MoHo wheels and tires ?

[Gregsch]

I have a 24' AS Moho that needs tires bad! Checked into replacement tires and found that the 16.5" wheels are obsolete. If I need to buy new wheels would it make sense to upgrade to the 19.5" wheels? I have the 454 engine and 400 trans and a 411 axle. This thing is really rev'ed up at 65mph. I was thinking that going with the bigger wheels and tires might give the added benefit of better fuel mileage. Has anyone had any experience with this upgrade? Will they fit?

[AdamB]

Gregsh, I cannot provide an answer for this but I wonder if you've tried calling Airstream or perhaps asking Inland RV. Also, I'm not sure what chassis you have, but IRV2 has specific chassis forums that might be able to help. And of course, consult your local tire dealer who deals with RVs and big trucks.

[Protagonist]

Without knowing the exact tire size you're looking to replace (not just rim size) and the air pressure they will need to hold, no one can say what will fit, not even a dealer.

Some things to consider while you're looking up the information on your existing tires…

Larger overall diameter (tire diameter, not wheel diameter) throws your speedometer out of whack. There's the issue of whether larger tires will fit inside the wheelwells without scaping anything, especially in front when you turn. Your new rims have to fit your existing lug pattern unless you also want to replace the hubs. For truck tires, all-steel rims get very heavy as you go up in size, and you'll be increasing your unsprung weight, putting additional wear and tear on your suspension and giving you a rougher ride

If you really can't find 16.5 tires out there that have the right load range, then the next closest fit would be either a 16 or a 17. Jumping all the way up to 19.5's is not a good idea.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Jumping all the way up to 19.5's is not a good idea.

For many reasons, including bearing wear. I have to replace all six of our 19.5 Goodyear 12 plys this year. My tire guy, who has maintained my fleet over the years, said, "don't sit down, lay down when I give you the price per." $400.00 each. Oh well, you only live once, and if you can't afford it, do something else.

[Bfrank]

Cooper makes a LT tire 875R 16.5 they are still made just not common as they were 20 years ago I would stay with the 16.5's otherwise you have to purchase a set of 8 lug rims Also My 24ft Excella MH would not have the wheel well clearance to put a larger tire in the rear

[Keyair]

I had 16.5's on my 77 Dodge Van. I ditched them and put 16s on without issues.
Talk to Stespot here on the forum, who has a 1982 24' classic running on 16's and ask her what size she has.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Gregsch

I have a 24' AS Moho that needs tires bad! Checked into replacement tires and found that the 16.5" wheels are obsolete. If I need to buy new wheels would it make sense to upgrade to the 19.5" wheels?

On our 1974 20' Argosy motor home I ended up swapping wheels from our 81 chevy dually pickup that had 16" wheels. You can buy 16" tires a lot easier than the 16.5" tires and you can get 16" diameters that are very close to the same as the 16.5" tires so your speedometer will still be accurate.

Plus 16" tires are a lot cheaper than 19.5" tires.

You can buy 16" wheels all day long for pretty decent prices. Even the chrome trim rings aren't that expensive. I ended up selling the dually right after I swapped wheels.

Brad

[Gregsch]

I checked around at local wrecking yards and found that if they had 16" wheels the wanted $100 or more each. None of them were very helpful when it came to crossreferencing another make and model wheel that would work. I did find some 8.75r-16.5 tires for approx $200 each, installed. I bought a couple of wire wheels for my 4" grinder and started grinding all the rust off the rims. They actually look pretty good when I get done with them. The 19.5 aluminum wheel and tire set-up was going to cost between $3200 and $4000. This way I will have $2500 to make repairs to some of the other systems that need repaired. This MoHo needs lots of things to bring it back to life!

[Gregsch]

Here are some photos of the wheels I painted. Took about an hour and a half to grind and sand each wheel. Spray painted them with Duplicolor wheel paint.

[Phoenix]

We replaced the 16.5-inch wheels on our old 1978 Chevy crewcab pickup with 16-inch, white-spoke steel wheels. Cost was less than $100 per wheel, and this greatly expanded the selection of tires available for our pickup. We installed Michelin LTX M/S, load range E tires, which had a higher load rating than the old 16.5-inch tires. Absolutely no problems in doing the change-over. Any tire store can help you select the proper wheels (we used Discount Tire).

Note: Costco used to carry one tire in 16.5-inch size, but there was no selection to choose from. Didn't like that tire, so decided to make the switch. This was several years ago; and a year after doing this, we purchased a new pickup.

[ViewRVs]

I've got 16.5" on my Argosy 20'. I do plan on swapping the tires out with 16" when they wear out. I am a few years away. The current tires are fairly new and have lots of tread.

Sam's Club stocks and will install 16" tires but not 16.5" tires.