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10-22-2012, 12:54 PM
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#1
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Rivet Master
2005 30' Classic
Kingston
, Washington
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 693
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Another Successful 15" to 16" Upgrade
After our near-miss on a tread separation of our Goodyear marathon, we decided to take the plunge to 16 inch wheels and LT tires. If we had a lighter trailer, I probably would have gone with 15 inch LT tires, but the tire load rating was just too close for comfort.
We went with the Eddir Bauer-type wheels and Michelin LTX M/S LT225/75R16 tires (2,680 lb each at 80 PSI). Looks great (in my opinion)! By the way, the tire pressure in the pictures is about 42 PSI (pressure they came with from Performance Plus), they do look a bit squished. I later inflated them to 65.
So, here's the before and after pictures...
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10-22-2012, 02:12 PM
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#2
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Rivet Master
2006 23' Safari SE
Biloxi
, Mississippi
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 8,278
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What was the inflation pressure, speed, age and condition of tires, etc. of your old tires and what are the recommended inflation pressures from the manufacture for your current tire and trailer combination?
__________________
MICHAEL
Do you know what a learning experience is? A learning experience is one of those things that says "You know that thing that you just did? Don't do that."
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10-22-2012, 02:43 PM
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#3
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Rivet Master
1991 34' Excella
Princeton
, New Jersey
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 7,070
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I think I have mentioned this before. When it come to inflation pressure you should go to the inflation chart and look at the pressure to support the weight of the vehicle. The number stamped on the side of the tire is just a MAX. and not a recommendation.
http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/rv_inflation.pdf
Now some are going to question why I put up a Goodyear chart. The government requires all tires of a given size and rating to meet the same standards and there for pressure recommendations are common for a given size. The chart is good just the tires arn't.
Michelin took their chart off the web a few years back.
__________________
WBCCI 12156 AIR 3144 WACHUNG TAC NJ6
2004 Excursion 4x4
1991 34 ft. Excella +220,000 miles, new laminated flooring, new upholstery, new 3200 lbs axles
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10-22-2012, 02:56 PM
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#4
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4 Rivet Member
2004 30' Classic Slideout
Between Here
, And There
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 379
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Looks Great! What was the part number for those wheels at Performance Plus.
We changed to 15" E rated tires a few years ago and that seems to have ended our tire problems. But I think moving to 16" E rated tires & wheels will give us extra comfort.
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10-22-2012, 07:57 PM
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#5
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Rivet Master
2005 30' Classic
Kingston
, Washington
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 693
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HowieE
I think I have mentioned this before. When it come to inflation pressure you should go to the inflation chart and look at the pressure to support the weight of the vehicle. The number stamped on the side of the tire is just a MAX. and not a recommendation.
http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/rv_inflation.pdf
Now some are going to question why I put up a Goodyear chart. The government requires all tires of a given size and rating to meet the same standards and there for pressure recommendations are common for a given size. The chart is good just the tires arn't.
Michelin took their chart off the web a few years back.
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HowieE,
Thanks for the post. That chart is the one I used to come up with 65 PSI; probably from one of your previous posts.
Thanks again.
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10-22-2012, 08:04 PM
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#6
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Rivet Master
2005 30' Classic
Kingston
, Washington
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 693
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AWCHIEF
What was the inflation pressure, speed, age and condition of tires, etc. of your old tires and what are the recommended inflation pressures from the manufacture for your current tire and trailer combination?
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AWCHIEF,
The old tires were the originals on our '05 trailer that we purchased last year. I ran them at 65 PSI also. I was starting to look for new tires when we had a near miss with a tire starting to separate (fortunately it did not come apart - and installed the spare). We typically tow at speeds of less than 60 MPH, but sometimes get as high as 65 MPH.
Regards.
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10-22-2012, 08:11 PM
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#7
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Rivet Master
2005 30' Classic
Kingston
, Washington
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 693
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fltlevel510
Looks Great! What was the part number for those wheels at Performance Plus.
We changed to 15" E rated tires a few years ago and that seems to have ended our tire problems. But I think moving to 16" E rated tires & wheels will give us extra comfort.
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fltlevel,
These wheels are ... "T03 TRAILER BLACK MACHINED RIM by SENDEL WHEELS" manufacturers part number: T03-66655BM.
Regards.
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10-22-2012, 08:39 PM
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#8
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Rivet Master
2012 25' Flying Cloud
Battle Lake
, Minnesota
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 7,714
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We also switched to 16" wheels and Michelin XL.
It is important to note that those with smaller trailers that have a single axle may be carrying more weight per tire than the OP's double axle 30' Classic.
doug k
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10-22-2012, 09:01 PM
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#9
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Rivet Master
1959 26' Overlander
Nowhere
, Washington
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 573
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Do you have any plans for your old 15" wheels? I'm looking for a new set.
Norm
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11-12-2012, 08:36 PM
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#10
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Rivet Master
2005 30' Classic
Kingston
, Washington
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 693
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First Trip with the New Wheels/Tires
We just returned from the first outing with the new 16" wheels and tires. I checked the tire temperature with my hand at a rest stop along I-5 a couple of times. The tires were actually cool to the touch. With the old tires, they were always quite warm (it is the cool time of year, but the difference is still very noticeable).
I would like to thank everyone who posted their experiences with changing to 16" wheels (and even those that did not change). The knowledge gained from reading about this made the decision and wheel/tire choice much easier for me.
