Tried on some Firestones for size....

[Wayward]

.....and they fit.

For those looking for 15" tires, here are some pictures of the Firestones I put on our 2006 25' Safari today. They are replacing 225/75x15 Goodyear Marathons. The GYMs have served well but were at about 30% tread and showing some age related sidewall cracking.

I pulled all the way up on to leveling blocks, took off two wheels at a time in the Firestone dealer's parking lot, and they mounted/balanced them.

About the tire....... It is a 235/75R15 Firestone Destination LE2. It has XL load rating of 2200 lbs. It is a popular tire for 1/2 ton pickups and SUVs so the dealer had them in stock . I have been running Destination ATs on all of our trucks of many years now. Great tires zero problems.

Compared to the GYMs.......
- It stands about a 1/4" higher than the GYM (28.9" in diameter vs 28.3")
- It protrudes about a 1/4" further on each side of the rim than the GYMs. (9.3" section width vs 8.8")
- It has about the same load capacity as the GYM (2183lbs vs 2150lb)

They fit back in the wheel wheel fine although I did have to "tuck" the top of the tire in behind the edge of the wheel wheel first. As expected, there is about 1/4" less clearance at the front and rear edges of the wheel well but still plenty of room(pic below). No clearance problems on the sides either.

Max tire pressure is 50lbs, so I've started out at 45lbs.

We took it for a short city/interstate test drive and I could find no signs of rubbing. They look better and the only noticeable difference so far is that they are quieter than the GYMs.

Best of all they are made in Canada! Not China.

[daveswenson]

Thanks for coming up with another 15 inch option. I really don't want to spring for 16 inch wheels. I hoped that at least one manufacturer would continue to make an XL tire in 15".

[Wayward]

Originally Posted by daveswenson

Thanks for coming up with another 15 inch option. I really don't want to spring for 16 inch wheels.

YW. I'm glad to share the info. I see no need for 16" wheels either. These look greatwith stock rims and have lots of other things to spend money on

btw I should have included price. They were $500 mounted and balanced, tax, fees and metal valve stems, on sale....

[RLS]

Wayward,
I started another thread trying to find out if tires that were 1/4" wider on ea. side would fit. For some reason your pictures are not showing up. What do you think, would tires that are 1/2" wider than the ones you put on still fit?

Thanks, Bob

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Wayward

.....and they fit.

snip

About the tire....... It is a 235/75R15 Firestone Destination LE2. It has XL load rating of 2200 lbs. It is a popular tire for 1/2 ton pickups and SUVs so the dealer had them in stock . I have been running Destination ATs on all of our trucks of many years now. Great tires zero problems.

Compared to the GYMs.......
- It stands about a 1/4" higher than the GYM (28.9" in diameter vs 28.3")
- It protrudes about a 1/4" further on each side of the rim than the GYMs. (9.3" section width vs 8.8")
- It has about the same load capacity as the GYM (2183lbs vs 2150lb)

snip

Best of all they are made in Canada! Not China.

Glad you found tires that fit. It is important to remember that when you place a Passenger tire such as the P235/75R15 XL Firestone Destination LE2
on a truck, SUV or trailer the load capacity, even of an XL load range tire must be reduced by dividing the load by 1.10 so your actual load capacity at 41 psi is 2183/1.1 or 1,984# but I think you will be happy with these tires.

RE inflation pressure. The 50 max is for mounting safety. I think that if you read the tire sidewall you will see something like Max load 2183 lbs at 41 psi, along with the metric stuff. I don't have a tire in front of me to check the sidewall but you should.

[jimfa440]

Most tire shops here won't install a tire on a trailer that is not ST rated. They say they are not permitted to do so by law. I've gone through this a couple of times.

[cwf]

We have Goodyears on our 34'... they are 15"... working super!

[switz]

The Michelin LTX (P) 235/75R15 XL tires are sidewall rated for 2,183 pounds @ 50 psi but must be derated to 1,985 pounds for the trailer use per federal regulation 49 CFR 571.110.

I installed this Michelin tire on the stock 15" wheels on the 25FB and set the pressure at 44 psi.

l acquired 15" SenDel wheels with a 14" bolt circle that match our Classic's wheels and installed the same Michelins on the 23D with a Dill TPMS 1506-453 system.

[m.hony]

Hmm...
Maybe I should re-think the Sendel 16" and LT tires for my Classic 30-
The Michelin LTX P235/75R15 XL tires derated to 1,985 x 4 = more than my trailer weighs (8,800#) but less than the GVW (10,000#)-
Maybe stick with the plan-
Sendel 16" wheels from the internet-
Tires locally with a discount from work-
New McGard (?) lug nuts-
Dill (?) TPMS-

[Sovereign85]

I installed Gladiator ST225 75r15/10, QR25-TS Highway, load range E, using tubeless metal valve stems, on our 1985 25’ Airstream Sovereign TT several months ago.

