LT Tires on trailers

[henryj]

Hi Kathy,
Wheels are supposed to be pressure rated--everybody says they are, but I have never seen the numbers on the them despite scouring the inside and outside of the 9 white spoke trailer wheels I now have. The load capacity is prominently stamped on the outside of the back side of the rim--that is the rim part, not the center hub or dish part. Since 1820 lb. is the capacity of an ST205 and 2150 lb. is the capacity of an ST225 it should come as no surprise that the wheels spec'd for these tire sizes just happen to exactly match the tires' rating. Then, the ST205 and ST225 spec'd for these respective rims are LRC tires rated at 50 psi. So, one could argue that the wheels are also spec'd at 50 psi, at least indirectly, and thus it is not necessary to stamp the max. psi on the wheel. Using the same logic, the ST225R15 LRD rated at 2540 lb. and 65 psi gets a 15x6 wheel rated at--you guessed it--2540 lb. and 65 psi. If all this sounds like a too convenient coincidence to be credible, I agree. We have no idea what load or psi these wheels are designed for because no manufacturer would put bigger numbers on them than the numbers that are already on the tires for which the rims are designed.

White spoke wheels are made in two pieces--the rim and the center dish. The center carries a good part of the weight and the stress of tire squirm in tight turns. It's very easy to manufacture a wheel where thicker steel is used in the center part. I don't have a micrometer or I'd measure this area on my 15x5 and 15x6. However, I doubt there is any difference at all in these wheels except for the rim width. But... I would be surprised if this steel wasn't thicker on the 6 bolt 15x6 rated at 2540 lb. So... I would not exceed the load capacity on a wheel--too risky. However, I have never understood the reason for the psi limitation. My previous truck came from the factory with 44 psi tires--and, by trailer logic, 44 psi wheels. It didn't even enter my mind that I shouldn't upgrade these tires to 65 psi LRD and, of course, nothing blew up when I did. I don't think twice when I put 80 psi into a bicycle tire either. I'm pretty much a "by the book" kind of guy and would not exceed the load capacity of a wheel, but, frankly, putting 65 psi in a 50 psi rim wouldn't bother me a bit.

Then the width... 15x5 is a very narrow wheel, although within spec for a ST205. I would definitely not put a ST225 on this rim; LT215 is out of spec on a 5" rim and you can't get an ST215. We travel 7-10,000 mi. per year and I just chose to be conservative and go with the 6" rim. Nevertheless, I did put the LT215 spare on a 5" wheel as I don't plan on using it anyway Load capacity never enters into this upgrade as the 15X5 is within spec for 3500 lb. axles.

The LT215 fits comfortably in the wheel well. IIRC Emam was running ST225 on their 2499 towards the end of their high mileage travels. However, I had already decided to go LT and the Yoko was a perfect match so I never considered ST225 in either LRC or LRD. I have no doubt that ST225 would be too close together for the BAL wheel chock and that would make me uncomfortable with tire/wheel well clearance generally.

I bought 13 tires for the truck, trailer and car in the last 6 mon. The Japanese made Yokos were the newest at only 3 mon. and they were ordered in from the warehouse. The LT Michelin for the truck were 4 mon., were made in the US, and they were in stock at the shop. The P Michelin for the car were not in stock, were ordered from the warehouse, were the the oldest at 5 mon., and they were made in Canada. I don't think you'll have the same luck with ST tires--12 mon. or less would be reasonable. Try and get a right of refusal for anything older and hope for newer.

I'm not advocating LT tires for everyone. I think ST tires, although they have gotten some bad press, including from me, are a reasonable risk for most RVers who travel only a couple thousand miles and stick fairly near to the well populated eastern seaboard. But... high mileage travel to western states that have more cows than people cries out for a premium tire. In your case, I'd take my chances with the Goodyear Marathon ST205.

Henry

[Poppy & Nana]

Thanks Henry - I will have to check the "size" of the white wagon wheel.....I could have swon I saw 15 x 6 on it!!!!!!!! But then again that was early this am before my tea!!!! LOL

[Poppy & Nana]

Henry - went out and checked before we put the tt into storage the while wheels are 15 x 5 - now my next question is - IF we go to a 15 x 6 do I need any info as to the stud pattern????

[henryj]

Wheels are typically identified as 15x6 5/4.5. The last two numbers are the bolt holes and the circle diameter. Cars may have different bolt circles, but I believe white spoke trailer wheels are always 4.5" if they have 5 bolt holes. One more thing to be aware of is that trailers typically take a zero offset wheel, but I believe the white spoke ones generally are--you should still specify that though just to be safe.

