15 to 16 inch wheel

[Julie-Bob]

What is the advantages of going from a 15" wheel to a 16" wheel on my AS??? The heel wells or close with a stock 15" wheel so it would be less with a 16" wheel

[Action]

There are several advantages -

The greatest one being higher load capacity in a 16" tire. (Versus a 15")

With that said load capacity is a Goldilocks thing. Both too much and too little are an issue. What is desired is enough load capacity in the tires that the greatest load ever anticipated is covered plus some reserve load capacity. 10 to 20% should do that job.

Trailer manufacturers typically install the lowest possible load capacity (because of cost) to make the trailer work. This is not always enough for some owners in the way they use the trailer.

Other advantages is ride quality, handling, availablility of replacements and may be some other advantages I can not recall at the moment. Others may chime in.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[Ray Eklund]

Action summed it up very well.

There are several Threads running on 16"... 'upgrades'. I am 100% content with the 16" conversion from 15" options. My trailer has had no structural or rivet popping since the conversion. Some interior rivets failed with the 15" D Rated tires that were factory installed, and none with the 'stiffer' E Rated 16 Michelin tires. Some correlate stiffer tires with more interior pop rivet failures. I have seen nothing... to date.

I attribute the interior pop rivets as a structural flexing in those curved areas and not the 15" or 16" tires being at fault. A manufacturing 'adjustment' being made while in use by the owner... Obvious high stress curved areas seem to be common with other owners, as well. Tires... at the present and in my opinion, are not related. If that changes, I will the first to report any additional interior or exterior rivet failures!

Other than the additional cost, there have been only positive improvements. E Rated for weight. Higher speed rated. Deeper tread may toss up gravel into the wheel well is a possible negative if traveling gravel at higher speeds. Double Axle with 16" tires with room to spare in wheel well, so fit is not an issue with our International.

The only negative, if anything at all. The trailer needs to be higher in order to install or remove a 16" tire. Maybe two inches... but that is the only change noticed while installing. My initial break in period of the 16" change over, I am optimistic that I have found MY SOLUTION to any potential tire failures to our 25 foot International. Loaded... or empty.

[Julie-Bob]

Thanks. I will check these out My tires are starting there third year so I need to start thinking about replacing them in two years.

[lovetokite]

and it looks better to boot

[OTRA15]

As Ray mentioned, there are lots of earlier threads on this, and his is one of the most complete IMO:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...es-148274.html

The new search function above in the blue box works great FYI, and here are the search results for "15" 16" Michelins" --

https://www.google.com/search?q=15%2...=airforums.com

Good luck!

Peter

[Wingeezer]

For many people here I believe the decision to go from 15 to 16" is not so much that there are advantages with the larger wheel diameter per se - although there may be = but rater that many folks have not been happy with reliability / performance of "Trailer Tires" (designated ST) and prefer to use "Light truck tires" (designated LT).

The feeling is that the are less likely to result in blow outs that can be extremely costly if the tire damages the side of your trailer due to flying rubber.

With heavier trailers such as my Classic 30, you are obliged to switch to a 16" wheel size i order to get an LT tire of the right cqpacity for the GVW of the trailer - hence the switch.

It may not be necessary for some of the shorter trailers.

As for the larger wheel size causing clearance problems, remember it is just 1/2" on the radius. It caused no problem in my trailer but is fairly close to the lower edge of the wheel
well.

If I were contemplating going this route on a shorter trailer, I would check the forum so see what others have found with the same model trailer.

[Action]

With an asterisk to the above post, the loading on any single axle trailer is much higher than the loading on larger or "heavier" multi-axle trailers.

>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[AL4411]

I thought long and hard about making the 15 to 16 inch conversion. Then Goodyear announced the Endurance tire. It looks like the Marathon with a few improvements.
1. Available in load range D or E (max. 2830 lbs. at 80 psi.). There is a chart with the load range for each psi under 80 so you can dial in your optimal pressure for your load.
2. An ST radial tire
3. Made in USA
As a motorcyclist and bicyclist, I consider tires my connection to earth and the place "where the rubber meets the road".
IMHO, tires are cheap insurance. I keep them covered when I am parked for more than one night. I check air pressure early on each day that I tow my AS. I put my hand on tires (to feel for excessive heat) whenever I stop after driving on bumpy or hot roads. I don't expect more than 40,000 miles out of a trailer tire. I know they can go further I don't like wearing shoes that are more than 2/3 to holes in the soles, why would I do that with tires?
For off roading, additional ground clearance is good. But for on road, it is adventageous to be lower. Why mess with the engineers decision?
The Goodyear Endurance tires have been on my trailer for a month and I've had no issues.

[Julie-Bob]

Thanks. I have started to read about this new tire from Goodyear. If they are that good why pay the cost of 16 and keep the 15.

[OTRA15]

FYI Bob, from another thread -- click on arrow in Quote to go there:

Originally Posted by OTRA15

The new Goodyear Endurance tires have been discussed on a number of recent threads including this one:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...sa-157249.html

Search results for other threads:

https://www.google.com/search?q=good...=airforums.com

The new search function at the top in the blue box works great, by the way!

Good luck,

Peter

PS -- We are also considering the Nokian AT 15" which has also been discussed on many threads.