Saga of the BAL tire carrier

[TXgearhead]

When we bought the Oshkosh slightly used (?) I had the dealer remove the Bal undermount tire carrier because I thought it would drag on the inclined driveway entrance. I stored the spare in the bay storage. I later decided it might clear and decided to put the carrier back on. It had been sitting out in the weather for maybe a year. Apparently it had rusted and wouldn't telescope. After soaking with all kinds of penetrating oils it still wouldn't extend, even with some massaging with a 8# sledge. So I bought a new one. I replaced all the cheap bolts & nuts with stainless and used a PTFE lube on the slide rails. Last week I bought new tires (Hercules Strong Guard) and the gorillas at the tire shop couldn't get the carrier to retract with the tire on it. So they took the tire off and it still wouldn't retract. Then they removed the carrier and put it and the spare in my truck. I took it home and put it out for garbage.
So all that for the question: anybody else have this issue and how did you resolve it? Now that I've thrown the carrier away and rearranged everything in the bay for the spare. LOL

 

[jbeletti]

I'm not a fan of the BAL model either. Same reason - it was always seized when I needed to access it. Check out the various models from Lippert. You may have more success with theirs.

https://store.lci1.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?brand=Lippert™&q=spare+tire+carrier

 

[TXgearhead]

Yes that does look better, When I saw that BAL round tubing all bowed up trying to support that 17.5 " tire and steel wheel I thought square tubing would be stronger. Plus the Lippert just winches up rather than wrestling around in the mud trying to mount the spare on those 2 bolts.
THANKS!!

 

[Dahillbilly]

coat the smaller tubes with a good anti-seeze compound or a marine grade grease & a few times a year just work it

 

[TXgearhead]

It's gone. Put it on the curb for the garbage man.

 

[LBR]

I've been entertaining this upgrade with it's associated hand crank for about a year. This is the similar style unit as on my buddy's 398 Momentum and my 2017 F-450.... I've used both to lower/raise spares with and will be pitching our current CY's spare tire rack to the recycler also.

 

[grambini]

I tried to pull mine out just to se how hard and heavy it was. It would move, even had my wife hammer it with an 8lb harmer. I took it off and unmounted the spare tire and notice the rails were bent from the tire being mounted to tight on it. I made a frame and mounted to two of the wenches one it and now I carry two spares tires. the wenches work great.

 

[JohnDar]

I tried to pull mine out just to se how hard and heavy it was. It would move, even had my wife hammer it with an 8lb harmer. I took it off and unmounted the spare tire and notice the rails were bent from the tire being mounted to tight on it. I made a frame and mounted to two of the wenches one it and now I carry two spares tires. the wenches work great.

What do you feed those “wenches?”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TXgearhead]

Room temp dark Old English ale.

 

[TXgearhead]

LBR: What's a "CY"?
Where and to what would you mount that winch?

 

[jbeletti]

LBR: What's a "CY"?
Where and to what would you mount that winch?

CY = Cyclone

 

[JohnDar]

I've been entertaining this upgrade with it's associated hand crank for about a year. This is the similar style unit as on my buddy's 398 Momentum and my 2017 F-450.... I've used both to lower/raise spares with and will be pitching our current CY's spare tire rack to the recycler also.

Appears similar (might even be it) to what was on our BH3670. Although I did not have to use the spare tire, I did raise and lower it each season just to be sure it worked and to check the tire's pressure. It did require using a rod of sorts to pull the tire from beneath the center of the trailer, or crawl in after it. Getting the tire back up required shoving it back under the rig to a point the cable could be reinserted into the wheel and then cranking it up.

 

[TXgearhead]

When we bought the Oshkosh I mistakenly assumed I would get a receiver hitch installed on the back. I had seen several new Landmarks with receivers. I called a Heartland dealer about it and he said yes they could install a receiver. But the J trim is different on the newer Landmarks and they would have to modify our J trim. Cost would be $800+. I passed.
So if I had a newer Landmark with a receiver I would just get a spare carrier for the receiver. If needed, I would get a "double" adapter for a bicycle rack, etc.

 

[sengli]

Our rig is 5 years old, and when new , was drug thru the winter slop on Wisconsin roads heading to the dealer. My frame rails are rusty, so I am guessing it never got sprayed off. After reading these threads, our BAL carrier is most likely rusted solid. I guess thats one more thing to look into this next season. Never had the spare down yet. Man those 17.5 inch type wheels and tires are pretty heavy too.

 

[Dahillbilly]

mine was all rusted up after sitting at a dealer for two years before we purchased it. Had to use torch to heat it up once i got it apart & cleaned works like a charm

 

[TXgearhead]

Yes the 17.5" wheels and tires are heavy, very heavy.

 

[Kathi-27]

When we bought the Oshkosh I mistakenly assumed I would get a receiver hitch installed on the back. I had seen several new Landmarks with receivers. I called a Heartland dealer about it and he said yes they could install a receiver. But the J trim is different on the newer Landmarks and they would have to modify our J trim. Cost would be $800+. I passed.
So if I had a newer Landmark with a receiver I would just get a spare carrier for the receiver. If needed, I would get a "double" adapter for a bicycle rack, etc.

the j wrap is on the side. don't see how that would have anything to do with hitch mounting in the rear. took hitch off our 2017 bighorn and replaced the factory hitch on our 2019 landmark with it fit with no problems no where near the j wrap

 

[Bobby A]

Appears similar (might even be it) to what was on our BH3670. Although I did not have to use the spare tire, I did raise and lower it each season just to be sure it worked and to check the tire's pressure. It did require using a rod of sorts to pull the tire from beneath the center of the trailer, or crawl in after it. Getting the tire back up required shoving it back under the rig to a point le could be reinserted into the wheel and then cranking it up.

I posted something a few years back reminding people to check the welds periodically, I was on a trip and someone came up from behind me motioning me to pull over. That usually means a tire right ?? Well, after pulling off at the exit I checked and noticed my spare tire was sagging real bad. I took the tire off and threw it in the bed of my truck until we landing at our camp site. I craweled under the coach to take a look and noticed a couple welds had broke look. Can you imagine traveling down the freeway at 70 miles an hour and have the tire fall off !!! This could of created a real problem for traffic behind me and could of killed somebody !! I had the brackets re welded and check it frequently. So people, please make it a point to check your spare tire brackets quite often.

 

[TXgearhead]

the j wrap is on the side. don't see how that would have anything to do with hitch mounting in the rear. took hitch off our 2017 bighorn and replaced the factory hitch on our 2019 landmark with it fit with no problems no where near the j wrap

I'm just repeating what the service department at T&S RV in Navasota Texas told me.