Looking to upgrade from 15" to 16" wheels and LT tires.

[wuhungsix]

Hi, we purchased our first fifth wheel earlier (2014 Palomino Puma 259RBSS, GVWR 10227lbs) this year and have yet to make a trip. I have been reading some threads about the nightmare with the Chinabomb tires these rigs come with. Ours came with ST tires on a 15” wheel. I was looking to swap out for some 16” wheels and mount LT tires due to the lack of an LT tire in a 15”. My question is how do I know how much clearance I need between tires and the fenders.

Also regarding the tires, I was going to go with BFG Commercial LT225/75-16. I know the Michelin RIBS are highly regarded here but Discounttiredirect does not carry them, which is where I prefer to buy. While searching I did notice off brand LT tires such as GT Radial (highway tread) in that size for significant $ savings. Any input on them?

[Snowman7]

I don't see that it's been suggested before, so I'm going to copy this from another thread where I posted this same thing, but if you are in the market for new tires and wheels anyway, I'd recommend upgrading to 19.5" wheels, and run 225/70(~32" tall) 14/16 ply tires. I run them on my 1 ton pickup. The wheels have a 4500lb load rating, and most 225 tires have about a 4000lb load rating. If you have room for 245's they are around 5k. They also last much longer than a 10ply 16" tire.

Diesel power magazine did an article on them a while back.
http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/1104dp_100000_mile_semi_tires_for_dualies/
Here is their review a year later.
http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/1205dp_19_5_inch_vision_tires_and_wheels_one_year_later/

I run the Vision 81 wheels, and Hercules H902 tires.
http://simpletire.com/hercules-225-70r19.5-59217-tires?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=18690&gclid=CO76m-PA0bwCFSzNOgodvS8A_A
My package of 4 wheels/tires mounted and balanced was about the same price as a set of good 16-18" wheels and decent tires.

Edited: I just saw the last pic, and your trailer is 6 lug, all the 19.5's are 8 lug. Don't think that's going to work for you. Sorry about that.

[wuhungsix]

Also here are some pics of the current tires and spacing. About 5" between tires and 4" from top of tire and underbelly. Shouldn't have any problems with LT225/75R16 but not sure about LT215/85R16.

[I_am_still_wayn]

wuhungsix wrote:
While searching I did notice off brand LT tires such as GT Radial (highway tread) in that size for significant $ savings. Any input on them?

Not sure why you would go to the expense of upgrading to 16" LT tires to get rid of your "China Bombs" as you call them and then go buy the same thing in a 16" LT tire!

[wuhungsix]

Lenr- thanks for the info. Not to many folks around with a puma 5th and it's nice to get your thoughts.

Seems I have no choice but to bump up a size to 16"

[wuhungsix]

So looks like my GAWR is 4400 lbs. Seems kind of light, no?

Every set of LT235/75R15 that have found searching are C rated with just under max payload of 2000 lbs at max PSI. With a dry weight of 7199 lbs and GVWR of 10227 lbs, I'm assuming I would have to look at a LT 16" tire right?

The stock Akuret ST225/75r15D is rated at 2540 lbs at 65 psi. Read some nasty things on these tires. Reports of bubbles developing.

[lenr]

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.

[C_Schomer]

I did that change on our previous 9600gvw 5er. I would rather run LTs at the max rating than an ST well under the rating. I think you must have 6 lug hubs. There were no 5 lug 16 wheels when I did it. Craig

[Me_Again]

Seattle Lion wrote:
Heartland explicitly says not to use LT tires on their fifth wheels. It's in the owner's manual.

Do they state a flavor of preferred koolaid?

Friends Heartland Landmark came with LT235/85R16G's.

Chris

[Seattle_Lion]

Heartland explicitly says not to use LT tires on their fifth wheels. It's in the owner's manual.

[Peg_Leg]

wuhungsix wrote:

Peg Leg wrote:
Just quick calculations.

With 10,200 gross you should have about 1500 lbs pin weight. This leaves you with less than 9,000 on the axles or 4500 each and about 2250 per tire. Any weight capacity above this is just a safety margin.

