14" to 15" tires

[Clamon4]

I have a 2013 Coleman CT270BH that came with 14" rims with ST205/75/14. Can I safely upgrade to 15" rim so that I can put LT tires on her without any issues? Will I need to do an axle flip to get additional clearance? Currently there is 6" of clearance between the axles and the top of the tire and the wheel well. Also is there a standard bolt pattern for the wheels? I have looked on the website, in my paperwork and everywhere I can think of to find out the bolt pattern. The only place I haven't looked is the back of the wheel.

[skipnchar]

For what it's worth: over 80,000 towing miles on my 8,000 lb trailer and with load range c tires and have had zero tire failures. Junk tires don't fail because they're overloaded it's because they are junk.
Good luck / skip

[full_mosey]

How about a 99mph, 8-ply rated, LRD D, 65psi, 2271lb LT, 14" tire?

Kumho 857s

HTH;
John

[Clamon4]

Didn't think about going up to 16's. I know the tire choice increase with each size. The extra clearance will help when boon docking in the Rockies. Already lost a leveling jack last week. I am sure I can do wheels and tires for around $600.

[gmw_photos]

Looking at the coleman site, it looks likeyourtrailer weighs about 5800 pounds or so ready to go camp. Figure 5000 to 5200 are on the axles.
If you have 205/75-14, they are likely on rims that are 5.5" wide, and have a five hole on 4.5" bolt circle. If you want to stay in 14", the, for instance a Kumho 857 load range D tire would have at least 1874 pounds of capacity, and as much as 2100 or so per tire. That leaves a healthy reserve ( assuming I am right about the weight of your trailer ).

You could also do a 15x6 rim, and still be on a five hole with a 4.5" bolt pattern. In a 15", something like a Continental Vanco 2 would work.

EDIT, PS, whatever tire you choose, do your homework and make sure you are choosing a tire that is compatable to the rim width. Tire rack is one good place to compare those kinds of specs.

[Huntindog]

If you are contemplating a rim upsize, going all the way to 16s can make a lot of sense.
It appears that you have plenty of room to do so.
You only need 1" spacing between the tires. And 3" from the top of the tires to the wheelwell.
Going to 16s is easiest if you presently have 6 lug rims... Not likely if you now have 14s.
I was in your shoes on a previous TT. I eventually got to 16s after spending a LOT of money on incremental upgrades. I hade 3500# axles with 5 lug drums. I found that 6 lug drums could be swapped straight over. They used the same bearings. New drums were suprisingly affordable.
They even came with new bearings. I made the swap at bearing repack time to make it easier.

There have been some that have been able to find 16" 5 lug wheels. They were not around when I did it. I also haven't looked at the total advantage/disadvantges of that approach: How widely available are they if a replacement is needed? What is that cost compared to the cost of doing what I did?

If you can go to 16"s, it opens up a vast array of tire choices, that may well make any cost for the upgrade doable, or even pay for itself overtime.

[coolbreeze01]

Are there any 15" LT tires with a D or E rating? You might want to skip 15" and go with a 16" rim. Good luck.

[wapitichaser]

I changed out my wheels and tires after I bought my 2012 Northtrail FX235 from 14" to 15". All you need to do is check to see if the tire size you want to go to will fit and that the wheel bolt pattern is the same. I was not comfortable with the tires that came on my trailer. Weight rating was barely enough and they wore out very fast. I did a lift and upgraded to the highest weight rating and tallest tire that would fit. Saves your bearings and gives you piece of mind. I found my wheels and tires online for a great deal.

Look online on how to measure your bolt pattern. You may or may not need to do a spring over to get the clearance for new tires and wheels. It depends on how big a tire you want to fit under your trailer.