Henry

[Poppy & Nana]

Originally Posted by henryj

Wheels are typically identified as 15x6 5/4.5. The last two numbers are the bolt holes and the circle diameter. Cars may have different bolt circles, but I believe white spoke trailer wheels are always 4.5" if they have 5 bolt holes. One more thing to be aware of is that trailers typically take a zero offset wheel, but I believe the white spoke ones generally are--you should still specify that though just to be safe.

Henry

Thanks again Henry!!!!

[JohnB]

Hi Kathy

Henry gave you a lot of good info. I too have heard of the psi rating on trailer wheels yet I have not actually ever found the psi rating but have the weight load ratings. Knowing pressure and what it can do, there is a limit and steel will start deflecting over that limit however where that is in relation to the weight rating stamped is unknown.

Here is the inside rim off my T310SR. This is the bigger rim I run on the ST225R15 LRD rated at 2540 lb. tires. And these are bigger in diameter then yours.



I have been thinking about upgrading 1 tire ply size in my case to get more safety margin. Go from a D range to an E range. A st 225/75R15 E range tire at 2,830# at 65 psi. And the make a 15 x 6J 6 bolt rim for 2,850# to line up with that tire. Do not know if it is actually made different but it has the stamp on it. May be the same thing Henry found.

I believe "maybe" EMAN did this upgrade to larger wheels and I thought I saw Henry state this. I do not know how he made it around the wheel wheel issue. I'll have to dig up that old post. I also though he went LT's which may be where the larger tire came in.

The ST205/75R15's like you have now are 27.1" OD.

The ST225/75R15's like I have are 28.3" OD.

Or there is 1.2" or more so let's say 1 1/4" less wheel well top clearance, which on a low riding Sunline is a lot. You really do not want a lot less then 2 1/2" inches clearance up there. Dexter states 3" min but Sunline create 2 1/2" on mine from day 1 and it works. If I approach 2" it will not cover all conditions. EMAN had torsion axles and he had a suspension special lift from the factory. That may be how he handled the difference as he had more clearance above the tire to begin with and maybe more axle to axle difference.

You can see here how close my axles are:



Here is a comparison to my 04 T2499 which was a little wider. Not much but some.


And here is the distance to compare to what you have. This is off my T310SR on the bigger tires.


Basically my axle to axle center is 32". And on a 28.3 OD tire that is a gap between the 2 tires of 3.7 or 3 3/4" at the center. I have never had any issue being this close. And as you can see I have the home made wood wheel chocks and they work great. PTHutch uses the Bal's on this same setup on his bigger camper. I did have to trim my wood chocks when I moved them from the T2499 to the T310SR. So I know the T2499 had to have more room.

As far as dates on ST tires. Don't be in a hurry and speak up. If you do not request fresh tires odds are not in your favor to get them. You have to ask and tell them you can wait until they get them but you do not want anything older then... I told them I was shooting for 6 months but for sure no older then 9 months to 1 year max and I can wait. If they cannot do this then let me know and I'll go elsewhere. It depends on your tire guy if they want to deal with this or not as they have to hunt in the warehouse to find them. Waiting 1 to 2 weeks was no problem in my case and I only waited 2 days. I have 1 tire in the 9 months range the rest where I think in the 5 to 7 month range. I'll have to look to know for sure.

They know the problems, they are just not going to advertize it. Pending the brand of ST tire you get even the manufacture will not warrant the tire regardless of thread wear more then 5 years. They have no problems selling old tires, 2 years etc and you are then left with only 3 years of warranty for the same price as a 5 year warranty.

Hope this helps and good luck.

John

[Poppy & Nana]

thank you John that answered my questions about how old a tire should be!

[264SRinPA]

Our rims have a psi rating

15x6JJ = 2600# at 75 psi

Look at Dexstar's website, they show the specs for all their rims. Don't know if Sunline used Dexstar on all their trailers, but that's what came on ours.

[JohnB]

Mike

Thanks for the lead. Yup your right Dexstar Wheel Company Trailer Rims and Wheels

As you can see on mine, in 2004 Sunline used another brand as mine are not stamped that way.

[Poppy & Nana]

John & Mike....our were not stamped that way either....nothing to indicate Psi.....that is why I asked.

