Cyclone 3950 spare tire issue

We picked up our new 3950 in Michigan and came home to Florida via Pennsylvania. We did not go on any unusual roads, although there were a lot of hills in PA. Somewhere we scraped the spare tire right off the bracket and lost it. I didn't even notice it was gone until we were set up and camping and never determined where exactly I lost it.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I've read of wheeled brackets that can be welded or bolted to the frame to protect the tire but haven't seen them in person. Suggestions?

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum, Sorry to hear of your issue.

below is a link to a thread of several others spare tire issues.
//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/6019-Check-your-spare-tire./page2

Ron, Welcome to the Heartland Forum & Family. Too bad about that tire. I know I worry about mine as well. I know the bracket seems like it may be a bit weak but so far so good for us. I know some owners have moved the entire bracket up to the front of the rig between the landing gear. This may be an option for you once you replace the tire.

What spare tire bracket do you have?

The bracket is the original equipment that came with the 3950 and is about midway between the real axle and the rear of the trailer. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to look at it closely because I lost the tire and bent the bracket several days after picking the trailer up. After getting back home to Florida we took the trailer in for warranty work and it has been at the dealer for the past 5 weeks.

It appeared to ride very low, something that both I and the folks who camp with us and usually follow behind noted as well. I figured that the engineers had calculated the necessary clearance so I wasn't overly concerned. I'm debating on just carrying the spare in the garage area just to be on the safe side.

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http://www.lci1.com/NewProducts/Flyers/Under%20Chassis%20Storage%20Flyer/LCI_UnderChassisStorageFlyer.pdf

I just don’t see how you could have hit something hard enough to lose the tire and not feel it.

But – if the tire was not secure when you picked it up that is a different story.
Do you know for sure you left the dealer with a spare?

I am confident in mine staying attached. I do check to make sure the cable is tight whenever I check the tire pressure.

I also added a ratchet strap to the tire frame, but only because I replaced my wheels and tires and the tire assembly is now 96 pounds.

My spare hits my driveway every time in and out, but that is a steep slope. Any chance you backed into a curb and didn’t realize it?

This is the kind of slope needed to hit the spare. And it only hits the rear edge of the tire, just enough to leave a mark. I have ideas for a skid plate here when spring finally arrives.

I've read to where the winch/ extension tube on occasions has rotated on its own which allows your spare to come down to the point of coming loose and separating from the RV. This is happening while you are driving down the road and by the time you realize your spare is gone, its LONGGG gone! There is no locking device on the winch system which would prevent this from happening. If you figure out that this is what happened, a good fix is to drill a hole thru the extension and thru the frame. Place a carter-pin thru the hole and you won't have to worry going down the road anymore...

The winch should not "auto rotate" and let the tire down. It may loosen up a bit or the cable may stretch some.

Ron3918 said:

We picked up our new 3950 in Michigan and came home to Florida via Pennsylvania. We did not go on any unusual roads, although there were a lot of hills in PA. Somewhere we scraped the spare tire right off the bracket and lost it. I didn't even notice it was gone until we were set up and camping and never determined where exactly I lost it.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I've read of wheeled brackets that can be welded or bolted to the frame to protect the tire but haven't seen them in person. Suggestions?

Click to expand...

This happened to me last year. When my tire came off, it also took out the rear stabilizer legs and did some undercarriage damage. Those cables they use can work themselves free, allowing the tire to dangle and flop around.

I now keep the spare in the garage area of the Toy Hauler.

Duane, its happened to fellow Heartland owners and so I looked closly at my winch assy. I could see where it could happen very easily!!! I didn't waste anytime fixing that concern...

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The tire loosens a 1/64” then it’s 1/8”, then ¼” then ½”, 1” – 2” etc.
By 2” there is a lot of energy bouncing around under there.
By the time it is 4+ inches I have no doubt that 40+ pounds of free weight swinging around is going to involve some apple thinkers way of motion – and is going to break the cable which is not designed for that kind of stress.

There are tens of millions of spare tires being held up by spare tire winches. And maybe the winches installed on trailers are not built to the same levels as automotive winches.
But I can’t see them being manufactured so as not to do the job and fail with the potential for injury and the resulting lawsuits.

Just my opion but I think we need to have “check the spare” on our trip checklist.
And in my case, since I doubled the weight of the spare when I went to 17.5” wheels and tires I put a ratchet strap around the tire and frame.

FWIW, I trailered home 700 miles and did two camp trips before I added the strap and my tire was still secure.

Check out my mod below for dragging the spare. It's a really bad place for it IMO. Keystone puts theirs where mine is now.

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/19131-My-Cyclone-must-do-cheap-mods!?highlight=

As far as the winch rotating, mine has never done that, but you could tack weld a nut to the tube and run a cinch type cable lock through it. Would deter someone from lowering and stealing it as well as prevent it from rotating loose.

Sorry to hear about the lost spare. I bet someone was shocked to see that thing come out from under there. Heartland should really move it up front.