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11-27-2012, 07:11 PM
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#11
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3 Rivet Member
Taylors
, South Carolina
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 201
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 10Smiles
After our near-miss on a tread separation of our Goodyear marathon, we decided to take the plunge to 16 inch wheels and LT tires. If we had a lighter trailer, I probably would have gone with 15 inch LT tires, but the tire load rating was just too close for comfort.
We went with the Eddir Bauer-type wheels and Michelin LTX M/S LT225/75R16 tires (2,680 lb each at 80 PSI). Looks great (in my opinion)! By the way, the tire pressure in the pictures is about 42 PSI (pressure they came with from Performance Plus), they do look a bit squished. I later inflated them to 65.
So, here's the before and after pictures...
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There is a tire industry standard to use for setting your tire pressure. I’m just going to outline the procedure for your new recommended cold tire pressure.
Use the information on your trailer’s tire placard or certification label. Find a tire inflation table for the Original Equipment tires (OE). Then find their load capacity from the manufacturers recommended tire pressure found on the placard. Now find a tire inflation table for the new tires. Your new recommended cold tire pressure will be the amount of pressure required to equal or exceed the load capacity of the OE tires. You should not use anything less.
BlackAces
__________________
BlackAces
USN - RET - PDRL
DoD & SSA - RET
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11-28-2012, 02:56 PM
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#12
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Rivet Master
2012 25' Flying Cloud
Battle Lake
, Minnesota
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 7,714
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I have the installed the 16" Michelin EB tires/wheels as well. Unsure about tire pressure, I looked at the tire pressure placard on an Eddie Bauer and it was 80 psi. I have the same tire/wheel com on an Airstream so I set mine at 80 psi, not the 65 psi recommended for the old tires/wheels.
doug k
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11-28-2012, 03:10 PM
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#13
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Rivet Master
1991 34' Excella
Princeton
, New Jersey
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 7,070
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__________________
WBCCI 12156 AIR 3144 WACHUNG TAC NJ6
2004 Excursion 4x4
1991 34 ft. Excella +220,000 miles, new laminated flooring, new upholstery, new 3200 lbs axles
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11-28-2012, 03:21 PM
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#14
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Rivet Master
2012 25' Flying Cloud
Battle Lake
, Minnesota
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 7,714
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Thanks Howie, I did see that table and the 80 psi looks good to me there.
My belief is Airstreams recommended pressure of 80 psi is the one to use, as load might not be Airstreams only consideration.
The 80 psi is also what Discount Tire put in them when they mounted them. I only told them they were going on an Airstream travel trailer.
doug k
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11-28-2012, 06:26 PM
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#15
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4 Rivet Member
2006 30' Classic
Yonkers
, New York
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 280
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HowieE
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Feel free to dive in please.
Looking at the chart, my interpretation is: take the weight of your loaded AS and divide it by the number of tires (i.e 4 for 30 Classic and 6 for 34 Classic) = X load. Look at your tire size (example LT225/75/16) line on the chart and trace it to the right till you see your X load point or approximate. Now trace that point up till you see the PSI inflation #.
Example: My 30 Ft Classic fully loaded per Cat scale = 9071 Lb
30 Ft Classic tires = 4
Load per tire assuming AS is balanced 9071/4 = 2268 LB
On the Chart
With LTX 225/75/16 my 2268 LB load per tire (single)falls on 65 psi (2335 load point)
With ST 225/75/15, my 2268 LB load per tire (single) falls on 55 psi (2270 load point).
BUT if I load my 30 Ft Classic to the max of 10,000 Lb (load per tire= 2500), then:
LXT 225/75/16 will rise to 75 psi (2560 load point) and,
ST 225/75/15 will rise to 65 psi (2540 load point)
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11-28-2012, 06:32 PM
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#16
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3 Rivet Member
2005 30' Safari
Kanata
, Ontario
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 210
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Lots of traffic that the recommended tire pressure for trailer tires is the maximum pressure as listed on the sidewall. This is to keep the sidewalls stiff to deal with the lateral forces during sharp turns - especially on tandom trailers.
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11-28-2012, 07:47 PM
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#17
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Rivet Master
2012 25' Flying Cloud
Battle Lake
, Minnesota
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 7,714
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I think we've all seen these lateral forces working on our tandem axle tires when parking the 'stream. I would expect it in crosswinds and when passed by semi's on the freeway, so its also a stability issue.
Beside benefitting from maximum load capacity, that would be more reason to use the Airstream recommended 80 psi.
doug k
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11-28-2012, 08:16 PM
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#18
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Rivet Master
Port Orchard
, Washington
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 4,463
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dkottum
I think we've all seen these lateral forces working on our tandem axle tires when parking the 'stream. I would expect it in crosswinds and when passed by semi's on the freeway, so its also a stability issue.
Beside benefitting from maximum load capacity, that would be more reason to use the Airstream recommended 80 psi.
doug k
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Sooner or later, one of the "My stream's gotta have a soft ride" guys will find this thread. That's when the fun starts.
Ken
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11-28-2012, 08:40 PM
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#19
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Rivet Master
2012 25' Flying Cloud
Battle Lake
, Minnesota
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 7,714
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Ken, that crossed my mind too and I suppose we're setting up for another dogfight over it. All the more reason to use the Airstream recommended pressure. When the sweat and blood begin to fly, we at least know we're doing what the mfg tells us to.
doug k
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11-29-2012, 04:42 AM
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#20
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CapriRacer
I'm in the
, US
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 990
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A word of caution:
Tires aren't usually loaded evenly. There can be side to side differences and front to rear differences. Any calculation that uses the average is sure to have at least one tire overloaded - unless a factor is included to compensate.
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