So it appears I would have to bump up to the 16" tires to exceed those ball park numbers. Thanks.

No. You need to check the weight and max air pressure numbers on the sidewall of each tire your considering. I don't see where 2250 lbs should be a problem with a 15" tire. Don't get a P (passenger) rated tire.

What size axles do you have? There should be a sticker or a alum band on each axle with info.

[JIMNLIN]

You mention some good points on a aggressive AT tire on a trailer.

I see many folks in the toy hauler forums use a more aggressive tires such as the AT (all terrain) or some rough AS for going out in the boonies .

I've found drawbacks to a aggressive AT tire with the larger blocks and larger voids is tread squirm on a trailer. The trailer feels like it doesn't want to track the truck and can lead to sway issues with any trailer type. Some of the ATs with the smaller blocks and voids are better but can still exhibit some tread squirm which may go away after the tire has worn down 25 percent or so.

I ran a set of used BFG MT (mud terrains) off of one of my other trucks on a GN flatdeck trailer. Sliding the tires on wet pavement at max load or empty and the trailer would not track the truck with severe sway issues I got them off the trailer before I made another run.

Whats important for a tire on a trailer is at least one solid rib all around the tire. More is better for straight tracking.

[wuhungsix]

lenr wrote:
We had the same goals with our Puma 253FBS. It was about 3.5” out of level hooked to our F-350 4x4 and we wanted LT tires. I added a Correct Track system to raise the trailer 2” because there appeared to not be enough clearance above the tires while hitting a bump. Search for my prior thread on Correct Track before attempting. I bought new 16” 6 lug wheels (Dexstar—American made) that are rated for 80 psi load range E so they would fit on the existing hubs. Then bought BFG CompTA LT 215/85R16 Load Range E All Season tires which are rated at 2680 lb the same as the LT 225/75R16. We bought the taller thinner tire to get more height and now we are out of level less than .5”. That left enough space between the tires to get our Bal x-chocks in between the tires. We are well pleased with the final result. Remember that passenger tires are de-rated where trailer tires are not. Either of these LT tires would well exceed the 2540 lb. rating of the 225/75R15 trailer tires.

Excellent. Thanks for the response. Our trailers are very similar, ours just being a bit longer, 3'. I too am slightly out of level but probably not as much as you were, maybe 1.5-2 inches. We have a 2012 Ram 4x4 3500 SRW, with 34" tires, no lift. Ill take a look at the 215/85r16. Dexters are the wheels I'm looking at too from etrailer. Any chance you have pictures of your rig and wheels?

Also to everyone else, can you run LT tires that have an all-terrain tread? Such as Falken Rocky Mountain ATS. I dont see a real issue except maybe less lateral stability since its knobbier and a negative effect on rolling resistance causing decreased MPG for the TV.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/findTireDetail.do?ra=searchTiresBySize.do&fl=&pc=18278&counter=0&ar=75&rd=16&cs=225

[lenr]

We had the same goals with our Puma 253FBS. It was about 3.5” out of level hooked to our F-350 4x4 and we wanted LT tires. I added a Correct Track system to raise the trailer 2” because there appeared to not be enough clearance above the tires while hitting a bump. Search for my prior thread on Correct Track before attempting. I bought new 16” 6 lug wheels (Dexstar—American made) that are rated for 80 psi load range E so they would fit on the existing hubs. Then bought BFG CompTA LT 215/85R16 Load Range E All Season tires which are rated at 2680 lb the same as the LT 225/75R16. We bought the taller thinner tire to get more height and now we are out of level less than .5”. That left enough space between the tires to get our Bal x-chocks in between the tires. We are well pleased with the final result. Remember that passenger tires are de-rated where trailer tires are not. Either of these LT tires would well exceed the 2540 lb. rating of the 225/75R15 trailer tires.

[wuhungsix]

Peg Leg wrote:
Just quick calculations.

With 10,200 gross you should have about 1500 lbs pin weight. This leaves you with less than 9,000 on the axles or 4500 each and about 2250 per tire. Any weight capacity above this is just a safety margin.

So it appears I would have to bump up to the 16" tires to exceed those ball park numbers. Thanks.