Up-grades - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

hilltool · 03-04-2014, 12:24 PM

After having trailer raised by three inches last year- I am going to go ahead and replace wheels and tires. 13"s on there now and want to go to 14 or 15s. Not sure how to measure to make sure I would have room for fifteens- and this is a tandem axle. ANYWAY- opinions on steel wheels vs aluminum?? opinons on tire brands---?

Previous issue of uneven tire wear has returned and seeing as I have two bad tires now- I need to make the switch at this time, it seems. Will still have to figure tire wear issue out- though. ( 2201 tow lite) .

Rick

Norton Rider · 03-04-2014, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hilltool

After having trailer raised by three inches last year- I am going to go ahead and replace wheels and tires. 13"s on there now and want to go to 14 or 15s. Not sure how to measure to make sure I would have room for fifteens- and this is a tandem axle. ANYWAY- opinions on steel wheels vs aluminum?? opinons on tire brands---?

Rick,

First of all, look at these tables: Trailer Tire Sizing | etrailer.com, and this calculator: Tire Dimensions Made Simple - Discount Tire .

Before you take the old tires off, measure the clearance front and back, as well as on the sides. It may help to jack up the opposite side of the trailer so the weight transfers to the tire you are measuring. This will compress the suspension and allow you to measure in this condition. Go to the calculator and compare the section width of your old and desired tires. Use this and the measurements you took to determine if there will be enough clearance on the sides. BTW, going from a 13" to a 15" tire will result in an increase in the radius of 1.5" to 2" (3"-4" diameter increase). Since you raised the trailer by 3", the clearance on top should not be an issue.

Wheels are really a matter of preference and cost. In general, steel wheels are lighter and less expensive than cast aluminum wheels. This makes them easier to change and allows the suspension to react more quickly. Steel wheels tend to rust after some time. You need to make sure of a few things when selecting wheels:
- They need to be rated to support the weight and tire pressure for the application.
- The lug nuts need to be matched to the wheel hub thickness, and be of the correct style for the wheels: conical seat or shank.
- The wheel studs on the brake drum need to be long enough for the wheel hub thickness. Aluminum hubs are thicker than steel and may require longer studs.
- The wheel offset needs to be correct. Too much one way or another will result in the wheel or tire rubbing the frame or structure. I think all trailer wheels have similar offset but you may want to ask an experienced shop.

PopRichie77 · 03-04-2014, 07:21 PM

If you flipped the axles over to get the 3 inches higher, this changes the Camber angle and it will wear the tires. A big truck shop can bend the axles to correct tire wear.

hilltool · 03-04-2014, 10:31 PM

Thanks, guys. The lift was acquired by welding on spacers and then reattaching axle brackets. By the way, they are torsion axles so flipping would not have worked. RAUL , I'm going to pm you re Nissans.

sam · 03-04-2014, 11:16 PM

The po of our HiLo owns a tire shop. We used the tires for several years that were on the HiLo. One time when we went to have it inspected it was discovered that the tire was a little to wide and had rubbed a hole in our wheel well. It was repaired. The width of the tires matters.

JackandJanet · 03-05-2014, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam

The po of our HiLo owns a tire shop. We used the tires for several years that were on the HiLo. One time when we went to have it inspected it was discovered that the tire was a little to wide and had rubbed a hole in our wheel well. It was repaired. The width of the tires matters.

The width DOES matter and it's pretty easy to see if you have clearance. Just check the clearance on your current tires and see if there is enough space to go to the width you want to mount. That's what I did when I went from 205/75R15s to 225/75R15s. As I recall, the total width increase was less than 1", or less than 1/2" on each side.

BUT, since you have tandem axles, you may run into diameter clearance problems between the tires. You certainly don't want them rubbing each other.

- Jack

hilltool · 03-05-2014, 04:25 PM

Thanks Jack and Sam

Need to get those measurements done ,but.........another 3.5 inches of snow last night. Suppose to get into the mid thirties this weekend---- pretty exciting around here. Hopefully I can start getting snow cleared so I can get in there and mess around. What a winter...........

Rick

JIM L · 03-05-2014, 07:54 PM

A couple of reccomendations: When replacing tires go with a higher load rated tire. Also I have had several rubber valve stems fail over the many years I have had a RV. Go with the metal valve stems on all tires. I also have a tire minder system to monitor the pressure and temps of all tire on the HiLo and pickup.

campthewestcoast · 03-05-2014, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JIM L

A couple of reccomendations: When replacing tires go with a higher load rated tire. Also I have had several rubber valve stems fail over the many years I have had a RV. Go with the metal valve stems on all tires. I also have a tire minder system to monitor the pressure and temps of all tire on the HiLo and pickup.

Do you have the tire minder make? How do you like it or would you buy other brand?

JackandJanet · 03-06-2014, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by campthewestcoast

Do you have the tire minder make? How do you like it or would you buy other brand?

The brand is TireMinder, by Minder Research. I have this too and highly recommend it. I posted on it a couple years ago. It can be bought online or at places like Camping World.

I have the model that lets me monitor the TV and trailer tires too.

- Jack

JIM L · 03-07-2014, 09:57 AM

I have the same brand as Jack, Minder Research and yes I would buy the same one again. It has saved me two possible blow-outs.