How to Change a Trailer Tire: 9 Steps From Experience

Finding a trailer tire sitting at just 12 PSI when it should be at 80 PSI is not how you want to start a camping trip.

That’s exactly what happened to us after we pulled our fifth wheel into a boondocking site near Death Valley. Even worse, we were parked on loose gravel rather than the nice, firm surface we’d had the other times we’d needed to change a trailer tire.

We’ve dealt with our share of fifth wheel tire problems over the years, and this one taught us a few more lessons, including one thing we should have done before jacking up the trailer.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to change a trailer tire based on what we actually did, the equipment we used, and what we’d do differently now. We’ll also cover how to safely prepare your RV for a tire problem before you’re stuck dealing with one on the side of the road.

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What Happened to Our Fifth Wheel Tire

We first realized something was wrong when we noticed one of our fifth wheel tires was down to just 12 PSI. For our setup, that tire should have been at 80 PSI, so this wasn’t something we could simply top off and ignore.

Fortunately, we discovered the problem after we’d arrived at our boondocking campsite rather than experiencing a blowout while towing. We carry the equipment to change a trailer tire ourselves, but our location made this tire change a little trickier than previous ones.

We were boondocking on loose gravel, which meant we needed to be especially careful about creating a stable base before lifting the fifth wheel. This is one reason we always travel with leveling blocks and multiple jacks since we won’t always have a perfectly flat, paved surface when something goes wrong.

The experience was also a good reminder that trailer tire problems don’t always give you much warning. We use a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) to keep an eye on our fifth wheel tires while we’re towing.

Interestingly, our TPMS hadn’t alerted us to a problem while we were still on the road. Our best guess is that the leak may have started when we pulled into the boondocking site and parked on the gravel rocks, but we can’t know for sure.

That hasn’t made us any less likely to recommend a TPMS though. We still consider one an important part of our towing setup because it can alert you to changes in tire pressure and temperature while you’re driving. We use a TireMinder system, but the specific brand isn’t as important as having a reliable TPMS that works for your specific RVing setup.

Be prepared before you need it: Don’t wait for a roadside emergency to start thinking about tire pressure monitoring. Check out the TireMinder TPMS we use, or choose another reliable TPMS that’s appropriate for your trailer.

What You Need to Change a Trailer Tire

One of the worst times to discover you’re missing the right tool is when your trailer already has a flat tire. Before heading out on a trip, make sure you have the equipment you’ll need to check your tires, safely lift your specific trailer, remove the wheel, install your spare tire, and properly tighten the lug nuts.

Here’s what we recommend carrying:

• An inflated spare tire: Check the pressure of your spare before leaving on trips too. A spare doesn’t do you much good if it’s flat when you need it.
• Tire pressure gauge: Even if you have a TPMS, keep a separate tire pressure gauge in your RV so you can manually check the pressure in your trailer tires and spare.
• Portable air compressor: Having your own compressor means you can add air when needed rather than depending on finding a gas station with an accessible air pump. Sometimes getting close enough to the air pump can be pretty difficult or even impossible when towing a large trailer.
• A properly rated jack: Your jack needs enough capacity for your trailer and must work with the approved lifting points for your specific trailer. We carry a 12-ton jack, a smaller 4-ton bottle jack, and a jack stand.
• Leveling blocks or another appropriate stable base: These were especially important during this tire change because we were parked on loose gravel. We used them to create a more stable surface under our jacks.
• A breaker bar or lug wrench: You’ll need enough leverage to loosen the lug nuts. We used a breaker bar during this tire change and it’s what we prefer of the two.
• A torque wrench: We didn’t have one with us when this flat happened, so we also used our breaker bar when tightening the lug nuts. We recommend carrying a torque wrench instead so you can tighten the lug nuts according to your trailer or wheel manufacturer’s torque specifications.
• Wheel chocks: We always chock our trailer wheels when we’re parked as we set up the RV, and we had them in place during this tire change. They’re particularly important before you start lifting the trailer.
• Your trailer owner’s manual: Don’t assume the correct lifting point, tire pressure, jack capacity, or lug-nut torque based on someone else’s RV. Check the specifications for your own trailer.

We were fortunate to have the jacks, leveling blocks, spare, and other tools we needed when we discovered our flat tire. Since we were boondocking on loose gravel, however, the experience reinforced why we don’t want to depend on being somewhere with a level, paved surface when a tire problem happens.

The Jacks and Leveling Blocks We Carry

For our fifth wheel, we carry a heavy-duty 12-ton jack as well as a more compact 4-ton bottle jack. We also have a jack stand in our truck. Having these gave us options for getting the trailer lifted in the conditions we were in, while our leveling blocks helped us create a more stable base on the loose gravel.

The appropriate jack capacity and lifting method will depend on your trailer, so don’t choose a jack solely because it’s what we use. Check your trailer manufacturer’s guidance and make sure the equipment you carry is appropriately rated for your setup.

How to Change a Trailer Tire Step by Step

Once you’ve gathered your tools and have confirmed you have a properly inflated spare, you’re ready to change the tire.

