Spare tire

[Maretta]

Does anyone have experience with the rack for the spare tire on the Big Country 3150RL - i.e. sliding it out and securing the tire to it? I asked the dealership if the spare tire was bolted or secured to the rack, and they said no, that it was snug up against the belly of the RV and wouldn't move. Wrong. After about 2,000 miles the spare tire slipped out of the rack and fell to the ground (the rack never moved). Luckily it happened just as we entered a parking lot. I shudder to think what would have happened if this had happened while traveling down the highway at 65 mph! we are looking to secure it ourselves but don't know how to slide the rack out or secure the tire. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Maretta,

You probably have the BAL Hide-a-Spare device. Tthere should be a knob that unscrews allowing the assembly to pivot down. You can then pull to telescope it and get to the spare.



There a little more info in this folder.

 

[PondSkum]

I have the same carrier mentioned above. it should have 2 bolts holding the tire to the carrier.

 

[rbd1798]

I had the same issue with my 3250BS TT and I noticed that the wheel was slipping and leaning out. I re-tightened it and I drove about 50 miles and it came off the holder. I have now had a friend cut me a very heavy steel bar and drilled proper holes in it and now I have very solid.

My concern now is if the bracket will be strong enough.

 

[Piperflyer]

mine has a plate with a bolt that anchors the spare to the carrier.

 

[NWILSON]

Ours has a plate with 2 bolts holding the tire to the rack as well.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Mine has two bolts that hold it to the carrier and I added a heavy chain and lock as well. Looks like you did not get the bar with bolts with your rig.

 

[212Pilot]

I pasted this from another thread where I had problems with my spare tire carrier, I hope it helps.


Taking the spare off the rack required a lot of work and multiple tools. 1. The plastic knob would not loosen the retaining bolt, it just spun on the small knurled shaft because of corrosion on the bolt threads. I had to remove the plastic knob (in pieces) and a 13mm open end wrench allowed me to remove the retaining bolt. 2. The spare was mounted with treaded rod and a nut with large washer instead of a lug nut like you would expect. It required a 19mm deep socket and a 19mm box end wrench on the other end of the threaded rod to remove the retaining nut. 3. The spare storage rack is suppose to slide out so you can lower it to remove the spare (leverage). Road grime prevented the rack from sliding our so I could remove the spare. Two people and a few well place kicks to the spare loosened it enough to get the spare down.

 

[Piperflyer]

I pasted this from another thread where I had problems with my spare tire carrier, I hope it helps.

3. The spare storage rack is suppose to slide out so you can lower it to remove the spare (leverage). Road grime prevented the rack from sliding our so I could remove the spare. Two people and a few well place kicks to the spare loosened it enough to get the spare down.

Putting the spare in the stowed position is just as hard as getting it down unless you clean the grime.