These tires carried our Airstream through Canada to Alaska and back with no issue. The tires performed very well on gravel roads, in highway construction areas, over highway frost heaves, and the multitude of other obstacles on the route. They maintained a constant air pressure. Our favorite travels frequently take us on two-lane and back roads, and we are confident the Gladiators will stand up well.

At this point, I foresee no reason to install Goodyear Marathon as suggested by our Airstream dealership.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by jimfa440

Most tire shops here won't install a tire on a trailer that is not ST rated. They say they are not permitted to do so by law. I've gone through this a couple of times.

The "Not permitted by law" is always a nice claim when you don't want to do something.
I would challeneg the salesman if they would sell any tire that is not exactly the same size to go on a car pr pickup. I have seen many tire store advertise the "Plus-one and Plus-two" size switch for performance cars when this usually involves actually lowering the load capacity of the tires.

[cwf]

Show me "the law".

Or, change tire dealer.

If in a bind, walk in with the old wheel/tires and tell them mount and balance.

[Wayward]

Originally Posted by RLS

Wayward,
I started another thread trying to find out if tires that were 1/4" wider on ea. side would fit. For some reason your pictures are not showing up.

What do you think, would tires that are 1/2" wider than the ones you put on still fit?

Thanks - I reposted pics

Regarding the 1/2" extra on each side (assuming you mean 1" extra Section Width). It may be worth a try. On these tires (1/2" extra Section Width), I just ran my fingers inbetween the tire and shocks after installing and there was room enough. If I was trying to fit 1" wider tires, I'd probably have gotten under and measured the clearances on the inside and top edge of wheel well first.

[Wayward]

Originally Posted by jimfa440

Most tire shops here won't install a tire on a trailer that is not ST rated. They say they are not permitted to do so by law. I've gone through this a couple of times.

I've never seen that - and have never walked into a tire shop with a rim that they refused to mount a tire on. I would find another shop that actually wanted my business.

Just relieve them of any liability and tell them the rims are off your other car. Especially cast aluminum Airstream rims ...how would they even know?

[Dan and Liz]

The 15" Firestone Destination LE2's are what I bought three years ago after looking at ratings on TireRack where they ranked right up with the Michelins (better in some areas). Not a speck of trouble except for one slow leak from a nail. Very pleased overall with them.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by RLS

Wayward,
I started another thread trying to find out if tires that were 1/4" wider on ea. side would fit. For some reason your pictures are not showing up. What do you think, would tires that are 1/2" wider than the ones you put on still fit?

Thanks, Bob

I can't address if a specific size will fit but simply going up one size would be reasonably close to the 1/2" width increase.

For example if your current size was an ST215/75R15 going to am ST225/75R15 would give you a tire that was approx 10mm ( about 3/8" wider over all)
Now it is important to remember that tire dimensions are approximate and if you change brands the actual with may be a little different.

Also don't forget that the OD would also increase which means the clearance between the tread and wheel well or the companion tire would change also.

You should be able to find published OD and width dimensiona from your tire companies web page.

One other item is that a change in wheel width (as published in the literature) will affect the tire width by about 40%. So a tire with a published width of 10" on a 6" wide rim would be about 10.2" on a 6-1/2" wide rim (40% of the 1/2" rim change = about 0.2")

[switz]

Both CostCo and Discount Tire knew both the 15" and 16" Michelin the tires were going on my trailers.

I did carry the original wheels in to CostCo (with the 25FB in the storage unit) two at a time to make the tire swap from GYM to 15"Michelins.

I took the SenDel 16" wheels from Discount Tire to CostCo where they mounted the 16" Michelin tires. Had to go back and dismount and remount the tires as they failed to note which TPMS sender letter was in each tire.

Discount Tire installed the 15" Michelins on the SenDel wheels for the 23D with no issues and there was a complete tire warranty issues as well.

[16595]

I understand that Continental makes an LT225/75R15. Should fit original rims.

[RLS]

Wayward, Tireman9

Thanks for the info. The reason I was asking is for these tires:
Nexen Roadian HTX RH5 LT255/70R15 D. The specs. are: Max. load lbs. single 2,535, dual 2,335 / Rim for measuring is 7.5 approved 6.5~8.0 / Section width 10.2" / Overall Diameter 29.1"

Since this is mounted on a 7.5 rim, the section width would be an even 10" mounted on a 7" rim. The average 235/75R15 tire has a section width of 9.3 mounted on a 6.5" rim or a section width of 9.5 mounted on a 7" rim. That means the Nexen tire is 1/2" wider or 1/4" more on each side. The overall diameter 0.3" more.

This tire comes closest to a D rated S tire in regards to load limit. 2,540LBS compared to 2,535LBS for the Nexen. Our trailer is on jacks right now, so not able to get exact measurements. If the extra width is OK, I will be ordering one to make sure it fits before getting more.

Tireman9, do you see or know anything negative about these tires?
Thanks,

[Tireman9]

Never heard of them. Wonder who makes them.
Who and where will you be able to get warranty service on this brand?

Do they have a dealer network in the area you travel?