I’ll try to get some pictures of our 2014 Puma 253FBS later in the week after some snow melts—unusually rough winter here in IN. Meanwhile I’ll bore everyone who doesn’t own one of these Pumas. From the Palomino online specs: 253FBS—dry hitch 1,027; dry ship 6,830; GVWR 9163; 259RBSS—dry hitch 1,427; dry ship 6,801; GVWR 9335. Those numbers don’t make a lot of sense to me since the 259 is almost 2’ longer. Anyway—the 253 comes with 4400 lb. axles—suspect the 259 to be the same. Loaded ready for travel with full fresh tank our 253 weights 1,740 pin, 7400 axles (or 1850 per tire if equally distributed). Our floor plan encourages storage closer to the front while the 259 may end up with more personal goods adding weight to the axles—hard to tell. With the dry pin weight starting out heavier, the final weights might not end up that different.
Tires—I enter this subject with much trepidation because the thread will know explode to 17 pages. The Transforce LT235/75R15 tires are an interesting possibility. Compared to the present tire, their width would only stick out .2” more on each side and the top clearance would be .3 - .4 reduced (depending on Firestone’s or Tire Rack’s documentation). However, the biggest problem is that they appear to be C rated 50 psi tires with 1985 lb. weight rating. While LT tires have some margin of safety built in, selecting that tire would probably bring the wrath of the weight police. Going with the LT225/75R16 tire will reduce clearance about .5”. That might be good enough for all but the worst bumps. With the trailer out of level, the rear axle will have slightly less clearance. It might be worth a try, checking periodically for skid marks in the top of the wheel well. I needed all the height that I could get so I added the correct track which gave 2” more clearance. While we are well pleased with the final outcome, search for “Correct Track” on RV net and read my comments about spring hanger clearance before trying one.
Good luck with your decisions.
