. He laughed and said, "We call the other truck".. So, what happens when the other truck is not available? They break out the 5' breaker bar and have at it.

Occasionally I luck out and and am the recipient of good fortune and or right place at the right time. He just happened to have an old no longer used 1' drive torque wrench in the corner. It is the kind with a reversible ratchet on the head. He gave it to me!

I already have a 20 ton bottle jack I haul with me to change the trailer tires. And several hunks of wood I can use as a base/spacers. All I need now is a 33mm socket and 8-10" extension and a bar to use to lift the tire into place. The bar I can pick up from my welding shop buddy.

"IF" I ever have to do it myself I plan to find a shop to double check the torque ASAP after I get off the road.

Most likely I'll only do it once but I will feel better knowing I have the ability to do it if needed.

By the way, my size is 275/75-22.5. I have been told it is fairly odd even for car carriers.

Also, I agree 100% about keeping good tires on it. I have brand new Michelins on it now and plan to replace them (Or should I say, "Will have a professional shop replace them".. LOL) well before they become problematic but.....

 

I guess I should have mentioned that the reason the torque wrench was given to me is that it was replace with a new one because it is old and presumed to no longer be accurate.

When I was working as a licensed aircraft mechanic we had to have our torque wrenches certified for accuracy every 6 months. If it happened to be out of proper range you could send it off for re-calibration but nobody ever did. We just got a new one. The certification was done in house by qualified inspectors. I would have no idea where to take this monster wrench for certification and honestly have no intention of doing so. To me it is a breaker bar. That is why I plan to go from my roadside repair directly to a shop for checking of the lugnut torque.

Mostly I plan to use the tools as a back up in case road service is not available or inordinately delayed in getting to me and I can't wait. Think of it as a back up plan rather than my primary plan. Just another tool available to help me get the job done if needed.

My original post was really to see if anybody does their own roadside tire changes on a class 7 or 8 rig as their primary plan. Although only a few responses so far, it seems nobody does that.

If people said they did do it I was going to ask what tools they used for the lugnuts. I know there are several different styles of tool including one that is gear driven. Was curious how the different ones worked.

Do the "Ice Road Trucker" people call road service?