Carry a Second CT Spare?

My observations of vans on the road and in the outback is not spare tyre problems on the vans, but wheel bearing collaspe. Would see about one every two weeks.

shane c5

If you do a repack BEFORE you leave you will not have any problems.

It amazes me that many caravanners seem to think they can leave a caravan on wet grass for a year then expect the bearings to somehow not need repacking.
Regards Philip A

Hi Garry

Have a look at this web page, its very easy to leanr how to change wheel bearings.



http://www.campertrailers.org/servicing_wheel_bearings.htm



Wato

G'day Garry, now that you have your bearings sorted..& I agree entirely with the
reponses given...this 2nd spare thing ??. You hit the nail re "insurance". If you can
carry an extra van wheel without being a nuisance, & travel remotely, why not do it.
If you only ever need it once, it will be worthwhile, & if you never need it, you have
the comfort of knowing it is there. cheers......oldbaz.
PS..I have donated my spare bearings, AND my second spare wheel, to remote
travellers to get them out of strife, but I may not turn up to help you...:)))).

Why not examine repack or replace the bearings before you set off? Easier done at home than on the side of the road.

Enjoy your trip

Garry

I wouldn't bother especially if your tyres have > 50% tread left.

It does depend on how good your existing tyres are, where you are going, conditions of the roads, how fast you will be travelling and at what tyre pressure.

I certainly haven't done the CSR, cross the Simpson Desert or Cape York, but I have done a reasonable amount in Central Australia, western Qld and western NSW and now I doubt I would even take a second tyre for my vehicle (again provided they other 5 are all good).
Yes I know I'll be struck down by lightning twice now for saying this.

Most of the major tourist routes now have very little gravel left and have a reasonable volume of traffic. If your CT is what I understand to be an A Van caravan, I'd be more concerned about it's suspension than a second tyre, or how good your stone defelector is.

But as stated above a 14inch tyre (no rim) won't be particulalrly heavy if you can find somehwere out of the way to store it.

Hi
I would'nt hesitate in carrying a second spare or at least a casing. We have a CT and damaged the side wall on it while on the Plenty highway. Put the spare on and later that day when we had stopped for the night replaced the tyre on the rim using the Tyre plier kit. Luckily it was not needed but I would hate to be caught out especially in some of those remote areas. Not all holes are pluggable.

Cheers Dave

Hi
I would'nt hesitate in carrying a second spare or at least a casing. We have a CT and damaged the side wall on it while on the Plenty highway. Put the spare on and later that day when we had stopped for the night replaced the tyre on the rim using the Tyre plier kit. Luckily it was not needed but I would hate to be caught out especially in some of those remote areas. Not all holes are pluggable.

Cheers Dave

You will hear all sorts of stories. Some people will do "the lap" without ever having a puncture, some will do 2 or 3 before leaving the bitumen.........Personally I think it's a good idea...."It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it"..........Especially if you're going to be miles from anywhere....More than once, people have had to leave their camper on the side of the road to drive for miles to get a spare fixed, only to come back and find their camper torched. It happened a couple of years ago outside of Broome to a gentlemans fifth wheeler...burnt to the ground.

Hi Gary,
Someone else has already mentioned the repair kit. Invaluable if you are running tubeless.

My comment relates to bearings. I replaced mine just before a recent trip through the Kimberly. Blew the inner & outer bearings over the course of a 22k stretch. The hub rubbed on the axle & gouged it out so that it would not accept the bearing casing.

I limped in to Imatji and was forced to leave the camper there and blow 5 days of the trip waiting in Derby for spares to arrive.

My point, from costly experience, if you are going off road, dont just carry bearings (which I was carrying) also throw in a spare hub.

As somebody else said, if it only saves you once, its got to be worth it.

Hope my experience helps you
Regards & enjoy the trip
Don

I carry an extra spare for the 4WD but not for the camper. If the worst comes to it I am quite happy to drag it on the rim or rig a sled with a log if it will save my life. Does not cost much to repair damage done on a camper dragged on it 's rims but you don't go far when you have a stuffed wheel on the fourbie.