Wheel advice.

German Shepherd Guy · 08-16-2022, 01:13 PM

I have the 2019 RBPR. It has 14" wheels. When I upgraded tires to the Goodyears I went from 205s to 215s. But in 14" tires they are still only D rated. If I go to 15" wheels I can buy 215s that are E rated.
Where can I go to talk to knowledgeable sales staff about buying trailer wheels? Can I just buy 15" wheels that have the same bolt pattern and they would fit? (5-4 1/2) Is the center hole diameter the same for 14" wheels as 15" wheels? I have tried a couple of places online that were supposedly "expert" and neither place (tire rack and then a RV specialty store) seemed to have people who could say. There has to be somewhere where folks who are into RVs & TTs sell wheels and know about them. Any ideas?
Thanks

Oak

bsmith0404 · 08-16-2022, 01:19 PM

Call Sendel wheel. They are very knowledgeable and will steer you straight. To answer your question the center bore shouldn’t really matter , they’ll fit over the hub and new wheels will come with new center caps. You have to buy the correct bolt pattern to match what you currently have, 15s will have optional 6 log bolt patterns, some will even have 8. As long as you get the correct bolt pattern, it’ll match the 14s.

Gegrad · 08-16-2022, 02:22 PM

Wheel should be the same as long as you have the right bolt pattern. I also had the 14" wheels with the same pattern. I grabbed these wheels in my move up to 15" wheels.

https://recstuff.com/trailer-wheels/...lack-s556545b/

They were same wheel that came on the trailer, except in 15".

bsmith0404 · 08-16-2022, 02:54 PM

One thing to double check on the new wheels, what psi/weight are they rated for. Most should be fine, but if you upgrade to 15” wheels and they can’t support the air pressure of your new tires, well, that would just really suck. Just make sure the new combination is a good match for each other weight and psi.

German Shepherd Guy · 08-16-2022, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

One thing to double check on the new wheels, what psi/weight are they rated for. Most should be fine, but if you upgrade to 15” wheels and they can’t support the air pressure of your new tires, well, that would just really suck. Just make sure the new combination is a good match for each other weight and psi.

Thanks Bob.
Thanks Gegrad

Oak

**flybouy** · 08-17-2022, 03:12 AM

As long as the wheels have the same bolt pattern, are zero offset, and the intended tire size will fit under the camper you should be good to go.

**JRTJH** · 08-17-2022, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by German Shepherd Guy

I have the 2019 RBPR. It has 14" wheels. When I upgraded tires to the Goodyears I went from 205s to 215s. But in 14" tires they are still only D rated. If I go to 15" wheels I can buy 215s that are E rated.
Where can I go to talk to knowledgeable sales staff about buying trailer wheels? Can I just buy 15" wheels that have the same bolt pattern and they would fit? (5-4 1/2) Is the center hole diameter the same for 14" wheels as 15" wheels? I have tried a couple of places online that were supposedly "expert" and neither place (tire rack and then a RV specialty store) seemed to have people who could say. There has to be somewhere where folks who are into RVs & TTs sell wheels and know about them. Any ideas?
Thanks

Oak

I don't think any ST tire manufacturer builds a 215 75R15 LRE tire. You're correct that there are no 14" LRE tires from any "common ST tire manufacturer. Most (all that I know of) ST tire manufacturers build 15" ST tires in 205 series (LRC and LRD) and 225 series (LRD and LRE). So, if you're specifically looking for ST215 75R15 tires you may have some trouble finding them.

As for wheels, Sendel 15x6 alloy wheels have 2 ratings stamped on the back of the spokes. One is for wheels drilled with 5 lug holes and one rating is for wheels drilled with 6 lug holes. Depending on your lug/hub configuration, the "same wheel casting" will have two different weight ratings. Here's a photo of the back of my Sendel wheels: Note the markings: 5H 114.3 MAX LOAD 2150 AND 6H 139.7 MAX LOAD 2830. Both ratings on the same wheel.... As for Sendel, they did not (might have changed in the past year or so) put any PSI rating on their wheels. When I asked, their CS department told me that their wheel castings are rated for the pressure required to obtain the maximum load rating. In the case with my wheels, if the casting was drilled with 5 lugs, the PSI rating would be the same as the pressure requirement for ST tires with a load rating of 2150 which is 65 PSI and if they were drilled with 6 lugs, the PSI rating would be the same as the pressure requirement for ST tires with a load rating of 2830 which is 80 PSI.

To me, it would seem obvious that if the same casting is rated at 80 PSI that it would also hold 80 PSI with one less lug hole, but that's not what Sendel told me. I'm not sure I believe them, but the pressure rating is really irrelevant if you can't get the load rating to go with it. On my wheels with 5 lugs, even if you put LRE tires on them, no matter if they carry the pressure or not, they won't carry a load greater than 2150 pounds, so airing up tires that can carry 2830 pounds doesn't change the rating capacity that's bolted on that end of the axle. That's the "weakest link theory" in practice.

