Upgrading from 14in to 15in rims

[jj95]

Hello all,

I have a Heartland North Trail 31QBS, entering our 10th year with it. Trailer weight limit is 7000lbs.

The coach came with cheapo Duro bias ply tires. They started to fall apart within months. Heartland would not replace them with something better (only the same rubber garbage), so within a couple months I replaced all 5 with radials. Load range C, 215/75/R14. Those lasted almost 5 years; then replaced all 5 again.

I am now getting ready to do it again, as they are about due. I contemplated it each of the previous 2 times - upgrading to D range tires. This requires replacing the wheels as well, going from 14in to 15in. Each time my motivation was that I would rather have more tire than I need than just enough tire (and maybe some peace of mind that goes with it...) My brother-in-law has a newer Heartland model, almost identical size/weight/specs, and it came with R15 D-range tires.

The tires themselves are actually ~$30 cheaper per tire, due to being more abundant/popular. Aluminum rims are running ~$90 and up. Steel wheels are less than 1/2 that. I am still trying to find specs on each to find out how much different they are in weight, but that's not yielding much info...

I haven't looked too closely at the clearance for the tires (depending on the tire the extra height might add 1" or so of height (half above the axle, half below), but I dont believe this marginal difference will impact clearance around the tires. Shoot, the extra ground clearance, while minimal, might even reduce a jack from dragging every now and then (which has happened several times on my low-rider coach!)

I am curious if anyone has done this on the same or similar coach. If so, what did you end up buying (tires and wheels), did you buy steel wheels, thoughts afterwards, etc?

Thanks as always for any info you can share!

 

['Lil Guy']

That's a great mod to upgrade to better rated tires. Ground clearance is a plus if you can still tow level. I opted for aluminum rims on our E289. Went from 15 to 16" wheels and taller profile tires. If you go form a c rated tire to d or e you've significantly added safety to your towing experience. Good luck on your endeavor. Google travel trailer aluminum wheels and you'll find a huge selection of sizes and prices.

 

[jj95]

Thanks for your input.

I couldnt find any weights on the rims online (at etrailer.com), so I called (they have to ship them after all, so they must know how much they weigh). The aluminum rim I was looking was 18 lbs. The steel was 22 lbs. So for me that's a no brainer.

 

[jj95]

A quick update, for anyone else considering this.

I ended up buying rims from etrailer.com. They didnt list the weight, but the lady I spoke with was able to look them up (they need to know for shipping purposes). The 15" steel wheels were 4lbs heavier than the 15" aluminum ones, at 1/3 the price. So weight was not a factor at all.

I ended up replacing my 215/74/R14 with 205/75/R15's. Overall height increase was ~.5" (half of which is above the axle, half of which is below). A friend pointed me to someone he has done business with for years, and they installed Carlyle tires (I dont recall the specific model). D range, ~2200lbs capacity per tire.

I have camped 3 times since having the work done, and so far they are great. Due to the marginal change in height, I did not make any changes to my Equalizer hitch (which I have loved for the 10yrs I have had it).

The only "change" I have noticed (from how it handles, which could be due to slight height change?) is that it seems to porpoise less than before. Previously on the highway, when I would go on/off an underpass, due to the rough transition of the road, I would get a fair amount of porpoising. It seems to be reduced now, which is great. I also noticed that when backing into a spot, the tires seem to bulge/scrub a little less (which is nice, because my wife always things the tire is going to pop off the rim!)

So far so good! Next project: TPMS!