going to bigger tires and wheels

arwenmark · 03-02-2015, 09:35 AM

I have a 2004 Sprinter 300FKMS. Actually I don't have it home yet, but I want to change the tires on it from 15 to 16 inch so that I can use better load rated tires.

Is there any reason I can't do this? anything to be on the lookout for?

BOWWOW · 03-02-2015, 01:45 PM

If you use the search function on this forum you will find about 7.2 billion threads about tire and wheel upgrades. Good luck on your trip.

Ken / Claudia · 03-02-2015, 04:13 PM

Going bigger might work, you need to get the trailer and find out how much space/clearance there is to go bigger and how big. That is limited on RVs when compared to trucks.

racin500 · 03-02-2015, 05:27 PM

Up and down travel is usually OK but you run into trouble with the distance between the 2 tires. It will depend on both your rim and tire combination. As stated above, don't do anything till you get it home and do some measurements. The tire shop can tell you what the diameter will be with different combinations before you buy.

eddarde · 03-02-2015, 06:49 PM

what is the minimum distance between the tires?

**JRTJH** · 03-02-2015, 07:02 PM

After looking at the situation as described by the OP, I'd have to think twice about changing out tires/wheels for larger ones on his trailer. From the post, it looks like he has recently purchased this trailer and "doesn't have it home yet" and is wanting to increase the tire/wheel size to increase load capacity.

Now, without knowing the history of the trailer, it may not be a necessary upgrade. If the trailer has been sitting on a permanent site for the past 11 years and has no history of being towed, then "who knows" whether the suspension, wheels and tires need to be upgraded.

If, however, the trailer has been towed regularly, and there is no obvious damage to the wheel wells from tire problems, then I'd suspect that the current size tires and wheels have been adequate for the past 11 years. If that's the situation, then on a trailer of this age, I'd have to consider whether the upgrade is "necessary" or if it's just a place to "put some extra money" that probably isn't a safety or towing requirement

arwenmark · 03-03-2015, 04:31 PM

First I am a her not a him. The trailer has been used up until they traded it on a new one. The thing is Other than that I know nothing of the history of it, I don't know what they may have fixed or needs fixing or replacing. I don't know how long the current tires have been on the trailer.
I don't know If they went camping once a year or twice a month.
Even though I bought it from Camping World, it was sold AS IS. I am hoping they will actually give us a walk through of where everything is etc. even if they will not fix anything wrong if there is anything.
From what we can tell it appears to be in very good shape, both externally and internally.
But till we get it home and can get in there and get our hands dirty, as it were, we won't really know.

Since I feel it prudent to replace the tires that are on it now, that is why I was considering the larger wheels and tires.
One problem I have noticed though is that the trailer appears to have 6 lug nut wheels now and all the 16" tires/wheels in a G rating seem to be 8 Lug nuts.
So I may not be able to change anyway.

But I did want to get the advice of you all, who have more experience than I do.

Thanks for your thoughts!

**sourdough** · 03-03-2015, 05:30 PM

From your posts on various threads it appears you are trying to be proactive before the pickup of your trailer. That's good.

The questions about towing, routes and parking are good thoughts and things you can investigate prior to obtaining the trailer. On the other hand, some things need to be seen, touched etc. before trying to "fix".

Tires/wheels and those types of things really need an eye laid on them before trying to do anything. If you've seen the unit, or can see it, a visual should tell you if the tires are suspect. If you can't, or haven't seen it, the dealer should be able to tell you if they are good or bad (although I'm not prone to taking that kind of advice...I like to make that decision myself).

If it were me I would make contingency plans of being wherever you are going to get it for a couple of days. Do the walk thru if they will. If not, you are going to be tasked with determining what is good and "what ain't". One of those things may be the tires. I would HIGHLY recommend that if that is the case you replace them with the standard size before leaving or get someone from a tire shop that can measure the diameters/clearances, wheel specs. etc. Unless you want to spend half again what you spent on the trailer you don't want to be changing 6 lug wheels,tires, hubs, brakes etc. to 8 lug "for fun". You don't even know if the axles are square/aligned.

Take things one at a time, logically. The trip, how to tow, what to watch out for, how to park....super questions. You don't need to try to rebuild the trailer until you know what's broke though IMO. Just make sure you have the requisites for a safe trip; good tires, good brakes, good TV, good plan.....good driver. Plan for the unexpected.

poncho62 · 03-04-2015, 04:05 AM

You could always keep the 15 in wheels, just go with a higher rated tire..Then you wouldnt have to worry about the 6 to 8 lug deal.

I have a smaller 5th wheel that had 14 in tires when I bought it. Date code on them was 2003, so had to be replaced ASAP.....They were rated at about 1700 lbs/tire...Trailer weighs about 5800 lbs loaded. .I replaced them with 15 inch tires rated at 2300 lbs/tire. Had lots of room and gives better peace of mind. I dont want to carry any more weight, but I figure with the better rated tires, they wont take such a beating

jsmith948 · 03-04-2015, 06:36 AM

Our Cougar has 6-lug 15" wheels and originally had load range D tires. Early on, the DW noticed spider web like cracks in the sidewall of one tire. We replaced all of the tires with load range E Maxxis tires. Just make sure that your rims are rated for 80 psi. The weight capacity and or psi rating can be found on the inside of one of the spokes or inside the rim. There are some good links/threads on here about tires and how to tell where they are built.

Ken / Claudia · 03-04-2015, 10:31 AM

What I would do is during the walk thru, spend alot of time hours if needed, listen and ask questions. Try out all items such as sinks, sides, furnace make sure everything is working and you know who to make them work.
Read the GVWR sticker for the trailer. Than when checking the tires, read the max wt. rating of them. That will help to see if they are enough tire. While doing that look the tire over real good for cracks, splits, flat spots, wore out tread. Read the date codes, over 7 years likely replace. Check psi make sure it is at max for the rating of the tire. RV tires are to be run at max psi unlike car/truck tires.

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