But, when you start looking for ST215 75R15 tires, I don't think you'll find any that size in any load rating.

As for upgrading to 15" wheels/tires from 14", the biggest issue (at least for me) is to make sure you have enough wheelwell clearance so the larger tires clear the top of the wheelwell when towing. On some trailers, especially the ones with a single leaf spring, the wheel travel is such that a bigger wheel/tire will rub the wheelwell, damaging it with every bump in the road.

Here's a photo of what's stamped on the back of my Sendel wheels:

bsmith0404 · 08-17-2022, 05:24 AM

Senders website shows a weight/psi rating for each wheel. Don’t know why the customer service wouldn’t give that info. It’s l been listed that way as long as I know, which is back to 2015 when I changed my wheels. Don’t know about before that.

German Shepherd Guy · 08-17-2022, 11:30 AM

John is right. The Goodyears I am looking at are 225/75R 15s. not 215s. They have one rated E. I was thinking the extra margin might be nice to have. I went to the Sendel site but ended up at the restuff.com site as they had prices. Thank you John, wouldn't want to buy the E rated 15" tires if the wheels were only rated for 65PSI. I have the 5 -4.5 pattern for the bolts

**JRTJH** · 08-17-2022, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by German Shepherd Guy

John is right. The Goodyears I am looking at are 225/75R 15s. not 215s. They have one rated E. I was thinking the extra margin might be nice to have. I went to the Sendel site but ended up at the restuff.com site as they had prices. Thank you John, wouldn't want to buy the E rated 15" tires if the wheels were only rated for 65PSI. I have the 5 -4.5 pattern for the bolts

Yep, trying to match 5 lug wheels with the higher rating is difficult. There are some steel wheels available, but off the top of my head, I can't recall seeing any alloy 5 lug 15" wheels rated 2830 pounds/80 or 95 PSI. I'm not saying they don't exist, just that I can't recall seeing them available for sale. I was looking for upgraded LRF 15" tires, but wanted to stay with the "stylish wheels" not the white 8-spoke cheapo steel ones. I couldn't find any cast alloy wheels that would carry the weight rating for the LRF tires, but there were lots of steel wheels....

You may run into the same situation with 5 lug 15" wheels trying to find a 2830 pound rating. One alternative is steel wheels with "mag look wheel covers"....

Anyway, lots of options, just keep ALL the limitations in your consideration as you look.....

German Shepherd Guy · 08-17-2022, 11:50 AM

Another point John brought up. Clearance. So the Goodyear site shows that the 225/75R 15s are 28.3" in Diam. The 215/75r 14s I am currently running are 26.7 inches. 1.6 inches taller. Or .8 inches closer to the top of the wheel wells. I DO have single leaf spring on the 26RBPR. So I will measure how far to the top of the wells. Not sure how I would know if there was enough room for travel. Bouncing and rubbing on the darcro liner would be bad. There are already a lot of weak floors on those rigs from rocks and chips poking holes and moisture getting in. John, you have got me wondering whether I ought to rethink this.

I wasn't looking to load the trailer heavier, just liked the idea of a wider margin of safety between the 2,200 my current tires are rated and the 2,830 that the 225s would be rated. Nothing I ever try turns out to be easy. All said and done I figured it would take about 1,500 to 1,600 to swap out the 14s tires and wheels for the 15s. Some I would recover as I would sell the 14s, but it wouldn't amount to a lot.

Thanks guys for the advice.
Oak

bsmith0404 · 08-17-2022, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Yep, trying to match 5 lug wheels with the higher rating is difficult. There are some steel wheels available, but off the top of my head, I can't recall seeing any alloy 5 lug 15" wheels rated 2830 pounds/80 or 95 PSI. I'm not saying they don't exist, just that I can't recall seeing them available for sale. I was looking for upgraded LRF 15" tires, but wanted to stay with the "stylish wheels" not the white 8-spoke cheapo steel ones. I couldn't find any cast alloy wheels that would carry the weight rating for the LRF tires, but there were lots of steel wheels....

You may run into the same situation with 5 lug 15" wheels trying to find a 2830 pound rating. One alternative is steel wheels with "mag look wheel covers"....

Anyway, lots of options, just keep ALL the limitations in your consideration as you look.....

If you still want to make that upgrade, here you go. They have a couple other styles that are also rated over 3k on the 15” 5x4.5, the T17 is. I just like the looks of this one better so that’s the one I attached.

http://sendelwheel.com/wheels/t16bm.html

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