Upgrading to LT tires?

[TwoGypsies]

Seasons' Greetings Everyone!

I was planning to upgrade the tires on our 2011 Cyclone 3812 from the original ST235-80R16's to LT's. Back in August around 10,000 miles we had a blow-out on the freeway. We stopped at the next town to get a spare and I bought an LT235-85R16. I could not get an LT235-80R16 nor could I get the original ST235-80R16. The LT 85 series tire is clearly bigger. In fact, there is no way to install more than one of these at a time due to axle spacing. As a spare, it's okay.
I didn't think much about this until last week when we suffered two flats about 90 minutes apart at 16,000 miles. The spare went on, and luckily the second flat was a slow leaker & we were within a mile of a large town. We limped into an independent tire shop. They told me they could not find an LT235-80R16. All the LT235's they could get were 85's which would not fit. I wound up buying six new ST235-80R16's so hopefully we are good for a long time to come.
Here's my question:

Has anybody found an LT tire that fits their Cyclone?

Side note: We have a Tirestat monitoring system. It did not catch that first blow-out. The alarm sounded about the same time as the loud bang and flying shrapnel. However it did catch both last week and prevented us from blindly motoring on with a flat.

 

[jnbhobe]

Try going to a 245-75-16 tire same weight carrying capacity as a 235-85-16 and about an inch smaller. http://www.goodyear.com/truck/pdf/databook/loadInflation.pdf both carry 3042lbs at 80psi.

 

[TwoGypsies]

Thanks Jon!

I poked around and can also get this size from Michelin & BFG so availability should be pretty good. I should have figured this out back in August. Last week's expenditure could have gotten me the upgrade. Looking forward, I can upgrade two at a time as I wear out these new tires.

 

[jnbhobe]

Thanks Jon!

I poked around and can also get this size from Michelin & BFG so availability should be pretty good. I should have figured this out back in August. Last week's expenditure could have gotten me the upgrade. Looking forward, I can upgrade two at a time as I wear out these new tires.

Those are standard tire sizes most commonly found on Chevy 3/4 and 1 ton PU's. Look for LT sizes in all brands and tread patterns then check for load capacities.

 

[GOTTOYS]

I replaced my 235/80/16 STs with 235/85/16 LTs. The LTs are 1" higher overall. This means the radius is 1/2" more than the 235/80/16 ST. It makes them a total of 1" closer together. Still plenty of room for my X Chocks.
No problems with them in over 8,000 miles at speeds that are sometimes well over what you should run an ST tire at....Don

 

[TwoGypsies]

I replaced my 235/80/16 STs with 235/85/16 LTs. The LTs are 1" higher overall. This means the radius is 1/2" more than the 235/80/16 ST. It makes them a total of 1" closer together. Still plenty of room for my X Chocks.
No problems with them in over 8,000 miles at speeds that are sometimes well over what you should run an ST tire at....Don

Thanks Don, that's originally what I thought I would do. However, the clearance on my 3 axle Cyclone is very tight, especially between the 2nd and 3rd axle. I presently have 1 5/8" total and don't want to reduce this. It looks like the 245/75's are in my future.