New Shoes for my Sunny

[Gene]

My old tires still look like new but I figured it was time for new ones. I ordered Maxxis 205-75R-14 from Discount Tire Direct and went up from load range B to load range C. While I was at it, I ordered new aluminum rims. When they are ordered together they mount the tires on the rim and balance them at no charge and they have "free" shipping. They arrived Wednesday but I waited until today with lower heat and humidity to put them on.

My "Sunny" now:



New rims:



I did check the offset on my existing wheels and it looked like about 5mm. The new wheels have a 0 offset but when I mounted one new one the offset matched the old one next to it I also got a new lug nut package and one nut on each wheel needs a "key" to remove the lugnut.


Maybe I should mention, the date code on the old tires is 0902 !!! and they still look good with no cracking and little wear and no leaks. (tread depth .24 inches)

By comparison, the Michelin Tires on my wife's Camry cracked and leaked after 5 years.

[Jim-Bev-2363]

Nothing but class! Looks great!

[Poppy & Nana]

And what is the date code on the new tires???

[mike71654]

How do you find the date code on the tires? I just bought a 1996 Sunliine and have no idea how old te tires are.
Thanks

[clueless campers]

Hi Mike,
This link shows where to find and how to decode the date code.

[GoodoleBob]

Gene, they look very good on your Sunny! I think if a person wanted alloy wheels and needed tires they could not have done better than you did with the one stop shopping. Saved yourself a lot of hassle in the bargain too. A very nice change indeed!

[EMD_Driver]

Good deal!

I'd sure love to have aluminum wheels on our Sunny, but it just isn't in the budget..

[Sunline Fan]

Well, I did it. I had been looking at aluminum wheels for mine ever since seeing some I really liked during my internship.

I looked into tires today to replace all of them. To get what I wanted, the tires were about $150 a piece at the local tire store. It was cheaper from Tirerack, but then I'd have to get them mounted, so it would be about equal.

Well today I contacted Tredit Tire & Wheel company, a popular RV tire/wheel supplier, and also the company that supplied the original tires and wheels to Sunline. They quoted me $151.03 for the exact aluminum wheels I wanted with the tires I wanted, mounted and ready to go. For an extra $5, they'd balance them. I'm also getting the matching center caps (because the Versa Loks won't work with the thicker aluminum wheel) and new capped lug nuts.

This is what they'll look like. I saw a Sunline ('05 2363) with them one time and they look very nice:






I guess I'm making a trip to Elkhart tomorrow... I certainly didn't want to do all this right now, but I'm afraid if I do one tire, the other one on that side will go and I'll be into two tires, and then I may as well do them all anyway.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Poppy & Nana

And what is the date code on the new tires???

I hate say it, I was dissapointed, the code is 3511 ... late August of 2011. They were very good about communicating with me about concerns I had about matching the JJ rim profile but I neglected to say they should have been ??12.

Gary, I started thinking of new rims when I saw some Kitty posted here quite some time ago on a previous Sunny. When I admitted to myself that I needed to replace the 10 year old tires, that picture came to mind.

[Gene]

Jon,

Good choice, those look good. Of course we expect pictures of yours when you get them mounted.

[Sunline Fan]

I think that can be arranged

I too am hoping the date codes are within a decent age. I mean, they're in Elkhart supplying a lot of RV manufacturers and cargo trailer manufacturers, and while a smaller percentage use the Marathon, I'm hoping they move enough to have some fresh inventory.

[kanyonkitty]

Here is a pic of the rims I had put on my '87 T-1661:


And here is a photo of the rims that came from the factory when I special ordered my '06 T-2499 with aluminum rims:

[clueless campers]

Originally Posted by kanyonkitty

And here is a photo of the rims that came from the factory when I special ordered my '06 T-2499 with aluminum rims:

It looks like PTHutch started something. I thought Jon's new rims would look cool with the magnets but aluminum isn't magnetic. I guess they could be glued on.

[Gene]

That Sunline emblem in the center looks cool.

[kanyonkitty]

I glued the magnets on the rims The magnets came from CafePress. We have several things available from them. If you haven't checked them out, please do so.

Kitty

http://shop.cafepress.com/sunline

[Sunline Fan]

Well, after 363.5 miles and almost ten hours later, I got back with the new wheels and tires.

They are everything I expected. For those who are curious, the date codes are either 1312 or 1412, so they are plenty fresh. Plus, they had them all aired up to 65 PSI like they needed to be.

After hearing on the radio all day long that tomorrow would be a high in the 90s as well as the rest of the week, I decided today would be my best chance at changing them since it was only a high in the low 80s and cooler this evening. Not what I wanted to do after being on the road so much, but I'm glad everything went smooth.



I guess this helps make it resemble Kitty's model now with these wheels?

I may consider adding a decoration to the outer cap at some point in the future, but I would probably do the Sunline logo to match the trailer graphics before I'd do the club logo.

[Gene]

That looks really nice Jon.

[Poppy & Nana]

Oh WOW!!!!! Jon did a mod to his Sunline!!!

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by Poppy & Nana

Oh WOW!!!!! Jon did a mod to his Sunline!!!

Yes, but it can very easily be put back to stock with the factory wheels and Mission tires. Since the spare wheel is the later 2007 style and the other four are early '07/'06, all I have to do is find someone to swap the spare tire with the wheel and it would look original again.

The best part is, I don't have to worry about losing one of the factory hubcaps anymore!

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by Gene

That looks really nice Jon.

Thanks Gene! Yours do too! Aluminum rims really help to make these Sunny trailers glisten!