Need 15 inch wheels?

I'm a firm believer in the expertise of the design engineers. They do the research. The axles themselves also have load restrictions that should be complied with.

There are several D rated 14" tires. I have had some Hankook RA08 D rated truck tires on my Casita for awhile now. They have run great. I live in West Texas and our speed limits are such that I feel better knowing my tires are rated for more than 65mph..

Had I known at the time, I'd have probably put BFG All Terrain T/A KO tires on it. I run those on my van and they are really tough tires. Available in 195/75/14.. They are also D rated.

what gmw_photos said .
2271 # rating is the highest in a 14 inch I can find .
tire rack delivered in two days .

I've got 13" tires in LR D so I'm sure you can find 14" in LR D too...

Mitch

RoyB wrote:
Just be careful when installing larger tires on your trailer if tandems wheels are involved. Look what one post on here saw recently which had the two tire almost touching each other. He stated he saw alot of tread wear where they have actually touched each and smoked the tires a bunch.



Roy Ken

Yes, it looks like that guy went a bit far. The intent was probably honest enough, but the execution was a bit off. That appears to be a load range G tire, so he has not only probably gone up considerably in load capacity, but also in diameter. I have my doubts those wheels are rated for the max pressure of a LR G tire. Sometimes too much of a good thing is, well..... just, too much.

Just be careful when installing larger tires on your trailer if tandems wheels are involved. Look what one post on here saw recently which had the two tire almost touching each other. He stated he saw alot of tread wear where they have actually touched each and smoked the tires a bunch.



Roy Ken

X2 for the Kumho 857.

I am ordering them from Discount Tire. They don't stock them but are ordering them.

They are real trailer tires and NOT 65mph ST tires, and that is why I want them. They are Q=99mph rated. No more white knuckles at 66mph! :)

I am switching from 13 to 14 inch rims as well. That adds cost, but that should tell you how much I detest ST tires.

HTH;
John

Load range C tires on 14" rims are rated at either 1760lbs or 1870lbs each @ 50psi depending on the tire width of either 205 or 215. Consequently, 4 load range C tires on a dual axle trailer would carry a maximum load of 7040 lbs or 7480 lbs, respectively. My previous TT had 205/75/14 load range C tires, a GVWR of 6000 lbs and weighed only 4000 lbs dry. Taking into account tongue weight of 650 lbs I had 1690 extra capacity not utilized on the tires if the trailer was fully loaded with 2000 lbs of cargo which would be nearly impossible to do. Towed that trailer many miles without a problem.

I am not discounting a previous post that the trailer should be easier to pull with a D tire due to the higher 65psi and stronger sidewalls. However, I would make sure that your rim is capable of 65psi and is the proper width.

Remember that all of the trailer weight isn't on the tires usually at least 10% is on the tongue. So, in the case of a 7200 lbs trailer the load on my tires is 6500 lbs or less. In my case the tongue weight is more like 15% of the total as I load the front heavy.

My ST205/75R14 tire are rated for 1760 per tire so 4 x 1760 = 7040 lbs

Jimmc wrote:
I am transitioning from a small single axle Casita trailer to something larger. The older Casita trailers came with 14 inch wheels which most people found pretty marginal for loads approaching 1500 lbs. I think you could only get C rated tires for that wheel size. Many people, including myself, updated to 15 inch wheels and load rated D or more tires. Now, I plan to upgrade to a trailer that will end up weighing twice as much loaded and get two axles. It seems like most of the trailers this weight still come with 14 inch wheels and the the same issue would arise from a pure weight viewpoint.

Is that right or is there some compensating factor in the dual axles that make 14 inch wheels and C rated tires okay?

My suggestion is to do what I did on my Funfinder. It came with 14" ( tandem axle ) wheels and load range C ( 50 psi ) tires. I switched to load range D ( 65 psi ) Kumho 857 tires. These are "commercial, light truck" tires that Kumho also markets as trailer tires.
The wheels that came on my trailer are suitable for 65 psi.

This change netted me a set of tires with a total of 480 pounds more load carrying capacity ( 120 pounds more per tire ) , and I also noticed that these tires make the trailer tow in a more stable manner. I "think" ( guessing here ) the added stability is due to the fact the since these are higher pressure tires, they have less sidewall flex.

I also noticed they run cooler, at least as best I can measure the temp with my IR non-contact thermometer.

I got mine Kumho's from Tirerack, but any Kumho dealer has or can get them for you.

In the case of my trailer, going to a larger diameter tire is not an option, as I do not have adequate clearance for anything bigger.