[henryj]

Good tip Mike--first time I've seen the numbers in an "official" way. My new 15x6 are Carlisle and they do not have the psi rating stamped on them. I suspect Sunline probably used Carlisle and Dexter interchangeably. Just noticed that Carlisle also lists the psi on their website--I missed that when I was shopping--and they are not the same as Dexter's. What are the odds that Carlisle and Dexter wheels are made in a different Chinese factory.

Henry

[JohnB]

Following in HenryJ’s footsteps, I’ll post my LT tire upgrade here to keep all the LT discussion flowing in 1 thread. And as Henry stated this move to LT tires takes research and pending your camper, a different level of work to get to the end goal. This conversion that I did may not be for everyone. You may learn some things from it, which is my hope so you can make a better decision based on your needs. It is a long read to the end and filled with pics. If you’re into the details, read on if not zoom to the end.

I was hoping this new tire decision would be 1.5 to 2 years off as my Denman ST225/75R15’s would reach the 5 year mark. I was not so fortunate. In the last 1,600 miles I have had 3 tire failures for detachment of the tread from the main tire on 3.5 year old tires. I will create a separate post on just that tire failure as there is a lot of good discussion on just spotting tire failures before they let go and then what to do.

So here I am earlier this year with a tire failure that I found here in my yard doing annual maintenance on the axles. I have been researching LT tires for my camper for some time. The drawback has been the size, ST225/75R15 Load range D. I have not found any LT tire that fits the same OD and width and has the correct weight ratings in that size. After my 1st failure, my research went into high gear as the problem was now beginning. The search turned up more and more frequent discussion among at least 1 tire company, 1 TT manufacture and a few tire engineers that tandem axle trailers should have a higher tire load capacity of reserve due to the tandem axle setup. The heat and other factors associated with the side flexing of a tandem axle setup even more aggravates the ST trailer tire problem in the industry.

Sunline was good to us. They on purpose at least put tires on the campers, (the newer ones I know of, maybe all of them,) where the tire load ratings can hold the entire GVWR of the camper. Not all brands do this. Since the truck holds up the tongue as long as you do not exceed the GVWR you have some % of reserve built in. How much depends on how your camper is built and how you load it. All tire positions are not loaded equal.

After my tire failure I wanted to know why it failed in case I messed up as I am meticulous to the point of being anal that everything on my TT tires is under the max of everything. So I went to the truck scales and here is what I came up with. Every time you weigh your camper it seems to grow more weight… With full fresh water I have managed to fill mine to just under GVWR. Yet the tires where still not above or at their load ratings but they are not the 15 to 20% more reserve as now thought to be needed for tandem axles.


In order to get my load ratings up to the 18 to 20% extra reserve capacity on all tire locations I needed to move up to a ST225/75R15 E load range or take the jump to LT tires in 16”. I needed new rims regardless of which way I went. Do I buy 5 new rims and stay with ST’s or buy 5 new rims, go to LT’s and then deal with the tire fender clearance problem? The lack of any US or Canada built ST trailer tire also weighed in this decision.

So after a lot of research and thought I came up with this plan. I bought 1 new Maxxis ST225/75R15 LR D to replace the one failed tire. I was also going to buy a flat deck trailer to transport my tractor and large mower back and forth to another property we have along with other moving needs. That flat deck uses the same ST225/75R15 LR D’s. I made the deal with the local trailer builder that I would bring my on tires and rims and to set the trailer up for 16” tires as they offer that upgrade too. The ST’s they were going to install I did not want. So I bought 5 new rims and 5 new LT225/75R16 LR E tires to first put on the flat deck. The long range plan was to later swap the ST’s from the camper to the flat deck and the LT’s to the camper. For those curious here is the trailer and the mower.


The mower being loaded with the little JD. The mower is so big you have to load it sideways to get it down the highway.


Now what made my mind up to go to LT’s?

My ST tires had a lot of stone cuts in the threads. Not a problem of air leaking or at this stage even tire failure, yet they had these very little cuts and the truck that pulls the same camper over the same gravel and campsites has none. I needed more cut resistance and the LT’s I picked offered that.

Quality. My faith in imported ST trailer tires is just not that high. While Maxxis has a higher track record of surviving more, they are not the solve all as they are still ST tires and they too have issues with weather cracking as I have seen on 2 of my sets/campers at year 4.5.

All season tire. We winter camp and not all tires are made for use below or near freezing. This was not a show stopper but a need.

