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Thoughts and Help Please

vlink55
Explorer
Explorer
Good day to all fellow RV members. I'm new to the forum and forgive me.
I inherited an RV (1987 Itasca on a Chevy Van 30 chassis). It's currently riding on 16.5 rims/tires (8.75R16.5 LT BFG commercial tires). Dually in rear. I just made this discovery after taking it to Les Schwab. 16.5 is hard to come by. Local shops in Oregon can't help me. Can anyone suggest a solution? Should I purchase the Firestone Transforce 16.5 from Walmart? Or should I try to get 16" Dually wheels and somehow have all 7 tires mounted on Duallys? But here's another concern. Is it possible to install Dually Rim/wheel in the front?

Onc again - apologies in advance. I read another post about 16.5 tires but wasn't able to find that post again. Hence this new tread/post.

Any help for this new RVer is much appreciated. Thank you!
14 REPLIES 14

Bordercollie
Explorer
Explorer
If you plan to do some serious touring in this old rig have entire brake, engine cooling system and suspension components checked and repaired as needed.
Obtain proper wheels for modern radial tires and proper RV tires. Your house battery and converter charger should be tested, battery(s) replaced and modern converter charger installed. Learn about testing and servicing the 12 volt DC house battery system, most appliances and furnace need 12 volt power in addition to propane or 120volt AC power. Your fresh water pump and plumbing system may need replacement/fixes. If you have an RV generator it will come in handy at rest stops, etc. The roof AC and dash AC are also necessary. You may need new awning fabric. Check all exterior lighting. You have a new hobby.

toedtoes
Explorer III
Explorer III
I had heard that about the bead area also, but don't know anyone who's had that problem with the firestone transforce.

A clipper buddy of mine changed out to the 16s. Everytime we meet up, he looks at my rig and says he wishes he had stayed with the 16.5s.

Also, whichever ones you put on, get the Cat's Eye tire pressure maintenance system for the duallies. Will make life much easier. They have an internal check valve to stop both tires from going flat.
1975 American Clipper RV with Dodge 360 (photo in profile)
1998 American Clipper Fold n Roll Folding Trailer
Both born in Morgan Hill, CA to Irv Perch (Daddy of the Aristocrat trailers)

j-d
Explorer II
Explorer II
OP, If you want to go to the research and shopping, you CAN find 16" wheels that will work. You may even find some with serviceable tires on them. Depends on how long Chevy/GMC stayed with 16's that have characteristics equivalent to your 16.5's. I think OP in the Lengthy Tread linked above, decided all that wasn't worth the trouble and sounded ready to stay with 16.5.

Do NOT Stock Up! Even with travel like you plan, most of us will not wear RV tires out. They will AGE Out first. There's DOT coding molded into tire sidewalls. One only one sidewall, there's a four-digit production date branded on the end of that coding string. WWYY, where WW is Week Produced and YY is Year Produced, so 0517 would be the fifth week (sometime around FEB) of this year. Always ask for, make that Insist On, Recent Production Dates.

Tires age out even unused. Dodge Van, single rear wheels, 800/16.5 tires. Came with five beautiful Goodyears that ran great for years. As they were wearing out, I found an unused one at Firestone. Mounted it with my identical unused spare and two new tires.

First, I did not get Half the Mileage on those New/Old tires that I did when the set was new.

Second, I bought "take-off" tires for the other two. On CARS, they might come off because of the Look - Owner wants something with/without white letters, etc. On a Commercial tire, they probably come off because they were so out of round or out of balance the driver couldn't hold onto the steering wheel. At least that was what I found.

I replaced them all with a set of 875R16.5 and the change was wonderful! Never looked back.

Please find your door jamb label and reply with what it says about Tire Size, Type (hopefully Load Range or "Ply") and Axle Ratings for Front and Rear.

The 800 size is gone. What tire companies did was go to 875, which almost always replaces 800 without problems. They also quit offering Load Ranges C and D and offer only 875R16.5E.

In the Lengthy Thread, Capri Racer (barrystiretech in another site I linked) said the 875 should work with rims originally used for 800. Another OP was concerned about E tires rated at 80 PSI and the old rims are probably not. Your axle weights are not going to require more than the 65 that D tires could go to. Another mentioned that radials use a different bead area of the rim than old bias tires did. I personally never heard that, and I know I had no problems with radial on my truck that had been built in 1971 with bias tires.
If God's Your Co-Pilot Move Over, jd
2003 Jayco Escapade 31A on 2002 Ford E450 V10 4R100 218" WB

ron_dittmer
Explorer II
Explorer II
Do "E" rated 16.5" tires carry a heavier load compared to the current-day "E" rated 16" tires? If the answer is "Yes", I would surely stay with the 16.5" tires and tolerate their lack of popularity. That is unless your 1987 Itasca is very light which I doubt because rigs were made heavier back then.

Another consideration to the switch is to compare the outside diameter of the tires. If there is a difference, your speedometer will not reflect your actual speed.

vlink55
Explorer
Explorer
j-d wrote:
All seven wheels should be the same and mount in any/every wheel position.

