Changing From 14" to 15" Tires and Rims

[DesertTracker]

In order to add a weight capacity reserve on my tires I am thinking of going from ST205/75r14C to ST205/75r15D. Lots of capacity reserve gained with this change. It seems simple enough; all size specs are the same except diameter is +1" so I will lose 1" between the tandems and 1/2" clearance from top of tires to fender wells. I have the needed clearance. Before I spend all those dollars at Discount Tire Direct for the wheel and tire upgrade I thought I had better check: is there anything else I need to consider? Thanks for any advice and help.

[Huntindog]

I have done excactly as you are proposing..
My only suggetion is to not stop at 15s. Go all the way to 16s. That is where I eventually ended up. 6s gives you the best possible selection of QUALITY tires.
You will of course need 16" rims. They are normally 6 lugs, so 6 lug drums will be needed. They are suprisingly affordable. they come with new bearings, so if you do it at bearing repaking time, it makes it much easier labor wise... No need to clean all the old parts, just lube up the new stuff and install.

So in a nutshell... going from 14s to 15s is good.. but the tire selection isn't a ton better.

16s is nirvana. That size is used on millons of pickups, so the market is huge. The tire manufacturers have responded with MANY choices.