Money, this is always a factor. Trailer tires is not a place to cheap out on. I was going to spend big bucks on new rims and at least Maxxis ST’s in LR E so I’m already spending more than normal. The LT’s I picked where $30 more a tire. So there is a $150 difference between LT and ST. While that is a enough to make one stop and think about it, I’m willing to pay a little more for what I feel is higher quality.

Speed rating and heat. While I only tow at 55 to 60 MPH (and that is all I need or want to) ST’s are maxed at 65 MPH. So I’m running a tire right up at it’s limit for heat generation which is a large part of tire failures. Yes, they are supposed to take it however which is better, running a ST tire rated at 65 MPH at 60 or a LT tire that can go way beyond it as far as being able to handle higher heat?

In this case I picked BF Goodrich LT22575/R16 LR E All season Commercial truck tire. Bought them from Discount tire.
Commercial T/A All-Season | BFGoodrich Tires



Now the rims. I wanted a quality rim and since I spent enough on the tires I went with steel rims. 264SRinPA (Mike) stated his Sunline has Dexstar’s on them. And after researching they are made here in the US. Yes, believe it or not… I bought 5 of them from Etrailer and I am pleased with the rims.
See here


They are painted very well, inside and out.


And the quality shows right at the stem hole. They on purpose made this flat to allow a metal valve stem to work right on them. See the stamped flat area around the stem hole. I had a heck of a time getting metal stems to seal on the 15” Korea made ones I had on the T310SR.






And no need for an external gasket. They seal from the get go like they are suppose to.


So I mounted all 5, added DynaBeads for balancing and here they are in front of my utility trailer full of work…(mulch)


So far this was the easy part. I put the LT’s on the flat deck, had the 1 new Maxxis spare, put the unused Denman spare on for the failed one and we headed out on vacation on a 1,600 mile trip. At this point the other 3 Denman’s where OK other than tiny stone cuts in the thread. During the trip I stopped at a gas station after about 800 miles and, holy cow, is that tire a bulge on the thread? Sure is…

If you going to change a tire on a camper, the NYS Thruway rest stop is the place to have do it... I dodged a bullet on these tires letting go a 2nd time. I caught it before it let go. I was lucky, I had extra cribbing which one of my good buddies gave me as I needed it to level up the camper at my Mom’s house during the trip. The day was perfect, just hot, and I’m not on the side of the interstate with traffic buzzing by at 65 to 80 mph.




We completed our road trip and the time came to sort out the ride height on the camper. This is the harder part of this LT conversion and may be what stops some from doing this upgrade on this tire size. I’ll post the suspension lift on the next post.

[JohnB]

On my prior setup I had already gone to the Dexter EZ flex and lowered the hangers 1 ¼” along with stiffening up the hangers. Here my research took me to only needing to change the equalizer to a larger unit with more vertical and horizontal distance to lift the camper ½” to replace what I lost going to the BFG LT’s. My first surprise was a 3rd failed ST tire when I took off the tires. The tire would not even roll right the thread bulged so much. Here I dodged a 3rd bullet taking off a failed tire before it blew out. The 4th tire will never see the test of when does it fail. It will not return to service.

I started with the next size up Dexter EZ Flex. It is wider and taller and more weight rating. It gave me the camper lift I needed which was 2 ½” for tire to fender clearance. However I ran into an interference problem in the max travel position of the suspension. See here.

This is the normal level ride height. The shackles are pretty vertical but on a rubber equalizer that is not so much the problem as the rubber changes the actions somewhat.


Here is the suspension forced to the max travel. I ride up on a ramp to lift the camper and the rear tire off the ground.


Here is the problem. The spring is touching the EZ Flex casting. This is not a good long term situation.


To get out of this I need:

1. Longer shackles which in my case will lower the camper again.
2. I need to lower the hangers. I’m already on 6 ¼” hangers and not lowering them anymore.
3. Do an axle flip and end up with 4” of lift on the camper. Do not want this either. I only need ½”.
4. Get the large capacity EquaFlex by Trail Air. This has a different X and Y dimension on the mounting.

I went with option 4. Here is the large capacity Dexter next to the large capacity EquaFlex


Trail Air sold out to Lippert. And Lippert now markets the EquaFlex under a branch called Mobile Outfitters. Welcome to Mobile Outfitters

I called them and asked about vertical shackles and their EquaFlex. With the action of their unit they did not have a problem with vertical shackles. You need to watch out you do not end up with an over center condition and get a shackle flop when doing a max suspension travel. While I had a good talk with the one tech person at Mobile Outfitters I could not find any on line dimension sheet for the EquaFlex. He stated you need to just change the shackle length if you have mounting issues.

