If coming out of this I end up needing new wheels and tires my options are not many. So far I have the ST E range that Capri Racer suggested and that is about it. I have not found any LT tire that fits the diameter and at least a 2,500# max load rating. If some one knows of a 28.3" OD tire with that load rating in a LT please point it out.
John
Take a look at the very last item in this reference. Can you make a 29.3" tire work?
I just do not know if that tire is acceptable in a trailer situation or if I need extra reserve capacity. I do not understand what type it is. LT is not listed there. And I cannot find a rim that narrow in 16". Yet anyway.
There is also a
TL22214000 -215/75R16C - 113R 8 -BSW 28.7"OD - 8.80" wide 70psi 2,535# /6.00" rim
And I can buy a trailer rim for that one. I have to deal with 0.2" of wheel well clearance though.
John & Cindy
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10
CC, SB, Lariat & FX4 package
21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR
Ford Tow Command
1,700# Reese HP hitch & HP Dual Cam
2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver
2004 Sunline Solaris T310SR
(I wish we were camping!)
JBarca wrote: ........A question on the E range ST tire you suggested. In my case the load will not be that high as Max of the E range tire at 80psi. Is there a concern of high center tread wear running 80 psi? Or is it in this case that the tire will age out mostly like before it wears out providing good axle alignment. Sort of like where I am now.......
As you suggest, the concensus is that trailer tires get old before they get worn out. Plus, the affect iinflation pressure has on tire wear is small. The issue of center wear has been greatly exaggerated.
Besides, the important thing is to get the tire to survive.
JBarca wrote: ........I can tell on the D's I have now the center is wearing slightly more then the outer threads. Granted I'm measuring with a dial caliper to see this. I attributed this to running 65psi verses the load on the tire. On the E's this might be more pronounced. I do not see this as a show stopper, more of a curious question........
I would consider 2/32nds of an inch significant - and you're measuring in thousands. Don't over-think this.
JBarca wrote: ........Another question is a thought of harder bounce due to the E range tire? On a truck/car this shows up for sure, on a TT, well I do not know. In my case I have a rubber equalizer and shocks to help the cause........
A tire's spring rate is directly related to inflation pressure. So the ratio of 80 divided by 65 is only a 23% increase. I don't think this is larger enough to worry about.
JBarca wrote: ........PS. I will need new rims to go to E range. Mine do not list a PSI, only a load weight that lines up with a D tire. I'm not going to attempt 80 psi in a rim intended for a D. I know enough about pressure vessels not try that. No 80 psi stamp means, no. ......
I had a long discussion with a wheel designer about the use of higher inflation pressures. The context was people who use very high inflation pressure on their passenger cars to get fuel economy improvements. Some folks were using 60 and 80 psi (and even more) in tires designed for 35 psi. Not only are these guys denying that center wear takes place (they are wrong, but it isn't a 100% thing), I was concerned about the wheels.
The wheel designer said that inflation pressure doesn't add much in the way of additional stress to the wheel - that it was the load itself that was important. I took this to mean there is little risk of using higher inflation pressures (at least from the wheel prespective.) Since I was hoping to use this as an arguement against such high pressures in passenger car tires, I was disappointed - and that seems to have been confirmed as there have not been reports of wheel failures by this group.
In my opinion, the absence of a max pressure stamping on the wheel MIGHT be a good sign. Also, if you monitor the wheels, a wheel failure will show up as cracks around the rim flange long before you get a catastrophic failure.
* This post was
edited 04/26/12 10:14am by CapriRacer *
I just do not know if that tire is acceptable in a trailer situation or if I need extra reserve capacity. I do not understand what type it is. LT is not listed there. And I cannot find a rim that narrow in 16". Yet anyway.
There is also a
TL22214000 -215/75R16C - 113R 8 -BSW 28.7"OD - 8.80" wide 70psi 2,535# /6.00" rim
And I can buy a trailer rim for that one. I have to deal with 0.2" of wheel well clearance though.
