Wisdom of second spare tire - weight and balance

[AKHummingbird]

Hi to the Community,

I'm a relatively new TT owner (Hummingbird FD). I am about to embark on a trip from Anchorage, AK to Erie PA which obviously includes the Alcan Highway.

Several parties have recommended getting a second spare tire, mounted on a wheel, and mounting it on the rear bumper adjacent to the current spare. I am wondering about the wisdom in terms of weight and balance of adding that weight to the bumper. My concern is there would be too little weight on the tow hitch (uneven distribution of weight). Is this a valid concern?

Other tidbits of wisdom gratefully accepted.

Thanks,

AKHummingbird.

[Marcm157]

Given the depth of your anticipated journey, I agree with being as prepared as possible. A second spare mounted on the bumper should not present too much of a problem as far as weight and balance go. Do you have any alternates? What are you pulling the camper with? How heavy will you be loaded? Carrying Fresh Water? What about tools, generator etc? I would pay extra attention to how you load the camper and the TV. Distribute as much weight as you can to where you need it most.

[Midnightmoon]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on you new Jayco and upcoming trip. I suggest visiting a CAT scale in your area right now to determine what your actual tongue weight and overall weight is currently. It will help you decide where to best add that additional spare. Personally, I would try to mount it forward if possible. But again, you really need to know what your actual weights and balance are now before making that final decision.

As a side note, I am going to move this thread to the Ultra Lite travel trailer section of the forum. There are some very experienced Hummingbird owners on this site and it may get a little better exposure there.

[RogerR]

If you can take your trailer to a scales and scale the current actual tongue weight, loaded and ready for travel, water, food, clothes, the works. If you are aboe 12% odds are you will be ok. Others have mounted things like generators, storage boxes, bikes, etcl on the back bumper. Since I don't know what exact model you tow or what with its hard to give good advice. Also, how close to max weight are you? If you are already there then adding another 50 pounds with the rack may not be a good idea. The scale is your friend in making sure you don't make yourself a problem instead of having fun. See you down the road.

[oldmanAZ]

YEARS ago In AK with our class B, DW and I had 2 flat tires at the same time and only one spare. So, IMO, 2 spares is a great idea.

[AKHummingbird]

Thanks to everyone who added a tidbit of information. I decided to go with a rooftop Yakima rack for the extra tire and the spare gas can. Keeping my fingers crossed this all works out.

[SloPoke]

Have not been on that highway, but have thousands of miles of Dirt Road and Off-Road.

One relatively easy trip, I lost a tire to a sidewall puncture. After putting the spare on, I lost another tire on the other side to a sidewall puncture crossing the river. Needless to say... I had to put a spare tire from another trail rig on to get 45miles back out of the canyon.

Sometimes Two spares are not enough...