Quote:
Originally Posted by rhagfo
John, just have to ask, why didn’t you upgrade to 16” wheels and tires at the time.
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My trailer has a 33" wheelbase. I didn't want to change the location of the spring hangers and there wasn't enough space between the existing tires to increase without a potential for clearance issues. Right now, with 15" tires I have just at 4.5" of space between the two tire treads.
The 225 75R15 LRE diameter is 28.1", the 235 80R16 is 30.8". That's a difference of 2.7". Doing the math makes the space between tire treads reduce by that amount. I didn't feel that 1.8" is adequate space between the tires. It "might have worked" but at well over $1000 for new tires and wheels, I didn't want to gamble on a "might have"....
Besides, with 16" tires on my trailer, I couldn't have greased the wet bolts on the equalizer without removing one of the tires. (Ever tried to squeeze between the axle beams to get to the back side of the equalizer with Morryde X-Factor beams hanging down from the spring hangers?) Even at 6'2" and 185 pounds, I'm a little too "thick" to get to the zerks if they were on the back side. ...
ADDED: And, with 15" tires @2830, the tires are rated for 11,320 pounds. My trailer GVWR is 10,000. That's 1320 excess not considering the pin also adding more reserve, even at GVWR. Take the pin weight into consideration and with 15" wheels/tires I have over a ton of excess capacity. I don't need the additional capacity the 16" tires would have given me. TimeTravel, the person who posted that he was considering the CSL's, has a 2020 30RLS. His GVWR is 11,000, so he's closer to the agregate tire maximum capacity on 15" LRE tires and the CSL's might be an option for him if he can find the wheels that match and has the same 33" wheelbase.