Check out this tire at Tire Rack( Continental Vanco 225/70/15.)
Vanco 2(Highway Rib Summer)
Diam. is 27.4 load range D 2470 .They are wider but it worked for me so far with about 1200 miles on them.
If coming out of this I end up needing new wheels and tires my options are not many. So far I have the ST E range that Capri Racer suggested and that is about it. I have not found any LT tire that fits the diameter and at least a 2,500# max load rating. If some one knows of a 28.3" OD tire with that load rating in a LT please point it out.
John
Take a look at the very last item in this reference. Can you make a 29.3" tire work?
I just do not know if that tire is acceptable in a trailer situation or if I need extra reserve capacity. I do not understand what type it is. LT is not listed there. And I cannot find a rim that narrow in 16". Yet anyway.
There is also a
TL22214000 -215/75R16C - 113R 8 -BSW 28.7"OD - 8.80" wide 70psi 2,535# /6.00" rim
And I can buy a trailer rim for that one. I have to deal with 0.2" of wheel well clearance though.
John I think those are P tires. You would have to divide the load capacity by 1.1. So the one that is 2535 at 75 psi would give you only 2305 pounds.
Something doesn't add up here John. My fiver came with 28.3 OD tires and has a 9.5 inch tall frame. After we adjusted the suspension so it would tow level with our truck, we had about 5 inches of clearance in the wheel wells, which is just the flat bottom of the floor. It is a triple step camper, and the first step up was about an inch more than the rest. So we have to step up four times to get in, just like you. Your camper sounds very similar to my fiver, I would only expect the bottom step to be about a half inch higher off of the ground because your frame is a half inch taller. I would think you should have about 4 inches or so of clearance in your wheel wells.
The other option you have if you want to do the LT upgrade without doing an axle flip is to have a commercial truck frame shop put a 2" subframe on it (oh wait a minute -- you weld and would probably do that yourself). I know you ended up reinforcing your frame and doing the equivalent of the Mor Ryde X-Factor -- the subframe would preclude the need for that.
Hi Ex,
I only have 2 1/4 to 2 1/2" worth of clearance. Here see.
This is on the original setup when I had Maxxis tires
Here is the max suspension travel for my loaded weight. I am at the limit.
After I added the hanger stiffing and the 1 1/4" lift due to the loss of the EZ flex height and shocks. I now have 6 1/4" effective hangers.
Odds are high on your 5er you had a piece of 2 x 2 tube welded to the frame and then the hangers put on it. Lik this. This is off an old Jayco
Here is a side shot the day I put these Denmans on. Gee, 3 years and here I am....
I really do not want to do an axle flip on this setup. Yes I can build something to raise the camper 1" or 1.5" but boy, moving all 6 hangers down again....
I'm still collecting ideas at this point.
John
I have been so busy getting my new TT ready to go for spring gobbler season I haven't had time to get on the computer at home and see your pictures (can't see them at work due to blocking of picture sharing sites). On my Jayco, they didn't put the tubes on the bottom of the frame. Instead, they built their own spring hangers. Each side is a single piece that serves the purpose of all three hangers. The hole closest to the frame is 6" from the bottom of the frame IIRC. There are two more holes below that, with 1.25" spacing. If you go back and look at your thread on the shock install, you can see them in my picture of my Dexter shocks. You may also be able to see them in the pictures of my spare tire hoist that you looked at a while back.
What I am suggesting to you is to not only put a tube on the bottom of your frame with new hangers, but also put tubes from side to side attached to those tubes at each of the hangers. From above, the tubes would look like the number 8 on one of the orignal 7 segment LED digital displays. That would give you your frame reinforcement and the correct wheel well clearance at the same time.