Not satisfied with this I did have dimensions from visiting a RV dealer and taking them myself off of a Keystone Raptor 5er. This helped and I ordered several different length shackles. The only problem is I upgraded to heavy duty 2.25” long shackles and the many lengths are the standard thin ones. I can only find 3” long heavy duty ones from MorRyde in 3” which is too long. So armed with 3 different length shackles that I would double up and weld to make thicker I started the conversion. In doing the conversion I found if I used the higher up pivot hole I can get the right ride height with my heavy duty shackles. So I tried it. Yes it worked!…well almost.


I had to make my own wet bolt for the pivot but that was not a problem and I had to make a keeper to not allow it to spin. I have ½” thick hangers so the standard wet bolt is too short.

Here is the back side.


I had 2 ½” tire clearance and the max angle test past. I have clearance on the fender


And the max angle works OK too and no shackle flop from over center travel on the rear spring.


Now I have ¼” clearance where before the EZ Flex hit.


Believing I had this all set, I checked the WD hitch and headed out on a test ride. Everything worked well. That was until I stopped and rechecked the dimension. Darn…. The rubber compression got me again… This happened on my first EZ Flex as well. When you setup a new rubber equalizer in the static condition even though all the weight is on it, the rubber has not fully compressed to the normal ride height. After riding around a few miles I lost ¼” of tire to fender clearance taking me down to 2 ¼” in place of 2 ½” where I wanted and really needed to be at.

Everything worked, just I’m ¼” short. Me being me I can’t leave it this way as sooner or later I’ll loose a little more over time and then I’m at 2 or 2 1/8” and you can hit when you’re going over some camp ground humps or uneven roads to camp. So jack it up again…a 3rd time.

Now I measured the compressed and settled pivot pin distance on the Equaflex for my weights. Armed with that info I calculated if I move the pivot hole down 1 ¼” to the bottom hole I can gain 5/8” ride height. And it worked. Yes.!!!! Now starting out I have 3” static tire to fender clearance and after riding around for 10 miles I have 2 ¾” and it is staying put. Perfect.

Look at the mounting hole, it is on the bottom hole where I use to mount the older EZ Flex.


Here is a mock up not yet completed as the nut is off the upper bolt. Good link clearance.


Max angle test. Good it works and still have the ¼” spring clearance on the front and no shackle flop on the back.




Now I have good clearance on max suspension travel


And here we are at 2 ¾” tire to fender clearance. More than I had on day one from Sunline on the rigid Alko equalizer.


Now for sure I had to do a WD hitch reset as the whole camper is higher. I now have a 24 13/16” ball height on the camper where before I had 24”. I had to flip the shank up. Getting real close to Mr. and Mrs. Tweety’s new rig on the high up ball height. They too have 16” tires on their new Artic Fox. AF changed that camper in the last few years to go from 15” LR D to 16 “ LR E. H’mm maybe AF figured out they want to give more reserve capacity on their campers to help ward off tire failures on these larger campers.


So how does it tow? I only have 31 miles on it so far. The rig feels more solid. It was never a problem however I can tell the camper is more solid on the highway at 55 mph. On secondary roads the camper does seem to ride a little stiffer. Not rough but more stiff. Not much and soon I’m sure I will forget the difference. I have both a LT tire change and a brand of rubber equalizer that is larger in capacity at the same time. I do not 100% know which is affecting the secondary roads stiffness, the tire or the EquaFlex. However the camper was never this solid at highway speeds even on the original Alko rigid equalizer.

So far I am a happy camper with the LT upgrade. Yesterday I had to go down to Discount Tire and order 3 more Maxxis ST225/75R15’s LR D’s for the flat deck trailer. Since that trailer does not tow all the time at full load of 9,920#, more like 6,700# with the tractor it and only in 30 mile trips, at a fraction of the annual mileage the camper gets, I feel OK with ST’s on the flat deck but not the camper at these weights and miles towed

Hope all this helps someone in the future.

John

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Now I have good clearance on max suspension travel

Geez John, trying to overload your new tires already?

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

Geez John, trying to overload your new tires already?

Overload? no. Simulate what life throws at ya while towing a camper, yes!

I guess I should of added the disclaimer,

“Do not try this at home while towing 65 mph on a hot summer day running over a pot hole. Unpredictable results may occur.”

