Jack for Changing Tires on the Montana

[Rudi and Ellen]

Dave,

Thanks for the info. I got to thinking myself, that I had better check beforehand as to whether or not AAA will pay to change tires on these rigs or not.

[drhowell]

Shouldn't be any additional stress on the equalizer either way with the block or without. The equalizer is the strongest link in my opinion. With the block you are just shortening the distance the equalizer moves. Without it it bottoms out on the frame anyway.

[capn chris]

Whether you jack it yourself or have roadside assistance, make sure you both know where to jack your rig. AAA mechanic broke a friend's shock w/poor jack placement while we were in Homer AK. No RV replacement shocks in that town!!!

[MertelBeach]

We suggest that you upgrade your coverage to AAA Plus RV.

[dsprik]

MertelBeach, I read on another thread that AAA doesn't have the ability to handle towing your 5ver somewhere if necessary. Could be an incorrect post from that person... can't remember who said that... maybe could do a search on "AAA" or similar and PM that person. If you do find out different, please let me know. I am in that research project myself.

Sorry, too tired to do a search myself right now... just got out of shoulder surgery at 5:30 tonight. (Opps! Broke my own policy... "NO WHINING!")

[OntMont]

We use Thor Industries (Keystone's parent Company) "Customer Care Roadside Assistance" (Member benefits provided by Coach-Net in association with National Motor Club of America). We use mostly because the first year came free with a Citation trailer that we owned before our first Montana. We have not had to use it, but I like it because it is geared towards large RV's, but does cover all vehicles in the family. Many other plans have weight limits on the vehicles that they will cover. I have a feeling that Coach-net is behind most of the RV-oriented plans regardless of the name that they go by. (Good Sam, Camping World etc.)

[dsprik]

OntMont, are you saying that Coach-Net is owned by Thor?

[OntMont]

No (not that I know of anyway), just that Thor uses Coach-net as the service provider for their road service plan, and I suspect that Coach-Net is also the service provider behind many of the "Brand Name" Road Services. You would have to read the fine print on the service contracts to find this out for sure.

It does not really matter all that much, just make sure that any plan that you do sign up with, will actually service heavy RVs in locations off the main highways (like RV Parks). Some conventional road service plans have vehicle weight and location restrictions.

[sreigle]

I had to change a tire on our Montana twice last week (removing the flat and later replacing the spare) and used the ramp method suggested in this forum rather than crawling under the rig on the dirty tarmac to position and actuate the bottle jack. Worked great. I just built a ramp of several of my 2x10's I use for under the landing gear and stabilizers. I found you have to stagger the blocks enough to allow the tire to climb the ramp rather than just push it along the road. But it worked great. Now I think I'll build a permanent ramp.

Also, for those of you with four wheel drive. I found that putting the truck in four wheel low allows it to pull the montana right up on the blocks without the slippage you normally get in the torque converter. Just be careful or it will quickly pull the Montana up and over the blocks.

[richfaa]

AAA does NOT cover RV service /towing in all states, Ohio for example.Not all towing services are equipped to tow a large fifth wheel.We broke a spring on our 32 foot TT this summer and our service had a heck of a time finding a tow service that had a flatbed trailer large enough to load it.(turned out we did not need it) we use Allstate motor club and they do a really good job.