Thought occured to me . . . when you give the numbers for you clearance, is that with the thing just sitting level, or is that when you have jacked up one axle to the maximum articulation of the suspension? I think the 3" figure from Dexter (which is actually given for their torsion axles -- they don't give a figure for leaf spring suspensions) is for a static situation on level ground with the trailer loaded. I think your shorter springs are going to have less flex, and thus less suspension travel when hitting bumps than those of us who have the 33" axle spacing.
Another thing -- what is the distance between your tires now (not on the left side with the bad tire -- the right side where the tire diameters are normal)? I have 33" axle spacing on my fiver and put the BFGCTA LT245/75R16 on. They have a diameter of 30.6, and I can barely get a BAL scissor chock between the wheels. So as long as your axle spacing is 32", the 225s should fit as far as distance between the tires.
ExRocketScientist wrote: ......John I think those are P tires. You would have to divide the load capacity by 1.1. So the one that is 2535 at 75 psi would give you only 2305 pounds.
No, those tires are "C" type tires - the European equivalent to LT tires. They are as suitable for trailer usage as LT tires are.
ExRocketScientist wrote: ......John I think those are P tires. You would have to divide the load capacity by 1.1. So the one that is 2535 at 75 psi would give you only 2305 pounds.
No, those tires are "C" type tires - the European equivalent to LT tires. They are as suitable for trailer usage as LT tires are.
ExRocketScientist wrote: ......John I think those are P tires. You would have to divide the load capacity by 1.1. So the one that is 2535 at 75 psi would give you only 2305 pounds.
No, those tires are "C" type tires - the European equivalent to LT tires. They are as suitable for trailer usage as LT tires are.
CapriRacer,
Thanks!!! This opens up other options short of lifting the camper.
I'm assuming the C at the end of the tire number is how this is declared?
They also list this as:
Maxxis wrote: Premium rubber compound and extra plies* resist cuts, punctures and abrasions
Which in my case is a plus afer seeing the cuts I have just going camping.
I also noticed this
Maxxis wrote: Rib-type tread design with deep shoulder grooves provides all-season capability.
Since we do winter camp, I'm making an assumption these can be used in cold weather. Until you mentioned that not all tires are able to be used near freezing I never thought to look for this but now do.
It appears if I'm reading the Maxxis site correct the 205/75R16C requires a 5.5" wide rim which is not a normal trailer rim. This tire OD works in the existing space of my wheel wells.
The 215/75R16C uses a 6" wide rim which is standard. Just I have a slight height issue to work on.
Both have the same laod rating.
When we go to an LT tire, do we need add in extra load capacity margin (15%) like we do on the ST's?
Thanks
John
* This post was
edited 04/26/12 11:13am by JBarca *
Check out this tire at Tire Rack( Continental Vanco 225/70/15.)
Vanco 2(Highway Rib Summer)
Diam. is 27.4 load range D 2470 .They are wider but it worked for me so far with about 1200 miles on them.
Thanks, I did. The down side is they declare these to not use near freezing temperatures which in my case is a problem since we winter camp. Thanks for the lead though.
Check out this tire at Tire Rack( Continental Vanco 225/70/15.)
Vanco 2(Highway Rib Summer)
Diam. is 27.4 load range D 2470 .They are wider but it worked for me so far with about 1200 miles on them.
Thanks, I did. The down side is they declare these to not use near freezing temperatures which in my case is a problem since we winter camp. Thanks for the lead though.
After reading "not use near freezing temperatures" I was very concerned (these LTs were looking like my ST fix)..
According to TireRack they carry 17 Highway Rib Summer Tires (but like all summer tires, are not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice).. So.. where can they be sold? Even Hawaii has snow on The Big Island!
Tire experts.. what does the disclaimer mean in the real world (When Florida has a cold snap will the tires freeze and fall off of the trucks?)
On a happier note.. my warantee claim for belt separation was denied , the tires are too old. There is a three year warantee and it runs from date of manufacture, not retail sale. Maybe they will send me flowers in the morning..
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