This is the process we followed with our own fifth wheel, but always check your trailer manufacturer’s instructions for the correct lifting points, torque specifications, and other requirements for your own specific setup.

If you’re dealing with a flat on the side of a road rather than at a campsite, make sure you’re in a location where you can safely work before attempting the repair. Make sure you kids and pets are in a safe space while you work also.

If you can’t get yourself and your trailer safely away from traffic, consider calling for roadside assistance instead.

1. Secure the Trailer and Chock the Wheels

Before doing anything with the jack, make sure your tow vehicle and trailer are secure and can’t roll while you’re working.

We always use wheel chocks whenever our fifth wheel is parked, so ours were already in place when we discovered the flat at our boondocking site.

Before lifting your trailer, make sure the wheels that will remain on the ground are properly chocked. Once you start lifting thousands of pounds of trailer, you don’t want it to shift.

2. Loosen the Lug Nuts Before Lifting the Trailer

Here’s one lesson from this particular tire change that we won’t forget: break the lug nuts loose while the tire is still firmly on the ground.

We initially started jacking up our fifth wheel before realizing we’d forgotten to loosen them. That meant lowering it again, loosening the lug nuts, and starting over.

You don’t need to completely remove the lug nuts yet. Just loosen them enough that you’ll be able to remove them once the wheel is off the ground.

We used a breaker bar because that’s what we had with us at the time. Having the extra leverage made loosening the lug nuts easier.

3. Position the Jack at the Correct Lifting Point

Before lifting your trailer, determine the correct jack placement for your specific trailer. Don’t assume the lifting point you see someone else use will also be appropriate for yours.

We’re particularly cautious about this because of a previous tire problem. During an earlier roadside tire change, someone helping us placed the jack in the wrong location rather than the actual frame of the RV and bent part of our fifth wheel. We definitely didn’t want a repeat of that experience!

For this tire change, we positioned our jacks where appropriate for our fifth wheel, and paid close attention as we lifted. For us this was using our 12 ton jack to lift the frame of the trailer just a little bit to take some of the pressure off the axle and our smaller four ton bottle jack under the leaf springs to lift the tire up so we could get it off of there.

Because we were working with bottle jacks that can give way a little bit over time, we also used the jack stand from our truck to brace the trailer up in addition to the little bottle jack after we got it lifted up.

Check your owner’s manual or manufacturer’s guidance if you’re unsure where your trailer should be lifted.

4. Create a Stable Base for the Jack

Our location added another complication. We were parked on loose gravel.

We didn’t want the jacks sitting directly on an unstable surface, so we used our leveling blocks underneath them to create a wider, more stable base.

This is exactly why we carry extra leveling blocks even when we don’t expect to need them all for leveling the RV. You don’t get to choose where a tire problem happens, and the ground underneath your trailer may look very different from a flat concrete driveway.

Make sure whatever surface and equipment you’re using can safely support your setup before you begin lifting.

5. Lift the Trailer Until the Tire Clears the Ground

Slowly raise the trailer according to the manufacturer’s instructions until the flat tire has enough clearance to be removed.

You only need enough height to get the old tire off and the inflated spare back on. Keep an eye on the trailer, jacks, and surrounding components as you lift. If anything starts shifting or doesn’t look right, stop rather than continuing to raise the trailer.

Never put yourself underneath a trailer that is supported only by a jack.

6. Remove the Lug Nuts and Flat Tire

With the tire off the ground, finish removing the loosened lug nuts and put them somewhere safe where they won’t get lost.

Next, carefully pull the wheel toward you and remove it from the hub.

This is also a good opportunity to look around the wheel area for anything else that might catch your eye as being obviously unusual rather than immediately putting the spare on and moving along.

7. Install the Spare Tire

Line up the spare with the wheel studs and slide it into place.

Reinstall the lug nuts by hand first so they’re properly threaded. Tighten them gradually in the appropriate sequence, which we did in a star / crisscross pattern so the wheel sits tight on the hub just right, rather than fully tightening one lug nut while the others remain loose.

Check the specifications for your particular wheel and trailer rather than assuming another RV owner’s tightening sequence or torque specification applies to yours.

8. Lower the Trailer and Torque the Lug Nuts

Carefully lower the trailer until the tire is back on the ground, then tighten the lug nuts to the torque specification provided for your setup.

During this particular tire change, we didn’t have a torque wrench with us, so we used our breaker bar. That’s one piece of our setup we’d change today.

A breaker bar is useful for loosening stubborn lug nuts, but a torque wrench lets you tighten them to a specified amount rather than guessing. We now recommend carrying both.

Follow the torque specification and any re-torque instructions provided by your trailer, wheel, or axle manufacturer.

Be prepared before you need it: A flat tire isn’t the time to discover you have no way to properly torque your lug nuts. Take a look at the torque wrench we recommend and make sure the wrench you carry covers the torque range required for your setup.

