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Old 05-13-2011, 05:59 AM   #1
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Tires for 1987 Excella 8300 lbs. Load Range D or E?

Just bought 1987 32' Excella! Weighs 8300 lbs. Tires have dry rot. Need to tow 150 miles only and will park. Current tires are labelled H78-15ST. Should I buy Load Range D or E? Is 8-ply sufficient? Or do I need 10-ply? Must buy tires by 5/15, so all advice is welcome! Thank you, Barbara
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Old 05-13-2011, 06:15 AM   #2
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I would look at "C" or "D" load rated tires....the stiffer the tires, the stiffer the ride which will eventually cause vibrations in the trailer....
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Old 05-14-2011, 10:40 PM   #3
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Tire rating

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Originally Posted by barbann View Post
Just bought 1987 32' Excella! Weighs 8300 lbs. Tires have dry rot. Need to tow 150 miles only and will park. Current tires are labelled H78-15ST. Should I buy Load Range D or E? Is 8-ply sufficient? Or do I need 10-ply? Must buy tires by 5/15, so all advice is welcome! Thank you, Barbara
Hello Barbara. If the trailer is 8300 lbs that means each tire must support 2075 lbs. The tires you buy should have that capability as a minimum. This is what determines if you can use D or E tires. Good luck, happy camping
Regards nm1oqrz
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Old 05-15-2011, 08:12 AM   #4
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You are going to buy all new tires to tow the trailer 150 miles "only" and then let is sit?
That is a lot of money for 150 miles,
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Old 05-15-2011, 08:20 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by barbann View Post
Just bought 1987 32' Excella! Weighs 8300 lbs. Tires have dry rot. Need to tow 150 miles only and will park. Current tires are labelled H78-15ST. Should I buy Load Range D or E? Is 8-ply sufficient? Or do I need 10-ply? Must buy tires by 5/15, so all advice is welcome! Thank you, Barbara
Barbara.

Your Airstream more than likely came with "D" tires.

Use those as a replacement.

If you wish to go to "E" tires, all wheel manufacturers say that you should also change the wheels, if they are steel.

The issue is that when a given steel wheel uses as an example a "D" tire for years, if you increase the tire to an "E" it will cause the wheels to split.

We had a customer that did not wish to believe that, so between Corona and Phoenix, he split 3 out of the 4 wheels.

Mag wheels do not share that same problem.

Andy
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Old 05-15-2011, 09:17 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by barbann View Post
Just bought 1987 32' Excella! Weighs 8300 lbs. Tires have dry rot. Need to tow 150 miles only and will park. Current tires are labelled H78-15ST. Should I buy Load Range D or E? Is 8-ply sufficient? Or do I need 10-ply? Must buy tires by 5/15, so all advice is welcome! Thank you, Barbara
If all you're ever going to do is tow the trailer 150 miles and park it forever, ST225/75R15D tires will suffice. Load range C tires are only about $5 each cheaper, so there's no real savings using the lighter duty tire. If you're planning on towing it after you get it home and get everything working, you can look at the same size tire in a load range E. Maxxis makes them. You don't have to inflate the tires to the 80 psi shown on the sidewall, you can run 65 (D load range pressure) in them. You will then get the benefit of the heavier duty tire without beating the trailer up with the higher pressure.
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Old 05-15-2011, 09:24 AM   #7
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Hi Barbara,

Welcome to the forum!

Andy's and Terry's advice is right on, like always!

If you decide to use E rated tires, like I did, in lieu of the original D rated, and you already have aluminum mag wheels, make sure you know what the wheels' maximum allowed pressure is.

The wheels on my Safari have a max pressure of 65 psi. The max pressure on my E tire is 80 psi. So, I cannot safely inflate my E rated tires to the max, to get the best load rating.

Alan
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Old 05-24-2011, 05:33 AM   #8
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Tires for 1987 32' Excella-Thanks for the good advice!

Hi everybody! Thanks so much for all the advice! There is a lot to learn about Airstreams. We bought new Load D tires; the ones on the trailer were Load C, and my husband did the weight/4 calculation and Load D 8-ply seemed sufficient. Yes, it cost some money, but a lot less than the trailer itself and we didn't want to risk a blow out. Now I have a question about an anti-sway bar, which I'll post in the other section. Airstreamers are SO nice! Barbann
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