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fixithud
12-15-2013, 11:25 AM
I just purchased a 2003 27rl fifth wheel. It has stock size 225/75-15 tires. I have quite a bit of towing experience and have never been overly pleased with st tires. I drive my truck 40 plus thousand miles on a set of lt's and get 5000 miles out of st's on equipment trailers.

I want to up grade to 16' wheels so I can have a better choice of tires. Has anyone done this and if so, what brand/size tire did up end up choosing.

I appreciate the help!!

Hud

Festus2
12-15-2013, 11:50 AM
Hud -

Not sure if you browsed through the myriad of posts about RV tire upgrades, but you might want to do that. I'm sure you'll find plenty of recommendations and suggestions about what your possible upgrade by taking some time to read these. Look in the Tires, Tires, Tires! section of the forum for those threads/posts.

To help you with your browsing, try using the forum's search feature.

I recently upgraded our tires to Maxxis -- kept the same size (15") but went to an E rating. They are highly recommended and have received very good reports from all of our members who have had them installed.

fla-gypsy
12-15-2013, 12:01 PM
If you have the space for a wheel/tire upgrade there is no reason not to do it other than money. Like Festus I also upgraded my ST tires to Maxxis load range E tires and am quite satisfied with them. before I used Maxxis D tires and got great service from them and just wanted some reserve capacity.

JRTJH
12-15-2013, 01:13 PM
Upgrading tires (as stated above) is a "sure thing" as long as you have the money.....

Some people feel that upgrading to the heaviest tire available is the right approach. Remember, that RV's usually have the lightest axle/spring assemblies that will carry the load and maintain the required weight ratings. Upgrading tires to the "heaviest available" may seem like a way to prevent tire problems, but if you put tires that are "too heavily rated" on your RV, you will lose the sidewall flex that helps keep the RV from shaking itself apart and can easily cause more significant and costly problems in the future. Remember, there are no shock absorbers on any Keystone RV, so the only thing you have between your trailer frame and the road that dampens any road vibrations/shock is the sidewalls of the tires and the springs. Overtax the springs by installing tires with no sidewall flex and you may be asking for suspension failure or frame failure as a consequence.

Just keep in mind that upgrading is always an option, but "over-upgrading" can be a bad thing.

fixithud
12-15-2013, 01:43 PM
I am thinking about going 16" mostly because it is hard to find anyone that will say anything good about a 15" tire. I understand Maxxis is a good choice.

I also am thinking of going lt as opposed to st.

Thanks for the replies thus far!


Hud

CWtheMan
12-15-2013, 02:14 PM
I just purchased a 2003 27rl fifth wheel. It has stock size 225/75-15 tires. I have quite a bit of towing experience and have never been overly pleased with st tires. I drive my truck 40 plus thousand miles on a set of lt's and get 5000 miles out of st's on equipment trailers.

I want to up grade to 16' wheels so I can have a better choice of tires. Has anyone done this and if so, what brand/size tire did up end up choosing.

I appreciate the help!!

Hud

The first rule of plus sizing your tires is to insure they equal or exceed the load capacity of the Original Equipment (OE) tires.

I'm pretty sure your OE tires were ST bias. Therefore, the maximum load range for the ST225/75D15 was and still is LRD. That has a maximum load capacity of 2540# at 65 psi. Using those figures as a springboard for the "upgrade", the most popular size 16" tire having a chance to fit your wheelwell/axle clearance requirements will most likely be the LT225/75R16E. There are a lot of them built by popular manufacturers making them easy to find. The highway rib pattern is what you should be looking for. There are at least two very popular steel cased tires in that size available.

BTW, using industry standards for setting the recommended tire pressure for those tires would be 75 psi.

Good Luck,
CW