Tire access

Post your general and technical information, questions or responses in this forum. Viewing messages is open to all with no registration or log-in required. Prior to posting a new message or a response to an existing message, registration or login is required. Please do not post FOR SALE or WANTED ads in this section!

Moderator: bfadmin

Post Reply
bogrady

Tire access

Post by bogrady »

As a new RV'r, I thought I'd check the tire pressure and if necessary use my compressor to put the required 55-75 psi in tires on my 1995 26BF diesel.
As a youth, I have changed numerous tires on cars and vans in all manner of conditions... but I have never encountered anything as difficult as the tires on my E350 chassis. Not one of my 3 tire gauges could get to the valve stems which seem cramped behind the wheel covers. Can someone tell me where to get valve extenders or how to fix the situation?
Should I acquire a lug socket and torque wrench if I need to change tires?
I may be getting to old to mess with tires. Do most RV folks use AAA and a local garage if they get a flat. Looks like too much for most older RVers.
Otherwise I have given the BF a thorough checkout with my brother who works on large RVs part time. We are both very impressed with the 26BF and everthing worked fine on our first excursion. I did remove the icemaker since the old water line and valve were leaking and hard to replace.
Any advice is appreciated. bob
Bill Ruh

Tire access

Post by Bill Ruh »

Hi Bob,

There's several options here.

The low-tech approach is to just buy a guage with a straight-on and 30-degree connector and an air chuck with a straight-on and 30-degree connector. The straight-on connector is for the inner dual and 30-degree connector is for the outer dual. A crude picture with the handle on the left is: ------`- A hex-head valve cap on the inner duals makes removal easy with a socket and extender.

A convenient and pretty safe approach is to get long valves that give better access. I've seen hard and flexible, see references in other threads to borg for a good example.

Another option is extenders on metal valve stems. While lots of folk do this (and it is convenient), IMO it isn't worth the risk.

Using extenders on rubber valve stems is asking for trouble.
User avatar
karls
Posts: 118
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:55 pm

Post by karls »

Bob,

Like you, I've been a life-long automotive do-it-yourselfer and have recently become a BF owner and had tire pressure problems. I installed the type of valve extenders that depress the core and, like Bill Ruh said, I had problems. It's hard to tell if you are losing air on the duals and so I make a habit of checking the temperature by feel at gas stops. Sure enough when one side felt warmer I checked the pressure and one tire was down to 20 pounds. The culprit was a leak where the extender screws on.

My solution is to use J shaped extenders on the outside wheels and tighten them down with pliers. For the inside valve stem I add the simple plastic extenders that don't depress the core. Or if you don't like the extra weight flailing around at 70mph keep the straight extender handy in the cab.

Checking pressure is made easier by taking off the hub cap. Mine are held on by two of the eight "fake" lug nuts. Tap them to determine which two sound solid. Mine take an 1 and 1/8 socket.

I don't carry a spare and for a buck a month my insurance company offers a road service that will fix a tire.

Until you feel confident about your rear tire pressures I'd keep a close eye on them. Banging them with a big hammer will reveal a low one. Try letting the air out of one to calibrate your banger.

Working on these vehicles is not like the old VW Beetle days. These beauties are heavy! You need a pretty muscular bottle jack to raise them and a breaker bar to loosen and torque the lug nuts.

Speaking of maintenance, I did a brake job on the front end for a lot less than it would have cost me at Ford or Midas, etc. The secret is getting someone to turn the rotors if they need it. Replacements are $250 each because the bearing hub and rotor are one piece.

Good luck!

Karl Striedieck
Bill Ruh

Post by Bill Ruh »

The only postscript to Karl's excellent post is that some wheel covers are 2-piece with the larger piece held on by all the lugnuts.

In our case, it's really the wheel cover that makes it difficult. The openings in the rim are large enough for a standard offset truck guage (looks like -----\ ), but the openings in the wheel cover are much smaller.

As for Bob's question about spares and tire changing, again there's a spectrum of opinions. I carry a spare and jack and expect to change it myself. Others carry no spare and have roadside assistance. A popular middle ground is to carry your own spare to avoid searching for a match, but use roadside assistance to do the changing.

FWIW, our e350 tires/rims weigh 65lb and the lugs require 140 foot-pounds of torque. Karl's vw contrast is spot on...
Post Reply

Return to “General and Technical Information, Questions, and Responses”