We just crawled through this with another member, it seemed the decision was going to be to stay with 16.5 tires.

Read ***Link Removed*** and be sure you understand OFFSET. Offset produces the required spacing between dual rear tire sidewalls but it isn't measured that way.

How do you plan to use this coach? Like how far do you want to drive? Stay away from your base how much/how long?

The Firestone Transforce is a good tire and the price is reasonable.


Thank you all for the reply..
Hmm...the Offset is definitely going to be a factor.

Thanks JD -
To address your ?s - I plan on driving across the country (From Oregon to New York and down to Florida and west to California and back up to Oregon.\ That's the plan.

I am on the fence about putting Firestone 16.5 Transforce tires (not readily availabe). I could just stock up while it's still available?

Such a hard decision esp. w/ limited budget.

toedtoes
Explorer III
Explorer III
My clipper is 16.5 tires. I originally ordered them online through tire rack and had them mounted and installed locally. When I went in to have them installed the shop folks told me I could order directly through them in the future. They would price match also.
1975 American Clipper RV with Dodge 360 (photo in profile)
1998 American Clipper Fold n Roll Folding Trailer
Both born in Morgan Hill, CA to Irv Perch (Daddy of the Aristocrat trailers)

j-d
Explorer II
Explorer II
Lengthy 16.5 to 16 Thread about Chevrolet
If God's Your Co-Pilot Move Over, jd
2003 Jayco Escapade 31A on 2002 Ford E450 V10 4R100 218" WB

j-d
Explorer II
Explorer II
All seven wheels should be the same and mount in any/every wheel position.

We just crawled through this with another member, it seemed the decision was going to be to stay with 16.5 tires.

Read This Page and be sure you understand OFFSET. Offset produces the required spacing between dual rear tire sidewalls but it isn't measured that way.

How do you plan to use this coach? Like how far do you want to drive? Stay away from your base how much/how long?

The Firestone Transforce is a good tire and the price is reasonable.
If God's Your Co-Pilot Move Over, jd
2003 Jayco Escapade 31A on 2002 Ford E450 V10 4R100 218" WB

ScottG
Nomad
Nomad
Hate to say it because I had Chev P/U with 16.5's one time. The real fix is to put new rims on that are 16".

bukhrn
Explorer III
Explorer III
vlink55 wrote:
Good day to all fellow RV members. I'm new to the forum and forgive me.
I inherited an RV (1987 Itasca on a Chevy Van 30 chassis). It's currently riding on 16.5 rims/tires (8.75R16.5 LT BFG commercial tires). Dually in rear. I just made this discovery after taking it to Les Schwab. 16.5 is hard to come by. Local shops in Oregon can't help me. Can anyone suggest a solution? Should I purchase the Firestone Transforce 16.5 from Walmart? Or should I try to get 16" Dually wheels and somehow have all 7 tires mounted on Duallys? But here's another concern. Is it possible to install Dually Rim/wheel in the front?

Onc again - apologies in advance. I read another post about 16.5 tires but wasn't able to find that post again. Hence this new tread/post.

Any help for this new RVer is much appreciated. Thank you!
Size not withstanding, the TransForce that I have on now, are a far better tire than the Michelins that came on it new, better ride, longer wear, and virtually NO weather checking, which can't be said for the Michelins that cracked severely in 3 years.
2007 Forester 2941DS
2014 Ford Focus
Zamboni, Long Haired Mini Dachshund

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
What did Les Schwartz recommend? Treated me very fairly twice. I agree with DEB, your RV is 30 years old. Be careful of what you spend on it.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Explorer II
I would go to a salvage yard and buy 16 inch rims. If you have a blow out on the road you may have a heck of a tome finding 16.5 tires. Thats what I did on my 89 truck.
Eddie
03 Fleetwood Pride, 36-5L
04 Ford F-250 Superduty
15K Pullrite Superglide
Old coach 04 Pace Arrow 37C with brakes sometimes.
Owner- The Toy Shop-
Auto Restoration and Customs 32 years. Retired by a stroke!
We love 56 T-Birds

D_E_Bishop
Explorer
Explorer
vlink55, You should have this moved to one of the following forums, General, Tech Issues or Class C. Your in the one for Technical Support issues like how to post pictures, or for posting test picts or messages.

No big deal.

Generally 16.5 are a little hard to find and I don't know where you are but if there is a Big"O" close go there or go to a truck shop or ask a real tire shop if they can order them. An 87 is kinda old and I know nothing about them but you can look tire and wheel size up on line. I just wonder if they came from the factory that way or not.

I'm not against older, classic type RVs, in fact I am looking for a mid sixties ford pick up and very small cab over camper. I'm just saying I am old but more familier with later RVs.
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to go". R. L. Stevenson

David Bishop
2002 Winnebago Adventurer 32V
2009 GMC Canyon
Roadmaster 5000
BrakeBuddy Classic II

2oldman
Explorer II
Explorer II
What link did you click to be posting in here?
"If I'm wearing long pants, I'm too far north" - 2oldman