9. Check the Spare Tire Pressure

Before towing again, verify that your spare is inflated to the correct pressure for your setup.

This is why we recommend carrying both a tire pressure gauge and a portable air compressor. You don’t want to finish changing a flat only to find out that the spare is underinflated.

If a tire has lost a significant amount of pressure unexpectedly, don’t assume that adding air has fixed whatever caused the pressure loss in the first place. Ours had quite a bit of air coming out of the crack we noticed in the tire so attempting to refill it would only cause that air to come right back out.

Don’t Stop After Changing the Flat: Inspect Your Other Trailer Tires

Getting the spare installed can take care of the immediate problem, but don’t pack up your tools and assume you’re finished just yet. Take a few minutes to inspect the rest of your trailer tires before getting back on the road.

We’re really glad we did.

While changing our flat tire, we took a closer look at the other tires on our fifth wheel and discovered cracking on the tire directly behind the one that got the flat. We hadn’t noticed the cracking before, and finding it changed our plans.

Rather than treating the flat as the only problem and continuing on, we decided we needed to replace the questionable tire too before continuing our travels.

What to Check on Your Other Trailer Tires

Use the opportunity to look closely at every tire on the trailer, not just the one that went flat. Check for anything that could point to another potential problem, including:

• Cracks or visible deterioration
• Bulges or other unusual changes in the tire’s shape
• Cuts, punctures, or other visible damage
• Uneven or excessive tread wear
• Objects embedded in the tread
• Tire pressure that doesn’t match the specifications for your setup
• The age and overall condition of your tires

Don’t forget to inspect your spare either. It may spend most of its life out of sight, but you still need it to be ready when your regular tire isn’t.

Our experience was a good reminder that the tire that goes flat may not be the only one that needs attention. Finding the cracking while we were already stopped let us deal with it rather than discovering the problem during another roadside emergency.

Why We Replaced Our Tires With Goodyear Endurance Tires

Once we found the cracking on the other tire, we decided immediate replacement was the best option for it as well.

In our experience as full-time RVers, we seem to get about two to two and a half years out of a set of tires on our fifth wheel, and we were getting close to that point again. Seeing the cracking was another sign that it was time to take a closer look at the condition of the tires rather than treating the flat as a one-off problem.

That’s based on our own experience with our fifth wheel and how we travel though, not a rule for when you should replace your trailer tires. Tire condition can depend on many factors, so we pay attention to what the tires are telling us rather than replacing them based on our timeline alone.

We wanted to stick with Goodyear Endurance tires, which is what we were already using on our fifth wheel. The problem was finding them.

We couldn’t find the tires we needed close to our campsite, so getting replacements meant driving about an hour to pick them up and get them mounted. It was inconvenient, but we’d much rather spend the extra time dealing with a questionable tire while safely parked than discover another problem while towing.

That’s another reason we think tire preparation needs to happen before a trip. Inspecting your tires before you leave gives you more time and more options if you discover that one needs to be replaced.

Be prepared before you need it: If your trailer tires are showing signs of age, cracking, damage, or excessive wear, don’t wait for a roadside emergency to start thinking about replacements. We use Goodyear Endurance tires on our fifth wheel. Check out Goodyear Endurance tires here to see whether there’s an appropriate option for your trailer.

How We Prepare for Trailer Tire Problems Now

After dealing with multiple trailer tire problems over the years, we’ve learned that the best time to prepare for a flat is way before you’re sitting on the side of the road.

Before heading down the road, we inspect our tires for cracking, damage, and unusual wear, check the tire pressure, including the spare, and make sure our tire-changing equipment is accessible and ready to use. While towing, we use our TPMS to help monitor tire pressure and temperature.

We also carry the tools to handle a tire change ourselves, including jacks appropriate for our fifth wheel, leveling blocks, wheel chocks, a breaker bar, tire pressure gauge, portable air compressor, and now, a torque wrench.

None of that guarantees we’ll never have another flat. It does mean we’re much less likely to discover we’re missing something important when we’re already dealing with one.

Be Ready Before Your Next Trailer Flat

Changing a trailer tire isn’t particularly complicated when you know the steps and have the right equipment. It’s a whole lot more stressful when you’re trying to figure everything out after the tire is already flat.

In our case, we were lucky. We discovered our tire at 12 PSI while we were safely parked at our boondocking site rather than after a blowout on the highway. We had a spare, jacks, leveling blocks, and the other equipment we needed to change it, even if we did need a little reminder to loosen the lug nuts before lifting the trailer.

Finding cracking on another tire also reminded us not to treat one flat as an isolated problem. Take a few extra minutes to inspect the rest of your tires and make sure you’re comfortable with their condition before towing again.

If there’s one thing we’d recommend doing after reading this, it’s checking your own trailer tire kit before your next trip. Make sure your spare is inflated, your tools are actually where you think they are, and you know where and how your specific trailer should be lifted.

Hopefully, you’ll never need any of it. But if you do, you’ll be glad you prepared before the flat happened.

Check you have all the necessary RV essentials before your next trip.

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