New Tires and Wheels Info

[Texas1949]

Ok, I need some help with upgrading tires and wheels,

I have read a bunch about going to 16" rims.

So where do I get the rims?

What tires do I get and best place to get them?

[greyeagle]

Firs thing you need to figure out is whether or not the 16" wheels and tires will give you enough clearance in the wheel wells. There's been quite a bit posted in various threads about this subject. Might suggest that you do a search on this forum before buying the 16" wheels.



I have 15" wheels on our CF28CK, which we bought new, and nowon the second set of tires with absolutely no problem except dry rot on two or three of the originaltires. This is normal after about four to five years.



I did replace the valve stems right off the bat, after we found that two of the rubber OEM stems had slow leaks. I have load range D tiresand steel valve stems. I keep a very close watch on the tire pressures and lug nut torque.



Wally's has about the best price that I could find and they also give lifetime rotate and balance.

Some of the Wally's stores have a screwy policy about mounting the trailer tires. You need to check with the individual stores for their policy.



As far as the wheels (rims) are concerned, you can find those at just about any tire store such as Discount Tire, Pep Boys Auto supply, Reillys Auto Supply, etc. If they don't carry or have them in stock, they will order.

[hhh]

If you can fit the larger rims/tires I would go with a commercial LT tire instead of STs. Michelin Ribs and BFG Commercial TAs are two popular brands.

[avvidclif]

Rims are easy, http://www.southwestwheel.com good prices and they ship everywhere. Or you can drive over to Dallas and pick them up. They have about anything you might need for trailering look around and try and beat their prices, I gave up.



You can get all kinds or argument about tires, it's been well hashed out on here. Some folks have no problems with chinese tires and some do. It's kinda like roll the dice.



My thoughts are the biggest enemy of tires is heat. Usually caused by underinflation. That can be caused by neglect or picking up a nail. On a vehicle you notice it usually before the tire is trashed. Not so on a trailer. Just too far away, by the time you realize you have a problem it's usually too late, for both of the tires on that side. The one that broke apart and the one that was carrying all the load and overheated damaging it.



After looking closely at the situation I installed a tire pressure monitoring system. It cost $200, about the same as one tire. When I get ready to leave I turn it on and in a few minutes I know what the pressure and temperature is in all 4 tires. Mine has the chinese tires but they are 10 ply rated at 3500+ lbs. I run 80 lbs of pressure. At 70 lbs the alarm goes off. It also has an alarm for overpressure and temperature, all programmable.



If a tire throws the tread not much you can do but I think most ruined/flat tires are caused by picking up a nail or poor maintenance and not finding out about it until it's too late. The TPMS just lets me roll down the road a little more relaxed.

[Hunter11]

If you go to 16" wheels BFG Commercial LT are a good choice. After 2 1/2 years ours look like new. I would also suggest a TPMS once you get your new wheels and tires.

[cwit]

I just bought the BFG's that Hunter is talking about. in 225-75-r16 E rated. Have less than 400 miles on them to date.

[avvidclif]

Only problem I see with that is they are load rated at 2680 lbs@80psi. That's almost a 1000lb drop from the chinese tires(3520@80psi). That's from BFG website. LT225/75R16/E. But the trailer tag shows GVW of 10,400 on mine so that would be in range. Mine has 7380 on the trailer tires with no water, everything else normal.

[Hunter11]

I put the LT235/85R16/E on our trailer which is load rated at3042 lbsper tire at 80 psi.

[hhh]

Both the BFG and Michelin 235/85R16E are rated at 3042 lbs.

[Texas1949]

Originally Posted by hhh

Both the BFG and Michelin 235/85R16E are rated at 3042 lbs.

Keith, where did you get the wheels from? How do I know which wheel is the correct bolt pattern?
Did you have to flip the axles?

I found the tires at Discount Tires for $155 each.

[Hunter11]

My wheels are the aluminum mags that came on the trailer.

[Texas1949]

[QUOTE=avvidclif]Rims are easy, http://www.southwestwheel.com good prices and they ship everywhere. Or you can drive over to Dallas and pick them up. They have about anything you might need for trailering look around and try and beat their prices, I gave up.





I looked at their web site and which rims should I get?

[mapachoo]

I bought the whole kit from Discount Tire they stock the rims as well. They did not have the whiterims in stock and I did not want to wait so I have probably the onlyCruiser in America with black rims. You will see them at the rally. started as an experiment and I was trying to hold cost down because CrossRoads advised against the 16"tire That was a headache. My Mission tires were rated at 2540 and the bfg commercial is rated at 2680 so I did gain there. Here is the link to the previous post
http://www.crossroadsrv.com/forum/fo...D=149&PN=1I will tell you since the whole experiment began I havemanaged to finally get the new tire to hit the pan 1 timeI try to keep some tape up there so I will know when it happens again. When I started I planned on upgrading to a aluminum rim but now I just kind of like to be different.Looking forward to meeting you at the rally.



Edited by: mapachoo

[avvidclif]

On the rims. What bolt pattern do you have now? Size of tire and OD. Clearance between the tires and to the top of the wheel well. Then look at the size of tire you want to use, what is the OD? If that will work then the tire will have a rim width spec. Just follow it.



The BFG LT225/75R16E (load rating 2540) and LT235/85R16E (load rating 3042) both call for a 6-7" rim width. OD is 29.4 and 31.4" Either will fit these rims.



The SW Wheel NW128699 is a white spoke 16x6 rim rated 3045lbs for $42.95/2-4 $40.80/5+ $38.66 (don't forget the spare) The same thing in a modular wheel is NW128700. Both are 6 x 5.5 pattern.



Start measuring what you have and the weight and match it up...

[Texas1949]

Thanks for all the information.
I am leaving for Calif (flying out) in the morning and will be back Wednesday... I will be off the rest of the week so I will head to discount tire and do some checking.

If all permits I will be taking the Cruiser out on its 1st outing on Friday..








Edited by: Texas1949