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tharless's avatar
tharless
Explorer
Jun 10, 2015

Travel trailer tire size

Hello, I need to put new tires on the travel trailer I just bought, 1968 13ft yellow stone. I looked at the current tires to see what size I needed, as you would think you would do, and it seems the previous owner just put regular Passenger tires on it. The size currently on there is 185/55R15, the smallest I can find in ST tires is 205/75R15, at least so far in my internet searching. Is it possible the previous owner put on tires too small, or do you think this is the tire size the rims call for? it has old dayton fayette rims, I think that is what they are called from my searching. I attached an image in case someone knows better :)

Oh and my question though; is do you think the 205/75R15 tires will fit, or do you think I should get some 185/55R15 passenger tires? Not sure the gross weight, but it does not have a bathroom, so no toilet, shower, water heater, and currently does not have a water tank of any kind (fresh, black, or gray) so I wouldn't think it could weigh much.



9 Replies

  • 2012Coleman's avatar
    2012Coleman
    Explorer II
    Jun 11, 2015
    I would think about getting new rims as well - those look pretty beat up.
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2015
    Just go to Discount tire and buy Carlisle Radial Trail RH in ST 205 70 R15 in Load range D. It is a good trailer tire, plenty of weight handling, and will fit those rims. I have the same rims and that Carlisle tire. IIRC, they were about $90/tire.

    You could run passenger tires but they will have a lot of sidewall flex, not the best for towing.

    ETrailer still sells the rims (or did the last time I checked).
  • tharless's avatar
    tharless
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2015
    It is a single axle, it seems prices are about the same for the passenger and ST tires, except for the 185/55 size, that must be less common? but just going to 195/65 is much cheaper and has a better load rating in most cases and should not be that much bigger. Thanks for all the advice guys, now if I could find one of those style rims so I could have spare I would be in there lol
  • JIMNLIN's avatar
    JIMNLIN
    Explorer III
    Jun 10, 2015
    hawkeye-08 wrote:
    With a single axle trailer (assuming 13' trailer is single axle), you would not need to worry about a tire needing to handle the sidewall stresses when turning like you would with double axle. I would put any tire on that met the weight requirements, whether it be ST, P or LT... as long as it fit and did not rub.

    Great point.
    Fact is we didn't have ST tires back in those days. We either used a passenger car tire (P tire today) or a light truck tire (LT today).

    We had lots of 14"/15" car and truck tire sizes to choose from. Not so much today.
    I keep P tires on a tandem axle trailer with 3500 lb axles and every single axle trailer I've owned.
  • hawkeye-08's avatar
    hawkeye-08
    Explorer III
    Jun 10, 2015
    With a single axle trailer (assuming 13' trailer is single axle), you would not need to worry about a tire needing to handle the sidewall stresses when turning like you would with double axle. I would put any tire on that met the weight requirements, whether it be ST, P or LT... as long as it fit and did not rub.
  • tharless's avatar
    tharless
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2015
    The only problem with getting it weighed is that the tires are currently flat lol. I bought the camper, took it to my in-laws as they have land to store it, and went back to mess with and both tires are flat, so I can't really take it anywhere till I replace them. As far as clearance I have not really measured that, I will have to do that next time I go over there. I was thinking the 205 tires would fit the rim but I don't much about that kind of stuff :). I was just wanting to buy the st since I don't know the weight with the assumption that they would be more than enough to handle the weight. Thanks for the info.
  • jmaotto's avatar
    jmaotto
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2015
    Back in the 60's I had a trailer about that size. I used passenger car tires and had no problem. A 2000 mile trip in August in Arizona heat and the Colorado Mountains and all across Kansas with no issues.
  • Jebby14's avatar
    Jebby14
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2015
    I would swing by a truck scale and get a weight. go from there. 205-75-15 should be fine as long as they clear and don't rub (doubt they will be an issue) but once you have a weight you will be able to confirm you are in the proper load range. my hunch is you will be fine though.
  • colliehauler's avatar
    colliehauler
    Explorer III
    Jun 10, 2015
    As long as you have clearance any 15" tire should work the ST if it would fit would be better then car tires. I would say it came with bias ply tires probably f-78-15, guessing.

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