[henryj]

Thanks for documenting your upgrade in such detail. It shows the challenge--although not insurmountable--in upgrading from 15" to 16" wheels. The larger Sunlines are really in a no-man's land when it comes to 15" tire upgrades and I'm not surprised you made the effort to get to 16" where there is lots of choice. Even the lighter Sunlines like our 2499 don't have a lot of choice in a 15" upgrade without an axle flip and new wheels either way, and even then a taller tire is still problematic with the short 32" spring length.

Henry

[EMD_Driver]

Another nice writeup John!

Where did you purchase the Trailair Equa-Flex?

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by EMD_Driver

Another nice writeup John!

Where did you purchase the Trailair Equa-Flex?

Thanks, Actually I bought it from our local Campingworld her in Akron OH. The factory guy at Trail Air said Tweety's had them. So I called and the guy said they are just starting up with them again and do not have any right now. Campingworld had them in stock and I ordered it on Wednesday. It took only 1 day in UPS to show up. I had it on Thursday. I really wanted to have it for the weekend and it came in a day early.

It was on sale too and the store honored the web sale price. It must be a new product for them. It will not even hit on the web site unless you enter the trail air part number like this, 279688 and is the big one, 6 to 8 K axles. Trail Air said it would work fine with my axle weights. And they sell many that way. You just do not want one this big on a real low axle load like 3,000# or so. Use the smaller one. In my case that is not a problem. I needed the tall one to make the ride height lift.

EQUA-FLEX TANDEM 7.5 - Mobile Outfitters (the) 279688 - Camping World

If you are thinking of going with one, let's talk. Maybe I can save you some heartburn getting the right shackle setup the 1st time.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by henryj

Thanks for documenting your upgrade in such detail. It shows the challenge--although not insurmountable--in upgrading from 15" to 16" wheels. The larger Sunlines are really in a no-man's land when it comes to 15" tire upgrades and I'm not surprised you made the effort to get to 16" where there is lots of choice. Even the lighter Sunlines like our 2499 don't have a lot of choice in a 15" upgrade without an axle flip and new wheels either way, and even then a taller tire is still problematic with the short 32" spring length.

Henry

Thanks Henry,

Yes Sunline picking the shorter springs setup makes finding equalizer parts that much more of an "opportunity". If I had the standard 33" setup this would of been more straight forward as most every other brand uses the wider spread. I have not yet figured out why Sunline went this route. Spring rates are better?? Don't know.

Thanks

John

[Trailblazer]

I am posting is this thread in order to keep the LT tire information in one thread. It seems like I am the latest member who will be moving to LT tires. When I went to check on our 5'ver this past weekend and start getting it ready for this camping season I found an unpleasant surprise under our tire covers. One of my Goodyear Marathons was completely flat. I aired it up so I could change it and get it checked to see if it was worth repairing especially since it was made in china. I took it to the tire shop yesterday and went to pick it up today. As it turns out this tire has gone the same way as JohnB in his thread ST tire Failure Analysis My tires were only 3.5 years old and the tire has grown just as John's did and the dealer tells me the tread has started to separate. The tire shop is concerned about the condition of the other tires wants me to bring the trailer in so he can inspect them. He has also contacted his Goodyear rep to have a look at the tire and to try and get a prorated credit for it.

So now I have to start tire shopping and increase my research on LT tires sooner than I expected. In one respect I am lucky as the Sunline 5'ver already has 16 inch rims on it so I at least don't have to buy new rims. The current tires are ST235/80R/16's load range E. This is already one range up from what Sunline originally put on the 5'ver. Unfortunately I can't find an 80R aspect ratio in the 235 size range but I can find the 85R aspect ratio in this size. Since I have sufficient spacing between my existing tires I figure I should be ok going with LT235/85R/16 tires load range E. This will give me carry capacity of a little over 3,000lbs per tire. The last time I weighted our 5'ver when it was fully loaded and I had a full tank of water the total weight on the axles was 8,660lbs. The LT tires will carry a total of 12,000lbs on the axles so I figure I should have sufficient reserve capacity on the tires. Unfortunately I don't have side to side weights but I am guessing I should still be good with these tires. I am hoping one of our tire experts can look at these numbers and tell me if I am missing anything or if they also believe I should be good.

The next question is which tires to go with. The tire shop is recommending either the BF Goodrich Commercial TA's or the Firestone Transforce HT's. Here is the links to each tire:

BF Goodrich commercial TA's

Firestone Transforce HT

Has anyone had any experience with either one of these tires?