Wheel Dilemna

[Air Cruiser]

We bought our first AS about two weeks ago. Pulled her home from Michigan and upon closer inspection, found that the tires are in serious need of replacement -- weather checked badly.

The current tires are 7.00/15 LT Highway, load range D, 8-ply. We have read, reread, and searched more to read all we could on tires. We now have read so much that we feel confident that we don't know of a tire we feel safe placing on our baby in the 15" size. Most of the possible tires have had many threads telling of really bad happenings.

What we really would like is to be able to put Michelins on her, but to do that we have to run 16" rims, and then we can get load range "E". My question is this, and I know somewhere there was a discussion mentioning that a wheel well correction may be needed for some AS's (but I don't recall reading any more than that) -- the question is, has anyone used, or does anyone know if 16" rims will fit onto a 1971 Safari, dual axle?

Thanks so much your any thoughts you may have.

D. Hall

[Mexray]

I too have thought of using a 'updated' wheel/tire combination...however, I've had good luck with the bias ply 700-15LT tires...

Sure radial ply tires have less rolling resistance, and are used on current models, But I still like the 'tracking' of the bias ply 700-15's - our AS tracks like it's on rails...

I put new tires on it last year, and haven't had any issues...think I'll stay with em' for now...this size is still popular on all kinds of trailers and readily available at a reasonable price...

Ray

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by D. Hall

We bought our first AS about two weeks ago. Pulled her home from Michigan and upon closer inspection, found that the tires are in serious need of replacement -- weather checked badly.

The current tires are 7.00/15 LT Highway, load range D, 8-ply. We have read, reread, and searched more to read all we could on tires. We now have read so much that we feel confident that we don't know of a tire we feel safe placing on our baby in the 15" size. Most of the possible tires have had many threads telling of really bad happenings.

What we really would like is to be able to put Michelins on her, but to do that we have to run 16" rims, and then we can get load range "E". My question is this, and I know somewhere there was a discussion mentioning that a wheel well correction may be needed for some AS's (but I don't recall reading any more than that) -- the question is, has anyone used, or does anyone know if 16" rims will fit onto a 1971 Safari, dual axle?

Thanks so much your any thoughts you may have.

D. Hall

The is a limited amount of space between the tire and the top of the wheel well.

16 inch tires reduce that clearance.

However, if the torsion arms on the axle are ok, then go for it.

If those arms indicate that the rubber rods have given out, then to install 16 inch tires would, I think, be asking for a possible fire if the tires were rubbing against the wheel well.

Careful examination will answer the question for you.

Andy

[Air Cruiser]

Thanks to both of you, Andy and Ray, for sharing your thoughts. We'll check out that clearance Andy -- sounds a little scary though. We discussed those bias ply tires, Ray, and we decided that those probably aren't for us -- I think I read that they are nylon and the tread goes away rather quickly, I think that's what I read.

I guess if we can't get 16"s on ours safely, our only recourse would be the Maxxis, but we really want something that is safe and made in the USA.

Thanks again.

D. Hall

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by D. Hall

Thanks to both of you, Andy and Ray, for sharing your thoughts. We'll check out that clearance Andy -- sounds a little scary though. We discussed those bias ply tires, Ray, and we decided that those probably aren't for us -- I think I read that they are nylon and the tread goes away rather quickly, I think that's what I read.

I guess if we can't get 16"s on ours safely, our only recourse would be the Maxxis, but we really want something that is safe and made in the USA.

Thanks again.

D. Hall

Marathons are safe and made in the USA, once again.

Keep in mind, that the more of anything that's in use, means more exposure and even at a very small failure rate, more people will experience the issue.

A one percent failure of a Chevy as opposed to a Mazzerati, is a huge difference in numbers.

Numbers don't really mean anything, until you have something to compare them with.

Andy

[streamair]

Unfortunately, you're probably going to have a hard time finding a tire that is made in the USA. I believe Marathon's are coming from all over the place.

If you want to see where your tires were manufactured, you can find out from the DOT code that should be stamped on every tire.

You can use this link to then figure out which country, city, & plant it came from.
(All the D.O.T. Tire Plant Codes)

Find out more information about what the DOT code means at the below link as well.
(How to determine the age of a trailer tire | Trailer Parts Blog)

[Air Cruiser]

Thanks, Streamair, for those links, they should come in very handy.

Deb