Specific Questions about 15" Tires & Rims for 2720

[rjackson]

Thanks for all your answers.

I leave for Tucson early tomorrow morning to meet up with the owners of the Trailmanor 2720SL that they have for sale. I should get there early in the afternoon, which will give me plenty of time to check out the trailer, set up up & down, try everything out, and hopefully purchase it. If so, I'll mount the new 14" tires I borrowed from my friend (member "Maldos" on this site), and leave real early in the morning on Thursday with it in tow.

The owners have been very kind and open, and even invited me to stay in the trailer for a few days before deciding if I wanted to purchase it! Assuming all goes well, I'll be home Thursday afternoon with it set up in front of our house when my wife comes home from work.

We have a short camping trip planned in a few weeks and had planned on taking the Chalet. Hopefully, we'll be in a TrailManor instead!

[tjf5633]

recently purchased used 2008 2720SD, previous owner had a blowout with GoodYear Marathons,, did minor damage, I wanted to upgrade to ST215/75R/14 D range. Tires look good,

Question, there seems to be very little clearance on outside sideway of tire and body, am worried about body rub. tire measures 8.5" wide, Would this be a problem?? Also, am using stock rims, Never considered that steel rims have a pressure rating? I was assuming I could pressure these tires to 65 psi on stock rims. why wouldn't this be Ok?

[duvalbirder]

I have read all the posts about the need for a 2" lift kit when switching to 15" tires. We have a 2007 2720SL with 14" tires. Time for new tires, so I read all the posts and am still confused.

Called J. D. Sanders in Gainesville, FL (they are the closes dealer that still works on TrailManors). They can install the 2" lift kit, get 15" rims, take rims to the tire store to have Duro brand tires installed. Have not heard anybody talk about this brand. If I go ahead with all of this, am I proceeding correctly? Do I even need the 2" lift kit to switch to 15" tires?

I apologize, but I just do not understand this tire stuff.

[Keith Wire]

Hi,

We have a 2007 2720SL and on our the lift kit was not necessary to go to 15" tires. Trailmanor used a different axle configuration (something about the angle if I recall) and the 2" lift was provided by this axle change.

I've had no clearance problems at all going to the 15" tires.

HTH, Keith

[Bill]

DuvalBirder -

Re your question about whether 15 inch tires will fit without a lift kit? Use the Search tool to find something called the 3-inch rule. You can start with
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ance#post50343
and posts #3 and #8 here.
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=13070
Finally, if the 3-inch rule suggests that clearance is a problem, and the idea of a lift kit is getting to be too complicated, there is another approach described in Post #7 here.
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?p=44983

As for Duro tires, I'm not sure I've heard any useful feedback here on the board. Let me offer three pieces of general advice, regardless of brand.
1. Be sure your tires are rated Load Range D (LR D). There are some 15-inch tires that are only Load Range C (LR C).
2. The tire size number string should start with ST (Special Trailer), not P (passenger) or LT (light truck).
3. I like Padgett's advice to buy a tire with a nylon overlay or nylon cap or nylon ply. If a tire has one, it will be called out on the tire sidewall along with the number of plies.

Duro has ST 225 tires rated both LR-D and LR-E. They are the same physical size (larger than your current tires), so if you are going to choose one, I would say "In for a penny, in for a pound" - go with the E. But if clearance is a problem, and you want to avoid putting in a lift kit, Duro also has a smaller (205) D-rated tire, about the same size as your current tires.

Good luck with it.

Bill

[Padgett]

Just a note: sometime between 2006 and 2009 TM added a lift kit as standard. Also I understand that sometime between then and 2013 TM asked Dexter to change the clocking on the axle (think from 22.5 degrees to 45 degrees) to have the same effect (why they just did not do this earlier I have no idea).

Since the rated GVWR of my 2720SL is 4217 lbs, clearly the stock tires were inadequate.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Padgett

A LRE tire will be of heavier construction (10 ply rating vs 8, key word is "rating") than a LRD. That said if you run a LRE tire at 65 psi (what I would do) the load rating is the same as a LRD tire.
...

This leads into a question I've been wanting to ask now that I've been learning more about wheels and tires for trailers.

If I want to go for something like the Goodyear Endurance 225/75/R15, it would require a tire pressure of 80 psi to get the 2830 lbs load rating. However, to get a rim to match that load rating, I'd need to upgrade to a 6 bolt pattern on the hub. All this seems overkill and gets expensive.

If I get a 15x6 5 bolt pattern, the load rating will be 2150 lbs, which is probably about right. However, if I mount the wider 225/75/R15 Endurance tire and run it at 65 instead of 80 psi, will there be added flex and internal wear to the tire over the years?

Am I actually better off getting the 2150 lb rated rim and mounting the 205/75/R15 and filling it to 65 psi?

[Larryjb]

I think I just found the answer:
https://www.etrailer.com/question-60785.html

It would be better to get the 205/75/R15 on rims rated at 2150 lbs. (I can't find the maximum psi for the rim, but I'm assuming it's 65 psi.)

[pmhellings]

Not to hijack this thread, but in a related question.....why are 15" wheels and tires considered better than 14"? Load range D is available in 14" tires as well as 15's and, mounted on wheels that are rated for the tire pressure, they have the same ability to carry weight. A larger 14" tire can have the same circumference as a 15" and have taller sidewalls as a result,potentially giving a smoother ride. A 14" tire/wheel combination will also weigh a little less than an equivalent 15" tire/wheel. Since the tires represent "unstrung weight" this could be a small,but real, improvement.

I will be replacing the tires that are on my "new to me" 2010 2720SL. I don't mind spending the $ on larger wheels since I'll be replacing the wheels anyway, but I haven't yet seen a good reason why 15" is inherently superior to 14".

Any opinions out there?

Paul

[Bill]

why are 15" wheels and tires considered better than 14"?

Paul -

These days, I'm not sure that 15's are considered better than 14's. Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I think it may seem that way because 14" Load Range D ST tires became available only recently. Prior to that, if you wanted to move from LR-C to LR-D, your only choice was 15".

Bill