Are 16" tires still common? South america.. And disk brakes

[rerod]

Ive got the old school diesel truck that will run on waste and cooking oil to pull my mini toyhauler, but I'm indecisive on the tire's I want to run..

I'm currently running 17" tires, but I'm considering going back to 16" tires/rims so that I can run the same tires trailer and truck. The trailer will have 8 lug hubs so that I can use a trailer spare as the truck spare even though it has less offset..

Anyway.. What tires are easy to get in mexico and south america? Is 16" still a good choice for me?

And a bit off topic.. Are disk brakes worth the expense?

[valhalla360]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Disk brakes are the ONLY WAY TO GO.

If it's a small trailer and you are headed to South America, I would go standard drum brakes. Simplicity and availability would win out in my mind. It's different from the USA where you can get overnight delivery of parts via amazon.

As far as the old truck tires...did you check the date stamp on them? Just because they have lots of tread doesn't mean they aren't at the end of life.

If the bolt patterns match up, that's great but if not you might consider tires that can fit either rim. Out in the hinterlands, finding someone who can swap the tires onto a different rim is actually very likely. They tend to be adaptable away from big cities.

[Grit_dog]

He said his Dodge is old school even though his posts are a bit cryptic.
Plus all srw Dodges and Rams are still 8x6.5 anyway.

[hornet28]

Grit dog wrote:

The tires.. I have a old chevy farm truck with numerous problems with almost new 16" Michelin tires I want to swap to my dodge diesel.. And also the fact I want to run eight identical tires all around and trailer rims don't come in 17".

Thanks!

Fist thing to check is the bolt pattern. I know you said they are both 8 lug but is the Dodge 6 1/2" pattern like the Chevy or is your Dodge newer with the metric pattern?

[Cummins12V98]

agesilaus wrote:
We switched from 15in GY Marathons ST to Goodrich 16in Commercial TA LT tires and have been very happy with them after 13500 miles. You have to watch the clearance in the wheel well when you go to a larger tire.
We did have a problem with an electrical box that our OEM idiotically stuck in the wheel well
BTW GY is being sued and losing over the Marathon failures, cost them over $500,000 in on suit. Think about that before you believe them on their Endurance tires. Remember what Gomer said: "Fool me once....."

PLEASE show no ONE case of a GY ENDURANCE non road hazard failure in the four years since they were introduced.

[agesilaus]

We switched from 15in GY Marathons ST to Goodrich 16in Commercial TA LT tires and have been very happy with them after 13500 miles. You have to watch the clearance in the wheel well when you go to a larger tire.
We did have a problem with an electrical box that our OEM idiotically stuck in the wheel well
BTW GY is being sued and losing over the Marathon failures, cost them over $500,000 in on suit. Think about that before you believe them on their Endurance tires. Remember what Gomer said: "Fool me once....."

[mr_andyj]

disc brakes for trailer, not vehicle...

Drum brakes on trailers are electric and very easy to use, and almost everyone (who tows serious) has the electric brake controller, so the trailer will be useful down the road.
Unless trailer is super heavy then do not go disc. Drum brakes are fine as far as being able to do the job. Often the tires of the trailer lock up way way before the drum brakes are pushed to any sort of limits. This means the drum brakes are working very well, and almost all light to medium weight trailers will be operated by a brake controller turned way way down (low power setting). So, seems most do not need more power from brakes.

[Grit_dog]

Ok, so we’re neither talking about the truck nor the trailer in your signature. Got it.
Tires for the truck? The dodge? Sure, um, whatever fits.
You’re the only one who knows what rims you have what rims you intend to buy or what vehicle they’re going on.
Trailer tires ? 16s are the obvious choice and most are going to be different size than what you’re running on a HD truck unless it’s a dually (235-85-16 is the common denominator here), in which case the offsets will be so far off it’s not practical.
Not to mention hub size, lug size/type, etc make sure all that works for the ability to swap, as well.

So until you’re specific on what truck, what trailer and what tire size, to your original question, yes 16” LT and ST tires are still plentiful and common.

Brakes? You asked if it was worth the expense. IMO it is not, nor the added maintenance of a hydraulic trailer setup.
That said I would not turn one down, I would just not prefer it for less than fully loaded daily use, where the benefits may outweigh the maint and initial expense.

[rerod]

Grit dog wrote:
16s are a great choice IMO.
See you found the “right” trailer finally. Congrats.
But are disk brakes “worth it” on what?
Trailer presume? If you’re down for doing a e over h conversion, then I suppose. But ain’t nuthin wrong with drum brakes. Cheap simple, work well.

No, I never found my used narrow track trailer yet, and probably will have the trailer custom made, so why not disk brakes?

The tires.. I have a old chevy farm truck with numerous problems with almost new 16" Michelin tires I want to swap to my dodge diesel.. And also the fact I want to run eight identical tires all around and trailer rims don't come in 17".

Thanks!

[Grit_dog]

And 17s are not a good choice in general unless you don’t have the need for more than just over 3000lbs load capacity.
Which might be sufficient for the OP.

I’m also presuming the OP isn’t talking about running his trailer rims on a dually.
Maybe in a pinch but not as a “plan.”

[Grit_dog]

16s are a great choice IMO.
See you found the “right” trailer finally. Congrats.
But are disk brakes “worth it” on what?
Trailer presume? If you’re down for doing a e over h conversion, then I suppose. But ain’t nuthin wrong with drum brakes. Cheap simple, work well.

[mr_andyj]

16's are very common. RVs and duallys still use 16's, and a lot of vehicles out there run 16's. I do not know about other countries.
Would it not be easier to change the trailer tires rather than the RV tires/wheels? Seems if you have 6 on van and 2 (or 4) on trailer that the trailer would have less to change.

If you are talking about a typical cutaway RV van chassis with disk up front and drum on the rear, then , no. The drums are fine, they have a lot of power as is. Keep in mind that big rigs use drums on the rear too, though they are air brakes with a lot more more to it.

Personally, if I were starting from scratch the 17 wheels might be attractive since I live over-sized tires anyway, but go to 19 and you have a lot more commercial tires available too.

Stick with the factory size tire and you will have no issues.

[Cummins12V98]

Disk brakes are the ONLY WAY TO GO.