Can't find RV tires!

[Floridaboundrv2]

I have an 86 Chevy Van 30 Crossman Class C Motorhome That I can't find tires for. It has 8.00 R 16.5 tires on it. Does anyone have any suggestions of where I can get these tires, or if there is any other tires that would work?

Thank you!

[j-d]

Ford from Chassis Year 1984 and up (for the last few years they used 16.5" wheels) were easy. Just get late model wheels/tires. We had an '83 Ford and like Jose, I gave up and bought 16.5" tires. But that was 14 years ago. I was more fortunate at the time than OP is now. Specifically, the E350 had 8.75, not 8.00, on it. At the time, Pep Boys had "Scrambler" series in 8.75R16.5 and I chose them over another brand at a regional tire store. Price was about the same, but Pep Boys had a national presence.

[DaHose]

I am really sure that I remember reading about it being fairly easy to swap out wheels on an older Chevy based MH because they are hub centric. Do some searching on the terms "chevy" "dually" "wheel" "swap" "hub" "centric".

I have 16.5" wheels on my older Ford and a wheel swap is really hard to accomplish because it uses bolt centric, coined wheels. I had to buy 16.5" Firestone TransForce HT's for about $190 each.

Good luck.

Jose

[tatest]

There no RV-specific tire in that size, nor in the metric/radial sizes for the HD 16" wheel that replaced the commercial truck 16.5. What you will be looking for will be a LT, in Load Range D or E.

Not many manufacturers still make tires of any size for 16.5, not even Cooper, who once sought out these smaller market niches, If the only Transforce you can find is 8.75, you need to find out whether there is clearance for these (particularly dually spacing).

I would be inclined today to look for an upgrade to more modern rims, it is usually easier for a Chevy of that vintage than for a Ford, because GM made the transition from 16.5 to 16 while still using lug centering, changing over to hub centering (where hole size is critical) somewhat later.

[j-d]

Did you see This Truck Forum Link?
This One's Very Helpful...since it's from one of our own members: Capri Racer on RV.net

The bolt pattern and "piloting" are of course important. Wheels are Lug Piloted (the fasteners don't just hold the rim, they center it) or Hub Piloted (the big hole in the center of the wheel mates to a machined hub on the axle, and the lug nuts only hold the wheel to the axle, they don't center it).

Offset is a little trickier. It is NOT the space between the Sidewalls of the Tires, but that's the outcome of the Offset measurement. Picture this with a pair of dual wheels:

1. What is the Rim Width? If they're "Six Inch Rims" then you can measure 6" between the edges of the flanged part of the Rim where the Tire's Bead seats. Measure and mark half of that. That's the center of the Rim.

2. Do this with another Wheel, marking the Center of its Rim

3. Mount them on an Axle, or stack them face to face.

4. Measure between the Marks on each Rim. That is the Offset. Barry's Tire Tech chart calls it Dual Spacing. Say you get 10.2" Those'd work with 225/75R16 tires if you had the right bolt pattern and centering.

In the example I used, you COULD mark one Rim, set it on a flat floor, and measure from Mark to Floor and find 5.1". Twice that is the 10.2" offset.

You do NOT WANT "kissing sidewalls!!!"

[Jim_Shoe]

Try Tire Rack. They'll ship directly to a dealer of your choice or to your own back porch, mounted on wheels and inflated if you wish.

[Floridaboundrv2]

Pauldub...They have to be radial tires. I put the bias tires on and the rv felt like it was going to explode. I talked to an RV dealer and they said that I can't use bias tires. So, RADIAL tires for my Chevy Crossman motorhome. I guess I might have to go to 16 inch rims. ugghhh! $$$$$

[Floridaboundrv2]

I have looked EVERYWHERE! Seriously been googling all day, rv tires, truck tires, trailer tires, vintage, rv trader, craigs list, every tire dealer imaginable. Firestone, neals, pep boys, tire barn, All Star yada, yada. Ebay has some, but only 2 of the same brand. Some have lt, tl, lrd, you name it. My head is spinning from all of this. I would think that I would need the same brand and I need 6 of them. thank you all for trying. I will try discount tires tomorrow.

[pauldub]

Google works pretty well. Here's a link for tires in your size and here's another.

[Roman_Duck]

Best thing to due is go to a salvage yard and by 16" Bud rims from a delivery truck or or a 1 ton Chevy chassis. Then head to a good tire store and ask what would be a suitable tire size to give an appropriate conversion from your 16.5s. Remember to get the correct load rating . In the future you won't have a difficult time in getting new tires

[pauldub]

You're going to have a hard time finding a tire in that size anymore. If you do happen to find some and they are radials, you'll need to make sure that your wheels are rated for radial tires as not all of them were in that era. You really do need to consider changing to 16" wheels, if only for tire availability. I found 16" wheels with tires on craigslist a few years ago when I needed tires for my '71 Chevy pickup.

[j-d]

That SimpleTire listed above has TransForce in 8.75 and I'm not sure but they dropped the 8.00 size when they went radial. IIRC the 8.75r16.5 is about the same size and rating as the 225R16 used on newer Class C's.

TireRack.com has TF's (called TransForce HT) in 8.75 but not 8.00 so I'm thinking the 8.00 is really getting rare. Firestone's own website was useless. A "Dealer" (???) who doesn't know about a tire of their manufacture and can't look it up probably doesn't want to deal with the hassle of a motorhome when you probably won't be buying a brake job, alignment, etc.

See if there's a Discount Tire in your 'hood. Most of us have found them very helpful.

You DO want a radial. We replaced 8.00/16.5 bias tires with 8.75R16.5 on a van years ago. Van wasn't dually so no spacing issue. With bias tires, it felt like the wheels were square the first few miles. I couldn't push it out of the garage with my butt against the bumper shoving with my legs. With radials, I could stand behind it and it'd roll when I pushed with one hand. It weighed 4500 so it wasn't an easy push, but you can see what I mean.

[Floridaboundrv2]

J-D, I called Firestone, and they said they did not have anything to replace them. I even mentioned TransForce. Do you have any idea which transforce tires would work. I have the 8.00 and I would really like a radial.

[2oldman]

Where have you already looked?

[Bordercollie]

We owned a 72 Dodge Maxi Van Camper conversion years ago. Finally had problems finding 8 ply-rated 8:00 X 16.5 bias-belted tires. Had some 8.75 bias belted tires installed, they rubbed inside front wheel wells when turning sharply. I was told that mounting modern steel belted radial tires onto the vintage wheels could result in wheels coming apart. Search recent threads on this subject regarding proper/safe replacement wheels and tires.