Lug Nuts on Diesel Motorhomes

[Josh]

Be aware that Diesel coaches with truck like chassis and wheels can be tricky. I can't speak for all but most will have reverse threaded lug nuts on the left side (driver side in the US) wheels. Soooo... on the left side of the vehicle its "lefty tighty, righty loosey" and the right side is the same as we're used to "righty tighty, lefty loosy". I have heard tales from many people of left side studs and lugs being destroyed by someone thinking they are all the same and trying to loosen them the wrong way.

Here are some sample pics I took at the Kenworth dealer of some rear dual wheel studs. You can see in the first picture the stud on the left is for left side wheels, the threads slope down from left to right so the proper lug nut threaded on will tighten when turned left (counterclockwise). The stud on the right side has threads sloping up from the left so the proper lug nut will be turned right (clockwise) to tighten.

[Grey Ghost]

This is interesting, but I hope to never have to deal with taking the wheels off...lol

[Josh]

Yeah it's probably a really bad day if you're having to deal with it on the road! There are some things at home that I'd like to be able to do like brakes that would require wheel removal. At least I think I'd like to at some point. Building my tool collection a little at a time. Gonna get some 12 ton jack stands soon.

[matt.ahern]

I bought some 12 ton jack stands and a 20 ton jack; I haven't had to use them yet but I will let you know when I do...a new project is coming soon.

[Josh]

Love those 12 ton jack stands! I haven't bought a jack yet. I've used the built in hydraulic levelers to raise and then put the jack stands under for safety.

Can't wait to hear about the new project!!

[matt.ahern]

So why did you go with Yokohama RY103 245/75/22.5 tires. Was that what was on your Moho before.

The Beast has 255/70R22.5 on it now. I will find out what brand tomorrow.

I joined FMCA today - great magazine and meet some folks in Galveston that had lots of good things to say. (my coach actually has an FMCA sticker on it from one of its previous owners).

Looking at Michelin XZE's, Toyo's M122's and Yokohama's MY507.

[Josh]

Ours came with 235/75/22.5 Michelins that were around 11 or 12 years old so they were done. I couldn't justify the extra $900 that it was gonna cost to replace with modern Michelins.

I shopped a bunch and found a shop about 45 minutes from us that did lots of RV's and trucks. The manager seemed very experienced and recommended that I move to the 245/75 size as it is more readily available if an emergency replacement is ever needed (the 255/70/22.5 size you are looking at should be good for that too). He also recommended the Yokohama for durability, reliability and good price point. I had to experiment with tire pressures quite a bit to find the right ride and handling and I'm still not sure they are the best handling tire. Champion recommends 85psi on all tires but I've found that 90psi in the fronts and 100psi in the rears seems to work well and gives me the weight handling capability that I need according to the Yokohama chart. I wonder if an RV specific tire would be better but these seem pretty awesome and I feel comfortable that truckers put well over 100,000 miles on them with no known issues.

One issue with the truck tires can be the deeper tread designed for higher mileage. Supposedly deeper tread can make the tire contact with the road a bit squishier which can cause some wandering. Most RVer's don't need a high mileage tire so RV tires are designed with a shallower tread to improve handling.

A good thing about the Yoko's is that I've put about 7,000 miles on them (about a third of which has been towing a 9,000lb trailer) and even with a couple minor curb encounters they show no signs of wear at all.

I have thought about FMCA too, I'll have to look at it again. Those plaques they have with your member number are cool. If Classic RV turns into a club one day we'll have to do something cool like that.